Perhaps you’ve seen them at a brick-and-mortar retailer, or seen them online or mentioned in a podcast, but what, exactly, are Transformers BotBots? The packaging stresses the word “BotBots,” but minimizes their connection to Transformers. Sure, the word “Transformers” appears over the BotBots title on the retail packaging, but there are no Autobot or Decepticon affiliations or symbols to be found. So just how do BotBots connect with the greater Transformers universe?
First of all, they transform. That connection is crystal clear. Just like their larger, more detailed Autobot and Decepticon cousins, they have two distinct forms: a robot form and an alt-form. Unlike the vehicular alt-forms of (most) traditional Transformers, BotBots take on the forms of items you’d find at a shopping mall.
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In fact, that’s the official story of BotBots: an energon cloud floated through a shopping mall, breathing life and transformative-abilities to everyday objects. Have you ever looked at a toilet plunger and thought “I wish that could also be a cute robot?” One of the BotBots designers did exactly that: the BotBot is called Clogstopper, and he’s a member of the Toilet Troop, along with other fearless BotBots like Sergeant Scrubadub and Stinkasaurus Rex.
The BotBots are themed and grouped into different tribes, making them different from the mainline Transformers largely belonging either to the Decepticons or the Autobots. Since there are so many different tribes, and so many possible objects, the line-up of BotBots is completely bananas. You might even see a banana turn into a robot in the world of BotBots, given how many of the current toys are based on food items.
To help fuel a BotBots collecting obsession, Hasbro has different levels BotBots rarity, with each series having a smattering of three-star figures (the rarest of all) among the more common one- and two-star varieties. There’s also a gacha/blindbag element: you can buy a pack of BotBots with at least one mystery figure, or you can just go all-out and get a 16-pack with 8 surprise figures inside. There’s even a package simulating a capsule machine, with one of Series 4’s gold BotBots hiding inside. To collect all of them means you’re going to end up with some dupes.
They don’t really make sense; a transforming corn on the cob wouldn’t otherwise seem like a good idea. Getting the rarest ones takes some finagling and suffering duplicates, and yet I love these tiny little robots in disguise. The transformations are simple, with only a few moves turning them from one form to another. As America’s mall culture dwindles, let us celebrate its memory with BotBots, the tiny robots who spend nights causing havoc at our rapidly disappearing brick-and-mortar retailers.
These tiny, cute figures from Hasbro are in stark contrast to the fan-funded HasLabs Transformers Unicron, coming later this year. It’s the largest Transformer figure ever created, and one of the most expensive.
Source: IGN.com Ever Wanted a Toilet Plunger That Transforms Into a Robot? BotBots Are for You