What "Galaxy"? Fantasy vs. Science-Fantasy

[If you are not very familiar with the Galaxy Warriors, then it might be best to start with What are the Galaxy Warriors? before coming back here to discuss their "genre affiliation".]

The most apparent influence for Sungold's Galaxy Warriors is the Masters of the Universe (MOTU) toy-line produced by Mattel. MOTU was the influence for the name "Galaxy Warriors", which is a rephrasing of the MOTU name, and it was also the economic inspiration that made Sungold actually produce an action figure line. Sungold wanted to "cash-in" on MOTU's huge profits by making similar muscular figures with the same scale and look of He-man and other MOTU figures. Sungold hoped that by copying the appearance of MOTU figures, consumers would purchase and use Galaxy Warriors alongside their "real" MOTU figures. However, despite their obvious similarities, Galaxy Warriors differentiates itself from its MOTU "roots" through its design influences and through the fact that Galaxy Warriors creates a fantasy atmosphere that, in its simplicity, is more barbaric and violent than the vastly detailed world of the Masters of the Universe.

      MOTU characters inhabit a world that is a wonderful mix of sword-wielding fantasy and science-fiction elements like lasers, hovercraft, and cyborgs. The MOTU world can be accurately described as a world of science-fantasy, and it should be considered one of the premiere examples of this genre found in all of popular culture. In comparison, the world presented to us by the Galaxy Warriors (GW) toys lacks the technology and science found in the MOTU world, which actually removes GW from the realms of science-fiction and science-fantasy, and places it squarely in the realm of sword and sorcery or "sword-and-sandals."            

      

For details on this book, see Amazon.

       The sword and sorcery genre was started by Robert E. Howard with his gripping stories of Conan and Kull. Similar to Conan, the Galaxy Warriors are presented as physically foreboding barbarians that fight with axes, swords, and no body armor except for a shield. Conan is also the inspiration for MOTU's great hero, He-Man. 

       In essence, the Galaxy Warriors' name was meant to mimic Masters of the Universe, but the actual design of the figures themselves effectively renders the "Galaxy" portion of the name null-and-void. Thus, the only science-fiction element in the Galaxy Warriors line is the name Galaxy Warriors.

       Maybe the lack of science fiction elements in the GW line was due to budget restrictions, but I believe there is a good chance that Sungold made a conscious decision to not include sci-fi elements. After all, Sungold drew a lot of design inspiration from the fantasy paintings of Frank Frazetta, and none of the paintings we can directly trace back to the GW line include any sci-fi elements. For details about the Frazetta influence please see, The Frazetta Connection. 

      The budget restriction theory only goes so far when we consider that Sungold sculpted twelve unique and detailed heads and four large beasts for the line. It would have been simple for them to make one head a cyborg or robot. Also, it would have been easy to make one of the accessories a gun, or one of the beasts into a small flying machine or vehicle.

      Producing muscular action figures was definitely a by-product of the success Mattel was having with MOTU. And even though they were creating cheap "knock-off" toys that mimicked the scale and musculature of He-Man, Sungold still managed to place their figures into a primitive sword & sorcery world that is very different than the science-fantasy world of He-Man and MOTU.

Were other "knock-off" lines fantasy or science-fantasy?

1. Galaxy Fighters (Sewco):

The Galaxy Fighters, which drew their inspiration mostly from Galaxy Warriors actually steps into the science-fantasy realm because their line included a vehicle with guns called the Demon Fighter (below).

The Demon Fighter is the only element in the Galaxy Fighters line that can be considered science-fantasy. To read about the strange connections between the Galaxy Warriors and the Galaxy Fighters, go HERE. 

2. Defenders of the Planets (Sparkle):

The Defenders of the Planets (DoP) was a MOTU knock-off line that mimicked MOTU more closely than Galaxy Warriors did. Produced in 1985, DoP had only 6 figures, most of which were derived from He-Man character types. 

