SPARK MAN - 4 Changeable
Super Electronic
Space Robot/Gun
Intecs LTD - KOREA
Item No.109
The man, the myth, the legend... SPARK MAN!
In 1983, a Japanese toy company called Toyco would release a magnificent transforming figure to the world named 'Astro Magnum'. Shortly afterwards, Toyco would license the Astro Magnum manufacturing mold/design to a Korean toy company called 'Intecs'. Later in 1983, Intecs released the first of several licensed figures they would produce. Even before Intecs Transformers G1 Shockwave was released, the world would meet... SPARK MAN!
Astro Magnum is the original, the big kahuna or top dog of them all. In the long lineage of licensed and KO figures that came from the original Astro Magnum mold, SPARK MAN is a must have!
Picture above: (v2) Spark Man figures and (v2) box.
Showing 3 of 7 complete SPARK MAN examples used for this post.
Box back of an AFA graded Transformers G1 Shockwave.
Below the Tech Specs it reads:
"Made and printed in Korea. Manufactured by Intecs, Ltd., Seoul"
The Intecs Paper Trail: Mapping the Evolution from N-4-SR to Spark Man
Cross-referencing the physical packaging iterations of the Korean frontier reveals a tight, fascinating engineering timeline that positions Intecs LTD not as a mere bootlegger, but as a highly adaptive manufacturing powerhouse. Chronologically, the journey began immediately after Toyco's 1983 Japanese launch with the release of J. Shin Company’s Convert-A-Bots: N-4-SR. Up to this point, the Astro Magnum mold had only ever been marketed in gun mode. N-4-SR was the industry's absolute first attempt to showcase the figure standing upright in robot mode. This early production phase is betrayed by its highly experimental, oversized packaging; Intecs utilized a clumsy, rigid cardboard insert that required a twist-tie around the robot's waist to keep it secure, leaving an awkward cavity in the top flaps where the gun barrel lay hidden.
The structural flaws of the N-4-SR cardboard tray forced an immediate factory optimization. Intecs introduced a secure white foam insert, but because they had already printed a massive surplus of the tall N-4-SR boxes, they were forced to include a temporary 2-inch foam spacer block to fill the empty upper barrel cavity. When Intecs officially launched their own house-branded release—the legendary SPARK MAN (Item No. 109)—later in 1984, they permanently applied these lessons. The Spark Man box was shrunk by exactly two inches to eliminate the unnecessary spacer block, and because loose instruction sheets had not yet been drafted, the factory printed the transformation schematics directly onto the back of the box. This industrial evolution is flawlessly recorded by the physical progression of the Astro Magnum battery covers. Early runs utilized original Japanese tooling, with Intecs applying "Made in Korea" silver foil stickers directly over the native Toyco stamps. This gave way to Mold 3, featuring a native, symmetrical "Made in Korea" stamp—the exact tooling fingerprint shared with Daeyoon Electronics for the ultra-rare Coko Robot-Gun. Finally, as Intecs scaled operations in late 1984 to fulfill massive global contracts for Radio Shack's Galactic Man and Hasbro's G1 Shockwave, the tooling underwent its final structural modification. The battery door evolved into an asymmetrical layout with deep, then shallow slots to improve battery terminal clip retention, running parallel with a newly added ridge on the figure's wrists. Through these subtle plastic fingerprints, Spark Man documents the exact mid-1984 bridge where a regional Japanese mold was successfully weaponized for global mainstream dominance. VERSIONS
There are three versions of SPARK MAN (v1), (v2) & (v3).
These versions differ in their boxes, stickers, wrist molds and battery covers.
Box Front Differences
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(click picture to enlarge)
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Currently, of the dozen or so photographed boxed examples of Spark Man that circulate on the internet, this is the only known example of a (v1) box.
Differences between (v1) box on the left & (v2) box on the right:
A. (v1) box no "©
1983 Intecs LTD." sticker on the box top right corner
B. (v1) figure no "©
1983 Intecs LTD." sticker on the figure
C. (v1) patent area is completely blank on the front.
Box Back Differences
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(click picture to enlarge)
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(v1) Does not have USA patents listed yet.
Taiwan patent is 'stamped' on the box only.
(v2) Has four USA patents now.
Taiwan patent is printed on the box now.
"PATENT PENDING" has red letters now.
SPARK MAN's (v2) box reads: Exciting space sounds with pulsating lights.It also shares: Patent Pending informationJapan: 58-037528U.K/Hong Kong: 1016277Korea: 11123USA: 583161, 583162, 583163, 583164Taiwan: 7330259LICENSED BATTERY COVER IDENTIFICATION
Evolution of the Astro Magnum battery cover molds.
1. 'Made in Japan' stamp. 'Battery Energy Gunborg' sticker. Symmetrical
2. 'Made in Korea' silver sticker. Symmetrical
3. 'Made in Korea' stamp. Symmetrical
4. 'Made in Korea' stamp with deep slots. Asymmetrical
5.'Made in Korea' stamp with shallow slots. Asymmetrical
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(v2) SPARK MAN box scan. Instructions are on the back.
