Manimals! The Fantasy and Sword and Sorcery Toys of the Mid to Late 1980s (Thundercats, Sectaurs)

In this episode of The Little Things, we explore the wild and animalistic toy lines of the high kingdoms period of toy history. By the mid-1980s the Barbarian craze was starting to fade and the Sword and Sorcery and Fantasy toy lines were starting to evolve to highly favor the Beast-Men aesthetic. This was a trait that was present at the beginning of the 1980s fantasy toy craze, but certainly was become far more pronounced by 1985 and beyond. This was a time of fierce fighting among toy manufacturers, and many companies were looking to replicate the success of Masters of the Universe, Star Wars, G.I. Joe or Transformers. Competition was fierce. Hasbro, Tonka, Coleco and LJN pulled out all the stops and offered a barrage of gimmicks to grab those toy dollars. These included retro action figure toy lines such as Thundercats, Sectaurs, Battle Beasts, Super Naturals, and Visionaries, just to name a few. Journey back with us to the Age of the Savage Manimal (and Crazy Gimmicks) and take a nostalgic visit back to your wild and animalistic childhood. Hey look, I threw in some Willow toys too! Also, check out:
Barbarians! The Fantasy and Sword and Sorcery Toys of the Early 1980s • Barbarians! The Fantas... Music:
Music: Dragonquest by Alexander Nakarada | www.serpentsou... Music promoted by www.free-stock... Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) creativecommon...
Marvel's Avengers theme by Alan Silvestri

[@TheChadTI]

A great thing about MOTU is it made a castle standard for any new fantasy line.

[@thelittlethings3309]

That is definitely true. And so many toy lines and playsets knocked off the look of Castle Grayskull because...well, it looked really neat. But some lines, like AD&D, took the "castle" or playset toy idea and made it their own. We also got some really cool and unique playsets for some toy lines too. Thanks for the comment!

[@tjkhusker]

Great video! I love your work

[@thelittlethings3309]

I hope it brings back some great memories. Thanks for watching!

[@benjaminfeld6388]

"Many times in life you will find that many of the truths we cling to depend upon our own point of view."

[@thelittlethings3309]

True dat. Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

[@georgeowain]

Visionaries did have a 2nd wave produced with figures and vehicles, as well as a planned play set for the first wave. Sadly, the poor sales and cost of producing holograms saw it cancelled. Also, in the UK, Battle Beasts had a comic series, but it was likely short lived.

[@thelittlethings3309]

I didn't know that about Visionaries! I want to see that. I thought they were pretty nice, but they came at the very end of my time with toys. It was an overall cool toy line.

[@godofzombi]

And now in 2023 we get a mash up of Masters of the universe and TMNT.

[@thelittlethings3309]

Man, I love those TMNT mash-ups. They have been doing that forever and they bring back some great memories too. Nice to see them still happening our there.

[@TheChadTI]

Crystar! You must feature him/them at some point.

[@thelittlethings3309]

Check out the: Barbarians! The Fantasy and Sword and Sorcery toys of the Early 1980s. Crystar is mentioned in that one. Thanks for the comment!

[@TheChadTI]

Wish Visionaries caught on. Supernaturals were an offshoot (offically?) same hologram tech. EDIT: And here they are!

[@thelittlethings3309]

That hologram sticker technology was all the rage at the time and the toy companies were desperately trying to find a way to make it work and catch on. They just couldn't seem to find the right vehicle for it. This time period in toys was heavy with gimmicks, but they were still really fun. Thanks!

[@Takeshi357]

I actually prefer Supernaturals to Visionaries, since the holograms are properly incorporated into the figures themselves instead of merely being GI Joes with the holograms serving as glorified accessories. The fact they also literally appear to be faceless without a light source just makes them spookier.

[@godofzombi]

Yeah me too. Have you seen the cartoon? It's still fun to watch even as an adult.

[@godofzombi]

@@thelittlethings3309 Oh yeah you got holostickers on everything back then, including packages of Frosties and Mr. Clean.

[@TheChadTI]

26:57 Hello.

[@thelittlethings3309]

😁

[@Takeshi357]

9:27 Wow, the Ghost Command cost $55?

[@thelittlethings3309]

What is that, like, $858.00 in today's money?!?! I could be a little off, but that sure seems like a lot for a Filmation Ghost Busters...well, anything.

[@Takeshi357]

@@thelittlethings3309 about 150 dollars so not that much, but it's crazy considering Castle Grayskull had only been like $20 a few years earlier. Even the Sectaurs Hyve was cheaper, despite being a much larger playset.

[@godofzombi]

yeah those holostickers were expensive. That's why I never had any Visionaries as a kid. And good luck getting toy companies to make those now.