Four wearable vehicles and one larger space craft combine to form gestalt combat robots for the Machine Robo Series, Gobots, Robo Machine and Machine Men toy lines.
1984 Bandai Japan released two combiner Battle Suits for the Machine Robo line themed for Air and Land combat; 'Battle Armor 5' and 'Land Commander 5' Both shared the same limb moulds with the body section being unique Bandai released Battle Armor 5 in Europe as 'Battle Suit Power System 5' identical to the Japan version bar stickers text changed to English Tonka released Battle Armor 5 in two new colour schemes (see below) and named them 'Courageous' and 'Grungy' aligning them with the Guardian and Renegade factions respectively Bandai then release the Courageous and Grungy colour schemed Battle Armor 5 in Australia for the Machine Men line as 'Battle Suit Power System 5' factioned for Friendly and Enemy Machine Men Land Commander was not released outside of Japan, however a black, yellow and light green version was prototyped for Tonka and named 'Nemesis' that did not go into production The most notable structural change was the removal of missile firing mechanisms from the foot sections of the US Gobots release.
Region Codes Used: JP Japan / US United States / AU Australia / EU Europe
NOTE: Location codes only shown where items were known to be released. This list is accurate yet likely to be incomplete.
Machine Robo Series / Robo Machine
Robo Machine EU Bandai (limbs have metal spring doors) (English stickers) 1984
Machine Robo Series JP Bandai (limbs have metal doors) (Japanese stickers) 1984
Battle Armor 5 and Battle Suit Power System 5 were released in Japan and Europe with the only variance being the Japanese text replaced with English.
Unlike the Tonka Gobots release, the Japanese and European versions were not issued as separate pieces and instead only as complete suit sets.
While the European release is called, 'Battle Suit Power System 5' the foot stickers still display 'Battle Armor 5', a throwback to its Japanese origins. There is no reference to 'Battle Armor 5' on the English packaging.
The European Battle Suit was initially sold in the same vertical packaging as the Japanese, US and Australian releases. It was later re-issued in France (and possibly other parts of Europe) in horizontal boxes with a new foam insert to match the box windows.
The French, horizontal styled packaging shows, 'Armure Battle Suit' / Armor Battle Suit as the product title.
The two US colour scheme versions were later released in France (and possibly other parts of Europe) in the same horizontal packaging with the package images still showing this original colour scheme. No mention of the Gobots 'Courageous' or 'Grungy' was shown.
Both the Japanese and European version include the firing missiles feature in the feet.
The European instructions refer to the limb sections with 'RM' designations instead of the MR codes shown on their stickers. Both the production release and the instruction images show the MR stickers. 'RM' stickers were likely planned to align with the US 'GB' (Gobots) release stickers however they were not produced.
Battle suit figure compatibility guide
Gobots / Machine Men
Gobots US Tonka (no P3 & P4 door springs or side of base paint) 1984
Machine Men AU Bandai (P3 & P4 metal spring loaded doors and side of base painted) 1984
First released in Japan by Bandai for Machine Robo as one of two Battle Armor 5 sets (land and air) Tonka recoloured the model and sold it in the US as 'Courageous Guardian Armored Robot' for the Gobots line. Formed from four 'Power Suits' and a central 'Space Ship' Courageous is piloted by five Guardian Gobots.
Bandai released the US colour schemed set in Australia marketed more as a mecha style piece of combined power armor. The combined armour did not have a name as such and was simply called 'Friendly Robot Battle Suit'. As with Courageous the Battle Suit is piloted by enemy Machine Men.
This model was also released very late in France (and possibly other parts of Europe) as 'Armure Battle Suit' / Armor Battle Suit in horizontal packaging under the Robo Machine line. The package images still showed the original Battle Suit in red, orange and grey. These retained the firing foot missile feature not included in the US release while the GB arm and leg stickers remained and were not updated to MR or RM.
Unlike the Machine Men and Robo Machine all in one pack releases by Bandai, Tonka also issued each section separately as 'Space Ship' and 'GB P1' though P4 Power Suits parts. As the set was never intended to be marketed this way many youngsters ended up receiving only some of Courgeous from well meaning relatives on birthdays.
* it is likely that the Machine Men release did first come with spring loaded door for GB P3 and GB P4.
