Bruticus, or the Combaticons, were the 3rd Decepticon gestalt (combiner) team to join the G1 Universe. Over the years, their G1 mold has been used several times. The Takara Encore series is seeing fit to release the original mold and colors for 2009. For this article, we'll delve into the history of Bruticus and try to discern what keeps this particular gestalt around when most of the others have fallen to the side.

History

Anime

In the animated series, the Combaticons were created by the Decepticon Starscream, who was at the time recently exiled from the Decepticon army after taking a cheap shot at Megatron. Marooned on Guadacanal Island by Laserbeak, he came across some old WWII era vehicles. Seeing an opportunity, he forced his way via Space Bridge to Cybertron and stole 5 personality traits (or sparks) from the Decepticon prison. Using these sparks, he was able to bring the 5 machines to life and form the Combaticons. Capturing Autobot and Decepticon alike, Starscream stole his captive's energy absorbers so the Combaticons could recharge. Confronted by Megatron, Starscream then unveiled the Combaticon's ultimate secret: Their ability to merge and form Bruticus. Bruticus overcame Megatron and Devastator, but suffered a sneak attack by Menasor and was subsequently defeated. Starscream and his Combaticons were then exiled to a distant asteroid.

Disgruntled over Starscream's leadership and the Decepticons, the Combaticons broke free from the asteroid and proceeded to capture Cybertron. Rewiring the Space Bridge, they planned to pull Earth into the sun, thus destroying Megatron. Megatron and Optimus Prime formed an uneasy alliance in order to save Earth and recapture the Combaticons. Optimus and Megatron agreed that the Combaticons were a menace, and Megatron had them destroyed... or so Optimus thought. Using a hologram projector, Megatron showed a fake destruction. He then allowed Starscream back into the Decepticons and rewired the Combaticons to serve only him. The Combaticons had 2 more episodes during the 2nd season (B.O.T. & Aerial Assault) then only appeared as cameos throughout Season 3.

The Combaticons were comprised of the following characters:

Onslaught:The team leader and strategist, transformed into a twin photon missile carrier, formed the torso and head of Bruticus. Voiced alternately by S Marc Jordan and Steve Bullin.
Swindle:The negotiator, transformed into a jeep equipped with gyro gun and scatter blaster, formed the right leg of Bruticus. Voiced by Johnny Haymar.
Brawl:The muscle, transformed into a tank with twin sonic cannons rear mounted, formed the left leg of Bruticus. Voiced by Tony St James.
Blast-Off:The scout, transformed into a space shuttle with twin wing mounted X-ray cannons, formed the right arm of Bruticus. Voiced by Milt Jamin.
VortexThe interrogator, transformed into a helicopter armed with a glue gun, formed the left arm of Bruticus. Voiced by Johnny Haymar.

Due to Swindle's shiftiness, Brawl's impatience, Blast-Off's isolation, Vortex's sadistic tendencies and Onslaught's fragile ego, Bruticus was somewhat dysfunctional as a gestalt and had to rely on being given orders.

Japanese Anime

Bruticus appeared in "Scramble City", the one off episode which divulged the creation process of Metroplex. In this episode, Bruticus attempted to tag team with Menasor against Superior, but ended up losing. Bruticus also made several appearances in Headmasters, where he was referred to as the Military Team. Bruticus made yet another appearance in the one-off episode "Zone" as one of the 9 Demon Generals and given enhanced "Flame" armor. However, his role in that episode was minimal.

Comic

The Combaticons first appeared in Marvel #24. Their first mission was to retrieve the Hydrothermacline. However, they were confronted by the Autobots. In an attempt to reduce collateral damage, a human scientist convinced both sides to carry their combat in a virtual simulator. Bruticus was summarily defeated by Defensor, an Autobot gestalt. In another mission, they tracked down the Throttlebots but were again confronted and defeated by Defensor. Bruticus regrouped and attacked Defensor again, this time winning. However, they were misled by Blaster and shocked out of their gestalt mode. Blaster then used a mode-locked Blast-Off to carry some cihldren to the Ark in space, where Blast-Off remained imprisoned. Onslaught and the remaining Combaticons attacked the Autobots on the moon while the Constructicons orchestrated Blast-Off's escape.