The DoP line has some cool beasts and Canis Major and Weaponsmaster are pretty cool looking figures. This line is mostly fantasy based, but the figure Strongarm, who is a knock-off of MOTU's Trap Jaw, is an obvious cyborg. The inclusion of that one cyborg makes this small line a science-fantasy line. The DoP are rare and hard to find, especially the beasts.

Left to Right: Canis Major, Orion, Strongarm the cyborg, and Weaponsmaster.

3. Fantasy World (Soma):

Produced in 1983, Fantasy World included eight figures and one beast, and all fit purely in the fantasy genre. This line included no guns or machines or cyborgs, and the figures themselves were not the standard hunched muscleman body type used for MOTU, Galaxy Warriors, and the Defenders of the Planets.

Art work from the back of a Fantasy World blister card.

Warriors becoming Fighters: The mixing of two toy-lines.

How are the the toy-lines Galaxy Warriors and Galaxy Fighters connected, and why are they connected?

[If you are not very familiar with the Galaxy Warriors, you might want to start with What are the Galaxy Warriors? before reading this very interesting post.]

Logos:
The design of the logos for the two lines is really similar. It appears to be the same font and style.

Reused Characters:
The connections between Sungold's Galaxy Warriors and Sewco's Galaxy Fighters are numerous and curious. The Warriors were released first, in 1983, and the Fighters came a year later in 1984. Three figures from the Warriors line are copied, with identical sculpts, in the Fighters line: Baltard, Magnon, and Anubi. A fourth Warrior, Sahak, is basically copied but given a slightly different head to become the Fighters' Kobra. The Warriors' Baltard was also copied a second time in the Fighters line, when the topknot on his head was removed and he was given an eye patch, thus becoming Batoon.

Comparing the back of the two Galaxy Fighters blister cards (below) shows us some interesting connections between the Fighters and Warriors lines. The first image is the card back for the earliest release of Galaxy Fighters and it shows the Castle Doom set which was never produced. It also uses the Warriors' names Magnon and Anubi for two characters that were copied from the Warriors line. The second image shows a later release card back were the name Magnon has been changed to Daton, and Anubi has been changed to Walph. Also, Castle Doom has been removed. The first card back shows Baltard, while on the second one he has been replaced by Batoon, who is just a slightly altered Baltard.

Early Galaxy Fighters card back before name changes.

Later Galaxy Fighters card back after name changes.

Galaxy Fighter Daton, with black hair.

Galaxy Warrior Magnon, with blonde hair.

Warriors on Fighters Boxes?!
One beast and one vehicle were released in the Fighters line and both came in a box that was the same except for its cover artwork. This "Fighter Box" is interesting because it shows not only Fighters, but also Warriors.
    The Fighter box image (below) shows Magnon the Galaxy Warrior riding the beast Pegasaurus. The box image is interesting because Magnon is clearly holding a Galaxy Warrior shield and sword, neither of which were released in the Galaxy Fighters toy-line. We also know that this is Magnon and not his Fighters counterpart, Daton, because his hair is blonde, not black. It should also be noted that both Magnon and Baltard are wearing Galaxy Warrior harnesses instead of either of the two harnesses actually released with in the Fighters line.

Galaxy Fighter box showing two Warriors.

Detail of Warriors riding on Fighters accessories.

The artwork for the Fighters' Pegasaurus box (below) once again clearly shows the Warrior Magnon. He is even wearing his Warriors "sun-harness" and wielding the long sword from the Warriors line. Neither that sword or harness were released as part of the Fighters toy-line. They were exclusively Warriors accessories.

Box art showing the Galaxy Warrior Magnon.

Questions:
Why are Warriors shown on the artwork and in images on the top of the Fighters box, when actual fighters are used on the images on the side of the box? (see images below)

Actual Fighters on the Fighters box including Daton, the Magnon "knock-off".

More Fighters on the Fighters box.

If actual Fighters were available for pictures, then why use Warriors in one of the images? And why use a Warrior in the artwork? Why use the Warriors' Magnon, when you show the Fighters' version of  Magnon, the black haired Daton, on the side of the box? Similarly, why show the Fighter release of Baltard on the side of the box, while using a Warriors version of Baltard on the top of the box?
 
