I love that backstory. It starts as a planetwide conflict between brothers and then at the end they remember it was supposed to be about changing robots, so they shoehorned them in at the end.
They're actually not the only toys in this line! Probably. The "Robotron" concept pops up in other Buddy L robot toys as well, such as the line that is actually _named_ "Robotron". And all of them are just knockoffs of Gobots with pullback motors. And jus like Chargertron, the villains are all just recolours of the good guys.
@@Takeshi357 I actually had a few of those when I was a kid. They were really cheaply made, and lasted about 2 days before falling apart. There are also three Robotron knockoffs of the Dinobots as well. They're pretty much just the Dinobots, but heavily simplified. Those actually lasted much longer. In fact, I still have two of them. And, they're still in great shape, even after being played with by kids like, 40 years ago. After a quick google search, there appears to be other things as well. Including vehicles designed to fit Gobots and Transformers, as well.
Swear when he read two princes my mind went straight to "Yeah One, two, princes kneel before you That's what I said, now Princes, Princes who adore you Just go ahead, now"
I've got the red one. Those things are so ubiquitous in flea markets and stuff, I literally ended up with one without trying. Got it in a bag lot or something.
I still have the Dukes of Hazzard Wrist Racers, and a Rough Rider! Does anyone else remember the Finger Racers? If you want a more dangerous toy - Mercury Maze... got two, one boxed. I remember one broke at school and the science technicians has to close the corridor while they cleaned it up, and Mercury Mazes were then banned forever.
C. L. true as kids without the internet and other digital and games stuff these toys and fantasy( our own minds/brains) kids from certain ages would play for hours in make believe galaxies.
The house I grew up in had a carpeted kitchen as well. It was a really thin carpeting over a brick floor. Given the age of the house, would not have been surprised if the carpet had asbestos in it or something.
I literally started to watch your videos 3 days ago. Since then I spent an absurd amount of time with it. I mean seriously. Like 40 hours. So yeah. That is an endorsement. Keep it up. :D
Seeing the thumbnail without my glasses on, and seeing the description, I thought it would be a knockoff-Transformers themed phone charger that you could adjust into different robots. "How bad could that possibly be?" I asked myself. Then I saw the vintage packaging and realized it was a different kind of Charger.
I had both of these when I was about 5. I hadn't thought of them in bloody years. Definitely see why they'd be underwhelming at a later age but I remember loving them.
I swear Ashens,you could tell me I had one fucking day to live & ur voice alone would make it unbelievably easy to take! Ur one of my absolute favorite channels! Great video as always!!
I actually think seeing who rules their moon better is a good test to see who can best run the space empire as a whole like giving 2 prospective CEOs an individual branch to run and see who does it better
I JUST remembered I had one of these when I was like 6-7 years old, It came free with the purchase of a meal at this chicken place. The funny thing that reminded me was seeing a commercial for said promotion when I was looking up the original commercial.
I had this toy! I had actually begged my stepfather to take me to the store during the Super Bowl halftime so I could get this.When I finally got this thing I played with it once and then went back to my Transformers. They really are lame but back then the idea of a Transformer toy that could change itself was the greatest thing ever to a young boy.
For some reason the "Attacker" mode reminded me of two G1 Transformers. They were almost identical, except one had drills and the other had wings. They had a spring catch that was supposed to "transform" them. They were the laziest designed transformers because they just moved along and when you triggered the catch, their legs came down. The reason I remember them so well is because I owned red bootleg versions and also a huge cheap version! Its mind-blowing that they got away with charging £8 for stuff like the Chargertron etc!
Angry Applesauce he's the truest villain ever - real world villains d don't look evil. In fact, they often have great big smiles on their faces... You gotta admit, though: whenever Evil Otto caught up to you, you'd go Berzerk.
I had the red one as a kid, thought it was some shite transformer though. I remember leaving it behind in a hotel room on the Isle of Mann, was not one bit upset.
