Spark Man: Intecs, Insung Sanggong, Running Changes

Part of a loose series of articles on Shockwave:

Astro Magnum: a History/Electronic Magnum: the Missing Link

Spark Man: the forgotten pre-Transformer

File Notes - Astro Magnum, Shockwave, Patent, Design Registration

File Notes - Astro Magnum, Toyco, Intecs, Shockwave, Galactic Man

The Prerub Shockwave

I got a complete Spark Man recently from eBay. For anyone who has been following my rambling articles about running changes to the mold, this version of the toy is fully progressed, (given that the original release of this toy was essentially like Astro Magnum) and basically identical to Galactic Man as described in the Electronic Magnum article:

1. 1983 dated
2. Wrist ridge
3. H-shaped neck piece
4. Dowels on leg
5. Assymmetrical/non flush battery cover

Except it is not Galactic Man because:

1. No batch number paper-sticker inside battery compartment
2. No paper-sticker on inner battery cover
3. No battery ejection strap, but the strap hole is present (change came with non-flush battery cover)
4. No sound switch foil-sticker on sound switch
5. No Galactic Man/Radio Shack clear-plastic decals on body/leg
6. Uses solder connectors fused to circuit bracket (stopped as of Shockwave production) and therefore the circuit wiring is configured differently
7. Smaller gauge rubber house, with no section cut off end of hose where it plugs into back of body
8. Lasser tip is glued on (glued on all versions except Galactic Man)
9. Barrel missing molded tabs (introduced during Shockwave era)

So, a late Spark Man is also the equivalent of a late N-4-SR or Electronic Magnum.

Spark Man (Intecs, 1984)

Spark Man box, front and back. 

The box has '© INTECS LTD' on the front as expected. On the back there is a manufacturing sticker that I have not seen before (since these figures are rare). In Korean, it says this figure was manufactured in 1984 by Insung Sanggong Co., Ltd.

On KIPRIS, Intecs and Insung have various patents/designs registered during the mid-eighties and the company CEO's names are alongside the company name (as the applicant) on the patent claims, so we can deduce Yang Wooseok was the CEO of Insung, and Jeong Yeonmok was the CEO of Intecs. Where the inventor is listed formally (and I say formally because I don't think either of these individuals are the inventors, but a name has to be provided), it is usually the CEO. However, Yang Wooseok is sometimes credited as the inventor of patents for Intecs. So, at the very least there was some kind of working relationship between these two individuals and/or their companies. Is it similar to the arrangement between Takatoku and Matsushiro for the 1/55 scale Valkyrie toys, or Toyco and whoever their fabricator might have been during 1983? 

Interestingly, some of these Korean patents are for figures that are credited in Japan to Katsumi Suzuki (who is credited with the Astro Magnum design, with Toyco as the applicant) according to JPO, who I suspect may have been the CEO of Toyco during that time. These are the Convertible Laser Gun for the GoBots line, which is credited to Suzuki but not Toyco, and not released by Toyco in Japan; and the Yoyo Bike that is credited to Suzuki but not Toyco, which was released by Toyco in Japan, and also bootlegged in Taiwan. 

Remember also, Intecs registered Toyco's trademark in Korea.

Insung's CEO Yang Wooseok was involved in Intecs's business (as inferred from patent/design registrations on KIPRIS), including manufacture of Spark Man. Intecs had an arrangement with Toyco and/or Katsumi Suzuki and their designs, in addition to the Astro Magnum figure.