Baron Von Joy

Baron Von Joy or Professor Von Joy is the very model of an absent-minded professor. Brilliant in a variety of scientific fields, he's still better known for his spectacular failures than his successes. That's because Von Joy is often so eager to test out a new invention, he forgets to actually test it before bringing it into the field. Still, he's very good natured about his mishaps, and so Leader-1 and the other Guardians are typically willing to forgive and forget. He also has a habit of lapsing into disturbing muttering when frustrated. When severely vexed he even lapses into German.

“	Zis vill end ze battle mach schnell!	”
—He's not wrong..., "It's the Thought that Counts"

Fiction

Challenge of the GoBots cartoon

Voice actor: Phil Hartman

After Small Foot was struck by the Master Renegade's transgressor her transformational circuitry disappeared; she was brought back to GoBotron for repairs, and at Matt Hunter's suggestion Professor Von Joy and Rest-Q put the injured Guardian through the Modifier, allowing her conversion ability to be restored. Moments later Cy-Kill and the Master Renegade led a huge invasion of the planet with Roguestar and a huge fleet of Thrusters; Von Joy was nowhere to be seen for the entire escapade, and was possibly unaware of any of it happening. The Fall of GoBotron Professor Von Joy was a member of the GoBotron Security Council along with Leader-1, Scooter, Good Knight, Matt Hunter, A.J. Foster, Nick Burns and General Newcastle when the group was convened on Earth to discuss a response to the Nova Beam devised by Doctor Braxis, deciding that immediate action was needed to find Roguestar before it could be fired again. This proved difficult, though thankfully Cy-Kill double-crossed Braxis soon afterwards, and he was able to help the Guardians stop the device from destroying Earth. Nova Beam

Professor Von Joy visited a UNECOM base in Utah to test modifications to the Power Suits, with Dozer the unfortunate occupying the armour as he bombarded it with various beams. The Professor also demonstrated his new Quasi-Sonic Renegade Detection Unit, though it needed tweaking as it initially claimed Nick was a Renegade. Later the device helped tip the Guardians off that the Renegades had attempted to brainwash Scooter, allowing Leader-1 to arrange a trap for Cy-Kill and his troops. When they swanned into the base they were caught in a heavy Guardian cross-fire and on the brink of destruction. Sadly Professor Von Joy decided to speed things up with his latest invention; sadly, whatever it was meant to do didn't work as it froze the entire Guardian taskforce, allowing the battered Renegades to retreat. Thankfully for the crestfallen Von Joy, Leader-1 was just about able to hold his temper in check and forgive the scientist for his faux pas. It's the Thought that Counts

When Scooter decided he needed to equip himself with blasters after being unable to intervene in a Renegade kidnapping attempt he travelled to GoBotron to see Professor Von Joy. The scientist equipped him with hand-blasters as requested, though he opted to test whether they were working by throwing Scooter's damaged hologram projector at the small Guardian, who blew it up on reflex. Von Joy then issued a set of bizarre instructions before wandering off as his train of thought derailed. Presumably when Scooter ultimately decided to return to GoBotron and have his holographic projector returned Von Joy carried out the procedure. Scooter Enhanced Another of his inventions was the nucleonic power pack, though it was stolen by the Renegades thanks to Bad Boy posing as Heat Seeker and leaking information to the Renegades. Wolf in the Fold He was later among the key Guardian delegates for the mooted peace conference with the Renegades in Vienna, reading a book on the journey there with Leader-1 and General Newcastle. Presumably Zeemon was on holiday. While Von Joy was present at the signing he ducked out as soon as it was revealed as another Renegade scheme and the fighting started.Pacific Overtures

He later served on the Guardian Council under Zeemon when Cy-Kill used the hostage population of Earth to install himself as Overlord of GoBotron. He even cloned himself for the occasion. Clutch of Doom Otherwise he spent most of his time trying to find a way to counter the Renegades' stealth device, but made little headway. Instead the Guardians were forced to call on the help of Doctor Braxis, who had been institutionalised. Von Joy's non-existent nose was thoroughly put out by this development, especially as the human's variable mental condition made him even more tactless than usual. The Professor did not take this well, and even seemed set to resort to methods from a possible dark past at one point. Matt then unwisely left Professor Von Joy in charge of Braxis, and while he didn't "deal" with him the absent-minded GoBot did immediately lose Braxis. When Matt and Von Joy found the insane scientist, he had the Professor's energy transducer and was under the impression it was a toy rather than a highly dangerous piece of equipment. While Matt was able to catch it before they were all killed the episode did serve to convince all present that Braxis should probably be returned to the mental hospital. Braxis Gone Bonkers

