Goryu was a member of the Dinoforce, a team of Pretender combiners in Japan’s 1989 Victory segment of G1. Goryu transforms into a robotic, bipedal clawed, and comes with a cyborg Tyrannosaurus rex as a Pretender shell. Goryu can also transform into either leg of Dinoking, but is usually portrayed as the left leg.

Description

Goryu’s stout white and green alternate form is a bipedal monster with a small bug-like head and pincher claws. His incredibly simple transformation extends his legs to a normal proportion, and reveals a robot head from beneath the spiked monster head. Like most Pretenders, his shell is much more elaborately designed and decorated than the inner robot, despite lacking any articulation. The Tyrannosaurus shell is cast in a hard rubber, representing an organic dinosaur with a spiked metallic helmet large metallic armored section attached to its back, resulting in a look not unlike Tyco’s DinoRiders. Like all 1980s T. rex toys, Goryu’s shell stands upright with his tail on the ground, rather than in the horizontal position now believed to be correct, and portrayed in newer toys like Beast Wars Megatron. The armored part of the shell is cast in plastic and removable, allowing the folded-up inner robot to be hidden inside. The shell hatch also has sockets and tabs to attach Goryu’s black handgun and Dinoking footplate for storage. Goryu does a headstand to attach the Dinoking foot, and clips on to Rairyu’s hip connector with the gap in his legs.

Collector Notes

Goryu’s simple design makes him rather sturdy. However, like the entire Dinoforce and the Pretender Monsters, his rubber shell suffers from several inevitable forms of degradation. The plasticiser (a chemical used in the molding process) seeps out over time, forming a sticky film on the surface of the rubber. This film can be cleaned away using mild soap and water.

Variants

Goryu has no production variants.

Availability

Goryu was available in Japan in 1989 either alone or as a giftset with Dinoking.

Redecos & Retools

Goryu shares his entire inner robot and accessory molds with Icepick. Icepick was redecorated, however, and included a completely different Pretender shell resembling his bipedal, clawed form.