10 Well-Designed Toys from Forgotten Saturday Morning Cartoons

You may not remember the shows, but you'll remember the merch.

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Image via Complex Original
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3. Sky Commanders

Released: 1987

Made by: Kenner

The concept of Sky Commanders is that travel in the show's world was only capable through high-altitude flight and the use of "laser cables." For the toyline, that translated into a variety of ways to stick shit on table tops, windows, and pretty much anywhere and everywhere that could possibly be in someone's path while walking around the house. The playsets were badass and the toys had elastic string in their backs with which to interact with all the awesome accessories. Did we mention the laser cables were represented by neon string? Yeah. The '80s at its finest.

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2. Exo-Squad

Released: 1993

Made by: Playmates

This epic space drama drew many comparisons to Robotech upon its launch, but also a lot of positive reaction from critics and kids alike. The toyline was amazing, and kind of hard to believe was produced by the same company that brought us the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Each "E-Frame" came with a smaller pilot figure and boasted a variety of action features like firing missiles and gatling guns. The stickers were especially awesome, as they included a variety of re-usable bullet holes and blast marks, so kids could customize the horrors of galactic war as they pleased.

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1. Mighty Max

Released: 1992

Made by: Bluebird Toys & Mattel

Originally a Polly Pocket for the boys, Mighty Max is fondly remembered as being pretty awesome and designed in a way that appealed to boys' base desires: gross shit, snakes, mummies, dinosaurs, robots, et. al. With playsets that folded up into the shape of cyborg skulls, zombie hands, and rattlesnakes, they were both eye-catching and very detailed. Much of the universe within the playsets was fleshed out by really great paint application that surpassed a lot of other toys.

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