Destroyer

Destroyer is one of the lesser-known GoBots that ARCO put out in the 80s, and in my opinion, the best. Arco put out a very odd assortment of transforming robots for various lines, all with blocky, simple transformations, all utterly charming in their own way.

In ship mode, Destroyer is about 10″ long. Made out of a harder PVC plastic, the thing is very sturdy looking, and would likely have survived many battles with the other robots of the time.

On either side of the deck there are two spring-loaded red switches that are supposed to hold in a blue depth charge. Mine are missing, sadly.

There’s a GoBot sticker on either side of the front, and military-looking “79021” on either side of the rear. The detailing is mostly left to nice details in plastic, but keep in mind it’s a ship in a very abstract sense. The towers look like they are made out of candy, and the rear of the ship does not look like a ship at all.

To begin transformation, push down the red towers.

Pull down the legs and flip up the feet. There’s just a bit of stiffness to wonder if you are doing it wrong, but you are not. The legs feature a locking mechanism that holds them in place until it’s time to transform back. When going back to ship mode from robot mode, be sure to press down on the blue textured buttons to release the locks.

Pull the arms out to the sides and rotate the head. Destroyer is awesome looking! I love the simple, bold design, he reminds me of something out of Daitetsujin-17!

Head, shoulders and elbows are the only articulation you got. It’s enough.

Destroyer has one last surprise for us….

BRANDON! I HAVE YOUR TOY! I got this guy at a toy shop in Las Vegas, so hey, if you are a 30-something dude from Vegas who used to have this guy, drop me a line.

One other thing to note. I’ve seen versions of this toy with wheels attached to the back (on the back, and on the back of the feet) to roll around in ship mode. This one appears to have a tab put in place where the wheels were supposed to go, maybe a running change in production.

Anyway, I love this thing. Brandon’s loss is my gain.