After serious computer problems struck the Command Center, Leader-1 decided to Astrobeam Professor Von Joy in for help. He suggested Leader-1, Turbo and Van Guard miniaturise themselves and go inside the computer to fix it. He modified their systems accordingly and delivered a baffling, vague set of instructions before heading back to GoBotron and leaving them to sort everything out themselves.Inside Job With Sparky as his unfortunate assistant he worked on his new Element X onboard the Guardian Space Lab. It was targeted and destroyed by the Renegades, though the Guardian pair were able to escape - with Sparky even managing to save the element. Tests were switched to a secret UNECOM lab on Earth, though the delivery of the element by Scooter and Small Foot was compromised, leading to an encounter with Princess Astral of Crynos. In order to save her people, the Guardians decided to give her Element X, which was a substitute for the crylinium they needed. While Professor Von Joy bemoaned the setback this would cause to his work, he ultimately complied. Element of Danger

When Halley's Comet entered the solar system Professor Von Joy joined Matt, A.J., Nick and a UNECOM scientist in a space launch from Australia to visit it. The expedition yielded the powerful ore quantumite, which they took to the newly commissioned joint UNECOM-Guardian Star Fortress space station. After the Professor fitted it to the Star Fortress it made the station nigh-invulnerable; with more quantumite the Guardians could have made both Earth and GoBotron similarly well protected. But a second trip to the comet was targeted by the Renegades, with Crasher and Cop-Tur taking Professor Von Joy out without much fuss. When the subsequent battle on the Space Fortress led to the outpost's destruction and the loss of the quantumite the Professor was once again despondent as the station had only been operational a single day, and seemed to take little solace in Leader-1's claim they (i.e. people who weren't Leader-1) would simply build another.The Secret of Halley's Comet

Machine Men mini-comics

After Zod freed Cy-Kill and his followers from the laser beam gaol on Robotron, Baron Von Joy was one of the Friendly Machine Men gathered by Leader-1 to pursue the criminals to Earth after discussions. Battle was soon joined, with Baron Von Joy coming under fire from Destroyer.Space Wars II

Robo Machine featuring Challenge of the GoBots annuals

As part of a plan to trigger a war between Earth and GoBotron, Cy-Kill sent Matt, Nick and A.J. to the GoBots' home planet by Astrobeam, where they became prisoners of the boastful, gigantic Renegade High Commander Baron Von Joy and his assistant Psycho. His scheme was to destroy the Council of Guardians and frame the humans for the crime. Baron Von Joy sent his assistant to carry out the plan, but they were foiled when Leader-1 turned up and simply kicked Psycho's head in. By Astrobeam to GoBotron He was later reprogrammed by the Guardians to become the more amiable but no less boastful Professor Von Joy, with his intellect undamaged. As a result he built the Battle Suit to help the Guardians battle the Renegades and Enemy Invaders. Matt, Scooter and Spay-C travelled to GoBotron to collect it, though they had to give him the odd nudge to keep him on topic and had to endure his waxing lyrical before collecting the weapons and take them back to Earth. The Professor's New Baby

Fun Publications

Transformers Timelines

During the Diaspora, Von Joy was dispatched to Level 72 along with an assortment of Guardians and Renegades. Cultural Appropriation

Renegade Rhetoric

Cy-Kill remarked that some of his enhancements and weapons were stolen from Professor Von Joy's work. Renegade Rhetoric 2016/10/15 When Cy-Kill covered the Earth with fast-growing Go-Vines, Professor Von Joy reverse-engineered a defoliant from seeds stolen by Scooter and Sparky, eliminating Cy-Kill's killer plants. The GoVine Incident The Renegades used a Duplicator Beam to double Cy-Kill's command team, but neglected to realize the mirror fiend would want to rule as well. "Cy-Kill Prime" kidnapped Professor Von Joy to find a way to maintain his existence past the 48 hour window of the Duplicator Beam's power. Mirror Menace

When Turbo and Crasher were launched into the year 2085 by a particle accelerator accident, the future Professor Von Joy found a way to send them home. All Tomorrow's Utopias After the Guardians befriended the RoGuns, living weapons who broke ties with their Renegade creators, Professor Von Joy created two new additions to their ranks: Scope and Shotgun. The RoGuns of Mars Nick Burns once became convinced that Scooter was a WereGoBot after being bitten by a moto-wolf. Von Joy was called in to concoct a cure, but in the end it was revealed as a gross overreaction on Nick's part. A Wolf in GoBot's Clothing Professor Von Joy also created a Macrocosmic Continuum Distorter, stored on the Scientific Moon of Gobotron. Riders and Rebels

"Echoes and Fragments"

As Sideways and Gong played with mixing universal streams, the Decepticons staged an all-out assault on Guardian City on Earth. Professor Von Joy was one of the Guardians who fell in battle along with Sparky. Echoes and Fragments

Go-Bots comic

The giant Baron Von Joy was one of the Go-Bots that joined Leader-1's army to face the Renegade uprising.Issue 2 However, he later fell from favour and became forgotten about on Gobotron. There, he was found and recruited by Road Ranger and helped end the threat to the planet posed by Professor Braxis' army of Vamps. Issue 5

Toys

GoBots

Super GoBots

• Baron Von Joy (Super GoBot, 1984)
  • Friendly Robot Sports Car
  • ID Number: 025
  • Accessories: double laser gun

Baron Von Joy was released by Tonka in the first series of GoBots, and converts from robot to Porsche 930 Turbo sports car in 10 steps. The toy was a repackaging of the silver version of Porsche 930 Turbo from Machine Robo ScaleRobo DX series, with no significant changes. It has mode has diecast parts and rubber tyres. In robot mode Baron Von Joy has movement at the shoulders and elbows, while his head can spin right around. The figure's double laser gun can be attached to the roof/top of the head in either mode thanks to clips on the side, or held in either hand in robot mode via either a post underneath or a clip on the back. As Baron Von Joy uses thicker red plastic for his limbs rather than chromed plastic he is much, much sturdier than other first series Super GoBots, and also less given to having floppy forearms; even his weapon is more durable, being made of soft plastic.