Figures

Bruticus was marketed two ways when introduced in 1986. One was a giftset, which was only available in Italy and Japan (Takara issue D-69). In the rest of the world, Bruticus' components were sold seperately. The limbs were sold with their associated appendages, while Onslaught was sold with the head and chest armor. One anomoly with Bruticus is that with early releases, the robot chests were made of die cast. Later issues had plastic chests. The die-cast chested figures are considered rare and worth a premium.

In 1992, Bruticus was redeco'ed in Japan and released for the Operation: Combination series as Battle Gaia. This is very little documented about this short lived series. However, he was able to relocate his limbs as he saw fit. The individual robots were never shown, only their gestalt form. The name assignments were:

Onslaught as Great Cannon
Swindle as Leyland
Brawl as Sandstorm
Blast-Off as Shuttle Gunner
Vortex as Target Hawk

In 1994, Hasbro recolored the Bruticus set and released it as part of their Generation 2 lineup. The names and bios remained the same, but they received a pastel like color scheme. There was no gift set for Bruticus, all 5 robots were sold seperately.

In 2000, Bruticus was once again put to use for the Robots In Disguise series. This time, the entire team was renamed as Ruination. Known teamwise as the Commandos, they appeared midway through the series. Their individual names were again changed:

Onslaught was now Mega-Octane
Swindle was now Rollbar
Brawl was now Armorhide
Blast-Off was now Mo-Vor
Vortex was now Rotor
Bruticus was now Ruination (Valdigus in the Japanese version)

There were a few variations of Ruination. Walmart released an exclusive version using urban camoflague colors. They were also re-released in 2004 as a gift set for the initial Universe series. Meanwhile, the Bruticus name was bestowed upon a Cerberus.

In 2005, Bruticus had one more reunion using new molds and new names. Known as Bruticus Maximus, the team consisted of a lead bot (Barricade) and four drones which combined to form Bruticus Maximus. The drones consisted of 2 tanks (Blight/Kickback) and 2 helicopters (Blackout/Stormcloud) and were never seen in their smaller robot modes (although Barricade was seen briefly in his robot mode). He originally was one of 4 guardians of the super energon pool below Cybertron before Megatron awakened him.

For most of the 21st Century, Bruticus' individual robots have been featured seperately. Swindle debuted as a mincon paired up with Starscream in the Armada series. He also was an Alternator repaint of Hound. He was also a repaint of the Decepticon jeep Hardtop in the Cybertron series, and a red sports car for the Movie line. Although he was not in the film, he was one of many game drones used in the video game depicting the movie. Swindle currently is portrayed as a SUV in the Animated lineup, voiced by Fred Willard.

Brawl was used for the Movie as a tank. The original name of the tank was Devastator and the name was even used in the movie. However, this is seen as a gaffe in the movie, as all the sales tools refer to him as Brawl. Both Vortex and Blast-Off have not been reused since the G1 continuum. Onslaught has been used twice in the recent Universe line. Originally, he was a redeco of legend class Cybertron Red Alert.. Later, he was given an ultra class mold of his own, depicting a S.W.A.T. armored vehicle.

Figure Pricing

The original G1 figure was sold seperately in most of the world. The individual limbs were $4.99/e while Onslaught was $11.99. There was also the D69 Destron gift set, only sold in Japan and Italy. Due to Bruticus being released multiple times, he hasn't accelerated in worth much. The rare giftset can be had on eBay for as little as $135. Those that can find all 5 Combaticons with die-cast chests shoudl expect to pay more. The Encore #16 giftset debuts in June 2009 with a pricepoint of $95.