Google has a new service for searching patents (http://www.google.com/patents). This is huge for people who work with intellectual property, but it can be fun for Transformer fans as well. I just searched on "transforming robot toy" and one of the first few results was the Takara patent for Bluestreak, Skids, Grapple and Trailbreaker. You can click on the image to see the figures. http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT4680018&id=5qwuAAAAEBAJ&dq=transforming+robot+toy Check it out! Michael
That is cool--got some Go-Bots running around there also. I don't work with IP, so this may be a dumb question, but how come all the Transformers aren't on there? Wouldn't they all be patented?
There are various ways to search Transformers patents, some of which have been reported here before. This might be helpful too: http://www.geocities.com/futuristgroup/vpatents.html
This works well: "Takara Co" robot reconfigurable Megatron: http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT4571201&id=ngAuAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=%22Takara+Co%22+robot+reconfigurable