Doryu was a member of the Dinoforce, a team of Pretender combiners in Japan’s 1989 Victory segment of G1. Doryu transforms into a robotic, bipedal werewolf-like monster, and comes with a cyborg Stegosaurus armatus as a Pretender shell. Doryu can also transform into either leg of Dinoking, but is usually portrayed as the right leg.
Description
>Doryu’s stout white-and blue form appears to be a bipedal werewolf of some sort. His incredibly simple transformation extends his legs to a normal proportion, and reveals a robot head from beneath the long-snouted monster head. Like most Pretenders, his shell is much more elaborately designed and decorated than the inner robot, despite lacking any articulation. The Stegosaurus shell is cast in a hard rubber, representing an organic dinosaur with a large metallic armored section attached to its back, resulting in a look not unlike Tyco’s DinoRiders. 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 Doryu’s black handgun and Dinoking footplate for storage. Doryu does a headstand to attach the Dinoking foot, and clips on to Rairyu’s hip connector with the gap in his legs.
Collector Notes
Doryu’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. Also, this process can cause the gold paint on the shell’s hips to tinge green, or turn green. Unfortunately, both of these processes are inevitable regardless of storage conditions, and even sealed examples are affected.
Variants
Doryu has no known production variations.
Availability
Doryu was available in Japan in 1989 either alone or as a giftset with Dinoking.
Redecos & Retools
Doryu shares his entire inner robot and accessory molds with Scowl. Scowl was redecorated, however, and included a completely different Pretender shell.