(Click to enlarge)
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Instructions on the box show you how to change from:
1. SPARK MAN
2. ANTI-AIR-GUN (GUNBORG)
3. VULCAN BASE
4. LASER GUN
SPARK MAN's box features photographs of the blue & black Astro Magnum prototype used on Astro Magnum's box, these are not pictures of SPARK MAN.
NEW!!
Astro Magnum Collectors Guide & Archive 50 figures!
(Click Here)
Foam tray for SPARK MAN (v1) & (v2) are identical
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(v2) Spark Man
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SPARK MAN did not come with an optional sticker sheet or loose instructions. The instructions were printed on the back of SPARK MAN's box. The only sticker (v2) SPARK MAN had was factory applied and it reads: © 1983 Intecs LTD. This sticker was applied onto the top of his chest and in rare cases it was placed on the front of the clear plastic chest window.
A. "© 1983 Intecs LTD." sticker on (v2) figure.
B. Residue from where the "© 1983 Intecs LTD." sticker used to be on (v2).
Above: Spark Man (v3).
The figure does not have an Intecs chest decal. The wrist has a ridge on it now. The battery cover is asymmetrical and has deep slots now. This figure has evolved in the manufacturing process and is now identical to N-4-SR (v3) and Electronic Magnum (v2).
TF Scraps blog has a great article on (v3) Spark Man
(click here)
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| Photo Credit: Logicfry |
Rare example of the (v2) "© 1983 Intecs LTD." sticker being placed on the chest window.
Noteworthy is the sale sticker for $23.99.
The exact same (v2) "©
1983 Intecs LTD." sticker on the figure was also placed directly on the
outside of the SPARKMAN box in the top corner next to Item NO.109
Intecs LTD does not appear printed on the box.
The SPARK MAN artwork above is unique to only the SPARK MAN box and not lifted from Astro Magnum nor repeated on other subsequent figures.
SPARK MAN often comes with what appears to be a coded price sticker. It reads: 795468 $12.99*ROBOT PISTLD915 M37 TY1The last line on each sticker is some kind of unique code, meaning = unknown currently. Similar type stickers can be found on (TG-117 Robot Pistol) boxes.
UPDATE: These prices stickers appear to have come from Spencer Gifts, the store found in just about every 1980s mall.
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| Photo Credit: Brandon Alamo - Rogue Five Toys |
SPARK MAN sound switch has two sound options. Unlike Astro Magnum, SPARK MAN does not come with a sound switch sticker identifying those sounds and the space remains blank.The black sound switch has 5 small ridges.
The
back of this particular Spark Man box has a Korean quality control
sticker applied to it. A similar quality control sticker can be found on
the Korean made (Robot-Gun) box.
1. Insung Commerce & Industry (The Parent Contractor)
Led by Chairman Yang Wooseok, Insung Commerce & Industry (Insung Sanggong) operated at the top of the Korean hierarchy. Insung secured the manufacturing mold license from Toyco, registered the design patents domestically, and legally certified the product for international export. They were responsible for procuring the raw chemical materials—namely the rigid ABS resin thermoplastic designated on the toy’s internal statutory quality mark.
2. Intecs LTD (The Direct Assembler)
Managed by CEO Jeong Yeonmok, Intecs LTD was the manufacturing workhorse operating out of the Bupyeong industrial complex. Often misidentified as a mere bootlegger in early toy forums, Intecs was the direct production affiliate assigned to handle the physical fabrication. Intecs factory workers operated the heavy injection molds, managed the physical inventory, ran the final assembly line, and stamped the retail boxes with the iconic "© 1983 INTECS LTD." branding.
3. Bukdoo Audio Corporation (The Component Supplier)
Intecs didn’t build the electronics from scratch; they relied on localized component procurement. For the toy's signature sound effects, Insung contracted with Bukdoo Audio Corporation, a specialized domestic acoustics firm established in 1972. Bukdoo supplied crates of factory-standard 8 Ohm, 0.2-Watt miniature speakers directly to the assembly line. Intecs workers then soldered the signature green and orange wire leads directly onto these Bukdoo speaker terminals, sealing them inside the chest cavity to give the figure its distinct space-laser blast.
CUSTOM
Here we have a (V1) Spark Man figure that someone previously customized. It includes custom Autobot stickers as well as converting the eye to chrome vs. a red color. Beautiful figure to have as long a collectors realize it is custom vs. an official release.
SPARK MAN is a wonderful figure that is harder and harder to find. Finding a figure with the Intecs sticker still intact is collecting gold! Only second to the actual Astro Magnum figure, SPARK MAN should be on every collectors list! Happy hunting everyone and thank you Intecs of Korea for the collecting fun!
(Astro Magnum Home Page)
Questions of comments, please email us at: astromagnumguide@gmail.com
Thank you!
