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South Korean Combatron / Combaticon bootlegs
The Combatrons (or Combaticons as they're known in the US) are extremely popular targets of South Korean bootleggers. South Korean Combatron bootlegs come in many different color schemes and packaging arrangements. I'll bet there's a South Korean bootleg counterpart to every known official incarnation of the Bruticus mold. Perhaps the most striking thing about South Korean Combaticons is their size. They're usually at least one and a half times larger than the official releases. While I was there I was lucky enough to find a giftset of oversized Combaticons molded in the exact same colors as the original G1 Bruticus. I also found a G2 Combaticon giftset that's exactly twice as large as the original. Individual and two pack versions of the Combaticons also exist. This section of the Skorbia is dedicated to the South Korean Combaticons I found and all the packaging variations I found them in.
THE DESTRONG COMBAT ROBOT GIFTSET
The gifset of bootleg South Korean G1 Combaticons takes many visual cues from the Japanese Bruticus giftset packaging. Of course the bootleggers made some changes, though. They decided to rename Bruticus as "Destrong Combat Robot", which is derived from the Japanese TF term "Destron". Also modified was the Destron insignia, which now looks like some sort of robotic dog head. The outer packaging of this giftset features a slightly modified version of the official Takara Bruticus artwork. It's recolored slightly and has the left hand clenched instead of holding the rifle as in the original version. Oddly enough, they coped the english Transformers logo and placed it in the upper right side. To the right of the robot is text telling the story of the Destrongs written in Hangul. In hangul there's a similarly colored logo in huge lettering under the robot boxart. Under the Hangul logo there's the english sentence "The most exciting license in the universe is now on earth!" To the side of the robot art is a listing of the individual team members referenced by their alt modes. They're listed as Space Shuttle, Cobra helicopter, M-1 Abraham tank, Kennedy jeep, and Missile trailer.
Front of box
Close up of Destrong story from front of box
close up of box bottom
Once the front cover is removed, the contents are neatly displayed in see-through window box fashion. The similarities to the official Takara giftset are striking. The placement of the vehicles and accessories is nearly identical to the official release. Repeated on the cardboard insert is the Hangul translation of the Transformers logo and the listing of each member by their vehicle modes.
Box with front cover removed
Box with cover removed (blurry)
Close up of logo area
Integrated into the side of the box is a carrying case type handle. With pictures of each toy in vehicle and robot modes. The toys pictured in the illustration have Destrong logos applied to them. "KIT NO 20000" is printed on the side of the box and that's the retail price in won. I was charged 20,000 South Korean won for this set. At the time the conversion rate was approximately 1,100 won to the American dollar, so in US terms I paid 18 dollars for the giftset. The funny thing about Korean culture is that there is no secondary market value for toys over there. The price you pay for a toy now is the same price printed on the package when it was made, even if the toy is extremely rare or many years old. Later on I found a second Destrong Combat Robot giftset exactly like this one and sold it on ebay for $355!
Box handle
Price information
It's a common misconception that Destrong Combat Robot is twice as big as Bruticus, but he's actually only 150% larger. The plastic quality on this toy is fantastic. It is just as good if not better than the original Takara release in terms of quality and construction. There are no Takara copyright stampings anywhere on any of the robots, and there are subtle mold differences that differentiate this version from the official release. I have no further information on the origins or where this set comes from other than that I know it was made and released in South Korea. Later versions of the giftset have been produced with significant differences from the original color scheme like odd coloring or chroming of accessories. Some gifsets even come with multiples of the same limbs. I have never seen another set exactly like this that's true to the original in color (aside from the second one I bought and later sold).
DCR alongside Bruticus
DCR alongside Sideswipe
Individual robot modes alongside Sideswipe
Vehicle modes alongside Sipeswipe
Blitzwing and Brawl (vehicles)
Sideswipe and Brawl (robots)
Onslaught and Optimus Prime (vehicles)
Onslaught and Bruticus
Onslaught head mold differences
Blast Off and Astrotrain (vehicles)
Swindle and Hound (robots)
Swindle and Hound (vehicles)
Vortex and Bluestreak (vehicles)
Vortex and Mirage (robots)
The Onslaught toy from this set is pretty unique in its own right. It has the spring loaded launching mechanism feature from the Japanese release D-64 Onslaught. The bootleggers also took care to show how to properly attach Onslaught's various accessories. The DCR instruction sheet recommends placing Onslaught's chest shield on the launcher peghole while in trailer mode. Destrong Onslaught has a feature not included in the Japanese or American molds-it's a set of pegholes located at the far forward corners of his bed. This allows for placement of his double cannon a LOT further forward than the official versions. If you ask me, it looks a lot more correct while in trailer mode to use these mounting points than to use the ones almost directly over the launcher. I have a single eyewitness report of G1 colors Destrong Combat Robot Onslaught being sold individually packaged, but I never saw one myself. I have seen oddly colored versions individually packaged, but the exact G1 color scheme single pack DCR Onslaught evaded me.
