Underworld Warriors Origins, Pt. I: MotU KOusins of Foreign Ancestry
From all the stuff that I’ve been collecting Underworld Warriors is one of the toylines that keep fascinating me the most. Maybe because its origins are still sort of a mystery. After they’ve been (re-)discovered by Justin Gammon of @weirdotoys they were anticipated as knock-off toys, or MotU KOs in particular.
Pic courtesy of Steve Seeley.
Is this true? If you look at the Underworld Warriors (UW) figures you keep wondering, what exactly are they knocking off? If they’re KOs, they should be exploiting the idea of another, probably more popular brand or franchise of the same time. Which at first sight certainly isn’t Mattel’s Masters of the Universe.Â
We know that UW was released in 1986. What other spooky, weird, horror & folklore themed toys were around at that time? What instantly comes to my mind is Filmation Ghostbusters by Schaper, and The Real Ghostbusters by Kenner. Both were released in 1986. Especially the Real Ghostbusters Monsters Series, and figures like Bad-to-the-Bone Ghost, or Schaper’s Scared Stiff & Prime Evil could have had some impact. The bright, fancy colors of the UW figures were maybe inspired by the Ghostbusters designs, too.
Pic courtesy of http://www.retromagicblog.net.
Pic courtesy of http://www.horrormoviebbq.com.
Figure H, Bad-to-the-Bone Ghost. Pic courtesy of http://uzicopter.tumblr.com/
What’s that MotU “KOnnection” about? As we have seen, the same company that made the Underworld Warriors also seems responsible for those gnarly Muscle Warriors figures, a real bad Sungold Galaxy Warriors bootleg line from the 80s. Galaxy Warriors definitely was a MotU KO. Which precisely makes Tung Sing’s Muscle Warriors a bootleg of a knock-off. Does this make UW a MotU KO, as well? Just because they were manufactured by the same company?
The infamous Tung Sing Muscle Warriors ad. Pic courtesy of http://plaidstallions.com.
In 1986 the market was swamped with all kinds of 5.5″ toylines that have been labeled as MotU KOs, rightfully or not. If we look at one of them in particular we find another possible connection to the MotU KO genre. Remco’s Pirates of the Galaxseas (PotG) from 1983 included two skeleton figures, Ribs and Bones. Could it have been their design the UW creators had in mind?
Pirates of the Galaxseas Ribs, and Bones. Pic courtesy of Steve Seeley.
From the same year come the Nightmare Warriors by Multi Toys Corp (MTC). The line featured six skeletons figures depicting historic warriors. The Roman (Spartacus), the WWII US soldier (Major Bones), the native American (Geronimo), the medieval knight (Sir Lancelot), the pirate (Captain Kidd), and the Mexican general (Pancho Villa). The bodies are pretty similar to the Remco design. Because both lines were released in 1983 it’s hard to tell which of them was first. Anyway, “Underworld Warriors” definitely sounds like a straight knock-off of “Nightmare Warriors”.
Pic courtesy of http://weirdotoys.com.
Pic courtesy of Andrew Williams.
Iconic heads on skeleton bodies, could this be the idea UW was knocking off? Where Nightmare Warriors refer to historic figures of the “real” world, Tung Sing’s creations are depicting historic monsters of the underworld! Devil, Witch, Krampus, Vampire, Snake, and Reaper are icons of folklore and modern popculture, just like the classic characters of the Nightmare Warriors line-up.
As I mentioned in the beginning, Ghostbusters toys might have affected the UW designs, too. Although (licensed or unlicensed) classic monster toys and action figures have been around for years. The 70s were full of that stuff. The best known lines are maybe Mego’s Mad Monsters, and AHI’s World Famous Super Monsters. Â
Spanish Mad Monsters ad, pic courtesy of http://www.megomuseum.com.
Pic courtesy of http://plaidstallions.com.
Even Remco relaunched an official line of 3.75″ and 9″ Universal Monsters in 1980/81. Imperial put out their licensed but very bootleggish looking Classic Movie Monsters in 1986, in the same year when UW came out.
Pic courtesy of http://plaidstallions.com.
Pic courtesy of http://weirdotoys.com.
Another name you come across all the time when searching for “classic” or “vintage monster toys” is Ben Cooper, Inc. The New York based company made a variety of cheap looking horror figures during the 60s, and 70s. Most notably rubber jigglers like their infamous House Haunters, which were KOs of AHI’s Super Monsters. Ben Cooper was followed by numerous other KOmpanies and bootleggers, cashing in on the enduring classic monsters franchise. Â
Pic courtesy of http://universalmonsterarmy.com.
Ben Cooper’s House Haunters included three figures. A witch, a devil, and a skeleton. You can tell by the looks that these monster jigglers and Tung Sing’s UW share a certain style. They look like prizes from a sleazy, horror themed shooting gallery in the US or European backlands, somewhere between 1969 and 1989.
Pic courtesy of the Internet.
Let’s sum this up, and come back to the initial question. If they’re KOs, what exactly were Underworld Warriors knocking off? What Tung Sing was directly going after is the idea of MTC’s Nightmare Warriors. One of the many 5.5″ lines of the 80s that have been described as MotU KOs. The MTC designs remind us of the two PotG figures Ribs and Bones. As the name already suggests, Remco’s Pirates of the Galaxseas can be considered a Masters of the Universe knock-off. Although the skeletons are unique designs and stick out from the rest of the line.Â
PotG ad from the 1985 Remco toy catalog. Pic courtesy of http://plaidstallions.com
Like I said, it’s hard to tell for sure if Ribs and Bones are either pre or post Nightmare Warriors. One of the designs is apparently ripping off the other, though. What I can also see is that especially Multi Toys were aping Mattel’s bent legs & arms, and body symmetry. But you don’t see much of this in the UW designs any longer. Slightly bent arms, and the 5.5 scale is all that remains.
I conclude, Underworld Warriors are possible, far related “KOusins” of Prince Adam, with a good amount of bastardly hybridized blood in their rotten veins. They’re MotU KO related, but at the same time descending from a strange, foreign ancestry. They’re also horrible cheap, “classic” monster rip-offs, following the haunted house aesthetics of Imperial, Ben Cooper, and Co.
I still wonder where those amazingly creepy head sculpts are coming from, if they’re “originals” or bootlegs of something yet unknown. The answer at the end of either of these two ways is gonna be a mindblower, that’s for sure.
