Review – Walkman Robo (1984)

1984 was the year that transforming robot toys dominated Christmas, and there’s something about transforming robot radios of all shapes and sizes that marks them as definitely from the eighties. We looked at the wonderful Robotic Radio transforming robot toy last year (review posted here), but that is far from the only radio robot from 1984 that deserves our attention.

Before Covertors

If you’re not checking CollectionDX at least once a week then you need to change your ways now. When it comes to transforming robot toys, the archives at collectiondx.com are one of the best sources of information online. Whenever I want information on a line of cheap transforming robot toys from the eighties I can trust that CollectionDX is there to help, and I wasn’t shocked at all to find that this Walkman Robo toy was reviewed at the site in 2012.

The CollectionDX review is loaded with info on the toy, including that it is “part of a toy line called Gokin Robo which mainly consists of everyday items that transform into robots, with small amounts of metal. In the US, this was sold as simply WALKMAN from the SPIES subset of the CONVERTORS line.” We’ve seen the Convertors toys before (Convertors reviews and info at battlegrip.com), but without a catalog from 1984/1985, I doubt if I’ll ever figure out what toys belong to that Convertors series. Anyone out there have a Convertors catalog they’re willing to sell?

Walkman Mode

The Walkman Robo is a block of oddness in its alt mode, and it is only by snapping on the walkman plastic shell that it starts to look like a portable radio. The headphones are a nice touch, but unfortunately, there is no way at all to connect the headphones to the walkman radio. They look fine enough draped over the radio mode, but this is one of those instances where regardless of what you do, you’ll never fool anyone into thinking that this is anything but a cheap transforming robot toy. Just look at the alt mode from the back and you instantly know something’s not quite right.

Missiles!

Below, you can see the walkman plastic shell as well as a sprue of red missiles. A hole in the robot’s belly is just waiting for one of these missiles, but I simply cannot bring myself to snap a missile off of the sprue, even in the interest of research and toy documentation. Those plastic missiles have held together for over three decades, and who am I to separate them from their home? Maybe if I were shooting a video of the toy I could convince myself that I must film the missiles in action, but since this is a photographic review the missiles remain in place. And besides, I am pretty sure we have all seen spring-loaded missiles in action at least once before.

Transformation Design

Check the packaging pics, above, for the transformation instructions, though I doubt you would even need those instructions to transform this toy between its walkman and robot modes. The toy truly is a block, and there is nothing at all here that will stump you as you twist and fold the parts between modes. And once transformed, Walkman Robo is exactly what you would expect from a 1984 cheap transforming robot toy: A robot action figure with articulation that solely exists for its transformation and without any extra joints. Don’t expect any ball joints here, kids!

Closing Thoughts

Considerably smaller than the Robotic Radio cheap transforming robot toy, this Walkman Robo stands only 3.5-inches tall and is so thin and light that it falls over easily. The toy costs more than it really should these days, but if you like the design I can promise you that there are reasonable prices out there; I paid about $20 for the toy (with shipping), which isn’t bad at all for a toy that was new when Reagan ran for re-election in 1984.

Are there better robot radios out there? Hell, yes, kids! But if you’re building a display of cheap transforming robot toys from the eighties and want something a little unusual for your shelves, this Walkman Robo certainly stands out as special and different. It’s a fun design, and it is totally awesome when it is standing on the shelf with other robots.