Combination Series
The C series were the first Blockman products to be released in 1984. C-0X form medium-size vehicles, whilst C-1X form large vehicles. Each C series release was packaged with an instruction sheet, a sticker sheet, and a promotional leaflet featuring the C series releases with painted mural artwork for each release. The C series are the most common Combination Warrior Blockman releases to find secondhand for some reason, especially C-01 and C-11.
C-0X
The C-0X sets each formed a medium-size vehicle: C-01 forms a fighter jet, C-02 forms a twin driller, and C-03 forms a spaceship. Each set included five Blockman robots, four of one colour and one of another colour. For the 1984 releases, these were all single-colour Blockman robots, with these being changed to multi-coloured Blockman robots for the later 1985 recolours in updated packaging.
A common theme across the C-0X sets is that each comes with a basic cockpit (i.e., one that does not have a retractable head for forming a super-robot), two silver-chromed drivers, and a medium-size grey gun that can be wielded by an individual Blockman robot. Each C-0X set also has a number of black parts in common: two fists, two feet modules, two twin rocket exhausts, and two two-way peg connectors. The fists and feet could be used to form robot bodies with the piloted cockpits at the centre, with the feet modules being moulded so they could fit alongside one another to form larger feet (as might be needed when creating a combined super-robot across sets).
IMPORTANT: MISSING PARTS!!! C-03 warrants specific discussion of parts, as the checklist provided on the instruction sheet is incomplete. Although they are not shown, C-03 also came with three black wheel brackets with three black wheels to press into them. These were included on the same sprue as the other black parts, which in fact is identical to the black-part sprue included with C-01. The incomplete checklist error was carried over to the box for the corresponding Robotech Robolinks Force 32. However, the French Robotech Changers edition, C2, includes all of the parts on the box – because they are photographed still attached to the sprue, it would have been hard for the error to reoccur here.
C-01, C-02, and C-03 were released as Robotech Robolinks Force 30, Force 31, and Force 32 respectively, and as Robotech Changers C1, C3, and C2 (note the swap in number!). To my knowledge they were only released in Finland in their recoloured 1985 versions. I have yet to see evidence that they were released in Korea, although my opinion is that they are likely to have been released there.
A Takara sales representative was apparently shopping around Combination Warrior Blockman in England in the 1980s, as I own a C-01 sales sample suggesting this. It’s identical to the standard C-01 release, but with a handwritten “sample only” sticker on the back.
C-1X
The C-1X sets each formed a large vehicle: C-11 forms a space fighter, C-12 forms a driller (that also includes a construction scoop), and C-13 forms a race car. Each set included six Blockman robots, four of one colour and two of another colour. For the 1984 releases, these were all single-colour Blockman robots, with these being changed to multi-coloured Blockman robots for the later 1985 recolours in updated packaging.
A common theme across the C-1X sets is that each comes with a larger cockpit that has a retractable head allowing a super-robot to be formed. The extra-large C-13 cockpit is especially impressive, as it includes not one but two retractable heads: one to form a C-13 super-robot, and the other larger one for forming a combined C-11-12-13 super-robot. Very cool!
Other common C-1X parts include two silver-chromed drivers per set, a medium-size black gun that can be wielded by an individual Blockman robot, a large black gun to be wielded by the super-robot form, and a pair of missile launchers with four missiles. C-11 and C-12 have identical white missile launchers and yellow missiles, while C-13 has yellow missile launchers with a different sculpt of yellow missile. Each C-1X set also has common black parts (two large fists and two double-size feet modules) and common white parts (three twin rocket exhausts and three two-way peg connectors).
One C-1X part in particular warrants some discussion. C-12 includes a yellow construction scoop that has two prongs to fit it around the cockpit module. However, the size of the bumps at the end of these prongs is a little larger than is ideal for fitting it around the cockpit. Be careful not to snap the prongs on this part. I would not recommend fitting the scoop to the cockpit if you have a mint in box C-12, or even a loose but complete one. I was fortunate enough to get a loose spare C-12 scoop (well, the USA equivalent), and found it more workable to shave down the bumps with a craft knife.
C-11, C-12, and C-13 were released as Robotech Robolinks Force 40, Force 41, and Force 42 respectively, and as Robotech Changers D1, D3, and D2 (note the swap in number!). To my knowledge they were only released in Finland in their recoloured 1985 versions. I have yet to see evidence that they were released in Korea, although my opinion is that they are likely to have been released there.
Giftsets
The C series was a bit big to combine into one giftset like the A series, and so there are two: the C-01-02-03 giftset for the C-0X releases (containing 15 Blockman robots), and the C-11-12-13 giftset for the C-1X releases (containing 18 Blockman robots). These giftsets were released in December 1984 alongside the A series giftset. They have very impressive box-art of their combined super-robot modes, especially the C-11-12-13 giftset with its distinct face (the C-0X combined super-robot simply uses a basic cockpit as the head module). The Blockman robot colours included with the giftsets are identical to those included with the individual 1984 C-0X and C-1X sets – there is no difference between the robots and parts included in the giftset and those included in the individual sets. The giftsets do have their own instruction sheets though, as well as a promotional poster.
Unfortunately, I’ve yet to add any of the giftsets to my collection, so for now the two giftset pictures above have been drawn from expired eBay listings. I’ll post more comprehensive pictures once I can find these for myself.
None of the giftsets, C series nor A series, were released as a corresponding Robotech Changers product (although the individual sets that comprise the giftsets were available in the USA). However, the C-0X and C-1X giftsets were released in the Robotech Changers line in France, as C10 and D10 respectively. There is no evidence to suggest that either C series giftset was released in Finland or Korea.
Later Recolours
The original 1984 C series releases used stock photography as the main box artwork, and included Blockman robots that were of a single colour (i.e., identical torso, limb, and arm colour within the one robot), with two different colours of robot included in each set. The recoloured releases were never combined into giftsets like the 1984 releases.
In 1985, the C series was rereleased in new colours and with an updated packaging design that included a new logo and product-specific artwork. The recoloured C series sets came with identical accessories to their original 1984 versions, and still came with two colours of Blockman per set. However, the individual Blockman robots were now multi-coloured, with differently coloured arms to their torso and legs. Many of these multi-coloured Blockman robots were drawn from those that had already appeared in the A series releases. However, new unique colours may have also been available, and this may even include some three-colour Blockman robots that have a different torso colour to their leg colour.
The recoloured 1985 C series were those that were released in Finland, with translated multilingual packaging in both English and Suomi.
I know relatively little about the recoloured C series, as I do not own any and have only seen images online of one Japanese recolour (C-12), and two of the Finnish editions (C-01 and C-12). If you know more than me, please contribute via the Blockman Link Facebook group!