Blister Cards:
The blister cards for the two lines have a similar overall format. Pay attention to the double stripes motif across the top of the cards.

The double stripes are basically the same color on both the Warriors and Fighters blister cards, and the artwork on the Fighters card is just a repaint of the Warriors art in a slightly different pose. It is interesting to note that the Sun Hawk (above) is an early release Fighter and later Fighters came on a card that was much different than the Warriors cards (below).

The Swords and Sorcerers Connection:
Please read this POST for a full analysis, but basically the Swords and Sorcerers blister cards were Fighter cards with a Warriors logo on them. Also, the S&S releases included both Warriors and at least one Fighter.

Final Thoughts:
 The use of Warriors on the Fighters box might indicate Sewco's desire to have their Fighters considered an extension of Sungold's Warriors, which already had roughly a years worth of exposure in the consumer marketplace. It might be as simple as Sewco trying to take over Sungold's small corner of the muscled-fighter action figure market. After all, Sungold probably couldn't complain because they stole the body design for their figures from Mattel's He-Man, which spawned the muscled-fighter market that these companies were trying to "cash-in" on.
    I also wonder if Sungold and Sewco were connected in some way. Some of the similarities between the Warriors and Fighters seems too great for Sewco to have been simply copying Sungold's figures. The body sculpts and the three head sculpts shared between the two lines are so identical that that we must assume that some molds were shared between the companies, legally or illegally. Of course, these were made in Hong Kong in the 1980s where there were no copyright laws. But Maybe they were partner companies or made some deal where they legitimately shared molds and figure designs in the hope of boosting the sales of each others products.

Swords & Sorcerers: Are they Galaxy Warriors?

The original Galaxy Warriors line consisted of twelve characters. At least a year later two new Galaxy Warriors appeared (Deevil and Rahh), sold in the UK on blister cards with the title "Swords and Sorcerers" next to a Galaxy Warriors logo (below). Examining the S&S Warriors raises some interesting questions. The most important of which is, should these figures be considered as "official" characters in the Galaxy Warrior toy-line?

Magnon, released in the S&S toy-line.

Deevil

The back of the S&S blister card (above) shows the four figures in the line.

ACAMAS TOYS:
Looking at the S&S releases (above) the first interesting thing to notice is that this is not being released by Sungold. On the bottom right corner of the blister cards is a logo for Acamas Toys. As far as I know, these figures were still stamped Sungold on them, but Sungold is not actually releasing them. Perhaps Acamas was a subsidary of Sungold. Or maybe they bought some Galaxy Warriors so they could release them on their own.
    Who was Acamas Toys? It appears that Acamas Toys was a company that released products in the UK. They released a figure called Automan in 1984 in the UK. (Information about Automan found Here). They also released a Darth Vader costume in 1983 (below). The Acamas Toys logo can be seen clearly on the box.

Acamas had to licensed to release the Darth Vader costume or it would have been sued. Thus, we can assume that Acamas was officially licensed to release these S&S Galaxy Warriors in the UK.

Another curious thing about the S&S figures is their connections to Sewco's Galaxy Fighters. At least one Galaxy Fighter, Sun Hawk, may have been released under the Swords and Sorcerers title (below).

The Galaxy Fighter, Sunhawk.

Sun Hawk is packaged with his normal Galaxy Fighter accessories, and the Galaxy Warriors (below) all come with their appropriate Galaxy Warriors accessories.

Pay close attention to the artwork on the Swords and Sorcerers blister card. Now check out the Galaxy Fighters release of Sun Hawk (below).

Essentially, the S&S blister cards are the Galaxy Fighters card with a Galaxy Warriors logo on it, being released by neither Sungold or Sewco. The Swords and Sorcerers Galaxy Warriors are an interesting "curiosity" and more research is needed to answer the many questions they raise. [I list those questions at the bottom of this post.]

