O/T FUN: Lost toy lines!

[BigApple3AM]

I just thought, we all know about TMNT, it's had 3 different toy lines (original, next mutation, current) and pretty much had toys in stores from 1987-2004 (excluding a few years around 1997-2002, but kbtoys always had TMNT), but what about all those toys from the 80's (or 90's) that seems the world has forgotten.

Post what you think is a forgotten toy line.

Here's a few of mine:

Cops n' Crooks: this line seems to still have a pretty decent following, but nothing has been done for it since the mid 80's when it had one wave of figures and a short run cartoon by DIC. This is the line that all 80's toy enthusiasts remember, but don't do anything to support it.

Army ants: I just stumbled upon these while looking up a dinosaur figure I found in my basement, this is one of those toy lines that I probably would have bought as a kid had it been available to me.

Street Sharks: Seems like yesterday that horrible 90's tmnt rip off was on the silver screen. Personally I hated street sharks because it was a property that knew it was a rip off and still wanted to compete. My friend had a few toys and they were pretty much lame. You couldn't move the legs and they were too big and bulky to fit in with any other toys.

Mighty Morph'n Power Rangers: Don't get me wrong, I know power rangers is still going and kids are still eating it up, but what about the original show that spawned it all. I can't say I really like Power Rangers all that much anymore, I sold all my toys at a garage sale, and the ones that I couldn't went into a box in my crawl space, but Power Rangers does still have memories for me, so when are we going to see a dvd release of the original show? Kids will buy anything with power rangers on it, but now a days it's like Power Rangers: Dinosaur Ninja Time Travelling EXTREME! Show the kids what power rangers was like before it REALLY sold out.

Finally (I want to leave some for you guys to come up with) Definitely Dinosaurs. I didn't know what it was called, but that's nothing 5 minutes and a google search can't fix. You might remember these, they came out in 1987 and I think they came with cavemen. I found a dinosaur while cleaning my basement and I was like, "seriously where the fuc* is this from?"
This is probably one of the few lines I probably don't care if it does come back, might even prefer it didn't, but I had to mention it.


Edit: Here's another, wow this site is great, Barnyard Commandos by none other than PLAYMATES TOYS!
http://www.virtualtoychest.com/barnyard/barnyard.html

Check out www.virtualtoychest.com for pictures of the lines I spoke of above, and to find more you recognize and think is a dead line.

[KROW]

Oh, boy. I think I sense another thread-lock coming.


I remember Army Ants. They were divided into two colors, right? Orange and blue? I used to collect them when I was a boy. Played with them in the sand and dirt. Fun times.

Street Sharks were pretty damn weird. I always thought a crossover with the TMNT and them would be interesting.

I also recall Silverhawks, Thundercats, Voltron, and one of the all-time coolest toylines ever IMO: The Centurions. I think they should come back.

[evil_henchmen]

I remember a bunch of cool 80's toys that have been forgotten.

Extreme Dinosaurs
Blackstar
Brave Starr
Tigersharks
Conan
Dungeons & Dragons

These are just some of the cooler lines that i can think of off the top of my head.

[BigApple3AM]

Nah, Conan's a cult classic and is getting new action figure treatment from McFarlene (they'll be out this August).

Extreme dinosaurs! Excellent. My cousins bought me the raptor a long time ago, he's in my basement crawl space now. I think that was the spin off of street sharks right? Which reminds me of Dinosaucers, another forgotten line, so forgotten that the original line was cancelled during production :(

Oooh! Gobots! Not the crappy hasbro bought out gobot's name and turned em into preschool gobots, but the original 80's ones made by like bandai or w/e. Oooooh I have to go find all my gobots now!! I think I lost em but hopefully I'll find them.

Thanks for participating guys, I don't think this thread it'll get locked it has a lot to do with TMNT, these are the toy lines that TMNT crushed :p

[rayfillet101]

I remember these animals who had like armor on and kinda machineish. The deer had a drill hand,mouse a shovel hand. I still have some in my basement. I love those things! and Snalians!

