In my quest to trace down and document all mainland European multi-lingual Transformers G1 releases, I stumbled upon an instruction booklet I had never seen before.
A bilingual French/Dutch instructions booklet from Scorponok!
1987 European instruction booklets are easily distinguishable from the US ones. They contain the words Instructions (booklet) translated into French (Livret D’Instructions) and Dutch (Instrukties) on the cover. They also differ from the Canadian counterpart, which also uses the French language, but is always combined with the English language.
1987 - The Changes
Before we dive deeper into that Scoponok booklet and everything else that came with it. Let’s take a better look at the year 1987. In 1987, a lot of things changed for the Transformers brand in Mainland Europe. It was the first year Hasbro changed their boxes/cards and booklets from quadlingual to bilingual. Ever since the beginning of European Transformers releases in 1985, boxes, cardbacks, and instructions have been released in four different languages. The first year, with the introduction of Milton Bradley, it was German, French, Dutch, and Spanish. Around 1986, when the rebranding was done because of the Hasbro Industries and Milton Bradley merger, German was dropped in favor of English. The order became French, English (or sometimes the other way around), Dutch, and Spanish. In 1987, the third consecutive year for European Transformers, Hasbro decided to switch things up again by dropping two languages, English and Spanish. And focus only on French and Dutch.
Before we dive deeper into that Scoponok booklet and everything else that came with it. Let’s take a better look at the year 1987. In 1987, a lot of things changed for the Transformers brand in Mainland Europe. It was the first year Hasbro changed their boxes/cards and booklets from quadlingual to bilingual. Ever since the beginning of European Transformers releases in 1985, boxes, cardbacks, and instructions have been released in four different languages. The first year, with the introduction of Milton Bradley, it was German, French, Dutch, and Spanish. Around 1986, when the rebranding was done because of the Hasbro Industries and Milton Bradley merger, German was dropped in favor of English. The order became French, English (or sometimes the other way around), Dutch, and Spanish. In 1987, the third consecutive year for European Transformers, Hasbro decided to switch things up again by dropping two languages, English and Spanish. And focus only on French and Dutch.
With that change, it gave more space to finally add more tech spec bio information. On the quadlingual boxes, there were only these “mottos”. A characteristic quote. The bilingual tech specs finally gave room for full tech spec biographies.
Another thing that changed in 1987 was the assortment numbers. Since the beginning, they deferred from the US releases. All the way back in 1985, the assortment numbers started with 9100. This number belonged to the first batch of European Minibots/Mini Vehicles. Compared to the US numbers, which started with 5700. Not entirely unexpected, also used for the Minibots. And when we even go further back in time, the four-digit assortment numbering system was already used by Ceji Revel for their Joustra Diaclone product. And what makes it even more obvious it started also with a “9”. The four digits started with 9600, which belonged to Trans Am (pre-Windcharger). Again, these first numbers in the assortment were used for the Minibots.
The last used assortment numbers from 1986 were the Battlechargers or Battlespringers, as they were called over here in Europe, with number 9137. The numbers 9138 and 9139 were never used, as far as I know. Jumping to the next year, 1987, the first assortment number Hasbro Bradley used was 9040. Even though Hasbro switched from 91- to 90-, they kept the order for the second digits of the numbering system intact. Number 40 is used for the Autobot Heroes assortment, Rodimus Prime, and Wreck-Gar.
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| Top European Soundwave 1985 vs bottom European Scorponok 1987 |
The Catch-Up
Toy-wise, there was a lot of catching up to do for Hasbro Bradley in Europe. Because of the belated start in the previous years, Europe fell behind with the 1985/1986 releases. A lot of releases were out of order compared to the US series. Autobot Cars got released in 1986 instead of 1985, 1984 releases in 1985, and so on. To catch up, 1987 is probably the biggest year of releases for Europe. It combines the “leftovers” from 1986 that were not released, together with the large portion/assortment of 1987 releases. And with big, I mean really big.
Toy-wise, there was a lot of catching up to do for Hasbro Bradley in Europe. Because of the belated start in the previous years, Europe fell behind with the 1985/1986 releases. A lot of releases were out of order compared to the US series. Autobot Cars got released in 1986 instead of 1985, 1984 releases in 1985, and so on. To catch up, 1987 is probably the biggest year of releases for Europe. It combines the “leftovers” from 1986 that were not released, together with the large portion/assortment of 1987 releases. And with big, I mean really big.
What were some of these releases?
1987 was an awesome year for European releases! To name a few, Sky Lynx, Trypticon, and the Predacons from 1986 (US series). We also got the leaders Galvatron, Rodimus Prime, and Ultra Magnus one year later. Macau re-releases of the 1986 Combiners (City Teams, as they are called here) and City Bot Metroplex. 1987 was also the first time Hot Rod was ever released in Mainland Europe. He was absent from the 1986 releases. So the Targetmaster version is actually the first ever Euro release of that toy. And last but certainly not least, the star of this article, a European release of Headmaster Base Leader Scoponok!
