Being a vintage VHS Video nut, with a particular penchant for old Sci-Fi and space animation, I was intrigued by this Jayce and The Wheeled Warriors tape [above]. Like Ulysses, another video cartoon I've never heard of but own, I've discovered that Ebay is full of Jayce toys! Loads of them like the one below [although this one doesn't appear to mention Jayce]. In fact it seems really quite popular so who on earth were Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors?
The story of Wheeled Warriors is a strange one.
ReplyDeleteMattel creates a small line that is supposed to be one of the "gap fillers" around massive lines like Masters of the Universe, and somehow get a marketing push that involves a cartoon.
The animated show takes off somewhat, and kids find the toys you linked, wanting Jayce and getting the Lightning League.
Mattel had plans to put Jayce into the line in series 2, but series 2 never made it to production, leaving us with the anomaly of a cartoon more famous than the toyline that generated it, featuring a completely different set of main characters.
There is quite a following of this mid-1980's toy based show: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayce_and_the_Wheeled_Warriors
ReplyDeleteIt looks like Babylon 5 creator, J. Michael Strczynski wrote for much of the show.
I was mistakenly convinced that these were the same scale as Mattel's (much earlier) Battlestar Galactica vehicles and bought a similar looking 'driver' figure in the same brown hard-plastic as the Glactica Viper pilot.
Looks like an interesting toy line with a bit of ZOIDS flavour.
Don't remember the toys but do remember the cartoon being shown on ITV during the school holidays in the late 80s.
ReplyDeleteAwesome show which, apart from the vehicle designs, had very little to do with the toys themselves.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXl_wX9hJkc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLU1GfIIGLE
Hey, that's a nice article on Jayce & The Wheeled Warriors. Very good.
ReplyDeleteI notice that info about the episodes original broadcast on pretty much every website is wrong. The order listed on those sites is actually the PRODUCTION order. This site below,
http://www.wheelies.net/wweps/
has the correct broadcast order. It's a very reliable source and the person who runs that site is very trustworthy.
Here is the Jayce & the Wheeled Warriors original broadcast episode guide with the production number in parenthesis next to the broadcast number.
01 (01). Escape From The Garden
02 (05). Ghostship
03 (06). Flora, Fauna, and The Monster Minds
04 (04). The Silver Crusaders
05 (12). Critical Mass
06 (07). Fire and Ice
07 (19). The Sleeping Princess
08 (09). The Future Of The Future
09 (18). Blockade Runners
10 (15). Bloodstone
11 (20). Deadly Reunion
12 (33). Lightning Strikes Twice
13 (41). Swampwitch
14 (32). Brain Trust
15 (08). Space Outlaws
16 (29). An Affair Of Honor
17 (25). Double Deception
18 (40). Darksinger
19 (47). Do Not Disturb
20 (44). A Question Of Conscience
21 (11). Frostworld
22 (14). Hook, Line, and Sinker
23 (43). Early Warning
24 (24). Bounty Hunters
25 (49). The Children Of Solaris II
26 (46). The Mirage Makers
27 (60). Short Circuit, Long Wait
28 (10). Underwater, Underpaid
29 (30). Doomflower
30 (56). Mistress Of Soul Tree
31 (45). Lifeship
32 (64). The Squire Smith
33 (48). Dreamworld
34 (57). The Life Eater
35 (58). Wasteland
36 (34). The Liberty Stone Part 1
37 (35). The Liberty Stone Part 2: The Vines
38 (36). The Liberty Stone Part 3: The Space Fighter
39 (37). The Liberty Stone Part 4: Heart Of Paxtar
40 (38). The Liberty Stone Part 5: Appointment At Forever
41 (03). Steel Against Shadow
42 (62). The Source
43 (63). The Raid
44 (39). What's Going On?
45 (65). Final Ride At Journey's End
46 (52). The Chimes Of Sharpis
47 (51). Armada
48 (50). The Gardener
49 (13). The Purple Tome
50 (22). Quest Into Shadow
51 (55). Common Bond
52 (42). Deadly Reflections
53 (28). Moon Magic
54 (59). The Oracle
55 (27). Space Thief
56 (17). The Hunt
57 (31). The Stallions Of Sandeen
58 (02). Vase Of Xiang
59 (26). Gateworld
60 (61). Time and Time Again
61 (23). Unexpected Troubles
62 (16). The Slaves Of Adelbarren
63 (53). Galaxy Gamester
64 (54). Circus Planet
65 (21). Sky Kingdom
Makes a lot more sense than the production order (it usually is with most TV shows). Of course, even the broadcast order isn't going to be in chronological order either (Steel Against Shadow is AFTER The Gardener and The Stallions Of Sandeen for example), but is 99% of the time better than the production order.
Thought I'd just pass this along. Thanks. And keep up the good work.
Hey Anonymous, that's one fabulous response. Thanks so much for the comprehensive list for Jayce. Excellent. Thanks.
DeleteLate response, but thanks. We should spread the word about this.
DeleteWe should. Thanks again.
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