Review – McDonald’s Commandrons Solardyn (1985)

Last year we took a close look at the McDonald’s Commandrons Commander Magna cheap transforming robot toy from 1985 (review here) and that boxy, silly toy was far more fun than I was expecting before I popped him out of his box. Well, I’ve finally gotten around to getting a second of the Commandrons loose from his decades-old packaging prison and now it’s time we get a look at the McDonald’s Commandrons Solardyn toy from 1985.

Packaging Variants

As in the Commander Magna review, I felt it best if we get a peek at the three different packaging variants I’ve chased down. There’s a 1986 Tomy Super Alternators blister, a 1985 U.S. McDonald’s Commandrons blister, and a 1985 Canadian McDonald’s Commandrons box. Awesome, but I am now left with a very important question for the world: Were the toys for these three different packaging designs all made at a single time or did the factory run the tooling three separate times? Just how much excess inventory did Tomy sit on at one time back in the eighties?

UFO Mode

Just as with Hasbro’s Transformers Cosmos toy (find at Amazon.com*) I suspect we all have a tough time seeing how these transforming robots stay hidden when they select a UFO as an alt mode. The idea of hiding is to not draw attention to yourself, right? So why the UFO mode, Solardyn? I think that choice would make it tough to stay out of the tabloids.

Regardless of the poor alt mode choice, the Solardyn toy is kinda nifty in its little UFO mode. As with Commander Magna (review here) the toy has a motor that allows it to race quickly across the floor . . . but I’m only allowing this to race across the table since I refuse to let little cat hairs invade the wheels and the motor.

Robot Mode

Solardyn’s transformation process is as simple as the other McDonald’s Commandrons toys, but that simplicity is part of the toy’s charm and in no way a negative strike against it. And those big chrome claw hands give the toy a silly look that is only enhanced by the way in which Tomy designed the robot’s face. Ah, that face.

Just like the Transformers Powerdasher that I reviewed recently, Solardyn’s face is made completely of a sticker. Now sticker faces are the cheapest of the cheap, but the goofy face design merely adds to the appeal of this cheap transforming robot toy and cements its permanent place in my collection of bad transforming robot toys of the eighties. You’re going on the shelf with the Kellogg’s Starbots, Esso Robot Racers, and that sweet Robotic Radio. (And many others!)

Closing Thoughts

The second of the McDonald’s Commandrons to find their way to battlegrip.com after Commander Magna (review here), Solardyn maintains the cheesy fun we encountered with the first toy and leaves me excited to open the next two in the series. These are by no means wonderful transforming robot toys from the eighties, but the McDonald’s Commandrons are neat enough that (if you find them at a low price) you should grab one or two of them. These are great little toys from a different time!