Friday, March 6, 2009

Shadow Strikers

And now, for something no one will remember: Shadow Strikers.



Shadow Strikers was a toyline by Kenner in the same scale as M.A.S.K. Instead of having neat transforming vehicles, it had mostly transparent vehicles that you could see the "internals workings" of, and also the figures became transparent when you dipped them in water (I forget if it was hot or cold). It didn't last beyond one wave of product, and only had one direct-to-video episode (which I didn't even know about until a year or two ago).

The concept is played entirely straight, and has an odd mishmash of 1980s and 1990s styles, clocking in from 1990. It's most noteworthy to me because the lead villain, Dr. Viper, is clearly played by Alan Oppenheimer using his "Skeletor" voice, but with a goofy German accent. (I guess it may be legitimately noteworthy that the series features a heroic Arab in its cast, even though he's evidently a former terrorist and says his dunebuggy "drives like a camel".)

Here's a segment featuring all the non-Dr. Viper villains. I am fascinated by Chameleon Man, who I actually own. If the intro is to be believed, this is kind of a shoddy "kamikaze army".



And here's the special all in one go.


Watch Shadow Strikers - Mission: Surprise Attack  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

3 comments:

  1. still have the VHS...wish i still had my vehicles...ill never forgot shades o'grady and lance heston

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  2. only one episode? Surprising not seeing how Mask and Centurions were much bigger and most imitated from them (Spiral Zone, Sky Commanders).

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  3. Hello there.
    I have never had a Shadow Striker action figure/vehicle, but I have a lot of M.A.S.K. line items and Sky Commanders. I am trying to know more from them, but it seems to be like the great jet "Tempest" was only a test shot (non produced). Do you know about it?
    Thanks.
    fomalhaut2@yahoo.es

    ReplyDelete