Path Finder (or sometimes written as “Pathfinder”) is a transforming UFO Gobot that was released in 1983 as part of the first wave of the Gobot toy line. As with all the Gobots from this era, Path Finder was also released as part of the Machine Robo series by Bandai in Japan, also in 1983, where it went by the name “UFO Robo”. Aside from a few extra stickers on the Machine Robo version, the two toys are pretty much identical.
In the Gobots lore, Path Finder is a friendly robot who served alongside Leader-1 during missions on Earth. While it’s hard to tell just by looking at the figure, Path Finder is actually a female Gobot. On the Challenge of the Gobots cartoon, she was voiced by Marilyn Lightstone, who handled a few different voices on the show. Lightstone also voiced characters on the Pound Puppies cartoon, Dennis the Menace, The Real Ghostbusters, and Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats.
I like the simplicity of small Gobots like this. To change Path Finder’s form takes only five steps and the end result really does look different from it’s previous form.
I think it’s this simplicity that helps sell it as a true “robot in disguise”. Sure, it’s a UFO, so it doesn’t really mimic any real-world vehicles, but just by looking at it, you’d also be hard-pressed to say, “That space ship also transforms into a robot” or “That robot also transforms into a space ship”. For example, as much as I love the G1 Transformer Sunstreaker, just looking at this Lamborghini Countach toy you can tell there’s something more to it than just a toy car…
The pieces don’t quite fit snugly together, there are lines where they wouldn’t be if the car body was solid, there’s a giant hinge on the back of the roof, there’s another hinge on the back quarter panels; it’s clearly “more than meets the eye”.
And in robot mode, things don’t get much better for Sunstreaker…
He has wheels on his feet. He has wheels on his shoulders. He has a windshield on his chest. He has a spoiler and a supercharger on his back. You know that robot changes into a car.
But with Path Finder, just by looking at either mode, you can’t tell at a glance that this is a transforming robot and I like that. Again, maybe it’s because she doesn’t fit a known form factor in UFO mode, but I feel like there’s more at play here than just that.
I don’t remember when I got Path Finder. I feel like she’s just always been a part of my collection since the transforming robot craze began. I obviously think she’s pretty cool if I’ve held onto her this long.
