Skeleton Warriors – Playmates Action Figure Review
Skeleton Warriors are bad to the bone and ready to rock a toy box near you
Flagged to be the He-Man of the 90’s, the Skeleton Warriors toy line from Playmates certainly left an impression on me. But ultimately, the toy line didn’t succeed in the market.
The Skeleton Warriors themselves consist of 5 characters. Each one embedded with their own crystals that keep them skeletized (and immortal). The toy line really shows off some amazing detail, especially for the time period. The bones have an old, dusty look and the textures looked stressed and rough. Compared to other Playmates toy lines, like Earthworm Jim and the Toxic Crusaders, the Skeleton Warriors certainly aren’t as ‘bright and colourful’.
The Legion of Light – The good guys from the Skeleton Warrior franchise, were never released down under and frankly, why bother? The Skeleton Legion are clearly the highlight of the toy line and Playmates did an amazing job capturing the personalities of these brutal skeletons. It’s a shame the series never reached it’s second season (of the cartoon and the toy line), because we were in for some very cool figures. Skeleton Warriors really tried to branch out on its own and managed to create some really nostalgic memories for me.
Baron Dark
Baron Dark is the leader of the group (and rocks some fabulous hair and ugg boots). I find the character in the cartoons a bit of a cop-out, a combination of your typical bad guy personalities, but Playmates managed to give the figure a very unique, fearsome look.
My figure came near-loose. His green sword hilt usually comes with a firing projectile but I knew I’d be pairing Baron Dark with the Warhorse anyway. Especially because he’s another figure with a difficult action pose, along with Shriek.
Dagger
The comic foil of the group, Dagger in the show is small, needy and annoying. I was hesitant picking up the figure, never owning this one previously but Playmates really did a good job with the look of the figure. I especially liked how the cape was cut in the back, revealing his spine.
Dagger came complete with an Axe that shoots a skeleton head as well as a gun and his dagger strapped to his leg. Nice big feet mean he’s easy to stand and I love his slouched, low posture.
Aracula
Aracula, the 6-armed assassin of the Skeleton Warriors is a clear stand-out in the toy line, with a hulking posture and obviously, six arms, I can’t help but load him up with the extra weapons from the other characters to keep his hands busy. This is easily one of my favourite figures from the toy line and one of the more imaginative and well thought-out figures.
Aracula came packaged with a spider web shield, goo gun and a projectile mace-thing. I think the aesthetics are great and typical to the toy line, the details are really high quality even though he’s such a big figure.
Dr Cyborn
Here’s a personal favourite, Dr Cyborn is half metal machine, half skeleton and totally out to use his inventions to cause as much damage as possible. He’s not incredibly articulate, but I’m willing to forgive it for the overall look of this figure.
He came complete with his Skull gun, a mace, a cape and a larger missile firing projectile.
Shriek
A lady skeleton with real hair. This is about as extreme as the ‘action poses’ got and Shriek is a total nightmare to get standing. I ended up pairing her with the Skullcycle (see below) and offloading some of her cool weapons to Aracula (he does have enough hands).
Shriek also came packaged with a small skeleton dragon. Overall, it’s a cool looking figure and if you’re a fan of the cartoon, Shriek is easily one of the most ruthless Skeleton Warriors. Personally stoked to discover how cool the action figure was after all these years.
The vehicles of the Skeleton Legion
Skeleton Legion Warhorse
The Warhorse is the result of an experiment gone wrong. When Dr Cyborn’s experiment blows up the lab, the Warhorse was able to rise from the rubble and immediately claimed by Baron Dark.
I was loving the idea, but the figure here doesn’t do much. No articulation in the legs or head, it’s essentially a statue with a detachable spear and a projectile that fires from the neck.
I like the look but I’m glad I got it cheap.
Skeleton Legion Skullcycle
At least we know the Skeleton Legion like to ride in style. Their Skullcycles are decked out with the same detail Playmates brought to the action figure line, with some great textures on the bones and seat as well as the great combination of machinery.
The Skullcycle is an easy favourite and one of the better memories I had of the toy line as a kid.
