Wheeled Warriors was an animated series 'Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors' in support of a Mattel toyline in the mid sixties. It was basically another Mad Max style customised car range, with a base vehicle that could be accessorised with various weapons etc. It wasn't massively successfull and the idea was covered by many other toys such as Road Blasters, Stompers and Battle Changers
I don't recall any toys from the series on sale in the UK but it was shown on ITV on Sunday mornings back in 1985. Blimey where have those years gone?! Cool theme tune. Fighting giant plant creatures called Monster Minds. Made by the 1980s prolific DIC animation company, a certain J Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5 and Captain Power fame was one of the main writers. Some of the episodes can be seen on YouTube.
The toyline was a failure as it came out about a year before the cartoon series. The vehicles all had a generic figure to pilot them instead of a named character. So with no real advertising to drive the sales back in 85ish, they sat on the shelves until they got clearanced off. Then the series started up, was mildly successful but no one had the toys to sell. A lot of miscommunication on Mattel's part IMO. I rarely see any of the toys for sale outside of ebay.
That said, lots of episodes are on youtube and keep an eye open for the DVDs of which there's been a couple of releases with one set being the entire 65 episodes that shows up from time to time for like $10. They are worth watching IMO but just be aware there is no conclusion to the series so Jayce never finds his father and unites the magic root.
Wheeled Warriors was an animated series 'Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors' in support of a Mattel toyline in the mid sixties. It was basically another Mad Max style customised car range, with a base vehicle that could be accessorised with various weapons etc. It wasn't massively successfull and the idea was covered by many other toys such as Road Blasters, Stompers and Battle Changers
ReplyDeleteInteresting concept for a toy for sure.
DeleteI don't recall any toys from the series on sale in the UK but it was shown on ITV on Sunday mornings back in 1985. Blimey where have those years gone?! Cool theme tune. Fighting giant plant creatures called Monster Minds. Made by the 1980s prolific DIC animation company, a certain J Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5 and Captain Power fame was one of the main writers. Some of the episodes can be seen on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this Yorkie. I'll have to check which episodes are on my VHS tape.
DeleteThe toyline was a failure as it came out about a year before the cartoon series. The vehicles all had a generic figure to pilot them instead of a named character. So with no real advertising to drive the sales back in 85ish, they sat on the shelves until they got clearanced off. Then the series started up, was mildly successful but no one had the toys to sell. A lot of miscommunication on Mattel's part IMO. I rarely see any of the toys for sale outside of ebay.
ReplyDeleteThat said, lots of episodes are on youtube and keep an eye open for the DVDs of which there's been a couple of releases with one set being the entire 65 episodes that shows up from time to time for like $10. They are worth watching IMO but just be aware there is no conclusion to the series so Jayce never finds his father and unites the magic root.
65 episodes! Blimey! That a big series Lance. Thanks for the info. What a cock-up releasing the toys a year earlier!
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