There have been similar-looking fakes of this toy all over eBay for years now. So much so that the real thing seen above can start to take on a very strange almost unofficial appearance, but not for those familiar with it. However it still surprises me how many G1 fans are unfamiliar with the 1992 Japanese Exclusive TF-04 Guard City giftset from the Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformer Operation Combination series.

Operation Combination, the story of the Cybertron Micromaster Combiners (TF-01 Sixbuilder, TF-02 Sixwing, TF-03 Sixturbo and TF-05 Sixtrain), this recoloured Defensor TF-04 Guard City, the Takara releases of the Turbomasters and Predator jets (TF-06 Spinroad/Darkjet, TF-07 Fireroad/Shadowjet, TF-08 Checkroad/Moonjet and TF-09 Machroad/Flarejet) versus the Destron recoloured Bruticus TF-10 Battle Gaea, was told entirely in the Japanese TV Magazine in the early 1990s.

The above are pictures of various sections of Guard City's packaging. The individual robots are all pictured on the box top in the first thumbnail above; the second and third thumbnails show the variety of combination possibilities; the fourth thumb shows; the fifth and sixth thumbnail show Guard City's techspec.

The rather dull-looking grey section surrounding the cellophane toy windows on the left side of the box front contrasts sharply with the utterly superb and vibrant character art for the combined Guard City on the right side of the box front. The boxart is a mostly recoloured version of the C-76 Japanese Defensor giftset art, very slight differences in proportion and pose.

A look inside the package reveals the insert with the toys laid out in a reasonably efficent use of styrofoam space. You can also see the used stickersheet, the colourful catalog, opinion form and smaller non-combiner accessories. It should also contain the instruction sheet. The styrofoam layout is not exactly the same as the earlier C-76 Defensor giftset release.

Below are thumbnails of the aforementioned catalog where you can see the other toys available in the Operation Combination line (apart from the one and only Destron release, Battle Gaea) as well as the robot points on the small inside flap. One interesting thing you will notice about the catalog is that there is a mailaway promotion for the G1 Dinobots. These were available again in Japan in 1992 by mailaway, and they came in US G1 boxes but WITHOUT rubsigns. So if you happen to see a G1 MISB Dinobot on Yahoo Japan with no rubsign, you know the deal.

Let's now take a look at the toys themselves. First up, the red recolour of Hotspot called "Fire Chief":

Far more eye-catching than his all-blue predecessor, Fire Chief still retains a significant amount of Hot Spot's original blue colouring as is clear in the pictures. The choice of blue on the rims and rear section is questionable, as an all-red Fire Chief would undoubtedly have still looked the part. Having said that, the colour scheme doesn't detract from its appearance or Guard City's.

In figure mode, Fire Chief looks very good and the applied stickers help. The orange chest piece is a new and in my opinion successful addition to the overall look. I also really like the hose pieces on the arms/shoulders as they add something more to what could be a very blocky robot mode. I'm still unconvinced about the logic of the light blue sections. The fists might well have looked much more suitable in black.

Along with Fire Chief, the repainted Blades that is included in the Guard City set is the most changed of all the figures. "Fly-Up" is a blue/white recolour of the originally red/white Protectobot. The dark blue used on Fly-Up suits him extremely well and gives a very smart overall appearance, the kind of noticeably altered appearance you'd want from a rare foreign recoloured giftset-exclusive figure. That feel is carried over into the figure mode as well:

Suddenly Fly-Up is as orange as he is blue, a nice feature of the robot mode to keep him from possibly appearing dull, and some nice consistency with Fire Chief's orange chest scheme as well. The smaller members of Guard City can have all their armaments attached in some modes or not, as is illustrated by the above pics of Fly-Up in standard helicopter or robot mode in addition to being armed to the teeth. The robot face is a nice shade of blue as well. Overall, I think this figure is the nicest of the lot in terms of having a new look that makes sense aesthetically. The stickers on Fly-up are not the same as those used on G1 Blades, just as Fire Chief's are not the same as Hot Spot's.

The Guard City version of First Aid is called "Safety" and is pretty much the same as the Protectobot. I couldn't personally pick out any visually obvious differences between Safety and G1 First Aid in vehicle mode. None of the Guard City figures have rubsigns.

