Ceed Goliath
Once again, through careful research using Butto’s website I have been able to trace the origins of a bootleg toy back to its original Japanese release. Ceed Goliath, released here as Betabot, was a set of three transformable vehicles that could combine to form a single robot or car. These figures, sold separately for $2.99 at a Walgreens pharmacy ($5.00 for two!) were just another entry in my bizarre quest for weird robots. Let’s start off with the packaging.
The first card is very basic with its blue background and odd mixture of authentic Japanese and retouched artwork.
The back is equally plain with its stark line drawings of the toys doing their various transformations and combinations.
Sold on the very same rack was this type of card. Look at how much more futuristic it is with the liberal use of black and orange.
Even the instructions received an appropriate face lift.
The first figure is Ceed Cougar. It is small red vehicle made in the image of every little boy’s idea of a cool car. Note that the American release has much less ambitious stickers, deciding to eschew 80’s styling for something more like a party-favor. My example is not particularly stable in car form, but those loose joints only mean that Ceed Cougar is eager to transform for your enjoyment.
After a few familiar flips, Ceed Cougar becomes a very Transformers-like design. His stubby arms only have one joint in the opposite direction to facilitate his role in the combined form.
On his back he has a bit of a nasty growth. It is in fact the chromed head of Ceed Goliath.
The second figure is Ceed Hawk. This member of the team fulfills the role of “token F1 car guy.” Our friends at East Distributors changed the toy from white to yellow in order to save all that time the toy would spend yellowing on the shelves.
Out of the team members, Ceed Hawk has the most articulation.
Ceed Hawk’s unique action gimmick makes a perfect foe for your Tokusatsu toys.
And where there’s yellow, you always need black. Ceed Bear rounds out the team as the tiny titan’s tough trousers.
Without all the paint apps and stickers from the Japanese release, Ceed Bear becomes a kind of “black hole” of detailing. By standing on its head, Ceed Bear becomes the legs to Ceed Goliath.
The Ceed Team offers two wholly unique combined forms as you can combine the three vehicles into one amalgamation called Ceed Gaia.
After following the instructions, the Ceed Team combines into Ceed Goliath. This mighty machine stands about six inches tall from head to head.
From the rear you can see four half faces watching valiantly for foes approaching Ceed Goliath from behind.
This particular version of toy lacks any paint for the eyes so as not to mar the impeccable chromed surface. Once again, the mysteries of an old toy have come to light. This very Brave-esque design began its life as a humble cheap toy in Japan. While some minor things like paint applications, plastic quality, and the such were lost due to an immigration snafu I am glad to know the history of these odd little toys.