The Runners up for the Best & Worst Toy Lines of the 80's and 90's

Wow I actually got finished with my first three parts of the Best and Worst Toy Lines of the 1980's and 1990's, and I feel that there were more lines that could fit in, so I decided to do this Runner's Up column. As always comments, questions, flames and toys for review can be sent to me at the address above.

Runners Up for Best Line:

Line: Exo-Squad
Company: Playmates (1993-1995)

"What is Exo-Squad?" you may ask? Exo-Squad was a toy line based on a cartoon that ran in syndication for the same two years as the toy line. It involved the fight between humans and the genetically engineered Neo-Sapiens. It was a cartoon more geared to young adults and adults because of the content.

The toy line encompassed all of the main characters and some of the minor characters on the show. I liked this because the show had so many characters that you would like a toy for. The toys themselves came with two toys. The first was a small action figure about 2.5 inches tall, and the second was the E-Frame that that character piloted. It was about 7 inches tall. The toy was designed so that the figure could fit into the E-Frame and you could have fights between the humans and Neo-Sapiens. The E-Frames were well made and sculpted much like the ones in the show. There were some differences with some of them, but nothing major. There were also large E-frames that some of the characters had that were also dead on accurate with the ones on the show. In the second year of the line, they introduced the Jump Corps that consisted of four marines that were sort of the ground pounders for the humans. They came with a sort of armor that could fit onto the small figures. Also the second line introduced the aircraft for both sides. I had waited an entire year for these to come out and I was not let down. The third year of the line had some of the minor characters, but they also introduced a Robotech sub-line of some of the Destroids from the line of the same name.

Unfortunately, this ultimately signaled the downfall of the line.

Line: Masters of the Universe
Company: Mattel (1981-1990)

This along with G.I. Joe and Star Wars were part of the Golden Age of toys. Based on the cartoon show of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. This was followed by a Live Action movie and then it fell off the map for a while and then tried to start up again in the early 1990's with another cartoon, but failed miserably.

The figures in the line had pretty much the same steroid laden bodies (except the three female figures.) with only different heads and variations in the legs and paint jobs. They all stood about six inches tall with the exception of some of the female figures that were a bit smaller and less bulky than the males. What really made this line stand out, was the fact that there were a variety of figures that you could buy. There were the normal figures like Man-At-Arms, Modulok and Moss Man, and then there were the variation figures. These included variations of some of the major figures like Thunder Punch He-Man, and Terror Claws Skeletor. Also in the line were figures that had special actions like karate chopping or uppercutting as well as some that sprayed water.

Line: Thundercats
Company: LJN (1985-1987)

Thundercats was a toy line based on a cartoon of the same name that came out at about the same time. Thundercats was the story of a group of beings that need to find a new planet to inhabit. They find an Earth-like planet, and settle there. The main character's name was Lion-O. Along with characters like Tigra, Cheetara and Panthro (he was the coolest.) they fought the evil Mum-Ra and his minions. Later in the series they added three new characters, and the only one that I can seem to remember was one that was blind, yet he was able to fly a ship with relative ease. I think this was one of the few toy lines that LJN put out during the 1980's.

The line itself was made up of figures that were about six or seven inches tall that each had a special action. For example the Lion-O action figure had a button on his back that allowed him to strike with his sword, and a small device that you held into his back that made his eyes glow. The figures themselves were great, the large size and tough plastic made them extremely durable and able to take all sorts of punishment that you could put them through. The characters were well molded; the faces were good likenesses as well as having good paint jobs. I recently found one that I thought I had lost when we moved many moons ago. He was still in almost near mint shape although we had lost his weapons a long time ago. As with all toy lines from the 1980's this one had a line of vehicles. The one that I remember wanting was the Thundertank mostly because Panthro not only built it, but he also drove it.

That about wraps this up. I hope that I have taken some of you back into your childhood, and brought back pleasant memories. I know that I have while I have been writing them. Meanwhile I hope I have educated you on some of the toy lines to stay away from. As always comments can be E-mailed to me at the address below, and I will take them under advisement.