Conclusions:
So, should these figures be considered as "official" characters in the Galaxy Warrior toy-line? For now, I consider Deevil and Rahh to be acceptable additions to the Galaxy Warriors toy-line, but it should be remembered that they were not part of the original 12 figure and 4 beasts toy-line (seen in the below image).
   Although they were never released individually on blister cards that had the Sungold stamp, they were shown on a strange version of the beast-box, which did bear the Sungold stamp (2nd image below). This image comes from a beast box where Rahh is packaged with the Horse. (Please see the Horse's page for details.)

Current Unanswered Questions:
1a. Is the Sun Hawk on S&S card legit or did someone make a custom "Mint on Card" Sun Hawk by placing him on a S&S blister card?

1b. If the Sun Hawk release is a legit part of the S&S line, then why does this line include both Galaxy Warriors and Fighters? Even if Sun Hawk is not legit, then why is the blister card a Galaxy Fighters card with a Warriors logo on it?

2. Where were the Sword and Sorcerer figures released? Were they only UK releases? Perhaps Sungold and Sewco made some deal with Acamas Toys to release some figures under a different title in a particular country or region. If they agreed to this, then why place just a Galaxy Warriors logo on the card and no reference to Sewco's toy-line the Galaxy Fighters? Also, why only include one of Sewco's Fighters and Four of Sungold's Warriors?

3. Were Sungold and Sewco connected in some way? Was one a parent company of the other, or were they just Hong Kong "allies" in the cheap action figure business, willing to share molds and art with one another? If they were connected companies then the combination of Warriors and Fighters elements in the S&S releases would make sense.

4. Why did Sungold release two new Galaxy Warriors in the S&S line? Why not just release a second wave of Warriors on the blister cards they already had? And why only release two new figures anyhow? They could have easily just repainted old figures and given them a different name, or made minor changes like removing Baltard's topknot (which the Galaxy Fighters actually did, in order to create a new character).

5. Were Deevil and Rahh produced at the same time as the original 12 figures, but only released later? Maybe Sungold decided 14 figures was too many for the initial release and they needed to cut it down by 2. If this is the case, then maybe Rahh was considered to be too much like Mattel's He-Man, and maybe Deevil was seen as too much like the Galaxy Warrior Thor.

Please note: When, and if, I can answer any of these questions I will post updates.

Freedom Fighters by Sungold?

Baltard released under the title of Freedom Fighters. Oddly, this appears to be a Sungold release. The Sungold emblem is visible on the bottom left of the blister card. Judging by the shape of the blister card I would guess this was a late 1980's release, or even early 1990's.

The blurry image above is Huk released as a Freedom Fighter by Sungold. Although it is hard to see in this small image, the artwork on the card is a copy of the Frank Frazetta painting that inspired the design of the character Huk. (For more information about the design of Huk see, The Frazetta Connection)

The back of a Freedom Fighters card (below), showing all twelve re-released Galaxy Warriors. Ygg and Anubi have different color schemes here, making them the most intriguing of the re-releases. There are also two new shield stickers replacing the tiger and bird stickers from  the original Galaxy Warriors line.

Sungold stamp:
The original releases of the Galaxy Warriors were stamped "Sungold: Made in Hong Kong" on their right leg.  The next releases, what I call version two, came with the stamp on their backs (see image below).

I have recently seen a Thor figure with the stamp on the back, but the stamp has been simplified and the "Made in Hong Kong" portion has been removed (below). Could this simplified stamp be a sign that this figure was a re-released Freedom Fighter?

Questions still to be answered:
1. When were these released?
2. Are these figures stamped with just Sungold on their backs?
3. Where were these released?

Monster Castle play set?

It is rumored that the Galaxy Warriors toy-line included a castle play set similar to how Masters of the Universe had Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain. The rumored Galaxy Warriors castle was called Monster Castle and it did exist. But, was this castle actually part of the Galaxy Warriors toy-line?

Monster Castle.

Monster Castle back.

Some people claim that the Monster Castle is the Galaxy Warriors's castle, and below is a photo from a private collection with Galaxy Warriors and Galaxy Fighters climbing on the castle. I admit it is pretty cool looking and compelling, but this castle was NOT made by Sungold as part of their Galaxy Warriors toy-line.

