History of Centurions | Vintage Kenner Toy Review

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[@darryllharden9141]

I remember and enjoyed The Centurions very well in both Cartoon and Action Figures myself. By rights,They should make a bit of a comeback.

[@dinomonzon7493]

Thanks for this one. The Centurions was one of the best animated series & toylines of the 1980s. Max Ray was my fave character. Too bad there were never any figures for Crystal, and later member Rex Charger. The best Combat Assault Systems for me were: Tidal Blast, Sea Bat, Fireforce, Swingshot, and Skybolt.

[@mattwoodsr9380]

I had the green one

[@a_world_made_of_cardboard]

I finally got to watch this video. Fantastic review of a great toyline. I remember seeing the toys and the cartoon, but it just, as Matt said, didn't hit with me. I liked the concept, but the price was too much. I also found some ideas to be too "extreme." Max Ray regularly swimming between California and Hawaii???!!!??? And then the depiction of how the characters would "zip-up" their exo- frames just didn't seem realistic to me. I did like the concept and the toys were impressive, but it just didn't resonate with me.

[@gerainthorton8980]

My only access to these, when I was young, was via a friend. Love them tough they were awesome. As I was only playing with MOTU these figures fascinated me with their accessories and articulation. Great editing in this video. Like the introduction plate for Matt. Nice having the two voices going back and forth.

[@ReynoldsReviews]

What an episode Tony, love centurions! And happy to say I have a few in my collection. Really informative watch, and you taught me a few things, I had no idea you could shoot the missiles by twisting the centre chest hole, or that hacker and Doc terrors cyborg halves had names! 😮👌 Awesome watch 👍

[@achtungjamie]

I’d group inhumanoids and visionaries in with centurions. All missed the mark but were very cool.

[@SondicoDenann]

I remember getting a couple of these from a little toy shop in Norbury, south west London! Such a great and underrated cartoon and toy line.

[@MichaelJShaffer]

An amazing toyline and an awesome Toy Histories, Tony! I'm so glad you got into collecting this line. They really do display nicely. This was the very last toyline I actively collected as a kid until I got "too cool" for toys and focused on girls. Great video.

[@truckrobo147]

I'm in my early 20s and when I was either 7 or 9 I used to watch reruns of centurions and it's one of those shows that hit me in a way, made me see mankind and machinery can be something more... But that's just me, glad you're doing a review on it too

[@batangbatugan]

In my opinion, the ability to mix and match parts is one of THE best features of the toyline. If Kenner featured the Reinfocement Modes feature of the weapon systems more in the cartoon and commercials the line could've lived on another year or so. I mean, they could've taken it further by introducing a big weapon system that need two Centurions together, like Jake and Ace in a flying tank like Destro's Dominator or Max and Ace in a flying sub.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

Gotta say...this collaboration is really more than power extreme

[@SRlikethetoothpaste]

Fondly remember my Gran visiting midweek one evening in the mid-80s and presenting me with an Ace McCloud she'd purchased from our Local Toy & Hobby. I remember being extremely impressed by the attention to detail and selection of accessories. However, the size of the figure was an issue, as it was too large to interact with my Star Wars & M.A.S.K. characters yet too small to join my Action Man army. What a shame.

[@ivane5110]

I had no idea that's who each of these were modeled after. Imagine what an awesome live-action 80s movie that would've been with that casting. The orangutang naturally would've had to have been played by the Every Which Way/Clint Eastwood orang. No idea who the lady, Doc Terror or his Hacker would've been. Tommy Lee Jones as Terror? Oh and doesn't (via unofficial G.I. Joe connections) this take place in the same near-furture universe as C.O.P.S.?

[@davidmatthews2983]

I was born 1987, so gi-joe, transformers, power rangers was huge toys and media growing up, I did see the centurions show I think late 90’s either 98,99 or 2000 back on Cartoon Network channel in Australia. It was paired with ninja robots, swat cats, dragon ball z, ect which were enjoyable action cartoons for young boys at ages 8-11 Seeing this video, shows the toys, I would of loved to swap parts on all figures and add them to the convoluted gi joe games I used to create. Even doc terror looks like a good antagonist. Shame I didn’t see the toy line growing up.