• Baron Von Joy was issued as part of the first series Super GoBots assortment (#7202), manufactured in 1984. For the second series the figure was moved over to the reorganised Friendly Super GoBots Assortment 1 (#7251) and stayed as part of the range when it was renamed the Guardian Super GoBots Assortment 1 for the third and final series.
• For bilingual Canadian packaging the alternate name Baron von joie was used.

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  First series box

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  Second/third series box

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  Toy instructions

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  Sticker sheet

Robo Machine

DX Robo Machines

• Porsche 930 Turbo (DX Robo Machine, 1983)
  • Accessories: gun

First issued in Robo Machine before the decision was made to start incorporating GoBots names (possibly even predating the existence of GoBots), Porsche 930 Turbo was almost identical to the silver version of Japanese release, with only the box and the instructions being changed.

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  Box

Robo Machine DX

• Porsche 930 Turbo (DX Robo Machine, 1985)
  • ID number: RMDX-04
  • Accessories: gun

A second European release followed in 1985, with a new black/grey/red window box and now packaged in robot mode. The toy itself was unchanged.

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  Box

Super GoBots

• Baron Von Joy (Super GoBot, 1985)
  • Friendly Robot
  • Accessories: gun

A second reissue was the first European release to use the Baron Von Joy name, with a box that explicitly marked it as a Super GoBot. The figure was identical to the previous releases. While the box featured fully painted cover art in a style similar to the Japanese/American packaging, it in fact used different artwork. Once again the toy itself was unchanged.

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  Box

Machine Men

Super Machine Men

• Baron Von Joy (Super Machine Men, 1984)
  • Friendly Robot
  • Accessories: gun

Baron Von Joy was issued in the first series of Super Machine Men in 1984.

Competition Prize

• Porsche (Super Machine Men, 1984)
  • Friendly Robot
  • Accessories: gun

A version of Baron Von Joy that replaced all the silver paint and plastic with gold was produced by Bandai Australia as a competition prize in 1984, with entry details in the second mini-comic, Space Wars II. Von Joy even donned the scheme for the comic's strip. To win a gold Porsche, consumers had to send a Bandai logo cut from Machine Men packaging in, with the first 3,000 to do so getting one of the toys. It is unknown if the figure suffers from gold plastic syndrome, but considering the flecked compound used it probably does :/

Robo Machines

1993 DX Sports Car

De Luxe Robo Machines

• DX Sports Car (De Luxe Robo Machines, 1993)
  • ID Number: 1
  • Accessories: gun

The figure was reissued by Bandai in Europe during 1993 as part of the De Luxe Robo Machines range of Robo Machines, with the 'Porsche' stickers updated to say 'Robo Machines'. For trademark reasons the figure was renamed simply DX Sports Car. Sadly, like most of the Robo Machines figures Sports Car uses poor quality materials and suffers from mould degradation, though it is not as noticeable as on some of the smaller figures.

• The multilingual packaging gives the name as DX Sportwagen in German, DX voiture de course in French and DX Couche deportivo in Spanish. The Italian release by Giochi Preziosi used the name DX Auto Sportiva.

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  Box

Notes

• His name in the cartoon is Professor Von Joy, possibly a working name for the toy. The cartoon character also had the working name of "Professor Q. Bot".
• His animation model was frequently mixed up and even occasionally merged with that for Dr. Go by animators.
• Another quirk of his animation model was that Professor Von Joy was frequently holding his gun in his right hand, often when operating computers and the like, but only actually used it in the climax of "It's the Thought that Counts"; the only other time he fired a weapon he used conventional hand-blasters. He also never converted in the cartoon.
• Phil Hartman doesn't seem to be attempting to do a genuine German accent for Professor Von Joy, but instead an impression of Dr. Strangelove.
• If he regularly handled the Modifier it would explain why poor Dive-Dive ended up as a submarine.
• Professor Von Joy had a sizeable role in the early film treatment Starquest.
• Tonka's original profile for Baron Von Joy had him as a fringe member of the GoBotron royal family who joined up with the Guardians as a discrete way of keeping tabs on heir Royal-T.
• Both of the annual stories refer to Von Joy as being massive in size, even turning into a "giant" Porsche. Likely the monkeys chained to typewriters in the World Distributors offices were only given the toys as reference.
• Von Joy's Cybertronian-style design from the "Cataclysm universe" is a "virtual retool" of Camshaft from the Alternators toyline.