I thought for sure that Wrist Racers would be little toy cars that zoomed around on a track wrapped around your wrist like a watch; that would also be cool.
I could make this so much better. Watching this more and more is convincing me to actually do so. I've made tons of Transformers designs in the past, and could make these so much better. The protagatrons and antagatrons could be separate races of chargertrons, and each one is unique, and each Chargertron, and its Tracker/Attacker companion, would be posable and convertable. im getting giddy thinking about this.
United Sonic Alliance actually popped up on my YT Music app at work today, and in the ensuing conversation about the 80s pop on my 90s-rock-heavy playlist I had to explain the Ashens channel to my co-workers. I told them "He pretty much mostly reviews things he knows he's going to hate".
Oh man i had on of these pieces of junk. oh the disappointment nearly as bad as when i got a barcode battler . Keep up the quality tat content Ashens one the the best channels of the tube
At first I was thinking "what obscure Japanese toyline was this salvaged from?" But then I was like "oh... If it was Japanese then it would actually be interesting."
Didn't Chargertron predate the western introduction of Transformers (circa spring 1984) by a few months or am I thinking of Machine Man by Galoob (whose commercials were airing by December 1983, which I know because I had AIRPLANE! taped off television from the Christmas shopping season in 1983 and Machine Man was one of the toys advertised during commercial breaks)? I assume Buddy L must have known the Transformers were coming to the United States from Hasbro's booths at 1983 toy fairs and rushed out a quickie transforming robot toy of their own to compete, similar to how Brazil's Video Brinquedo produce direct-to-video CGI movies "inspired by" Pixar and Dreamworks trailers and can sometimes get them on video racks before the Pixar or Dreamworks films even hit the big screen. The Chargertron commercial aired on both sides of the pond. I grew up in the Montreal area and I remember seeing it on American TV stations from just across the border in Plattsburgh, New York and Burlington, Vermont.
I remember these. They were one of the transforming toys that were actually worse than Go-Bots. It has also brought back memories of a "Voltron Battle Riser" toy I once got for a birthday. Now that was a huge disappointment. While my friends were playing with their die cast metal Voltron sets (or even the cheap plastic version with the transparent cockpit doors), I ended up with that pile of shit.
I like the political statement of Antagatron being blue and Protagatron being red. Someone at this toy company must’ve really disliked Reagan/Thatcher.
RUFF RIDERS?! We had Stomper's here. Try and pull out that rough rider, put a battery in it and rock it back and fourth a lot with the power on. Sounds stupid but it fixed 2 of mine. Just locked gears!
Well that sure's a far cry from 20 gauge steel International Harvester truck models. I don't remember those at all. 1984? I was to busy getting the Hot Wheels Sto & Go garage and Panthor for my birthday. That was a good year.
Rough Riders....were those the ones that switched between a 2WD 'Speed' moded and a 4WD 'power' mode, and wer basically modelled after off-road trucks (with traction tires)? I had those...and a Wrist Racer as well, come to think of it.
Holy shit I was remembering the adverts for this on the telly before you mentioned it. Didn't get one, I wanted some different plastic crap at the time...
I remember having a cheap knockoff toy from the 80's based of an anime I later found out after 25 years... The design of this toy is mainly a combination of soft and hard plastic parts that were snapped together with pegs.
You know, this has inspired a current line of collectible children's card game toys. This is literally half of what "Mecards" are. Someone decided this toy was worth basing their entire line of collectible children traps on.
Damn! I remember Wrist Racers and Ruff Riders - They were both so cool in the adverts... And when i did finally get a hold of a Wrist Racer - I have to admit, in its own 80's Cheesy way... It was!!! @ashens do you remember PENNY RACERS - That would be a fun one to review (Except they did have a period where they became IMMENSELY popular... NO JOKE! These things became like GOLD DUST and sold for as much!)
"Protagotron and Antagotron" it's physically impossible to give less of a shit than whoever wrote that backstory.