Trailer mode with shield attached
Note the two sets of mounting holes
If you follow the official instructions for Onslaught's ramp mode and attach the double cannon to his head, you get a rather low set cannon that obstructs much of the button and launcher mechanism. Destrong Onslaught's instructions say to place the double cannon on his deck, using the pegholes closer to the cab section. It makes for a truly menacing look and allows for the cannon to be in place without obstructing the ramp when launching vehicles. The Destrong Onslaught's double cannon has hollow barrels, unlike the official version.
Traditional base mode cannon placement
DCR instructions cannon placement
Aside from Onslaught's extra double cannon mounting holes, there are other features in this set that seem like improvements on Takara's design. Most intriguing is a set of wheels that attach to Destrong Combat Robot's chest shield, effectively turning it into a flying spaceship. Why this feature was not included in the official release is beyond me. In contrast to this designing brilliance is the DCR label sheet. It has nine DCR logos, which look like a fusion of the Takara Destron insignia and some sort of abstract roaring animal design. The only other labels are four red polygons that form some sort of chevron. The instructions to the giftset provide application instructions for the official label sheet, but one isn't included and there aren't instructions on where to put the nine Destrong logos and red chevrons.
Instructions page one
Instructions page two
Instructions page three
Instructions page four
Baggie with wheels
Chest shield "spaceship"
Label sheet
THE DESTRONG COMBAT ROBOT 2 PACKS
Aside from the giftset, G1 colored Destrong Combat Robots were made available in sets. The four smaller members were usually packaged together in groups of two and Onslaught was released independently. The four smaller members were usually always packaged fully assembled with Brawl and Swindle together and Vortex and Blast Off together. One day I found a bizarre little two pack with Brawl and Swindle, but instead of being pre-assembled toys, the contents consisted of the parts still attached to plastic runners and a baggie of metal screws and fasteners! They're not really model kits, they're the actual toys unassembled from the factory. I guess you could call them models, they're just models that require a screwdriver for assembly. I don't know if the other Destrongs came in model kits like this, but I do know that there were later releases of these two toys in completely assembled versions with different boxart.
Brawl/Swindle box
Brawl/Swindle insert
Brawl/Swindle screw baggie
Brawl/Swindle instructions side 1
Brawl/Swindle instructions side 2
A closer look at the boxart of the Brawl/Swindle 2 pack model kit reveals that the bootleggers lifted some elements from Takara's 1986 battle scene from the back of the Scramble City Transformer boxes. People familiar with the Takara artwork will notice that the flying Bruticus, Defensor, and Ultra Magnus are taken directly from the Takara artwork. In addition, the bootleggers added some extra details to Brawl's art, including a windshield on his chest with two pilots looking through. Other changes include Swindle's image being a mirror of the official one and Brawl's hand is a closed fist instead of open. The cross sell photos on the side of the box feature genuine Combatron toys with official Destron labels, unlike the DCR giftset cross sells where the toys are shown with Destrong logos. There's a marking on the box that I think may be a date stamp of sorts. It says 'MADE IN KOREA' with 89-030-03 printed under it. Could 89-030-03 be the date of manufacture? I'm speculating that it may be a code for March (03) the 30th (030) of 1989 (89). All of the DESTRONG COMBAT ROBOT boxes really did look as if they were around ten years old at the time I found them, which was early 1999.
Closeup of boxart featuring Brawl's pilots
Defensor, Bruticus, and a burning spaceship!(?)
