'The Robot Turns into a Ballpoint Pen!!'
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 Byros turns into what has to be one of the most awkward novelty pens ever invented; coming close behind ARCO's Robot Light Pen. That aside, it does make a very nice looking robot for the scale.
It contains both black and red ink (one per foot) and the overall build quality is great considering it's largely a gimmick product. Byros would easily look at home in the Microman/Micronatues lines. In Japan it was offered in three different colour schemes and with variant heads, but in the West only one version was sold. Byros's Japanese release's left fist fires off, a feature that was removed for the West and the hole for the release trigger sculpted over. The only indication is that the right and left arm seams are different. One runs up past the elbow while the other stops before it; see images below.
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.
Byros' legs and waist were used in a later unlicensed toy sold only in Japan called IQ-200Z. It was released under the Robot Stationery banner and made use of Barsard's upper body and arms modified to add an eraser to the left chest cavity. 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 / 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 [right foot] Gakken / [left foot] Pat P Taiwan
