MAXX-E

A big part of designing Toyfinity's new Robo Force Maxx Zero was making sure to include special hidden formations.

When I first saw Maxx back in the 80's, he reminded me a lot of the small Tomy wind up Rascal Robots and larger remote control Omnibots that I'd been playing with around that time, only beefed up. The simplified body construction made the entire Ideal Robo Force line stand out, particularly with how intricate rival company Takara/Hasbro's family of very famous robots looked in comparison.

It was most likely the very things I loved about Robo Force that proved the reason for the premature demise of the line.

Thinking about the reasons why the original Robo Force met an early end factored heavily into the development of the new series. The new Maxx needed to bring something more to the table than a suction cup base, a flip down chest and some crushing arms (though I loved those aspects).

As the design work progressed, our minds kept drifting back to the similarities between those old Tomy robots and Robo Force. This in turn spiraled back to the predecessors of the Robo Force, Ideal's original Zeroids line. From there the entire world of 50's and 60's Japanese tin robots then came into play, as we studied the form factors and style lines of those antique and incredible pieces.

The above build pays homage specifically to all the previously mentioned influences, wrapped up in a major tribute to Pixar's awesome WALL-E, which is also a throwback to Tomy's early 80's work as well.

As John would say, it's Toyfinity.

Later on, we'll cover the 80's Real Type mecha design influences that also helped to forge the new Robo Force line!