Monster Castle plus Galaxy Warriors and Fighters, and a Dragon from Imperial.

1. How do we know the Monster Castle was not part of the Galaxy Warriors line?
The box that the castle comes in provides the evidence. For starters, nowhere on the box does it display the Galaxy Warriors logo or say Galaxy Warriors. All the figures and beasts in the GW toy-line included the Galaxy Warriors logo on their packaging. Even the later released figures on the Swords & Sorcerers cardbacks still included a small logo. Also, the top right corner of the box (see image below) shows the label of a company called ECO. It is ECO who produced the castle and not Sungold.

2. If Sungold didn't make the Monster Castle, then how does it get connected to the Galaxy Warriors?
The connection comes from a smaller image on the Monster Castle box (seen below).

This image clearly shows the Galaxy Warriors Baltard, Anubi, Dragoon and Ygg. This photo should not be taken as concrete proof that the Monster Castle was part of the Galaxy Warriors line. Look closely at the figure of Ygg in the foreground just to the right of the giant hand. He carries a weapon in his right hand that is not a Galaxy Warriors weapon. He is in fact carrying the halberd that came with the Masters of the Universe's Castle Grayskull (seen below). The designers of the Monster Castle probably had purchased a Castle Grayskull from which they could draw inspiration and comparisons, and when they went to take some marketing photos of their castle they placed the MOTU halberd in Ygg's hand, intentionally or unintentionally.

Mattel's Castle Grayskull weapon accessories.

If the Monster Castle was officially part of the Galaxy Warriors toy-line, then Ygg would be carrying a Galaxy Warriors weapon.

3. Then how do we explain the appearance of Galaxy Warriors on the castle box?
Simple. They are being used for scale and to show the fantasy play possibilities of the Monster Castle. Remember that the castle is a knock-off of Castle Grayskull, and the castle's makers wanted Masters of the Universe fans to consider it a cheaper alternative to Grayskull. But, the Monster Castle had no official toy-line of its own and no action figures to show on its castle. ECO couldn't use actual Masters of the Universe figures to sell its product or they would get sued by Mattel. Instead, they got the next best thing, MOTU knock-offs called Galaxy Warriors, made by a company unlikely to sue them or even care that their figures were being used in the marketing scheme of another toy company.

4. But why would ECO make a fantasy castle without an accompanying figure line to use it?
It was a common practice in the early 80's to do whatever you needed to in order to connect your toys, even remotely, to the Masters of the Universe. MOTU was such a hot property that small toy companies could make profits by simply making "knock-off accessories" to the MOTU line. Imperial produced a two lines that included only beasts, beasts with chariots, and weapons packs. Dragons, Knights and Daggers was the fantasy inspired line, and Robots, Lasers and Galaxies was the sci-fi inspired line. Both were pretty awesome but its interesting to note that the beasts in the line included saddles reminiscent of MOTU saddles found on official MOTU beasts and weapons that could be held by MOTU figures. After having made beasts ready for riders and weapons ready to be used, Imperial made no actual figures of their own design.

A beast just waiting for a rider.

Cool weapons looking for a hero or villain.

Check out the caption on the packaging for the Rhino Avenger (Below). "Scaled to size for play with all fantasy figures." Translation: MOTU figures can ride this rhino.

The Monster Castle essentially used the same marketing trick as this caption, but instead of saying MOTU sized figures could use it, they went ahead and showed actual MOTU sized figures using it.
    I have heard that the Monster Castle was released in Belgium and Germany, and possibly the UK as well.

The point of this post is not to diminish the Monster Castle because it was not directly part of the Galaxy Warriors toy-line. The castle is a cool item, as are the figures made by Imperial, as are Galaxy Fighters and other toy-lines similar to Galaxy Warriors. I actually advocate collectors to mix and match these separate lines together when creating a display. Its really nice that they all used the same scale because it allows us as action figure collectors to pick and choose, and create a "world" that is appealing to our own individual taste.