[DrSpengler]

Oooh! Gobots! Not the crappy hasbro bought out gobot's name and turned em into preschool gobots, but the original 80's ones made by like bandai or w/e. Oooooh I have to go find all my gobots now!! I think I lost em but hopefully I'll find them.


Actually, Gobots saw a revival of sorts in Japan (not counting the Transformers Gobots you already mentioned).

In Japan the toyline was called Machine Robo. It had it's own anime featuring scantily clad women and everything. When the toys got imported to America they called them Gobots and gave them their own Hanna Barbara cartoon.

Well, last year new Machine Robo toys started production along with a new anime series. The original anime series is available on DVD in the US if anyone's interested in seeing super Japanese versions of Scooter and Cy-Kill (but not the Rock Lords, those were strictly an American thing).

[BigApple3AM]

lol! NOT the rocklords. Thannk goodness right?

Thanks for the info Dr. I might just have to look around for that dvd, is it subtitled or dubbed? I'm not a fan of anime, but I would pay cash for a badass scooter!

I'd actually rather have the old hannabarbera cartoon though.

[Brodie]

I liked Street Sharks.

[Drtooth]

Lost as in forgotten, or lost as in, they've never been released?

There was of course, a wave 2 of Darkwing Duck figures, and Gizmo duck was to be one of them, the closest thing to a Ducktales action figure.... but that got axed...

Also, a Ripping Friends toy line.... that fell through...

And since fun4all filed for bankruptcy, we may not see the well hyped Sesame Street action figures.... Dammit... they were going to make Guy Smiley and the Two headed monster!!!

[Karai]

SWAT Kats. Man, I miss SWAT Kats... I'm so bummed that I never picked up any of those action figures before they vanished.

[Brodie]

I wanna see picks of the SWAT Kats toys,

[TheCloneRanger]

Ooh, Street Sharks! I remember Street Sharks! Come to think of it, I may have to dig a few of those out when I get home...

They were blatant rip-offs of the TMNT, but so what? I was really into sea life at the time, and these things were right up my alley. I remember bits and pieces of the old TV show, but not much...

And as much as I (almost) hate to say it, I've been really nostalgic about the MMPR lately. Probably all the way up to the end of the Zeo season. I dug out my original Megazord and Dinozord and have them standing on my "vintage" toy shelf right now. Hey, those were a part of my child hood!

Out of curiosity, why would this thread get locked?

[Karai]

I wanna see picks of the SWAT Kats toys,
HERE (http://www.fyresight.com/kristensk/whatsk/merchandise.html) is a link to a site featuring some of the old SWAT Kat merchandise.

[Dane E5R]

Street Sharks were flippin' awesome. I loved those action figures. 'Still got Jab and Slammu, used to have Ripster and Blades/Streex. Maybe some day I'll find some on eBay.

SwatKats ALSO kicked major ass. I remember when they'd have those huge ass marathons on CN. Thems were the days.

And Clone Ranger, you're not alone. I've been feelin' a bit nostalgic toward MMPH lately too. I've been lookin' for the original zords on eBay for quite awhile now.

[Shreddatron]

Oooh! Gobots! Not the crappy hasbro bought out gobot's name and turned em into preschool gobots, but the original 80's ones made by like bandai or w/e. Oooooh I have to go find all my gobots now!! I think I lost em but hopefully I'll find them.[/quote]

Gobots were nifteh back when Tonka was a competing company against hasbro, but Transformers just takes the cake in this field, that's why hasbro was able to buy out Tonka.

[BigApple3AM]

I was going to mention swat kats in the original post, but I was hoping someone else would. (I already talk... or rather type too much) I actually still have a swat kats figure I pulled out of the 1.99 bin at kbtoys a loooong time ago.