[@white-dragon4424]

If done right, with talent in charge, then this would make an excellent movie. Again, it would need a LOT of talent on the level of Spielberg (i.e. NOT Abrams!), to be successfully adapted into live action. It's interesting to note that exo-suit tech is now being developed by the world's armed forces, and the basic concept of modular weapons and equipment, where it's all designed to fit onto the armour like a glove, is very realistic and likely to eventually become reality. At the moment we're still at the "Model T" stage, where everything is very bulky and impractical, but it's certain that in a few decades soldiers will be fighting in camouflaged modular exo-suits, like a cross between Centurions and Iron Man. They also believe they can develop stealth camo similar to the Predator, so they'll likely be equipped with that as well.

[@edwinsmith-jones6205]

Jake Rockwells rocket launcher (at least on my example) has a hair trigger which fires if you so much as look at it the wrong way. When Hasbro released Matt Trakker as a G.I.Joe, I was kind of hoping we'd see a Centurion character incorporated into the Joe team aswell... some of those Built To Rule series figures (with the Lego like studs on) could of easily be adapted to accommodate a weapon system. The original Blowtorch figures outfit always reminds me of The Cenurions.

[@glyph2011]

Amazing video! We used to play centurions in the playground. The cartoon was awesome. LOVED the figures , but sadly never got one. I think it may have been the price point at the time.

[@redcomet_622]

I have some faint memories of seeing the Centurions cartoons on reruns on Boomerang in the late 2000s as a kid. The cartoon made the premise look alot cooler than the toys did.

[@andrewphillips8341]

They should have picked one size for all the figures and stuck with it. That way kids could mix and match figures.

[@robertsinfiniterealms1308]

I remember the cartoon vividly and I remember going out and looking at the toys, I was still heavily invested in GI Joe and passed on the Centurions though. I liked them but not enough to collect.

[@jordel2010]

Back in the day, I never got to get any Centurions toys, the primary reason in my case was definitely the price point; but definitely would have loved to have at least one (Max Ray). Still great toys after all these years.

[@irondice5183]

I'm sure in the UK this used to show on Saturday mornings during either motormouth or ghost train maybe? Can anyone confirm?

[@Fury9er]

It was on Get Fresh in the late 80s.

[@yesterlandtoys1138]

Love, love, love it! Great video history Tony and Matt! What a great line that I remember as a kid. Matt hit it right in the head, the price point was so expensive then. To put it into perspective, my dad was the only income as a kid and his hourly wage in 1985 was $15 an hour. So to have all these characters would of cost my dad several hours, and that would of been to hard on the bills that need to be paid. It was easier to just buy a Star Wars figure or Joe at &1.49 to $2.99 a figure. I am almost certain other kids had this same experience.

[@loganholmberg2295]

I remember toys with ports when I was a kid but not Centurians in my area of Western Canada. Also we got all of our cable tv American stations out of detriot and I don't remember seeing this tv series. But we only got cable tv around this time so maybe it came out after we got cable tv? Still I don't remember these on toy isles from where I'm from.

[@jaycon3460]

I used to watch it here in Los Angeles back in the 80s but only had the blue dude then never saw them anywhere, toys r us, Montgomery wards, Kmart nowhere

[@jonboldrey5339]

Centurions are expensive my way but got lucky an got me a ace. Like get him a Buddy someday

[@jedipoodoo]

I remember the toys as a kid, and the first time I heard of this toyline was a Golden books coloring book, but didn't know there was a cartoon. Must've been in one of those areas that didn't air it.

[@LFox87]

Blue flying guy was awesome, the other two were crap, especially the water bloke.

[@PozerAdultRacingTeam]

I didn't have any Centurions,but I remember a cartoon I think.

[@aboutthemetal8783]

I had the two bad guys , and the blue and green good guys , to Mr they were like big mask figures.

[@Ryenobal]

I had the yellow land guy toy and wore a costume of the Green (Sea) guy in 4th grade.

[@HessTruckBOOKS]

The one burning question I’ve always had: can you connect Syntax and Legion together to form a figure?

[@Fury9er]

They did in the show, syntax plus legion made a being called Uniborg.