I love that backstory. It starts as a planetwide conflict between brothers and then at the end they remember it was supposed to be about changing robots, so they shoehorned them in at the end.
They're actually not the only toys in this line! Probably.
The "Robotron" concept pops up in other Buddy L robot toys as well, such as the line that is actually _named_ "Robotron". And all of them are just knockoffs of Gobots with pullback motors. And jus like Chargertron, the villains are all just recolours of the good guys.
@@Takeshi357 I actually had a few of those when I was a kid. They were really cheaply made, and lasted about 2 days before falling apart. There are also three Robotron knockoffs of the Dinobots as well. They're pretty much just the Dinobots, but heavily simplified. Those actually lasted much longer. In fact, I still have two of them. And, they're still in great shape, even after being played with by kids like, 40 years ago.
After a quick google search, there appears to be other things as well. Including vehicles designed to fit Gobots and Transformers, as well.
“Always changing, Re-arranging” “that’s what we call a fucking lie”
I’m pissing myself 😂😂.
Swear when he read two princes my mind went straight to
"Yeah
One, two, princes kneel before you
That's what I said, now
Princes, Princes who adore you
Just go ahead, now"
“Well bloody hell, it’s BuddyL” XD
DWLivestreamsAndReviews AlsoTheNewSeriesIsShit BLOODY 'ELL, BUDDYL!
Drunken Hobo lol
I've got the red one. Those things are so ubiquitous in flea markets and stuff, I literally ended up with one without trying. Got it in a bag lot or something.
that fart cracked me up. yep, i'm a simple man :D
Always changing, rearranging... hold on to a love sensation!
dude that's what I was thinking, huh, that catchphrase sounds familiar...
This feels like something that sprang from the 70s, not the 90s.
This feels like something one would call a cheap tooth removal; a rip-off.
80’s toy
Carpets in the kitchen AND the bathroom? That's just inviting all kinds of nasties, but such was life in the 80's I guess.
GmodPlusWoW pretty much. The 80s were a different time
...90s
To me, it sounds more like a holdover from the 70's.
@ Bigloo It's from 1984, you can just about see it on the back of the launcher
When you mentioned about Rough Riders especially the part about The A Team ,I still have Face's Corvette in the house somewhere.
a shame "Idiot robot hoisting up a small car never made it's way into the Battlestar Galactica reboot
“the most disappointing toy I ever got for my birthday" let that sink into your mind!
Not so sure about that, there is Dinosaur Invincibility that it promises infinite pleasure.
Ashens the time has come, review the GOBOTS
STOPBOTS
"It's on youtube, I shall link it at the end."
_immediately pauses video and searches for it_
I like that Buddy El sounds like Bloody Hell xD gave me more joy than this toy gave you I'm sure.
SWITCH ON CHARGERTRON/ ROBOTS LIKE YOUVE NEVER SEEEEEEEN
I still have the Dukes of Hazzard Wrist Racers, and a Rough Rider!
Does anyone else remember the Finger Racers?
If you want a more dangerous toy - Mercury Maze... got two, one boxed. I remember one broke at school and the science technicians has to close the corridor while they cleaned it up, and Mercury Mazes were then banned forever.
The part where it gently hits the wall was hilarious
Maybe if you had both as a kid you would've had many amazing adventures...
C. L. true as kids without the internet and other digital and games stuff these toys and fantasy( our own minds/brains) kids from certain ages would play for hours in make believe galaxies.
Abby Stevens Maybe if several of us collaborate we could reunite the Red and Blue Chargertrons and present them to Ashton for a true experience...
A carpeted kitchen? Isn't that kind of a fire hazard and a mess magnet?
60s and 70's interior design was pretty bad.
The house I grew up in had a carpeted kitchen as well. It was a really thin carpeting over a brick floor. Given the age of the house, would not have been surprised if the carpet had asbestos in it or something.
Yikes. Abestos is always bad news.
That sounds pretty bad, especially if the terlet overflows.
