He looks like he works the same way the Star Wars tauntaun did, where you stick the rider into a spring-loaded door atop the mount, with the rider’s legs molded onto the horse’s body. Strongheart also got a bitchin’ mount – Destrier Mighty Battle Horse. Strongheart showed up in the D&D cartoon, although there he was armed with a magic golden hammer. I also dig that it looks something like a real knight. I had this figure as a kid, and it was pretty groovy – nice cape, sword. The top dog on the good side was Strongheart Good Paladin. There were apparently two waves of figures, which were divided into GOOD and EVIL sides. OK – Complaining over – let’s take a look at the toys the younger siblings (yeah, right!) of D&D geeks were enjoying in the 1980’s, along with some handy links to buy these sweet babies … The game that’s all about ability scores and character sheets doesn’t use this on their packaging. I mean – Transformers had ability scores! Did D&D figures have that? No. Joe figures had the cool file card on the back of the packaging with data on the character, and how Transformers came with stats that required the red translucent plastic to read. Some of the action figure line made an appearance in the Shady Dragon Inn (a book I love, by the way), and in a module called XL1 – Quest for the Heartstone, but that was about it.Īnd since I’m complaining – remember how the G.I. Instead of Hank the Ranger and the gang, the action figure line featured a collection of characters of whom nobody had ever heard, with no real adventures or exploits to inspire childhood play. Joe, Transformers, Go-Bots, Chuck Norris’ Karate Kommandoes, Rambo … they were all doing it. By the 1980’s, toy companies and cartoon makers had figured out how to join forces and sell crap to kids – G.I. Anyone who knows the TSR story knows this, so there’s no need to cover it here. TSR was almost an overnight success, and its leadership wasn’t necessarily ready for prime time. But here’s the weird part – the cartoon and action figure line are separate, as in barely any overlap. It hits so big that it gets a Saturday morning cartoon and an action figure line. Dungeons & Dragons hits big with kids in the 1980’s. And by 3-D, I don’t mean a movie, but those splendid D&D action figures made by LJN in the 1980’s.įigure this one out.

Ljn toys speed riders super launcher