[@ActionFuzz]

Ultimately, innovation was it's downfall.

[@NorthWalesKid]

I remember seeing these on sale in kwik saves in the mid 80’s but I never got one

[@kidcollectable4043]

Wow I never knew about this toyline. The concepts and designs of the toys are very creative and well thought out. Thank you for sharing this with us Tony.

[@toyfederation]

Centurions!

[@inthetoyroom4life]

There's so few of us who truly care about this slept-on line

[@knetge]

i used to have Ace. loved the s%#t out of that guy. :)

[@cypherian2]

Thanks Tony and Matt for a great video! I remember seeing the show in syndication back home in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I grew up. I remember liking the show, but as I was a little older than the target audience, I had to really suspend my disbelief! I never collected the toys, but they really had shelf presence! Beautiful box art, and great presentation all around. But for some reason, maybe because I was already invested in Transformers, I just wasn't interested at the time. But I am glad I get to enjoy them in the collections of others!

[@bg8390]

Great toy line, I have a few boxed

[@chadploof4740]

Fantastic work Tony and Matt!

[@nafex3740]

Good Luck buddy 👍 🎉

[@scubapete9500]

That Cybervor Shark! Wow what could’ve been. Great history Tony! That Matt fellow is a handsome chap. 😉

[@JONNYSORENSEN_AU]

The Good Scuba Giveth And dost knoweth thy toy mall bargains!

[@skunkworksstudios]

Great video AT. I remember the cartoon, but if you blinked it was gone! I had Max Ray! He was a designated Pool Toy that summer! It was a really cool line. I wonder what happened to the license. It would be nice if Hasbro hired someone with a little nostalgic imagination who could create a shared universe with the Centurions and Mask! Hell I'd love to see the Inhumanoids brought back under the umbrella of a GI JOE Adventure Team relaunch! Great video!

[@rajnirvan3336]

I remember Centurions on Get Fresh on Saturday mornings. I still have my Ace McCloud along with Skyknight and Orbital Interecptor

[@drewlovelyhell4892]

The plethora of great toylines in the 80s was a mixed blessing. Lot's of options, but too many for them all to succeed. I loved my Ace figure with Orbital Interceptor (and my brothers had Max and Jake), but never had the chance to expand the collection.

[@wolfhound3080]

My little brother had one of these he carried around. Thanks for bringing back some good memories .

[@ameliadiaz8040]

My favorite Centurion ever's still Ace McCloud, the Fearless Flyer, because he's also an expert in astronomy and astronautics, just like Copperkidd in the Silverhawks.

[@stephenthomas1492]

I would have LOVED to have some of these a kid, but the price was WAY TOO HIGH. That's really all the problem was back then.

[@kumachan9311]

Here in England the Cartoon was shown on a Saturday Morning show [Get Fresh] and odd as it sounds that wasn't a good slot for a toy selling cartoon [They did better in the after school slots, kids would talk about them at school next day] and like you guys said, Scale, price point and other toy lines at the time. I remember being a bit Urgh of Kenner when they gave up on Star Wars post ROTJ too, like they where "Disloyal" to Star wars or something [Pre Teen kid logic there] I remember seeing M.A.S.K where the SW used to be on the Toy shop shelves and being like WTF !!

[@lasertoothtiger]

True story found my old one in the basement completely intact I didn't know about the weak arm IMMEDIATELY broke it.

[@citadelli]

Did you ever see Mantech by Remco from 1983? Very similar concept. Robot style armored characters about 6 inches tall. Interchange parts etc. Even sea-air-land specialists in different colors. They were quite blocky though, and the really hard plastic. They came with a MOTU styled comic. Always wondered if they were somehow related, but never got any Centurions or Silverhawks. I was too into GI JOe still and getting older at 15 in 1986.

[@kalobhunt9001]

Man I wish companies would bring back accessory and battle effects packs back. I collect sh figuarts DBZ and man I wish they would start it up again.

[@emilflognoid1532]

I disagree that " more pose-ability" would have helped the line. Backbin the eighties, none of our toys had pose-ability... the fact they had knees and elbows was a huge upgrade from most 5poa toys at the time. (Yes we had gi joe, im aware) I mean, I wouldn't have hurt to have more articulation, but us kids in the eighties didn't care...