Enough with the background information of 1987. Let’s start with the real star of the show. What's so special about this Scorponok in a bilingual European box? Well, first of all, Scorponok is, by itself, such an impressive behemoth of a toy. A Transformer-base turning into a giant scorpion, turning into a giant robot. What’s not to like? His colors are vibrant and popping, and there’s so much playability with this Decepticon/Headmaster base.
There are many different iterations of the same G1 Scorpie. Every release is cool and unique on its own. There is the Takara Japanese release (D-93, MegaZarak / メガザラック). Another European release, the GiG Italian version. Of course, the Hasbro US, the French/English Canadian release, and the latter Chinese vintage release. And finally, we can also add the Mainland European release to this great list of Scorponok versions.
Secondly, he is very, very rare in this European box. So far, this is the third boxed example I have ever come across (the other two can be found here: https://ebay.us/m/b0jNhu, and here: https://ebay.us/m/tpZdzg). Any information has yet to be found about this big boy (bot). That’s, of course, one of the reasons it's not well known. Together with the European releases of the Predacons and Gnaw (they actually belong to the same assortment group).
I was very surprised that the Predacons and Gnaw were also released over here in bilingual boxes, after reading the Transformers Square One article about the European Divebomb release. Especially since they were never documented in any of the European toy store (dealer) catalog or consumer catalogs for that matter. The question arises, why were those big releases not marketed properly like all the other 1987 releases?
Coincidentally, I came across a European dealer catalog from a Dutch collector (Niels Witkamp) on Facebook. He obtained it at a Dutch toy fair in the 80’s. The cool thing is, the front page contains the whole (new) assortment for the year 1987. Interesting enough, the dealer catalog does not list Scorponok or the Predacons amongst those 1987 releases.
Then there is, especially in the Netherlands, the well-known “The latest news from Nebulon” Dutch poster/catalog. It was included in several Dutch Transformers Comics and also in a Dutch Donald Duck magazine. This poster depicts all the releases from 1987 by Hasbro/MB International, similar to the dealer catalog. All of course, except the Predacons, Gnaw, and Scorponok again.
The poster itself is also a mishmash of things. It portrays the 1986 Metroplex battlefield that would come on the back of the 1986 US boxes. They chose not use the new 1987 back box art. Probably for obvious reasons, Fort Max and Scorponok were not (yet) available at that time.
This makes me think that Scorponok, The Predacons and Gnaw were actually later 1987 European releases, probably produced in very small quantities. And maybe even limited to only French-speaking countries (i.e., France and Wallonia, Belgium). Which would explain their rarity.
So, without any catalogs or other documentation. How did I find out about the existence of a Euro Scorponok?
Like I mentioned in the intro of this article. It all started with a Scorponok that was for sale on the Dutch online marketplace Marktplaats. With it, a bilingual French / Dutch booklet was included. At that time, I did not think that much of it. I did not have the knowledge or information about its rarity as I do now, so I just let it pass.
A while later, browsing through tech specs at the eBay shop of Dutch Vintage online toy store Boonsart, I stumbled upon some bilingual Euro Headmaster tech specs. One of them was a cutout of Scorponok! I was tempted to buy them. But for whatever reason, I hesitated and did not. Years later, when charting all Mainland European releases, that memory of the booklet and tech spec of Euro Scorponok came back to me. I vaguely remembered that I had seen it somewhere. But this time I had to know for sure. I reached out to Boonsart and asked them about the tech spec. Luckily, they keep an archive of all their sold product, cause the tech spec itself was of course long gone. They still had the photo of it and shared it with me. Finally! First actual proof of its existence!
A few years later, on the Belgium marketplace 2dehands/2ememain (which translates to second hand), I came across a seller who had listed a lot of later vintage European Transformer releases. If I remember correctly, amongst the items he had listed was a rare boxed European Galvatron (1987), a boxed Euro Metroplex, and one of the other items he had listed was this Scorponok, complete with an European box! I knew I had to jump on it this time, especially because of its rarity. It was the first and only time I’ve seen a boxed specimen at that time. I shared the finding with my Transformers buddies. We decided to do a joint venture buying the whole lot. This particular Scorponok was found in the town of Namen, in the French-speaking part of Belgium. This seems to add up to the concept of Euro Scorponok only being released in the French parts of Europe.
About the Toy and its Box
The toy itself is nothing special. In the sense that it is not different from the Japanese release or any other. Just like the others it's made in Macau. The rarity is all in the box and booklet. It would come with the 1986 European toy catalog, like every 1987 release, by the way. Oddly enough, there was no special catalog made for 1987. None of the toys that were released in that year were portrayed in a European packaging flyer.
The toy itself is nothing special. In the sense that it is not different from the Japanese release or any other. Just like the others it's made in Macau. The rarity is all in the box and booklet. It would come with the 1986 European toy catalog, like every 1987 release, by the way. Oddly enough, there was no special catalog made for 1987. None of the toys that were released in that year were portrayed in a European packaging flyer.
Let’s look at the box in more detail. Of course, the first thing that stands out is the French and Dutch language written on the box. The box art and photos are identical to the US box.
All the French and Dutch sentences are taken directly from the US box. Unfortunately, I do not own a US box anymore to do a straight one-on-one comparison, but I translated most of the French/Dutch text under the photos.
