Tobot V (toyline)

The Tobot V toyline sees the return of Tokeys, but this time they are in the form of animals (for most Tobots until Season 2). The first three Tobots partially auto-transform when their keys are inserted.

Later Tobots have their Tokeys integrated into the robot mode and some with their vehicle mode also, though these ones don't actually have keyholes.

There are some retooled Tobots, being the Rescue Squad & Athlon retools (Alpha Plus/Grand Champion). In the other hand, Storm Joe & Agent Titan utilize Monkart Toy Frame with a new mold.

For the second season, the toyline features Tobots with the familiar animal tokeys meant for accessing their V-Extension forms to perform better in combat. The Maximus V trio has animal tokeys that would let them access new weapons & provide increased combat performance. Paragon & Arcbolt works differently as their tokeys change their body proportions from that of SD Gundam-esque to their true appearance. However, Ultra Commander (Plus Tobot Rangers), Giant V & Justice V lacks a tokey to transform for some reason.

The third season features Tobots with Tokeys that aren't animal themed, but rather using the basic car key theme with numbering label on it.

List of toys

May 2018

• Speed: Has an RC Car motif. Falcon Tokey is also included as transformation gimmick. It has standard articulation for a Tobot toy.
• Monster: Transforms with a Gorilla-themed Tokey, based on a monster truck.
• Shuttle (Rocket): Transforms into a space shuttle-themed Tobot, utilizing an owl-themed Tokey.

August 2018

The Rescue Team are the first Tobots to reuse molds from the original Tobot toyline.

• Sergeant Justice (Captain Police): The Tobot utilizing a police car motif, he is the 4th Tobot that is released in the Tobot V toyline with a new mold instead of retooling past Tobot toys. Includes a Wolf tokey that can be placed on the chest part, plus showing his robot head wearing a police cap & shades. This is also the first Tobot V toy to be designed by God Brave Studio.
• Rescue Y/Flight: A remold of Adventure Y with white & red coloring scheme, it has a new face.
• Rescue Zero/Hero: A remold of Tobot Zero with white & red coloring scheme, has a new face.
• Rescue R/Flame: Remold of Tobot R, but with a white & red coloring scheme like the other two Rescue Squad members, he has a new face too.

October 2018

• Commander Universe (Great Admiral): He has a futuristic turtle ship theme, with the dragon tokey can be placed on the front of the ship in this form. He transforms into a bulky armored robot themed after ancient korean soldier. Despite it's bulky & armored look, the articulation somewhat works fine.
• Tank Man (Tank Guy): Tank-themed Tobot with a rhino tokey. He can be combined with the toy version of Commander Universe into Invincible/Iron Admiral despite being sold separately.

January 2019

• Big Trail: Appears as a Semi-trailer truck Tobot, he transforms with a buffalo-themed tokay. Him in his vehicle mode & robot mode can be combined with Beast. Includes a hammer for his weapon.
• Beast (Troll): Appears as an armored truck Tobot, he transforms with an elephant/mammoth tokey. He can be combined with Big Trail to form Big Beast.

April 2019

• Master V: The Master V toyline features modified & recolored molds from Speed, Monster & Shuttle. Shuttle composes the torso body, Speed composes the arms, and monster composes the legs. It has a new head for his robot mode. He can be combined with the other tobots like Mega Drill, Power Train, and Quantum Stealth despite being sold separately.

June

• Mega Drill (Super Driller): The first Tobot of the Tobot V series that lacks a tokey to transform, he is based on a drill tank with quad drills. He can be combined with Master V as arm upgrades even if it is sold as a separate product.

July

• Power Train: Just like Mega Drill, he lacks a tokey for transformation and can be combined with Master V for additional leggings. He has a bullet train/cable train motif with conductor elements.

August

• Quantum Stealth/Sonic Stealth: Utilizes a Stealth jet motif, it has a thin appearance. He can be combined with Master V to form the wings.

September

• Alpha Plus: Alpha Plus is the next retooled Tobot to be released after Rescue Squad, it reuses mold from the Athlon Alpha toy.
• Grand Champion: Retooled version of Athlon Champion toy, but it features a brand new head sculpt unlike most retools.
• Storm Joe: Utilizes a Megaroid toy frame, Storm Joe's small car can merge with a bigger police car to access his robot form
• Agent Titan: Agent Titan utilizes a Gigaroid frame, but with a new mold in armor design. His small car component has a humanoid mode unlike Storm Joe.

Season 2

TBA.

Season 3

TBA.

Reception

During the first wave of Tobot V toy releases, the retools (notably the rescue squad) were the primary point of criticism from long-time Tobot fans. The new toys received good reviews even from adult collectors, and from those who are unfamiliar with the Tobot franchise overall. The toy sales are performing well, and much better than the previous entries.

The second wave of Tobot V toy sales saw an another great reception from the toy reviewers.

However, for the third wave of the toy sales, it went downhill due to the competition with their rival Hello Carbot, despite the good reviews aimed at the products still.

Overall, despite the controversy aimed at the retooled products, the toyline for Tobot V received mostly positive reviews.

Notes

• This is the one and only Tobot toyline to feature retooled products made up from the past Tobot toys, plus Monkart.
• Some of the Tobot V toyline designs are also contributed by the God Brave Studio, notably Big Trail & Beast, Paragon, and more.
• The Tobot V toyline is eventually released in China with Lemao making the toys, after the original Tobot (except Athlon).

References

TBA