'The Robot Turns into a Pencil Sharpener!!'
Released as part of Gakken's, 'Gakken's Boys Series' toy line in Japan, it was not long after offered to Western markets either distributed direct from Gakken (as in Europe) or SELECT in the United States.
School Robot Barsard includes a quite usable pencil sharpener and that by far makes it the most successful figure in the line. Considering it's a gimmick product, it's also a very nice looking robot for the scale and wouldn't look out of place in the Microman/Micronauts lines.
In Japan Barsard was offered in two different colour schemes and with variant heads, but in the West only one version was sold. In Japan, along with chromed handheld weapon accessories, Barsard also included a missile launching function contained in the right side of its chest. This was removed for all Western releases, however the hatch can still be opened showing an empty hole.
Interestingly, Western cardbacks sold direct from Gakken show an example of the robot in its alternate mode and the colour in which the toy was released. In the US where cards are printed SELECT, the Japanese variant colour scheme is shown but wasn't offered for sale. This could hint there may have been plans to mirror the full Japanese assortment in the US that didn't eventuate.
Barsard's chest and arms were used in a later unlicensed toy sold only in Japan called IQ-200Z. It was released under the Robot Stationery banner and included a removable eraser in the left chest cavity as well as Byros' legs to add the pens. The head was borrow from a MARK toy Battle Sigma / Battle-Σ from their Battle X line.
See main School Robot index page for more details.
Region Codes Used: USA United States / EU Europe / UK United Kingdom / JP Japan
NOTE: Location codes only shown where items were known to be released. This list is accurate yet likely to be incomplete.
School Robot EU Gakken 1984
School Robot US Gakken via SELECT 1984
Switch Bots / School Switchbots UK Gakken 1984
Gakken Boy's Series JP 1984
Stamped Gakken Pat P Taiwan
* Barsard's name was changed to 'Sharbo' in the UK, possibly due to the original sounding too close to 'Bastard'.
