Posted in: streaming, TV | Tagged: Roboforce

RoboForce Creator on Bringing Back IP, Cartoon for New Generation

BLEEDING COOL INTERVIEW: Creator Brian Volk-Weiss discussed the animated series return of RoboForce, the franchise's origin, and much more.

It's hard to think of a time when there was ever a bigger robot-driven animated juggernaut than the Transformers, and the fact that its legacy has endured for over 40 years is a fantastic feat for any IP. At the same time, they weren't alone at the time of their emergence; there were the Go-Bots, who already had a head start, and the animated epic RoboForce. CBS was ready to launch into its own enterprise. Sadly, the fight was already over before it really began, but thanks to Nacelle and Brian Volk-Weiss, who purchased the rights to the RoboForce brand, a new generation of fans has an opportunity to enjoy their adventures. EP Volk-Weiss, who co-created the Tubi animated series with Gavin Hignight, spoke to Bleeding Cool about how he grew to love the initial product line from the Ideal Toy Company, how his Netflix show revitalized his passion for RoboForce, and how it never really had a chance until now.

Brian Volk-Weiss on Revitalizing 'RoboForce' for 2025

Bleeding Cool: What went into acquiring the rights to 'RoboForce' and reviving it as a brand and a TV series?

Not as a kid, I wish I could say, but as a college student and even afterwards, I loved the design of 'Roboforce,' because it was so unique from any other toy. I didn't know what it was, but I thought it was an awesome, crazy design. I eventually bought every single character and vehicle. I had the play set, party hats, napkins, pillows, bedsheets, and everything. One day, we did this show on Netflix called 'The Toys That Made Us,' and because of that show, we get a lot of calls from the toy community.

One call led to another, and we found out 'RoboForce' was up for sale. I am a huge animation fan, or as I like to say, "cartoon buff." I was like, "Well, this could be a great opportunity to get into the toy and animation business." We bought the copyright, we hired a designer, found a factory, and made the toys. They were barely profitable, but they were profitable, and for a company that had never made toys before, it was like, "All right, so maybe there's something to this." I was like, "All right. Let's make a cartoon." One of the interesting things about 'The Toys That Made Us' was that it felt like going to business school, directing the show. I knew 'Transformers' and 'G.I. Joe' were helped by the cartoons, so I was like, "Let's make the cartoon."

The only thing I found was a project called 'The Revenge of Nazgar' back in 1984. I'm guessing you've seen that before. Was there a pilot?

Listen, I can truthfully look you in the eye and say, "Yes, I've seen it." Let me give you a couple of caveats to that statement since you mentioned a pilot. It was not the pilot. Number one, I have seen it on YouTube in bits and pieces over the years. This is one of the funniest things about the story and, and I don't know if you know this, but what happened to 'RoboForce,' the brand and the toys…we took that [existing] story and made it the story in our series. What happened was… so when you say "pilot," CBS greenlit 52 episodes. When CBS Toys, which used to be Ideal Toys, took 'Roboforce' to Toy Fair in 1983, they announced it on a Tuesday. They said, "We are making these toys and doing 52 episodes of this cartoon. Most toy lines start with seven characters. We're starting with 30. Most toy lines don't have a vehicle in the first wave. We started with three in 1980." They were selling a $800 robot, which would be like three grand today. They went crazy. Guess what was announced at Toy Fair on Thursday?

What?

'Transformers' and they destroyed 'RoboForce.' For example, before Thursday, Toys R Us made a two-million-unit order for 'RoboForce, the biggest first wave order in the history of the company. After 'Transformers,' it went down to 250. That's what happened in real life and what destroyed 'RoboForce.' To answer your question, "Yes, I've seen the horrible cartoon from 1984 in bits and pieces on YouTube," and I can assure you, our cartoon has nothing to do with that cartoon other than the fact that some of the characters have the same names. Also, all our toys have suction cups, just like the original.

I also remember owning 'Go-Bots' growing up, because it was trying to compete with 'Transformers.' Was it completely off the table at the time that [RoboForce] ever had a shot?

I don't want to get into the weeds, because whenever I talk about toys, I can get into the weeds. I will try and keep this as short as possible and not ramble. 'Go-Bots' came out not only before 'Transformers,' but also 'RoboForce.' 'Gobots' had almost a three-year head start and were doing fine. It was only the immediate blow-up success of Transformers that destroyed 'RoboForce' in the crib, but also destroyed 'Go-Bots' less than two years later.

When 'Transformers' came out, 'Go-Bots' was going into its fourth wave. There was only one wave after that because of 'Transformers.' For four years, they were pumping them out, doing great, and one year after 'Transformers,' they were dead. The other thing I would also say, because you're asking a good question I've never been asked before, 'Transformers' worked because in addition to being a cool idea, Hasbro wasn't cheap and hired Marvel.

Hasbro hired Stan Lee's production company to make the cartoon, so they hired the best comic book company who created the entire plot line for 'Transformers' that still exists to this day. They hired Stan Lee to do the cartoon with Margaret Loesch, it came out great. The people who made 'Go-Bots,' let's just say, they didn't hire Marvel. They didn't hire Stan Lee, and it is the understatement to say 'RoboForce' did not hire either of those companies either. If you watch 'Transformers' now, it holds up. It's not as cool as something that was made a year ago, but I can show the original to my kids, and they dig it. You cannot do that with 'Go-Bots' and you sure as hell cannot do that with 'RoboForce.'

Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia co-executive-produced season one of RoboForce for Seven Bucks Productions. The series features the voices of Katherine Norris, Julee Song, Rory McCormick, Chris Coculuzzi, Daniel Nwobi, Heather Jansma, and Dave Beynon. It is available to stream on Tubi.

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