Mat Web haha the house I bought about 12yrs ago had a pink carpet in the downstairs loo. I had to remove it as it got smelly
I don't get how you could watch that commercial and expect anything other than this... it does exactly what it shows in the commercial.
The launch unit looks like a taser.
ArchangelExile Or one of those hand held scanners from Star Trek.
Tophat cat it only looks like a robot because of the stickers.
don't really know how a robot could mutate but I'm sure it doesn't really matter when you're called protagatron
I literally started to watch your videos 3 days ago. Since then I spent an absurd amount of time with it. I mean seriously. Like 40 hours. So yeah. That is an endorsement. Keep it up. :D
József Benedek Kurunczi this is the appropriate method of watching Ashens.
Slepp approves.
I loved how it finished facing the corner, as it was punished for being so disappointing.
Seeing the thumbnail without my glasses on, and seeing the description, I thought it would be a knockoff-Transformers themed phone charger that you could adjust into different robots. "How bad could that possibly be?" I asked myself. Then I saw the vintage packaging and realized it was a different kind of Charger.
I had both of these when I was about 5. I hadn't thought of them in bloody years. Definitely see why they'd be underwhelming at a later age but I remember loving them.
Amazing editing on those car launches. I was almost excited to see the outcome!
So these were the two princes the Spin Doctors were singing about
I swear Ashens,you could tell me I had one fucking day to live & ur voice alone would make it unbelievably easy to take!
Ur one of my absolute favorite channels!
Great video as always!!
I love "Keeping Secrets From The Night" so much
This man has been on TH-cam for the longest, and I only just found him now.
I'm ashamed.
LOL rough rider is a brand of condoms here in the US so yeah.. good show
Brian Trester none of the real rough riders rode bareback, though, so that checks out.
Bf had Wristracer "Dukes of Hazzard" and confirms it's "bloody amazing!"
I actually think seeing who rules their moon better is a good test to see who can best run the space empire as a whole like giving 2 prospective CEOs an individual branch to run and see who does it better
I JUST remembered I had one of these when I was like 6-7 years old, It came free with the purchase of a meal at this chicken place. The funny thing that reminded me was seeing a commercial for said promotion when I was looking up the original commercial.
Love the new intro and outro. Very very well put together.
Wrist racers and Roughriders are amazing. Get on that shit!
Antagatron looks like the weird love child of Eva Unit 01 and Gypsy Danger
I was watching a Transformers toy video when a notification for this video about this Chargertron came up.
watching a marathon of ashens, and boom! a new episode :)
With batteries, that's quite a... powerful vibration.
I think I know why so many Mothers picked these up.
Oh man I loved my favorite character, Deuteragotron
I love that sofa. I love that intro.
I'm a bit drunk to be honest but *hey, that's how life goes*.
I had this toy! I had actually begged my stepfather to take me to the store during the Super Bowl halftime so I could get this.When I finally got this thing I played with it once and then went back to my Transformers. They really are lame but back then the idea of a Transformer toy that could change itself was the greatest thing ever to a young boy.
For some reason the "Attacker" mode reminded me of two G1 Transformers. They were almost identical, except one had drills and the other had wings. They had a spring catch that was supposed to "transform" them. They were the laziest designed transformers because they just moved along and when you triggered the catch, their legs came down. The reason I remember them so well is because I owned red bootleg versions and also a huge cheap version! Its mind-blowing that they got away with charging £8 for stuff like the Chargertron etc!
Ah yes, the Jumpstarters, Twintwist and Topspin.
Both members of the Wreckers, and have a whale of a time in the IDW Continuity!
The Battlechargers, Runabout and Runamuck, were the Decepticon counterparts to the Jumpstarters. They're also the Beavis and Butthead of Cybertron.
I think Evil Otto is a pretty cool villain. He has endless robots and doesn't afraid of anything.
Angry Applesauce he's the truest villain ever - real world villains d don't look evil. In fact, they often have great big smiles on their faces...
You gotta admit, though: whenever Evil Otto caught up to you, you'd go Berzerk.
