Saladin
What you are looking at here is an oversized Korean bootleg of the Scale Robo DX Saladin Mk II, known in the US as the Super Gobot Defendor. It is important to note that this bootleg is based off of the Japanese version, not the US version. I’ll explain as we go on.
The box to this thing is huge and musty, as if it has been stored in the back of a Korean convenience store for years. The title is simply “Scale Robo Saladin“, a nod to the source material. Several windows in front only hint at the insanity inside.
The toy is made by a Korean company called Jinyang, and the foil seal on the side is still intact.
Inside, the cheap toy rests inside cheaper styrofoam.
Before we get into the core toy, lets address these little guys below. In addition to the Saladin robot, you get small army men on sprues that have some of the worst flashing i’ve ever seen. There are four different styles of soldier, and I think they are from different types of armies. Some look like Vietnam War era, some look like WWII. There’s a base for each soldier to plug into, and even a little tube of model glue.
The robot is a good few inches taller than the original and an entirely different mold.
Korean bootlegs are often based off of existing molds, but sometimes those molds are from a model kit or candy toy rather than the proper version. With this it is hard to say, there are so many similarities that it is tough to tell where this came from.
The toy is all plastic and much of the detail from the original is missing. The transformation and articulation are identical.
The way you can tell that this was based off of the Japanese version is the inclusion of the extra antenna and extra weapon.
Speaking of weapons, in the Defendor review we mentioned that the Japanese version shot projectiles. Well, this one does too, but this one shoots pellets instead of missiles. The manufacturers added a hopper to the top of the gun to load pellets in, and then you just pull back the handle and then fire them. Unfortunately no pellets were included with the toy, but you can use anything small you have laying around the house.
An addition to the arsenal is a large thin sword/spear that I know I have seen on another toy before. I know for sure it didn’t come with the original toy.
Vehicle mode is again similar, but entirely new. all the detail has been removed and what is left is primary shapes. Stickers are poorly placed and have begun to peel.
Yeah, it’s another crappy bootleg, but I am fascinated by these things. The scale, the packaging, the additions, and the intrepretations are all what draw me to these abominations. It’s like looking at your collection while on a bad acid trip. It completely alters your sense of reality and makes you question what kind of drugs the Koreans were on in the 80s when making some of these.
