By mid-1983, Machine Robo was moving towards a steady diet of realistic vehicles, but every now and then something a little bit more extraordinary slipped in, like Missile Tank Robo. By the end of the year the bulk of available moulds had been issued as Gobots, and the Missile Tank Robo was no exception, becoming the Guardian Blaster (incidentally arriving in stores nearly two years ahead of the Transformer of the name… that's not bad for a rip-off line ).

The initial orange version did appear onscreen (albeit briefly) in the TV mini-series "The Battle for Gobotron", but when the regular series hit the screens (with the character getting a couple of sizeable roles for a non-central Guardian, most notably in the "Invasion from the 21st Level" two-parter), Blaster received a new head design and a predominantly green colour scheme. And an annoying, nasal voice.

For the second series of toys, as with Crasher, this colour scheme was changed for the figure when production switched to the figures carded with holograms - though unlike Crasher this recolour was allotted a fresh Gobot number (35, just in case you were wondering). The head was not resculpted, however. The original was reissued in Japan in 1986 for the Revenge of Cronos tie-in line, and the character made a handful of appearances in the Anime itself.

The missile tank mode (according to Machine Robo Wedge, this is an M33, though I've yet to turn up a picture of one of these to verify the accuracy) is an ugly little thing, to be blunt. It lacks both aesthetics and neatness. Aside from the hunchbacked appearance, the missile mounts are obviously the robot arms, while the torso details can be clearly seen between these. The arms don't really look in place either, meaning any looseness in the arm joints (more on these in a minute) robs the mode of what little rigidity it has.

The cockpit and tracks add a sense of size to the tank - these must be ICBMs or something mounted on him, while the huge chromed weapons themselves look pretty good (and add a little fun to the mode). Incidentally, the raised areas on the front of the mounts do look a little like missile tubes, and Blaster doesn't look (any more) ridiculous without the parts.

By this stage of the line, Bandai were beginning to get more inventive with transformations, rather than just fitting the vehicles around the same few rough templates, and thus Blaster changes like no other Gobot. This is possibly a good thing…

All of the problems with the alt mode could probably be saved by a good-looking robot coming from it, but Blaster manages to be even more of a mess. The sequence itself isn't actually completely without merit, with the sides of the tank swinging forward to form the legs (with the cab splitting and folding to provide the feet), the top becoming the arms ad the head neatly flipping out of the back.

The execution is lacking, however. Nothing on Blaster clicks into place. Getting the feet to stay at 90° is very difficult, while the leg joints work loose very easily, leading to a bandy-legged robot (the ankle joints are also notoriously weak). The usual Gobot metal bars are pressed into service for the shoulders, but here they're ridiculously long, coupled with long, chunky arms that make Blaster look like a monkey. Add to this his ridiculous pinhead (which, needless to say, doesn't stay in place half the time) and his comically flat profile, and nothing's going for him. The embellishments aren't too bad (some good detail on the chest, tasteful stickers and a recent face casting) and the orange colour itself works, but it's a bit like putting icing on a turd.