Robot Rider Starla (Blaze and the Monster Machines) FOUND!

This is just a quick little blurb, but I wanted to go ahead and chronicle my acquisition of Robot Rider Starla! Not much of a surprise since we all knew she existed (or would in the near future) but I’m glad to have her. Last time, when I snatched up Robot Rider Darington, someone must’ve beaten me to the punch, because this time I found her amid a case including Robot Rider Darington, at least one Robot Rider Blaze, possibly 2 Watts, and one Gus. (Gus isn’t new, but it’s been a long time since he was in production.)

Pretty cool, eh? I’ve said this previously about the Robot Rider subset, but to reiterate I think this is a worthy repaint. The clear tires with the opaque wheels underneath create a cool effect, the small circuitry graphics are a nice detail, and the clear hat really pushes it out of standard repaint territory.

As of now, it doesn’t look like anything else new is on the way…at least not anything that’s being actively advertised. I’d hope that the folks pumping these out are focusing on some new models/characters, though I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw another wave of Robot Riders with – my best guess – the likes of Zeg, Pickle, Stripes, and of course Crusher.

Before closing out I want to briefly mention that I found this maybe 4 or 5 days ago at Walmart. Early this morning, I spotted her for the first time at Target and in a wildly different case configuration. Whatever came in Target’s case included 2 Robot Rider Starla’s, 2 Robot Rider Blaze’s, 2 Robot Rider Darington’s with oddly no Watts or Gus, but the curious inclusion of Reece, the recycling truck that’s been out of production for quite some time as well except for a very strange appearance it made alongside the Elephant Truck and Cowboy Truck, neither of which I’ve seen since. Ain’t it weird?

Another BLAZE – Robot Rider Appears!

Much like the Robot Rider Blaze and Watts vehicles that have been regularly appearing at Target for the last few weeks, I spotted yet another addition to the subseries, though strangely enough I spotted this at Walmart.

Robot Rider Darington!

It’s a good look for Darington…I always felt like he got sortta shafed when it came to his original paint job. There’s not too much to say about this diecast hunk o’ preschool toy, though I dig the cartoony “techno” aesthetic. Those clear tires are cool as always, but what really grabs my attention are the clear, teal tailpipes poking out from under the rear wheelhouse on each side. Of course I’d always rather have new characters and new body designs over repaints, but these Robot Riders have so far done a good job of giving us a worthwhile alternate paint job.

One last point of interest lies on the back of the card for Robot Rider Darington – the promise of a Robot Rider Starla! I don’t know if she’s not out yet or someone had picked her up before I got over there. Either way, we can probably expec to see one soon!