Skeleton Warriors Series 2

* Series 2
* Talyn
* Bone Dragon

### Location

The Bone Dragon and Talyn maquettes belong to Goddard Film Group who loaned it to October Toys for work on their Kickstarter project

## Product Information

### Year(s)

1995

The 1990's was home to a lot of obscure short-runned cartoons that still managed to snag a toyline and *Skeleton Warriors* was no exception. Produced by Playmates, one more series was set to be released after the first though it never happened.

## **Summary**

In 1994, Playmates agreed to hold the master license for a toyline based on *Skeleton Warriors* and that year, they released the first wave. Representing the good guys were Prince Lightstar, whose real name is Justin Steele and leads the Legion of Light with his spring-powered Skeleton Polarizer; Ursak the Guardian, a powerful warrior who was the brother of the late king and is technologically-savvy with a spring-powered Polarizer Rifle, and Grimskull, the undead version of Joshua Steele who reforms and comes with a spring-powered Blast Staff. Representing the bad guys were Baron Dark, the leader of the Skeleton Legion who wants to cover the world in darkness and attacks with his spring-powered DarkShard sword; Dr. Cyborn, a half-skeleton/half-machine hybrid who provides the high-tech weapons for Baron's army, including his spring-powered acid blaster; Shriek (her working name was originally "Banshee" ), the only female member in the group who had a crush on Joshua and came with a skeletal stiletto; Aracula, an arachnid-like skeleton that could only communicate in grunts and came with a bone-crushing tarantul-axe; and Dagger, the espionage expert of dwarfish size and came with the spring-fired flesh-pounding chromium hammer. Two vehicles were produced in total for Series 1, mainly for the Skeleton Legion, which include the Skullcycle for Dr. Cyborn and the Warhorse for Baron Dark. Playmates also had a video game brand that published a *Skeleton Warriors* game for the SEGA Saturn and Playstation. While nothing to write home about, it utilized computer graphics; an animation format that Gary Goddard had originally envisioned for the show before they stuck to hand-drawn cels.

## **Series 2**

In 1995, Playmates began work on their second series of action figures for *Skeleton Warriors* and an advertisement for it would be featured on some sort of toy magazine or catalog (probably *Toyfare*). In it, the prototypes for each character included Bone-Zai, a samurai-styled warrior with a scythe; Skull Hawk, a viking-styled warrior whose hands looked like they were holding a axe, yet is not preent in the photo; Claw, a monster similar to that of a werewolf; and Sting, who vaguely resembled a scorpion. The only bit of representation that the Legion of Light would've got in this wave were vehicles including a Skycycle and Battlesteed, though the Skeleton Legion would've also gotten an Attack Craft. The skeletons in Series 2 were infamous for their "transition" to blinding neon colors that seemed to be an epidemic among toylines of the 1990's. By far, the most hype thing that would've been included in Series 2 was the Bone Dragon, which may have been designed for a "skull mountain" playset. Its worth noting that there was a prototype made for Talyn, the token girl of the Legion of Light who was working on a way to bring the "Skeleton Warriors" back to their original form. She was originally intended for Series 1, though was pushed back for retooling. While its easy to blame this on sexism and marketers not having confidence in a female action figure selling in a toyline meant for boys, there is an image of two Talyn prototypes that support the "retooling" motif. Though its unclear to tell which one was sculpted for Series 1 and which one would've possibly been included in future series as one had her in a blue leotard with dual gun holsters while the other had her in slightly revealing body armor with golden wings and a bow & arrow.

## **Final Verdict**

Despite their ambitions, Series 2 of Playmates' *Skeleton Warriors* action figures were cancelled due to the low ratings of the show, the first series not selling well enough, and that the concept, while bold, may have been way too ahead of its time. None of the original prototypes have been seen since then and its unknown if the "skull mountain" playset was ever built, though some of the original maquettes of the characters (Baron, Grimskull, Talyn, Bone Dragon) that were made as a reference for the show and toyline were shown at the San Diego Comic Con and DesignerCon in 2014; in conjunction with the Kickstarter *Skeleton Warriors* figures by October Toys.   Though until further notice, this series will remain: **LOST**.

## **External Links**

* *Figure Realm*. (Retrieved 2021, November 26). Skeleton Warriors (Playmates) Action Figure Checklist. Online catalog.

* *OAFE* (2002, October 25). On the failure of Skeleton Warrior. Online article.

* I, Harbinger. (2015, April 6). Playmates' unproduced Skeleton Warriors series 2. *Tumblr.* Online post.

## **References**

1. ↑ *Skeleton Warriors* on Wikipedia
2. ↑ *Who Is To Blame For The Epic Failure of Skeleton Warriors?* by Toy Galaxy
3. ↑ *Skeleton Warriors Bone Dragon Maquette* by Toy Break/YouTube
4. ↑ *OAFE*. (2014, November 9). The unproduced Skeleton Warriors Dragon. Online article.