A few of you have remarked on the little pale green goblin who appeared on the menu a few weeks ago. Yes, he’s from the old Blackstar line, and yes, there’s a reason he’s there.
In this month’s ToyFare #135, which hits newsstands today, there’s an article by yours truly about the Blackstar toy line. I decided to make sure I had a Blackstar character on the menu to commemorate the occasion.
For those who aren’t familiar with Blackstar, it was a cartoon show that predated Masters of the Universe by a year or two and was produced by the same company, Filmation. The two shows have a lot of similarities: both feature a barbaric hero in a land of science and sorcery who battles a demonic overlord.
Blackstar carried the Starsword, which was one half of the “Powerstar”; the other half, the Powersword, was controlled by his foe, the Overlord. This is similar to what the early MOTU media (comics and storybooks) depicted, as He-Man and Skeletor both had half of the Power Sword–which is why the original figures came with those two half-swords that could be put together.
I don’t remember ever watching Blackstar as a kid. I don’t think many kids did–it lasted only one season, and the toys came out years after the show was cancelled, as Galoob tried to capitalize on the success of MOTU. (more…)