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| Lord Zarak, Nebuliaan (Nebulan Figure) |
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| Transforms from giant scorpion to robot to defense base and back! |
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| Lord Zarak Transforms into Scorponok’s head! (and back... that's added to French/Dutch sentence) |
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| The sinister defense base has elevating repair bays and push button car launcher! |
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| He’s a scorpion monster! / The actual product colors may vary slightly from photographs |
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| Transforms from giant scorpion to robot to defense base and back! |
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| Includes "Scorponok" scorpion, "Lord Zarak" scorpion trainer/robot head, anti-gravity gun with gun guard, "Fasttrack" mini attack tank/robot, 2 detachable attack tank laser arms, repair elevator, 4 radar dishes, tower/shield, 2 mechanical repair arms, label sheet, tech specs decoder and instructions sheet. |
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| MB International based in Utrecht, Holland (The Netherlands) |
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| Importer for Hasbro MB Belgium in Brussels |
Let’s look at the back of the box. The copyright line is different compared to the US box. Because it’s an European box it says Hasbro Bradley Inc., (a reminiscent of the Milton Bradley-era) compared to Hasbro Inc., on the US box. The place of manufacturing and printing is still the same though. Made in Macau and printed in Hong Kong. The barcode is also different on both boxes. The US box uses the UPC (Universal Product Code) proof of purchase. A 12-digit code, 0 38976 05808 4. Which has the US assortment number (5808) as part of the code. The European box instead uses the EAN-13 code (European Article Number). A 13-digit string of numbers, 5 011809 054205. Let's analyse those numbers.
It starts with the Land code (2 or 3 digits) “501”. An EAN-13 code starting with "501" typically indicates that the product was registered with GS1 in the United Kingdom. This does not necessarily say anything about the product or where the product was made. Only where the code was issued.
The Land code is followed by the Manufacturer code (3 digits) “180”. A unique code issued by the GS1 (the organization behind the EAN standard) to specify the manufacturer. The “180” stands for the company number of Hasbro Europe.
Then you’ll have the Product code (6 digits), “905420”. A unique code assigned by the manufacturer to a specific product. In this case, it’s part of the European assortment number of Scorponok, 9054.20.
Lastly, it’s the Control number (1 digit), in this case, the number “5”. It is a calculation based on the other 12 digits, used to check the integrity of the code.
The assortment number on the box differs from all other Western Scorponok boxes. They all have #5808. Even the Italian and Canadian box. Only the European box uses a different numbering system, 9054.20. Which is consistent ever since they started using it in Europe.
The SKU code (Stock Keeping Unit)
The first four digits, the “9054”, are the main identifier. It represents a specific item or assortment of items. The second part, the “20”, usually implies that there are multiple items in that same assortment series. Until 1987, assortments that consisted of one item used the “98” digits on the second segment of the SKU code. It seems a mistake that Hasbro Bradley used .20 for the SKU of Scorponok instead of 9054.98. Looking at the consistency of assortment numbers of other big single unit releases like Galvatron (9042.98), Sky Lynx (9044.98), and Ultra Magnus (9043.98). They all have .98 as the last segment. The only other exception to this rule is Trypticon, who also has the .20 in the assortment code. It was released in the same year. But then again, from 1987 on, they redid the numbering system. It could well be that they decided to completely change that too.
The first four digits, the “9054”, are the main identifier. It represents a specific item or assortment of items. The second part, the “20”, usually implies that there are multiple items in that same assortment series. Until 1987, assortments that consisted of one item used the “98” digits on the second segment of the SKU code. It seems a mistake that Hasbro Bradley used .20 for the SKU of Scorponok instead of 9054.98. Looking at the consistency of assortment numbers of other big single unit releases like Galvatron (9042.98), Sky Lynx (9044.98), and Ultra Magnus (9043.98). They all have .98 as the last segment. The only other exception to this rule is Trypticon, who also has the .20 in the assortment code. It was released in the same year. But then again, from 1987 on, they redid the numbering system. It could well be that they decided to completely change that too.
That’s about it for this European Headmaster Commander and its unique box.
To summarize. The uniqueness of the European release mainly lies in the cardboard box and instructions. Everything else is exactly the same as any other Scorponok release. Except for the Japanese Takara release. That box is vastly different.
Even in Europe, Scorponok and the Predacons are obscure and not very well-known releases. They are very rare and limited. There is no official documentation to be found. The box is bilingual, French and Dutch. It has a unique assortment number, which differs from all other Scorponok releases.
Who knows, maybe someday we will also come across a European bilingual boxed Fort Max.
Just for completeness sake, I’ve added the numbers for the Predacons and Scorponok to the 1987 assortment list.
Interesting links to read:
More about SKU codes
https://20thcenturytoycollector.com/posts/2013/07/13/mb-laserbeak-revisited/
https://20thcenturytoycollector.com/posts/2013/07/13/mb-laserbeak-revisited/
I want to thank Niels Witkamp for making and letting me use the scans of the 1987 European Dealer Catalog.
Thanks for reading!
Kees
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