And you guys are definitely not alone. I didn't want anyone making fun of me so I wasn't going to admit I missed the old toys. A few years ago you were considered gay if you liked MMPR but not as gay if you liked TMNT (this is jr. high we're talking about). Now it's awesome to like TMNT, but you're still gay if you like MMPR? I'm not going to go out and buy the new toys or anything, but yeah there's a crap load of memories attached to the power rangers.

I actually found my blue ranger/billy flip head figure, and there's RUST all over the figure. I didn't know plastic could rust! Me and my friends used to take our figures to the pool back in the day, so it's understandable why it happened, but still!

[TheCloneRanger]

And you guys are definitely not alone. I didn't want anyone making fun of me so I wasn't going to admit I missed the old toys. A few years ago you were considered gay if you liked MMPR but not as gay if you liked TMNT (this is jr. high we're talking about). Now it's awesome to like TMNT, but you're still gay if you like MMPR? I'm not going to go out and buy the new toys or anything, but yeah there's a crap load of memories attached to the power rangers.

I actually found my blue ranger/billy flip head figure, and there's RUST all over the figure. I didn't know plastic could rust! Me and my friends used to take our figures to the pool back in the day, so it's understandable why it happened, but still!

Nah man...nobody has the right to call you "gay" even if you want to collect Polly Pocket. Whatever makes you happy. Why should any of us give a flip what somebody else thinks? Even though, in all technicality, "gay" means "happy." There's a mind bender...

I'm 19 now, and it's actually "cool" to get with a group of people my age and talk about TMNT, Power Rangers, etc. I don't mean socially cool (though it may be that, too), I just mean it's fun. And at the end of the day, that's what it's all about. Should I care more than I had fun with my friends talking about childhood toys, or what a bunch of jerks thought of me? I'm telling you, there's no easier way to start a conversation with my generation than to spout off "Damn, that Pink Ranger was HOT!" at about 3 in the morning during a video game marathon...

Elite5Raph, I am so glad you mentioned Slammu. I had been picturing him all day in my head, and it was killing me that I couldn't think of his name. Remember those awesome boxes the Street Sharks came in? Possibly some of the best packaging I've ever come across. A plastic "steel" bar cage, surrounded by the cardboard box. Awesome!

[DrSpengler]

Swat Kats! Awesome. That show freaken rocked. A shame it only lasted two seasons, it was the best thing on Cartoon Network at the time (this was back when Cartoon Network was first starting out and all it had to offer was Yogi Bear reruns).

It always bugged me that they only did two seasons (26 episodes, I think) yet put the show on reruns in the afternoon action slot (pre-Toonami) for several years. Couldn't they have just made new episodes? A total loss. Now they won't even rerun it. :(

I never bothered with the action figures, I wasn't that in to it. But I'd buy the show on DVD if it ever came out.

The Pastmaster = my favorite villain on the show.

[Starscream]

Swat Kats had enormous potential for a toyline. Too bad it only got the four figures. I was pleasantly surprised at how cool all the villains were.

As far as MMPR that toyline was pretty good until the 8 inch line died. There seemed to be a lot more of those figures based on the sentai teams that came before Zyuranger (the original MMPR) but I've only been able to find pics of just a few.

As far as most underrated toyline, that has to go to C.O.P.S. That line was articulated out hte wazoo plus each figure usually had a ton of accessories and had capguns. It's probably in the top ten of greatest toylines ever.

[BigApple3AM]

OMG DID I FORGET COPS?!

We were actually watching Cops in the store today, DIC put out a dvd with like the first 3 episodes or something. I keep searching for a loose complete bulletproof (the black dood) on ebay but can't seem to find one at a decent price. The toys were awesome and the show was even better! I actually saw pictures for a second wave of figures (which looked really awesome) but it got canned. I might have to put COPS in my top 10 favorite cartoon of all time it's that good.

CloneRanger: Yeah that's what I meant, a few years ago you were dead meat if you wore a TMNT shirt to school, now it's "retro" and is acceptable socially. Personally I don't give a flying f*** what most people think is socially alright, since there are people out there that do much weirder things than collecting toys. Working at a comic store I've met people I wouldn't want coming in a 10 mile radius of me outside the store. I'm 17 now and most of my friends know and don't really seem to care.

