Friend of the podcast and Discord server regular HyperShauta has pointed us to some very interesting information tonight! A filing with the FCC’s device information registry has a lot of technical details about and even several photos of a new “flagship” G1 Grimlock interactive robot toy from Robosen!
Language in the product’s quickstart manual (reproduced in PDF form via the FCC site) refers to a “dragon” mode for the toy, affirming the notion that the “flagship” branding in this case refers to an actually transforming converting robot, rather than the single-form robots shown by Robosen recently, including Bumblebee and Rise of The Beasts Optimus Prime. However, the provided photos in the listing do not depict the, er, “dragon” mode at this time.
This filing is an application for approval from the FCC, which essentially just details technical information about the product and how it uses radio communications to perform its functions so that it can be cleared for sale in the US. This doesn’t necessarily indicate any specific timetable for when this would be released, or even announced. It could still be quite a while, since this approval is an important step in the product development and production, and the filing is only dated a few days ago, April 26, 2023.
It’s interesting to learn that Robosen is still in the converting robot toy market, and taking on an interesting character like Grimlock. I certainly look forward to seeing the first demo videos of it transforming under its own power!