But wasn't Evil Otto from Berzerk and not Robotron? 🤔
*Meh*
You doubt Stuart Clive Ashen?
Correct
He was, I looked it up I am too young to have lived in the robotron era but I have played the 3D remake but Evil Otto is indeed in Berzerk.
I had the red one as a kid, thought it was some shite transformer though.
I remember leaving it behind in a hotel room on the Isle of Mann, was not one bit upset.
Dear Stuart,
Please consider doing an episode on the better alternative toy cars.
I would love to see that.
Keep up the good work
I thought for sure that Wrist Racers would be little toy cars that zoomed around on a track wrapped around your wrist like a watch; that would also be cool.
I love how all of the advertising rhymes. What a wonderfully cheesy piece of history.
It looks like a toy that you'd find on a supermarket rack.
I could make this so much better. Watching this more and more is convincing me to actually do so. I've made tons of Transformers designs in the past, and could make these so much better. The protagatrons and antagatrons could be separate races of chargertrons, and each one is unique, and each Chargertron, and its Tracker/Attacker companion, would be posable and convertable.
im getting giddy thinking about this.
No link for the advert that you said would be in the description...
Just thought you should know
Just checked out the trailer, it is very Devo sounding. Great vid, never seen this toy before
We had Stompers, little trucks that just went forward, but would climb all over everything in their path. Fun little toy for it's time.
We all know you have hardwood floors for toy testing only.
Also, you have beautiful baseboard molding sir Ashens
"Always changing re-arranging" sounds a lot like The Mermelade's "Reflections of my life" song. lmao
United Sonic Alliance actually popped up on my YT Music app at work today, and in the ensuing conversation about the 80s pop on my 90s-rock-heavy playlist I had to explain the Ashens channel to my co-workers.
I told them "He pretty much mostly reviews things he knows he's going to hate".
Whenever I see that intro, the only thing I can think of "depressing 80's tat front and center."
this is the sort of thing that would've ended up in Poundland if Poundland had existed in the 80s
SWITCH ON CHARGERTRON ROBOTS LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN!
Come on you know you wanna sing it.😆
Oh man i had on of these pieces of junk. oh the disappointment nearly as bad as when i got a barcode battler . Keep up the quality tat content Ashens one the the best channels of the tube
But just IMAGINE how AMAZING it would look, if you where to launch them at EACH OTHER!! :D .......... or maybe not.
We had Rough riders ,but called Stompers here...damn i loved those! Made by Ljn, they should have stuck with making toys. Waiting for a Zoids vid!
At first I was thinking "what obscure Japanese toyline was this salvaged from?"
But then I was like "oh... If it was Japanese then it would actually be interesting."
Didn't Chargertron predate the western introduction of Transformers (circa spring 1984) by a few months or am I thinking of Machine Man by Galoob (whose commercials were airing by December 1983, which I know because I had AIRPLANE! taped off television from the Christmas shopping season in 1983 and Machine Man was one of the toys advertised during commercial breaks)?
I assume Buddy L must have known the Transformers were coming to the United States from Hasbro's booths at 1983 toy fairs and rushed out a quickie transforming robot toy of their own to compete, similar to how Brazil's Video Brinquedo produce direct-to-video CGI movies "inspired by" Pixar and Dreamworks trailers and can sometimes get them on video racks before the Pixar or Dreamworks films even hit the big screen.
The Chargertron commercial aired on both sides of the pond. I grew up in the Montreal area and I remember seeing it on American TV stations from just across the border in Plattsburgh, New York and Burlington, Vermont.
I didn't see it transform into attacker mode. Nice editing job there, Stuart!
Ashens the man that sits on the floor and eats of the couch
I remember these. They were one of the transforming toys that were actually worse than Go-Bots.
It has also brought back memories of a "Voltron Battle Riser" toy I once got for a birthday. Now that was a huge disappointment. While my friends were playing with their die cast metal Voltron sets (or even the cheap plastic version with the transparent cockpit doors), I ended up with that pile of shit.
