Toy lines you're surprised DIDNT have tie-in cartoons

[wildojinx]

We all know that most of the major toy lines of the 80s and early 90s had tie-in cartoons, heck, we still see many today. But what are some toylines that DIDNT have tie-in cartoons, but should have? Exhibit 1: The Food Fighters:



Maybe this would have been too ridiculous even for 80s cartoons, but they gave cartoons to stuff that had less backstory (Lazer Tag Academy, Potato Head Kids, etc), and I can see the writers and animators having fun with this concept.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

The 80s incarnation of Zoids/Z-knights/Starriors was crying out for a cartoon to set lore going forward so the western brand had a solid base to build from when it came to fiction. Starriors had something in production, but it fell through for whatever reason.

Microman/Micronauts. There's supposedly a completed animated series for an aborted 2020's series that's been Batgirl'd, completed, canned and used as a tax writeoff.

Xevoz. I love Xevoz, but they needed more lore to really take off with the intended audience.

[DSR]

Oh god, I haven't seen Food Fighters in forever!

[MolotovMocktail]

Rock Lords. They debuted in a Go-Bots movie, presumably for them to get a spinoff series, but it never happened and the toy line was largely forgotten as a result.

[Hurbster]

Aug 13, 2023 14:06:15 GMT -5 The Dark Order Inferno said:

The 80s incarnation of Zoids/Z-knights/Starriors was crying out for a cartoon to set lore going forward so the western brand had a solid base to build from when it came to fiction. Starriors had something in production, but it fell through for whatever reason.

Microman/Micronauts. There's supposedly a completed animated series for an aborted 2020's series that's been Batgirl'd, completed, canned and used as a tax writeoff.

Xevoz. I love Xevoz, but they needed more lore to really take off with the intended audience.

There was a cartoon strip in I think Star Wars Weekly (UK mag I collected as a kid), and I know there was a Zoids game for the C64 around that time. I would definitely have watched a cartoon if one had been made.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

"ROM: Spaceknight" would've been a great show.

[Sponsored by Groose Wipes]

Did Stretch Armstrong ever get a cartoon? I feel like there's potential there.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Aug 13, 2023 13:49:11 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

We all know that most of the major toy lines of the 80s and early 90s had tie-in cartoons, heck, we still see many today. But what are some toylines that DIDNT have tie-in cartoons, but should have? Exhibit 1: The Food Fighters:



Maybe this would have been too ridiculous even for 80s cartoons, but they gave cartoons to stuff that had less backstory (Lazer Tag Academy, Potato Head Kids, etc), and I can see the writers and animators having fun with this concept.

Holy shit. Totally forgot about these. Believe I had the hot dog.

[schma]

Aug 13, 2023 18:22:12 GMT -5 Sponsored by Groose Wipes said:

Did Stretch Armstrong ever get a cartoon? I feel like there's potential there.

I don't know if he got one originally but there was a cartoon in 2017 called Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters.

[Paul]

Army Ants!

[Dr. T is an alien]

As awesome as the actual toys were, I cannot believe there wasn’t a Sectaurs cartoon.

Another one that seemed prime cartoon material was Robo Force.

I know there actually was an animated series for Wheeled Warriors, but I never saw it.

Lastly, there’s the reverse of the topic. Mecha animes were popular in Japan long before they were here in the US. There was a rush to gain access to anime intellectual properties in the 80’s. World Events Productions did it smartly when they licensed 3 anime series for their Voltron series (they didn’t use the third series). When they got the licenses from Toei, they also got the rights to make toys.

Not everyone was so forward thinking.

Harmony Gold also licensed 3 separate animes to make Robotech, but they did not navigate the different licensing laws nearly as well. For starters, they were not the only ones to license anything from those animes in the first place. FASA licensed the likenesses of several mecha from Japanese mecha series for use in their source materials for their tabletop game BattleTech (as well as for the miniatures for use in the game). Additionally, Hasbro also got the rights to make some Macross toys for their Transformers toy line.

How could this be? Well, because Harmony Gold only got the rights to edit, rewrite, and dub to make an American show. This also allowed them to publish books based on the show. They did not procure any other rights, but believed they did. They sued FASA and Hasbro over their licenses. They also started to make their own toys and claimed the other companies using their legally obtained licenses damaged their actually unlicensed toy line.

It was a shitshow that had legal battles, mainly with BattleTech’s different owners through the years (including Hasbro for a while) that eventually ended 30 years later with Harmony Gold getting a definitive judgement against them. All because they didn’t bother to do their homework.

[tirtefaa]

Good ol' Food Fighters! My favorite action figures ever.

They were never in any major retailers, but that's one of the reasons it was worth it going to places like Ben Franklin that had them.

I bought Sergeant Scoop (the chocolate ice cream cone) back in 1989. One of my biggest frustrations as a kid was coming across Fat Frenchy (the french fries) a short time later...and I never asked for toys, but I begged my mom for him, only for her to tell me no multiple times. So aggravating!

Anyways, despite scouring flea markets in the years to come, I never came across any.

However, when I heard about eBay for the first time in 1999, these guys were the first thing I ever bought. I don't have all the weapons or backpacks...or even the cards, but the fun is the characters themselves.

A few years ago, the Barnyard Commandos (who were a sister series that was also made during the late 80's early 90's) were rereleased in a new articulated form. I think the Food Fighters deserve the same treatment. Heck, they should have a second wave of characters...and luckily for them, I whipped some up a while back for fun.



Come on Mattel(?), make it happen!!!

[Stu]

Aug 13, 2023 19:15:21 GMT -5 Dr. T is an alien said:

As awesome as the actual toys were, I cannot believe there wasn’t a Sectaurs cartoon.

[Push R Truth]

Aug 13, 2023 18:22:12 GMT -5 Sponsored by Groose Wipes said:

Did Stretch Armstrong ever get a cartoon? I feel like there's potential there.

Cartoons? I dunno.

Pornos? Like a half dozen, probably more.

[thechase]

Robocop got a cartoon, but the rest of the Ultra Police line he was packaged with didn't.

[James Fabiano]

He didn't begin life as a toy line, but...Freddy Krueger. Yep, I said it. As there was tons of merch aimed towards kids from Nightmare on Elm Street, I am shocked that no one tried to pull a Crypt Keeper and make a Freddy cartoon show.

[thechase]

M.A.S.K's final line, the 'Split Seconds' range, had no third season backing it.

[Gunhaver]

I don't care that the pilot bombed, Incredible Crash Dummies deserves a full season.

[Toilet Paper Roll]

Aug 14, 2023 6:58:24 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

Aug 13, 2023 18:22:12 GMT -5 Sponsored by Groose Wipes said:

Did Stretch Armstrong ever get a cartoon? I feel like there's potential there.

Cartoons? I dunno.

Pornos? Like a half dozen, probably more.

I think it had one pretty recently

[A Platypus Rave]

Aliens... though it almost happened