Note: all Gobots Guardian Power Suits sections when sold separately were issued on the same cardback; front and back.
Courageous was shipped with black fists while Grungy's are red. This is likely to have been a packing / distribution error as the cartoon version shows Courageous with red hands matching his feet and Grungy with black also matching his feet.
The European instructions were reused for the Australian Machine Men line and refer to the limb sections with RM designations instead of the MR codes shown on their stickers. Both the production release and the instruction images show the MR stickers. It's likely that 'RM' and 'MM'
stickers were planned to align with the US GB (Gobot) designation stickers however they were not produced.
Sticker variations: the star and vent stickers can be found either on the shoulders or upper chest on both complete set Battle Suits or solo issued Space Ship MR-CJ releases.
By default the black limbs have red designation stickers and the white have blue. These were often mixed up on limbs issued in blisters while the complete set releases had them correct.
Both appear to be a quality control issue rather than planned variations.
Gobots US Tonka (no P3 & P4 door springs or side of base paint) 1984
Machine Men AU Bandai (P3 & P4 side of base painted) 1984*
First released in Japan by Bandai for Machine Robo as one of two Battle Armor 5 sets (land and air) Tonka recoloured the model and sold it in the US as 'Grungy Renegade Armored Robot' for the Gobots line. Formed from four 'Power Suits' and a central 'Space Ship' Grungy is piloted by five Renegade Gobots.
Bandai released the US colour schemed set in Australia marketed more as a mecha style piece of combined power armor. The combined armour did not have a name as such and was simply called 'Friendly Robot Battle Suit'. As with Grungy the Battle Suit is piloted by enemy Machine Men.
This model was also released very late in France (and possibly other parts of Europe) as 'Armure Battle Suit' / Armor Battle Suit in horizontal packaging under the Robo Machine line. The package images still showed the original Battle Suit in red, orange and grey. These retained the firing foot missile feature not included in the US release while the GB arm and leg stickers remained and were not updated to MR or RM.
Unlike the Machine Men and Robo Machine all in one pack releases by Bandai, Tonka also issued each section separately as 'Space Ship' and 'GB P1' though P4 Power Suits parts. As the set was never intended to be marketed this way many youngsters ended up receiving only some of Grungy from well meaning relatives on birthdays.
* it is likely that the Machine Men release did first come with spring loaded door for GB P3 and GB P4.
Note: all Gobots Renegade Power Suits sections when sold separately were issued on the same cardback; front and back.
Grungy was shipped with red fists while Courageous' are black. This is likely to have been a packing / distribution error as the cartoon version shows Courageous with red hands matching his feet and Grungy with black also matching his feet.
The European instructions were reused for the Australian Machine Men line and refer to the limb sections with RM designations instead of the MR codes shown on their stickers. Both the production release and the instruction images show the MR stickers. It's likely that 'RM' and 'MM' stickers were planned to align with the US GB (Gobot) designation stickers however they were not produced.
Sticker variations: the star and vent stickers can be found either on the shoulders or upper chest on both complete set Battle Suits or solo issued Space Ship MR-CJ releases.
By default the black limbs have red designation stickers and the white have blue. These were often mixed up on Gobots limbs issued in blisters while the complete set releases came with them correct. Blue sticker Grungy variants usually have the base silver paint carried down the sides in the same way the Machine Men limb sections were released.
Both appear to be a quality control issue rather than planned variations.
Gobots
Gobots Unreleased Prototype US Tonka 1986
Nemesis was a recolour of the Machine Robo Series Land Commander 5.
While Nemesis appeared in a number of pre-release advertising images it did not go into production.
Unfortunately very little is known about this Power Suit. Catalogues showed Nemesis was to be a Renegade release and one could presume that a Guardian version may have been in planning.
Machine Robo Series
Machine Robo Series JP Bandai (limbs have metal spring doors) 1984
Land Commander 5 follows the same principle as Battle Armor 5 and shares the same four limb moulds. The body section can be described as a four track tank with two large, rectangular missile pods on its back.
As with Battle Armor 5 the feet play an integral part in the vehicle mode being inverted and becoming the missile pods.
Colour scheme: black and red limbs with a blue and light grey body.
