Yokuryu was a member of the Dinoforce, a team of Pretender combiners in Japan’s 1989 Victory segment of G1. Yokuryu transforms into a robotic, bipedal winged monster, and comes with a cyborg Pteranodon longiceps as a Pretender shell. Yokuryu can also transform into either arm of Dinoking, but specifically includes the right fist.
Description
Yokuryu’s white and blue alternate form appears to be a bipedal gargoyle of some sort. His incredibly simple transformation extends his robot legs from the monster’s lower torso, and folds his beast head down to his chest to reveal the robot face. Like most Pretenders, his shell is much more elaborately designed and decorated than the inner robot. The Pteranodon shell is cast in a hard rubber, representing an organic dinosaur with a metallic full-head helmet, and some sort of jet pack, 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 Yokuryu’s black handgun and Dinoking fist for storage. Yokuryu attaches to Dinoking almost exactly in his monster mode, only having rotated the monster feet up and out of the way.
Collector Notes
Yokuryu’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 chest and shoulders to tinge green, or turn green. Unfortunately, both of these processes are inevitable regardless of storage conditions, and even sealed examples are affected.
Variants
Yokuryu has no production variants.
Availability
Yokuryu was available in Japan in 1989 either alone or as a giftset with Dinoking.
Redecos & Retools
Yokuryu shares his entire inner robot and accessory molds with Wildfly. Wildfly was redecorated, however, and included a completely different Pretender shell resembling his gargoyle monster mode.
