This is “Analog Agent Benjamin” coming at you this week with…. Computer Warriors
Years after the movie Tron, but years before the TV series Reboot, there was a toy line called Computer Warriors.
There was even a cartoon video made for this toy line, but I can’t find it on YouTube. The toys were like a cross between M.A.S.K & Tron. The idea was the Warriors from an online computer world have come into the real world, and they can change any item into a vehicle and weapon.
So, did anyone else have any of the Computer Warriors toys as a kid? Did you even hear of these?
I do have the tape, it was released oddly through two different companies, either from Mattel or Fries Home Video. The special itself was produced by Kroyer Films, whom might only be slightly familiar to those who had seen “Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest”. The guy who ran this studio, Bill Kroyer, was also quite big into computers at the time, and often employed the use of vector-graphic plotters to produce 3-D renderings of objects that would be transferred to cels in his work, a noted achievement in this was the Oscar-nominated short, “Technological Threat”.
Here’s the animated special in full!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vslzh_jTmEE
Apparently it was meant to be a pilot to a TV show that never got off the ground. Another name noted in the writing/producing of this was the late Carl Macek, whom a certain group of Americans would best know for ‘ruining’ anime with English-language versions of many classic titles that probably would not have been a hit in the US without him.
I mention the Fries Home Video release earlier, unlike the one Mattel had which featured an ad for the Computer Warriors toyline, this tape concluded at the end with the following behind-the-scenes featurette told in a rap music video.
Those toys look horrible!
I thought they were cool toys. I never had any of the toys made for the Tron movie, so this was the next best thing.
I do recall the Tron merch in my day!
Wow! A friend and I were talking about this show the other day, but could not remember the name of it. On a related note, I read the bit about Stinkor a little while ago, and it reminded me of the one toy I had from this series, because I clearly remember the very strong plastic smell it had when I opened up the package. Thanks for reminding me of the name of this series!