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I seem to always fall in love with lines that no one else seems to like.
Skeleton Warriors was one of those lines that had everything going for it. Based on the Skeleton Warriors animated series developed by Gary Goddard's Landmark Entertainment. Gary Goddard was the director of 1987 live action Masters of the Universe movie and probably not coincidently Skeleton Warriors does have some similarities to MOTU.
A cartoon and toy line that's like a spookier version of Masters of the Universe with a touch of Harryhausen-ish skeletons? I was like, shut up and take my money! Playmates really outdid themselves on the figures and went with a style, scale, articulation and level of detail way out of their usual TMNT comfort zone. The figures had sculpts and paint way beyond anything else at the time and the figures hold up to this day.
I think a couple of things played into the failure of the toy line. Kids were still going crazy for Power Rangers and Playmates launched the line with the skeleton villains first. The heroes weren't released until months later. By the time the three heroes were released, the line was already on discount. So much awesome stuff was planned for the line that never saw the light of day. An awesome giant bone dragon, a castle playset and second series of figures which would have included a Viking and Samurai looking skeletons and the missing heroine Princess Talyn. Note to toy companies: please release the female heroes in the first assortment in case the line doesn't make it to series 2.
Playmates released eight figures. Prince Lightstar, Grimskull, Ursak the Guardian, Baron Dark, Shriek, Dr. Cyborn, Dagger and Aracula. Plus a Skeleton Legion Skullcycle vehicle (it's kinda like a Speederbike made out of bones) and a Skeleton Legion Warhorse. An awesome but small set of toys that was and is beastly unpopular. But on the bright side, they are very inexpensive toyline to collect that is getting close to twenty years in age.
There's actually three major variants on the set of figures. The original numbered editions which have the "NEW! Collectible individually numbered figures!" starburst on the cards. The un-numbered edition which replaces the numbered starburst with a small parts warning. The un-numbered figures are missing several paint aps and the vac-metal parts of numbered ones. Lastly the 2002 Re-Play figures which come on different bubbles and have even less paint aps than the un-numbered figures. Seriously, they went with the absolute bare minimum paint they could get away with on these. Needless to say, they are vastly inferior to the original numbered figures.
Skeleton Warriors was one of those lines that had everything going for it. Based on the Skeleton Warriors animated series developed by Gary Goddard's Landmark Entertainment. Gary Goddard was the director of 1987 live action Masters of the Universe movie and probably not coincidently Skeleton Warriors does have some similarities to MOTU.
A cartoon and toy line that's like a spookier version of Masters of the Universe with a touch of Harryhausen-ish skeletons? I was like, shut up and take my money! Playmates really outdid themselves on the figures and went with a style, scale, articulation and level of detail way out of their usual TMNT comfort zone. The figures had sculpts and paint way beyond anything else at the time and the figures hold up to this day.
I think a couple of things played into the failure of the toy line. Kids were still going crazy for Power Rangers and Playmates launched the line with the skeleton villains first. The heroes weren't released until months later. By the time the three heroes were released, the line was already on discount. So much awesome stuff was planned for the line that never saw the light of day. An awesome giant bone dragon, a castle playset and second series of figures which would have included a Viking and Samurai looking skeletons and the missing heroine Princess Talyn. Note to toy companies: please release the female heroes in the first assortment in case the line doesn't make it to series 2.
Playmates released eight figures. Prince Lightstar, Grimskull, Ursak the Guardian, Baron Dark, Shriek, Dr. Cyborn, Dagger and Aracula. Plus a Skeleton Legion Skullcycle vehicle (it's kinda like a Speederbike made out of bones) and a Skeleton Legion Warhorse. An awesome but small set of toys that was and is beastly unpopular. But on the bright side, they are very inexpensive toyline to collect that is getting close to twenty years in age.
There's actually three major variants on the set of figures. The original numbered editions which have the "NEW! Collectible individually numbered figures!" starburst on the cards. The un-numbered edition which replaces the numbered starburst with a small parts warning. The un-numbered figures are missing several paint aps and the vac-metal parts of numbered ones. Lastly the 2002 Re-Play figures which come on different bubbles and have even less paint aps than the un-numbered figures. Seriously, they went with the absolute bare minimum paint they could get away with on these. Needless to say, they are vastly inferior to the original numbered figures.
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