Ultra Magnus and "MADE IN KOREA" mark
Cross sell close up
Every Vortex/Blast Off 2 pack I found contained preassembled versions of the toys. I found two different packaging styles, which I will refer to as version 1 and version 2 from now on. The version 1 set came with a die cut window box with the toys held by a styrofoam insert. Unlike the Brawl/Swindle two pack that had boxart based on the official versions, the boxart for the Vortex/Blast Off version 1 set featured totally original renditions of these two characters. The boxart has the characters' colors switched-Vortex is colored dark olive and Blast Off is colored dark grey. Interestingly enough, Vortex's vehicle mode is depicted as an AH-64 Apache helicopter, which is most definitely NOT what the toys transforms into. Unfortunately, as with the Destrong Combat Robot giftset, the Vortex/Blast Off version 1 two pack does not have a date of manufacture printed anywhere on it.
Vortex/Blast Off v.1 box front
Vortex/Blast Off v.1 insert
I'm unclear on whether or not the version 2 box is actually a Destrong Combat Robot set. It's got a different packaging style than the toys sold as Destrong Combat Robots. In fact, it doesn't even mention that name. It does however feature the name "Transformers" in english on the package. The actual toys also differ from the original Destrong Combat Robots. There are variations in the coloration of some stickers, specifically the ones on Vortex's tail section are white where the original's are yellow.The Vortex character art on this box is nothing like the depiction on the Destrong Blast Off/Vortex 2 pack, but instead is extremely similar to the official Takara Vortex's card art. The similarities to official Takara packaging don't end with character art. The cross sell on the box back features the exact D-64 through D-68 number system that Takara used to catalog the original Combatrons. I have seen complete sets of oversized Combaticons utilizing this style of "cartoony" packaging, both in giftsets and 2-packs with seperate Onslaughts. The colors of the toys in these cartoony boxes are usually off in some significant way.
Vortex/Blast Off v.2 box front
Vortex/Blast Off v.2 insert
Vortex/Blast Off v.2 box back
Vortex/Blast Off v.2 box back cross sell
THE BOOTLEG G2 BRUTICUS GIIFTSET
After being extremely impressed with the Destrong Combat robot, I was excited to find that there existed a G2 bootleg of Bruticus that was even larger. The South Korean G2 Bruticus bootleg is a full two times the size of the original Bruticus. It even dwarfs the Destrong Combat Robot. Unfortunately the plastic is so brittle and the overall toy is of such poor quality that size is the only thing it has going for it. It suffers from weak plastic that gets stress marks when you transform the robots. The gestalt parts don't fit well in their pegholes. The stickers begin peeling off easily or they've fallen off entirely just from being in storage. My set was even packaged with two left side Blast Off cannons. In other words, it really lives down to the reputation of a typical bootleg toy. Sure it's the biggest Bruticus bootleg ever, but it's so craptastic that I'm not very happy with it. It's only good as a display piece, and even then it has trouble standing up! The following pictures include size comparison shots that in some cases show the G2 bootleg alongside its Destrong Combat Robot and official Takara version Transformer counterparts. One important distinction to make is that the G2 bootleg is NOT a scaled up version of the Destrong Combat Robot mold. A comparison of the accessories provides some proof of this. The DCR has finely molded details on Onslaught's rifle including a seperately molded hose while the G2 bootleg doesn't. The DCR also has fully sculpted fingers on each fist where the G2 bootleg and original versions don't.
After being extremely impressed with the Destrong Combat robot, I was excited to find that there existed a G2 bootleg of Bruticus that was even larger. The South Korean G2 Bruticus bootleg is a full two times the size of the original Bruticus. It even dwarfs the Destrong Combat Robot. Unfortunately the plastic is so brittle and the overall toy is of such poor quality that size is the only thing it has going for it. It suffers from weak plastic that gets stress marks when you transform the robots. The gestalt parts don't fit well in their pegholes. The stickers begin peeling off easily or they've fallen off entirely just from being in storage. My set was even packaged with two left side Blast Off cannons. In other words, it really lives down to the reputation of a typical bootleg toy. Sure it's the biggest Bruticus bootleg ever, but it's so craptastic that I'm not very happy with it. It's only good as a display piece, and even then it has trouble standing up! The following pictures include size comparison shots that in some cases show the G2 bootleg alongside its Destrong Combat Robot and official Takara version Transformer counterparts. One important distinction to make is that the G2 bootleg is NOT a scaled up version of the Destrong Combat Robot mold. A comparison of the accessories provides some proof of this. The DCR has finely molded details on Onslaught's rifle including a seperately molded hose while the G2 bootleg doesn't. The DCR also has fully sculpted fingers on each fist where the G2 bootleg and original versions don't.
