Sonokong
From Transformers Wiki
Sonokong(손오공Son-o-gong) is aSouth Koreancompany that held the license to manufacture and market Takara toys, includingTransformersand the variousBraveseries, in Korea from 1995 to 2007. The Transformers franchises that Sonokong has produced areBeast Wars II,Beast Wars Neo,Car Robots,andLegends of the Microns.Around 2007, Sonokong lost the Transformers license toMocom Toy.
Sonokong'sTransformerstoylines appear to be largely the same as their Japanese and American counterparts, with some notable differences:
- Sonokong Transformers toylines do not include all the original toys from those lines. For example, theirCar Robotsline is missing the three basic-size Destrongers and the three Super Car Brothers. Other lines are even less complete, with theirLegends of the Micronsline including less than half of all the TakaraLegends of the Micronstoys.
- Sonokong Transformers toys are often packed in windowless boxes.
- Small toys from the Sonokong lines were released in versus packs and gift sets rather than individually. For example, the Car Brothers were released only as a 3-pack.
- Sonokong has done two weird repacks. They re-released a couple of theirBeast Wars IItoys inCar Robotspackaging, includingan Autobot Megastormanda 4-pack of Autorollers.They also re-released two 4-packs ofBeast Wars Neotoys in generic "Dino Robot" and "Jungle Robot" packaging without reference toBeast Wars Neo.
- Sonokong quality control is arguably sometimes a little lower.
- Sonokong boxes are often less protective than Takara or Hasbro boxes because the toy is in a less secure plastic insert that allows it to move around inside the box more.
- Individual toys have some very small differences, such as Mach Alert having "Police" written in English on his door and Brave Maximus's tower sticker being placed upside-down.
The Sonokong versions ofGigastormandBrave Maximushave become popular among Western collectors seeking lower-cost, easier-to-find alternatives to their respectiveHasbro/TakaraGeneration 1predecessors.
Sonokong appears to deal with Takara rather than Hasbro, as evidenced by their release of their two Japanese-exclusiveTransformerstoylines and their manyBravetoylines (not to mention theirBeedamanandJennytoylines, which are also originally Takara products). Sonokong's competitor,Young Toys,appears to deal with Hasbro rather than Takara, and imports and produces Hasbro Transformers for the Korean market as well.
In the present, Sonokong is now distributing original Korean toylines likeHello CarbotandTurning Mecardby ChoiRock Contents Factory.
Notes
- If you are wondering, the nameSon-o-gongis the Korean pronuniciation ofSūn Wùkōng( Tôn Ngộ Không / Tôn Ngộ Không ), the main character of the Chinese novelJourney to the West.