[JaffleMan]

Not sure if it had a toyline but does anyone remember Samurai Pizza Cats?

[Drtooth]

Probably in Japan.... not around here that I can think of....

[Mobius One]

I remember Bucky O Hare and all of those. I wanted one of those back in PreSchool. And also Z-Bots. Ithink those were both early ninetees, but meh...anyone remember em?

[BigApple3AM]

z-bots? Yeah my friend had a ton of them + they used to air the commercial all the time and the kids in it had like a room full of z-bots, so full that you'd think he choke on a few of them if he just walked in the door. Zbots rocked. Bucky o'hare was awesome too, I got a few of the more major characters off ebay for really cheap and just tossed them in a box recently :P

[KROW]

Anybody remember Zen the Intergalactic Ninja?

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

I'm really glad someone brought this topic up. I remember "Samurai Pizza Cats" which i liked and had a real catchy theme song. I can't remember right now, if i seen their figures in the shops in the UK.

Also Demogoblin87, you are not alone, i remember and collected the Bucky 'O Hare figures in 1992 and 1993. I have a good number of them, with the main villains etc. However i wasn't that big into them or obsessed with their cartoon. :D

There are only 2 cartoon TV series that i can say i have ever been obsessed with and that's the TMNT and another 80s cartoon which nobody has brought up yet:

VISIONARIES!!! :thumbsup: Anybody remember them?

You may not because only one series and 13 episodes were made of it, but they had potential to be a great cartoon. :)

Visionaries came out in 1987, but they arrived in the UK in 1988 or early 89. It's about these medieval knights, bad and good, that are given magical powers.

It's a bit like Transformers but these knights turn into different animals. Visionaries was what i was into before the turtles came along. I collected most of the figures.

The great thing about the Visionaries figure's was that they had hologram stickers stuck to their chest showing you the animal they turned into. They also carried these staffs with hologram stickers on top, where they could conjure up their customized spell. Their vehicles also had hologram stickers. Some were quite scary-looking.

It was actually popular at the time, but are now sadly in the graveyard of forgotton cartoons.

How about "Biker Mice From Mars"? An early to mid-nineties toyline from a cartoon which i thought borrowed some of it's ideas from the TMNT cartoon. I've got all 3 biker mice and their bikes were sold seperately. I had 2 of 3 bikes.

[BigApple3AM]

Zen is actually a funny story. It started out the same way TMNT did, an indy comic, but TMNT actually had decent art and writing + an original idea. Zen seemed to be a mediocre character with crappy writing and horrible art. Surge licensing (who licensed tmnt) decided to give zen a shot. Zen got a small toy line and an archie comic and was then cancelled. There was a small revival in comics for zen a year ago or so and it died as well.

Visionaries. I never actually knew about them, but about a year ago my friend was going nuts looking for them all.

Biker mice falls in the same category as street sharks. It was trying to get the same success tmnt had by being a rip off instead of being original. I shunned anything that seemed to try and take away the tmnt's popularity in the most obvious way. I guess nowadays i would just laugh but back then it was me vs. bikermice (or whatever other crappy rip off toyline) and I was determined to win. Although one person can't make a line die, I think many other people thought the same way I did at the time.

I saw an encode of samurai pizza cats online, and it looked like a crappy anime rip off. I won't judge it any further because I never actually watched the show.

Here's another one, crystar. I read about it in toyfare. Crystal warrior with wizards and stuff. It was in their 80's toy lines article thing. Toy line that should be brought back and they explained why and that it should be pretty cheap to get the license for it. Two dollars cheap :lol:

[KROW]

Wasn't there a Zen cartoon?

[BigApple3AM]

not to my knowledge. I remember the archie comics and the original b&w comics, but I don't think there was anything else. Maybe a video game?

[KROW]

Hmmm. Maybe I'm thinking of Bucky O'Hare. And I do believe there WAS a Zen video game.