[@BlackArroToons]

Nice documentary style to the history of Centurions, nicely done, thanks. The TV animated classic series is definitely worth having on disc, an entertaining series. Very unique machines and human combinations. Thanks.

[@cropdustcaptain3059]

When they came out, I bought the Comic issue #1. But, at the time I thought they were a bit of a Mantech ripoff. But as Mantech was fizzling out, I was a bit bummed out and I ignored centurions. As an adult I definitely think they were cool toys though.

[@greatgibby]

I was never a fan of these figures or the cartoon. I felt that they were too big and just went cool enough for me. Plus I really really disliked the design of the villains. They just looked stupid and very bulky. I was more than happy with my He-Man and later Gi Joe.

[@enricoflor3601]

If only I could 3D-print my own set with any available blueprints....

[@brushstroke3733]

I never had any of the toys but loved watching the cartoon in the morning before school. It came on after Robotech I believe. I wonder if the toys were compatible with Mr. Potatohead attachments? 🤔

[@alanguages]

I thought Inhumanoids, Centurions, and Spiral Zone were so similar.

[@tubernery]

I remember waking up at 6:30am to watch the centurions intro

[@eldenringer6466]

I had the watch! It was a transformer of sorts and tiny but It had all the accessories. With snap modules in a tiny case. They're about 500$ now lol Thanks for the video.

[@amitmitra6487]

One of my favourite cartoons. Never knew these figures existed. Look so real! Thanks for sharing 👍👍

[@gmon78]

Man i absolutely loved this show when i was a kid. Only ever got my hands on the Ace figure rhough. Thanks for the video, really tickled my nostalgia 😁

[@andrewmclachlan4242]

One of my favourite shows of the 80's Had all of these available in the UK as well Hornet & Detonator which officially were not available in the UK!😊

[@killbotone6210]

I grew up in Ireland. These were impossible to get. But lucky for me i had family in England. I told them i wanted the Green one. They said all they could find was the Blue one. So one Christmas they come home with it. But it turned out to be Hacker. I was so happy and disappointed at the same time haha.

[@andrewmclachlan4242]

Fantastic toy line from the 80's and one of my favourites, Glad you're a fan Tony, This Line doesn't get the love it deserves!😁👍

[@theprofessor_geeklounge]

This is crazy, my brother and I just had a conversation yesterday that made me think of this series, but I couldn’t remember the name and then this pops into my feed.

[@cyberfrank-bx2nv]

yeah, well they looked clunky with all that gear on. and the colours don t match all figures. there were no real good looking ground vehicles available either. the bad guys looked neat enough, but the colours... better articulations would ve helped. they d need a slicker design to look attractive, not as cumbersome. the mechanisms are too much, they should ditch that feature. a 5 member team would be better, including a woman. change the bad guy s colour scheme, make it darker. and make it uniform to fit the theme. otherwise, forget it. good show bro.

[@trainedbyuk]

Oh man!!! This takes me back to Christmas 1987. I got Jake and Max but unfortunatelly Ace was sold out here in Iceland. I'm going hunting for that figure.

[@dye5915]

I loved that series as a kid but hated they showed during a huge kids show (I think ti was called "Get Fresh" with Gaz Top on a sat morning the had a green alien puppet Gilbert?) and split it in two halfs so you would have to watch the whole kids show. i got a Max the green guy when i was a kid I cant remember what happened to him though. it was a great show im surprised its not had a come back or been made into a live action movie series by now.

[@planet6288]

I had no idea how cool the port system was. Unfortunately we couldn’t own everything growing up. I definitely would have cherished one, if received as a random birthday gift.

[@dennislogan6781]

I had a mini action figure of Max. Jake was always my favorite but I never got him. One of my favorite cartoons of all time.

[@skunkworksstudios]

This is gonna be a good one! This toy line hit me just right!

[@huskydad72]

Actually the cartoon came out first. And then the toy line followed. One of the few in the 80s to have the show come first.