I like the political statement of Antagatron being blue and Protagatron being red. Someone at this toy company must’ve really disliked Reagan/Thatcher.
1994?... wow, could've convinced me it was closer to 1984...
it is 84
fair enough, it sounded like 94, even watched a few times to check
Paused the video, it is indeed 1984 ^^
You are just old.
He said 1984. It's just his accent that makes it kinda sound like said 1994 if you're not listening carefully.
That upright "Attacker" form just looks like an angry arcade cabinet.
hey this was uploaded on my birthday. thanks ashens
RUFF RIDERS?! We had Stomper's here. Try and pull out that rough rider, put a battery in it and rock it back and fourth a lot with the power on. Sounds stupid but it fixed 2 of mine. Just locked gears!
Well that sure's a far cry from 20 gauge steel International Harvester truck models. I don't remember those at all. 1984? I was to busy getting the Hot Wheels Sto & Go garage and Panthor for my birthday. That was a good year.
[In the tune Transformers] Change-Machines™: Knockoff robots you can buy!
Attacker headed straight to the corner of shame. 😂
Hey, it's the VHS-style intro! Haven't seen that in a while.
I can't wait to see what Royal Wedding tat you come across Ashens 😄 Assuming you'll make that video.
Had a little giggle with the depressing fart noise after the attack mode demo... Its the little things that make it innit! :D
Rough Riders....were those the ones that switched between a 2WD 'Speed' moded and a 4WD 'power' mode, and wer basically modelled after off-road trucks (with traction tires)? I had those...and a Wrist Racer as well, come to think of it.
This thing is almost charming. As in, I'll totally buy one if I see one cheap.
Go to any flea market, from what I hear the bloody things are ubiquitous.
Holy shit I was remembering the adverts for this on the telly before you mentioned it. Didn't get one, I wanted some different plastic crap at the time...
Lmfao.. u kill me dude!
Get some more rancid foods on 😂👌👌👌
why would your bathroom be carpeted.. that seems like a very poor choice for a room full of steam o.O
drunkrdm yep, and missing the toilet when ya pee...
Twas a rather common thing actually back then however.
(The carpeted bathroom, not the pee...)
Rough riders! Shit I loved mine!
biscuitsalive Which one was your favorite?
I've always been partial to the bull moose one, myself.
i used to nick em and set them off in a lake
Stop. Drop. Shut 'em down, open up shop.
Oh. No. That's how Ruff Ryders roll.
i can't remember the name of mine, it was a bit like the 'The Fall Guys' truck.
That opening was amazing.
As a Lego collector, could you showcase your most favorite and most disappointing Lego sets you ever bought? Just an interesting idea for a video
god i love the retro into and outro
Charger Tron! Now with a 100% less Jeff Bridges!
...At last?
I had this guy when I was little. While it wasn't as cool as my other robots and transformers, I thought he was decently cool.
Plot twist, *you're* the prince and the toy is *your* henchman.
I remember having a cheap knockoff toy from the 80's based of an anime I later found out after 25 years... The design of this toy is mainly a combination of soft and hard plastic parts that were snapped together with pegs.
You know, this has inspired a current line of collectible children's card game toys. This is literally half of what "Mecards" are. Someone decided this toy was worth basing their entire line of collectible children traps on.
Legend has it that the Spin Doctors song Two Princes is about Antagatron and Protagatron.
I couldn't stop staring at that bit of wall in the corner... Just me? Okay...
you should review Johnny Seven lol, now that was an awesome advert!
Damn! I remember Wrist Racers and Ruff Riders - They were both so cool in the adverts... And when i did finally get a hold of a Wrist Racer - I have to admit, in its own 80's Cheesy way... It was!!!
@ashens do you remember PENNY RACERS - That would be a fun one to review (Except they did have a period where they became IMMENSELY popular... NO JOKE! These things became like GOLD DUST and sold for as much!)