Arco Archives - Vintage RPG

Arco Sea Monster (1983)

Stu Horvath — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This idiot is also from the from the 1983 Arco/Fleetwood toy line vaguely associated with the R-rated fantasy film The Sword and the Sorcerer. I have no idea what it is. It combines the features of a dragon, a unicorn and some sort of finny sea creature. It is probably the toy I own that most looks like a beast of heraldry. I like it. He features a particularly sloppy paint job and the green plastic is a pleasing tone. They say green is calming!

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Arco Two-Headed Dragon (1983)

Stu Horvath — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 04:00:00 +0000

This two-headed dragon was part of the Arco/Fleetwood Toys line that was branded with the logo of the 1982 film The Sword and the Sorcerer (the toys hit shelves in 1983). This has more to do with the financial success of the film, which was a surprise box office hit making something like ten times its budget, and less about how appropriate the R-rated schlock was for kids (answer: not at all appropriate). Anyway, the toy line exists, is great, and at least the larger, hard plastic toys are not reflective of anything in the film. I don’t remember a two-headed dragon, anyway. He does remind me a bit of the troll dragon from Willow. He also resembles the design of the much larger two-headed dragon from Imperial Toys, which also came out in 1983. The possibility that one or the other is a knock-off of a knock-off is just too delightful for my little heart.

Somewhat unrelated, but the staging of one scene in The Sword and the Sorcerer does seem to have influenced one of the arena screens in the 1987 Commodore 64 videogame Barbarian, which has a banging soundtrack you absolutely should listen to.

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Skull Turret (1982)

Stu Horvath — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 04:01:00 +0000

Knock-offs, all the way down. I love this stuff, man, it just scratches an itch in my brain in a way that never fails to be entertaining. ¶ So, this is Skull Turret (1982), one of two little plastic towers made to hold the monster figures from Arco’s Dragons n’ Monsters line of rack toys. The other one is Headsgone Tower. Each had one dragon and three monsters, all molded in colored plastic that is so bright it is difficult to photograph. I have the full compliment, save one of the dragons.

The towers are cute, but the monsters are the interesting bit. Old heads might have already noticed, certainly folks who listened to the podcast episode on these guys know: the little dudes are knock-offs of various RPG miniatures. The dragon that I don’t have is Ral Partha’s Royal Dragon, while the one I do have is just the Welsh dragon in plastic. The Cylcops and the Birdman are both very close but not exact replicas of minis from Martian Metals (circa 1979?). The fellow with the whip is a crude copy of Tom Meier’s Troll Discipline Master from Citadel (circa 1981?). The Djinn is from Heritage, as is the “Brawn Hulk,” itself an Umber Hulk from D&D with the serial numbers filed off. Last, and perhaps most recognizable, is the Lizardman With Club from Grenadier’s line of Dungeons & Dragons miniatures from 1980.

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Dragons n’ Monsters

Stu Horvath — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Another week, another discovery of some weird ass bootleg D&D toys! This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, Stu discovers Arco’s dime store line of little plastic monster dudes, Dragons n’ Monsters. This one is more bootleg than most! We also chat a bit about Arco’s weird tie-in toy line for the movie The Sword and the Sorcerer and the forthcoming “lost wave” of LJN Dungeons & Dragons toys from NECA.

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Lion Man (1983)

Stu Horvath — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 04:00:31 +0000

Arco’s The Sword and the Sorcerer line gets even weirder with this bat-winged dragon guy. He’s awesome! He isn’t nearly as doofy as the centaur. Thing is, though, like the centaur, there isn’t anything remotely like this in the movie The Sword and the Sorcerer. There is, however, something very like it in the 1982 Roger Corman barbarian sleazefest Sorceress (1982). The lion monster in that movie is terrible, but also the best thing about it by a large margin. I kind of love the idea that there were so many movies with Sorcerer or Sorceress in the name in 1982 that the toy makers just made toys for movies they didn’t have the rights to. Anyway, cool weird toy!

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Centaur (1983)

Stu Horvath — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 04:00:50 +0000

Arco followed up the Other World line with something even weirder: 1983’s The Sword and the Sorcerer line, a licensed tie-in to the 1982 R-rated barbarian movie of the same name. If you’ve not seen it, it is worth checking out. I wouldn’t call it good, but it is entertaining — there is a three bladed sword that shoots its blades out, which, honestly, is begging for a toy. Despite the fact that the movie isn’t even remotely for children. And none of the toys had projectile swords, alas. At any rate, I included a photo of the cover of the novelization.

This gets weirder though. Most of the line is slightly more elaborate army men style figures, like the first Dragonriders of the Styx line. They at least are vaguely connected to the film. This centaur? Not in the least bit. No centaurs in the movie at all. I guess, since it was R-rated, Arco figured no one would notice?

The toy itself is…well, just look at it. My main question: How the hell did that doofus steal Warduke’s shield?

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Skitzo (1983)

Stu Horvath — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 04:00:52 +0000

Clearly there was an appetite for fantasy themed toys in the early 80s. Arco’s Other World and the Masters of the Universe lines both came out in 1982, while the original Dragonriders of the Styx toys were floating around in 1981. LJN’s Dungeons & Dragons line was 1983, as was the second Dragonriders line. All of them, even He-Man, have a cheap knock off quality, honestly. Like they’re cashing in. On what, though? The success of Conan the Barbarian, an R-rated film? The larger barbarian B-movie trend? D&D? Dragonslayer? Clash of the Titans? All this stuff is floating around at the same time, but none of it feels like the clear leader of the moment in the way that Star Wars obviously inspired Battlestar Galactica and the Buck Rogers TV revival. I don’t get it.

Anyway, this doofus is the unfortunately named Schizo from Arco’s Other World line. Hate the name! Love the figure though — was always a fan of the ettin and two-headed monsters generally (I’m a sucker for a two-headed dragon). The more human head looks like Rambo to me. How about you?

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Sir’Cobra (1983)

Stu Horvath — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 04:00:40 +0000

This is Sir’Cobra, an improbable toy from Arco’s Other World line of bendy toys (1982). My pal Orrin Grey, upon seeing it, said it “is clearly the epitome of the toymaker’s art.” I don’t really have words, folks. It is a stupid toy. Perhaps the very stupidest toy ever. While, at the same time, it is incredibly awesome. Blindingly cool. A cobra man with chicken feet that it can not stand on. Amazing. Befuddling. How is this real and not some elaborate joke?

Surely if can’t get stupider than this, right? Well, we’re going to try! This week: crappy bizarro toys vaguely inspired by D&D!

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Gaifand (1982)

Stu Horvath — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 05:01:26 +0000

The Other World line, from Hong Kong’s Arco Toys, was, well, lemme quote the synopsis from the Action Figure Archive: “Raidy, the good king of Glowgon and his royal army of Jipps crusade to locate the Pir’Ankus against the evil Zendo and his Mogs.” What?

In other words, these are cheap toys cashing in on the fantasy trends sweeping the toy market in 1982. Most of the humanoid figures are bendies, with a few larger monsters being made of solid plastic. Gaifand, here, is both – his lower half solid, his arms and necks bendy.

The kid who lived across the street from my grandparents had this toy when I was wee and I was pretty jealous. Looking back, I still think it is pretty badass (I am a sucker for two-headed dragons) but also fairly ridiculous, too. Its got a saddle for riders – there are also reins that attach to the two necks, but I took that off – but the beast has a scorpion-like stinger which would make me wary to ride it. The dragon heads are awesome, though, and suitably King Ghidra-esque, but the arms are T-Rex silly and the clownshoes feet are downright doofy.

Still, I love it.

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