[BigApple3AM]

Bucky o'hare had a good cartoon. I was by no means one of the best cartoons, but the plots were really well conceived and the episodes were all well written. Bucky O'hare had an AWESOME video game to boot. I think it's time we got a new bucky revival.

[Starscream]

Crystar was awesome, well for those who dug tranlucent figures. Practically everything was cast in that and it looked really cool I think I had almost the entire line except for a couple of figures. I even had the dragons and the big ass castle.

[SkaterMike]

Bucky O'Hare was my second favourite thing to TMNT back in the early 90's. I still have most of the figures, except the four armed duck and one of the toad troopers. I'm with Ectocooler for a Bucky revival. As far as Zen goes, all I remember was an ad for all of the toys on the back of one of my tmnt archie comics. I can scan and post it if anyone wants.

[KROW]

Centurions kicked ass, too. That theme music alone was awesome.

[LAXtitan99]

Anyone else remember DINORIDERS I had an @ss of those toys...the humans befriended the dinos and battled against the aliens that used mind control devises. I dont know if it was only a video or if it was on TV too but the Toys absolutely rocked...a walking T-Rex, who can beat that.

Another not so lost but a classic is Ghostbusters. I just recently picked up a Slimer and Marshmallow Man Head Knocker Bobble Head and got a NECA Slimer but I really want to see a full line up return, or at least see the 4 guys back in action. Ghostbusters was only 2nd to TMNT...though a rehash of the series would kill my bank right now.

[Brodie]

I remeber Zen. I remember the toys, and the game. The crappy, crappy toys. My aunt bought me one....It was a robot man made of soda cans....couldnt get me Zen, no, get me the f*cking can man.

If anyone finds some Street shark toys, MIB or in good shape, I'd buy one. I need a companion for Sharkweek on Discovery channel.



Sad, I know.

I remember doing the Jaws theme when playing Street Sharks vs TMNT...

Ecto: check some old fanart archives on the forum, I did a Bucky O'Hare revamp.

[LAXtitan99]

Toxic Crusaders...they all had glow in the dark weapons

[KROW]

Toxic Crusaders...they all had glow in the dark weapons

I used to collect that comic.

[BigApple3AM]

I hate reviving dead topics, but I didn't want to start a new one either since it's totally off topic just like this thread was. Any really huge cops fans who know what issue of tomarts action figure digest (or lees toy review, can't remember which one) had the cops n' crooks full figure picture spread and price guide as well as the unproduced second series of figures? I've been looking for it everywhere and can't remember which issue it was and of which magazine. If anyone could let me know I'd greatly appreciate it! I'm thinking of making a cops site similar to this one where cops fans can come and check out great info + talk on message boards.

To the above posters "can-it" was the name of the soda pop can guy.

Brodie: Cool I'll check it out when I'm not at work (which I am now).

Toxic Crusaders is no longer completely dead! Sota toys is releasing "Now Playing" a series of figures based on horror movies (but soon to reach a more broader genre like action, and etc...) and part of the first series is toxie from Toxic Avenger, which is the movie the cartoon was based on! Looks awesome and knowing Sota it's going to be an awesome toy with articulation and detail!

[avervisal]

I didn't know where to post this question either, since it doesn't really have to do with TMNT, but I recently read that Suto toys is also releasing Street Fighter 2 figures, and am very interested in them.

Who knows which stores will they be distributed at?

[BigApple3AM]

It's sota toys, and it's at comic stores and possibly places like suncoast and other specialty stores.

[avervisal]

Oops! Sota I meant! :D Aww man so they're THOSE type of figures. They're probably gonna be like $10 each or something. I don't think I can afford that!!

[BigApple3AM]

Alright sorry to do this AGAIN, but I just remembered something. Anyone know what the name to that toyline where you had this little green pouch and you soaked it in water and it dissolved and there would be a small little robot pvc figure? I found a cyborg dog figure in my basement and it brought back all these memories.