In robot mode however, there is a noticeable difference between the above Safety, and the G1 First Aid figure. The robot chest on Safety is orange, consistent with Fire Chief and Fly-up. First Aid had a red chest section. The chest stickers on Safety are also slightly different to those on First Aid. Not remarkably different to the original incarnation, but at least the consistency with the other Guard City figures compensates for that somewhat.

What sets the Guard City version of Streetwise apart from the Protectobot version is the stickers. When applied, the specific Police detailing on the Guard City release is quite different to Streetwise's. Many Streetwise figures have a rubsign where this one has the "P" in the star on the hood. There is also a touch of funk to Guard City's police car, he is called "Streetstar".

Again, in figure mode, the main distinguishing features are the stickers. The white also appears quite brilliant. This figure along with the Guard City version of Groove is the least altered from the original Protectobot schemes. However the new stickers are sufficient to set Streetstar apart from Streetwise.

"Sparkride" is the Guard City incarnation of Protectobot Groove. One of very few motorcycle Transformers from G1. With this one, I can't decide whether or not I prefer the vehicle mode with or without the armaments. The chrome engine section adds some much needed flavour to the otherwise bland-coloured vehicle mode. The main difference here between Sparkride and Groove is that Sparkride has the Cybertron/Autobot symbol on the windscreen whereas Groove would have had a rubsign there.

Sparkride probably has the least colourful figure mode, and even the silver chest and chrome arms do not totally compensate for that. The gold face remains from Groove and that's a good thing in my opinion. Groove's stickers give him quite a lot more colour than Sparkride's do. As far as the individual figures go, I think Fire Chief and Fly-Up win hands down in terms of being proper recolours and interesting figures.

So here's what we have so far...

As a set of individual robots together, they do look quite nice and are a definite unit. However from this sort of distance there isn't enough to distinguish Streetstar and Sparkride from their Protectobot roots. Safety is ok, but Fire Chief and Fly-Up are excellent.

The main event however, and the true measure of this set's success, was always going to be how they looked combined as the mighty Guard City. And without further ado...

Any doubts I may have had up to this point, any concerns about the look of individual figures or lack of change from previous forms, all smashed. I fell in love with this thing as soon as I had him combined. It may well have had a lot to do with the fact that this was the first Defensor-mould toy I had properly owned, but it's not the first I had ever seen. In the flesh, Guard City is nothing short of spectacular. The red and orange central section stands out a mile and grabs your attention. The stickers add to the overall look and appeal nicely as well.

Powerful, towering, well-armed, well-proportioned, a real success. This is how all combining Transformers should be. The motorcycle and helicopter features remain fully visible and integral to the overall look of the merged toy.

Here he is in a slightly different configuration with the limbs swapped around as instructed by the box back graphics. This is probably my favourite of all his combined configurations, and that is mostly down to Fire Chief's hose pieces which act as wing-like add-ons. I think it gives him an excellent look, even more depth and just bags of style. What a superb figure.

Here's a close-up of Guard City's well-sculpted head and its standout features:

Highly recogniseable and yet distinguishable from Defensor when viewed as a whole. I can't fault it really. Some may well not appreciate the choice of colours, but as far as the mould goes, there are few combiners that top this one. And it took me way too long to realise that.

Overall, Guard City's strongest asset is his combined mode with its relative poseability advantage over many G1 combiners, its very striking colour scheme, crisp detailing and stylish touches like the helicopter blades and hose pieces as wings. The boxart is beautiful and even a few of the individual bots can be displayed successfully as standalone TFs. It is a shame that he doesn't come with a collector's card, or that the character wasn't developed in any other forms of media other than TV magazine in Japan. Its relative rarity is a shame as well because many Defensor fans would surely love the opportunity to display this in their collections. Even though I owned it long enough just to review it, it has left a very positive and lasting effect on me.

I will leave you with my absolute favourite picture of this toy, and one that encompasses many of Guard City's highly distinctive and positive features. If ever there was a case for a figure who was easily more than the sum of its parts, surely this is it:

All the best
Maz