[@ioannespaulusify]

they did make a comeback, sort of: Ramen Toy are producing some these days

[@AnalogToys]

Yeah we know, we showed the Ramen figures in the video

[@ioannespaulusify]

@@AnalogToys ah, sorry I missed that part!

[@diegocanale1124]

They should make a centurion feature movie, the way it was done for transformers and GiJoe. That's be fun.

[@davistalhone9482]

Beautifully thorough look at this franchise. This is one of those rare pieces that I didn't really appreciate until much after the fact. The real problem with the 80s was that there was SO much, paying attention to all of it would have taken more time and cash than any kid at the time had.

[@MattMovies611]

Great work Tony and Matt! Honestly never heard of this cartoon or toy line but after this I want to check the show out and maybe add some figures to my collection

[@justinthomas7222]

Toys I wanted but never had! Such a cool concept!

[@FluffyCajun]

I remember getting a figure that looked like Rockwell. And I totally thought it was a Centurians figure. But as I got older, started to realize that it may have been a total knockoff or from a different toy line all together.

[@darthwizzywizard]

Impressive line Centurions was though. I was not into it all though. Captain Power at that time.

[@jeffleake1960]

Damn i wanted these thing so very badly as a kid but if i remember rightly they were expensive. But the toys were in stores long before the show was on TV in the UK so I had no real idea what the deal was apart from needing to buy extra crap to fit onto them

[@MasterSun42]

I see you edit out me yelling at you guys ideas lol Love this toy line and I am one of those who has a figure for every weapon system

[@AnalogToys]

I might have edited out your questions, but I included most of Matt's answers. The reference to the comics was all thanks to a question from you.

[@MasterSun42]

@AnalogToys Lol I was more messing with you than anything. I like the way this turned out!

[@dragondude9637]

They need to reboot this show and toys. Also, NO race or gender swapping the characters, just add new ones to the team.

[@SuperGodoSatsu]

The coolest thing about Centurions is that the animation studio that worked on it, that studio being Sunrise and you can see how well animated the series is based on that since its got a lot of tokusatsu and super robot anime flourishings to it.

[@高嵩-b7g]

Does anyone know when this toy line was discontinued? i mean What year were these toys produced which currently sold on ebay?

[@kingerikthegreatest.ofall.7860]

I wasn’t familiar with these toys. Very interesting.

[@lokiwartooth1138]

I loved how big these were when we were kids and you could swap all the stuff around and have one dude will all the cool stuff.

[@sneakyquick]

I love centurions one of my favorite toys. I got them at discount stores as a kid so they were not successful.

[@seandeering500]

Loved these as a kid. Had 2 of the heroes and 4 or 5 weapon systems. Was great fun.

[@trapper9998]

This is one i am waiting for, i have wanted these all my life since its my favorite cartoon growing up

[@JJ-uy2sg]

I saw the cartoon a lot on TV in the UK, think ITV had centurions and BBC had flash Gordon at the same time. Would like to see a terminator 2 toy line video or maybe Bucky O Hare lol

[@JONNYSORENSEN_AU]

Count me in. As a viewer or background collaborator. Happy to fact check and do some background research. Remember both these toys lines from the stores back in the day.

[@pedrotorresr432d8]

Excellent video, great work congrats.

[@markd9803]

I had the hero figures as a kid, along with a few of the sets. I never got the bad guys though.

[@mightybluespider]

There were six action figures, not five. You left out the Doom Drones Strafer, whichi was an awesome army builder toy. I always believed that the Doom Drones Traumatizer was never made into a toy. My parents were correct to buy me Centurions and their power suits rather than GI JOE figures and vehicles.

[@AnalogToys]

I did not leave out the Doom Drone Strafer, it is featured in this video but it is not an action figure, it is an accessory. If your pathetic nitpick is because I didn’t list as a villain action figure then answer me this; if you think the Doom Drone Strafer is action figure and not an accessory then why didn’t it come in a window box like the other action figures?

[@nike80nl]

I like the way you tell the story of each toy and accessories 👍👍

[@TuneTamasha]

WB needs to remake this as a film.

[@bontonne]

I still have these figures lol, oh the nostalgia!

[@eldenringer6466]

Consider doing a starcom video just like this one please...:)

[@AnalogToys]

I don’t own any Starcom toys