Blackstar is Filmation's immediate predecessor to Masters of the Universe and contains a mere 13 episodes, all airing in 1981 (a full two years before MOTU). The series features the hero, Earth astronaut John Blackstar, crash landing on the planet Sagar, where magic and sorcery rule. Blackstar and the main antagonist, Overlord, each have one half of the magical PowerSword, which imbue the wielder with heightened senses, strength, skill, and invulnerability (when the sword halves combine, they form the PowerStar). He rides Warlock, an intelligent flying dragon-horse, and has two main sidekicks: the shape-changing elf, Klone, and the powerful enchantress, Mara. This series might have been forgotten in 1981 if He-Man didn't renew interest in sword-and-sorcery properties two years later. The episodes began to be re-aired, and a belated toyline was made by Galoob to ride the coattails of Mattel's MOTU success. The Mara figure is awesome and a gem of my collection. Let's check her out below!
UNITING ALL WOMEN OF PLASTIC
Showing posts with label Galoob. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Galoob. Show all posts
Sunday, May 23, 2021
Monday, May 4, 2015
Ultraforce - TOPAZ!
In the mid-nineties the Indy comic world was exploding. Smaller imprints had been strong for years, but only in this time period did they start really encroaching on the superhero genres that had been cornered by Marvel and DC for decades. I first discovered Malibu Comics with their freebie publication Malibu Sun that advertised all the new Image titles (Malibu was the initial publisher of record for Image). These magazines soon introduced me to Ultraforce and the whole world of Ultraverse titles. UltraForce is essentially the Avengers of Malibu's Ultraverse line. All the main characters with solo books were teamed up for this title. Topaz was a powerful warrior queen from the world of Gwendor. Her homeworld was a matriarchal society where men were weaker and subservient to women. This colored a lot her interactions with the other characters and gave her a fierce feminist slant. Her mysterious blue skin and aggressive attitude always stood out to me. Let's check out Topaz in detail below!
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Star Trek: The Next Generation TASHA YAR!
Lieutenant Tasha Yar was the Security Officer aboard the USS Enterprise-D for Season 1 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the beginning, she seemed like she would be the lead female in the series. She was strong, confident, and had a prominent role on the bridge. Tasha is viewed as a groundbreaking female character who paved the way for future female officers, captains, and commanders in the sci-fi genre. I think that's why Star Trek fans were shocked at Tasha's death near the end of Season 1. Granted, she came back for a single episode in Season 3, then again for the series finale, it was still a major loss for a character who had a lot of interesting potential. This Galoob line was the first incarnation of the Star Trek TNG characters in the toy aisles. I have many memories of this figure hanging in the meager toy section of my local drug store (Rea & Derick) when I was a kid and really wanting her. Twenty-some years later and she's mine! The Playmates line that started in 1992 really blasted this smaller Galoob line out of the water, but they're still not to be overlooked. Let's check her out below!
Friday, April 5, 2013
Dragon Flyz NOCTURNA!
Who doesn't love a good mystery? It's especially exciting when a mystery centers around an "unknown" toy. I've been searching high and low for some kind of proof that this figure exists, but beyond the fact that I am holding her in my hands, I'm coming up at a complete loss. Dragon Flyz (and their girly counterpart, the Sky Dancers) were produced by Galoob from 1995-1996. They had a cool playable gimmick of being able to launch into the sky with the aid of dragon-shaped launchers that hide a ripcord schematic in their tails. The toys all have raised necks that allow room for a rotating, hinged set of foam wings that extend from centrifugal force and send the figures soaring. There was a corresponding cartoon that was actually pretty cool. I kind of wish the toys had ditched the flying gimmick and had more stationary back-mounted wings like in the cartoon. But alas, the toys were popular and you can still see the gimmick being used in toys today (current Disney Tinkerbell toys come to mind).
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