Power Lords to Return
Before the World Ends?

NoisyDvL5

A strange e-mail in my inbox as NYCC is getting underway. The sender, identifying himself only as “Adam Power”, passed along a link to a placeholder site that displays the classic Power Lords: The Extra-Terrestrial Warriors logo and a date that is to end the world as we know it: 12-21-12.

I never had a Power Lords figure, but the line was seared into my brain courtesy of an ad that appeared on the back cover of like, every comic book ever when I was a kid. I was always justifiably intrigued, but yet, nary a Power Lords figure entered into my childhood collection.

A few years ago, when that chance memory of a guy turning blue on the back of a comic book came up, I looked into Power Lords. It’s a toy line that fits snugly in the 80s. Adam Power is charged with protecting a powerful cosmic jewel from the galaxy-conquering alien Arkus. Toss in some comrades, henchmen, a few vehicles, and the hallmark of a good 80s line, a playset and the line was good to go. While it’s Adam Power and his strange blue backside that has kept Power Lords with me all these years, it turns out the aliens were pretty sweet too. Revell contracted their design out to the legendary Wayne Barlowe, author of Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials (affiliate link). Scroll down towards the bottom of this page at Wayne Barlow’s personal site for some amazing original Power Lords artwork.

If you’re in the mood for a stroll down mystery lane, I haven’t run across a specific fansite devoted to Power Lords, but the ever-reliable FigureRealm.com has a near complete gallery of the classic line including the basic figures, the strange half-tank Beast Machines, and the Vulcan Rock playset.

Now that’s all what’s come before. What about the return? For now we just have the PowerLordsReturn.com teaser site and the ominous date. A quick trademark search revealed that the Power Lords trademark was recently revived and approved for Ned Strongin Creative Services, which would appear to be related to the original copyright holder Strongin-Mayem International. But what toy company has obtained the license to produce new Power Lords toys? That I don’t know, but I imagine that countdown clock gives us a good idea of when we will…

…if the world doesn’t end.

27 thoughts on “Power Lords to Return
Before the World Ends?”

  2. Who’s excited about the return of the Power Lords? This guy!!!

    I’m sure a lot of people thought the world would end before Power Lords made a come back. And considering the date shown on the website, it’s looks like they’ll just squeeze in there before that supposedly happens. I’m so friggin jacked about this announcement!!!

  3. It’s certainly among the last brands I expected to return, that’s for sure! I remember these guys well although I didn’t collect ’em either. I thought it was odd that Revell (better known for their model kits) were behind the line. But then again, nearly every toy company tried their hand at the action figure market during the decade spanning the late 70’s through late 80’s.

    It should be interesting to see whether these are reissues or updated versions of the vintage stuff. Power Lords Classics anyone?

  4. It may well be Round 2, the company that owns the current revived model kit companies AMT, MPC and Polar Lights (one of several companies that wished to carry on the legacy of Aurora). I believe it’s R2 that’s currently behind the current Captain Action revival.

    Or the guy is just throwing that out there to see how many eyeballs he gets so he can take it to someone and how how HOT HOT HOT his property is.

    Power Lords just creeped the heck right out of me. Happy for those who are excited for it naturally, but it’s not really my cup of tea. 🙂

  5. “I never had a Power Lords figure, but the line was seared into my brain courtesy of an ad that appeared on the back cover of like, every comic book ever when I was a kid.”

    I don’t think my writing style is anything like yours, but if I ever wrote an article about Power Lords, I’m pretty sure that exact sentence would appear in it.

  6. I don’t recall even hearing about Power Lords until the late 1990s, when I got a couple books about sci-fi properties and toys of the 1980s. Never saw a picture of them until recently. Very cool. If they do them in 4″-scale, I’d definitely consider adding them to The Collection.

    With today’s toy technology, I would hope they’d do Adam Power as a colour-change figure.

  8. I picked up two of these figures from a yard sale as a kid and never knew what they were until the coming of the internet age. I remember thinking Sydot was goofy-looking and he was banished to the toybox, but Raygoth was awesome and became one of Skeletor’s henchmen. (No idea what I called him though.)

  9. Very cool news. I’ve come VERY close to pulling the trigger on vintage Power Lords figures on several occasions, but never did.

    In theory I’d hope to see the 4H take a crack, considering Treadaway’s such a big fan.

    But I’m anxious and almost definitely game for whatever comes down the pike!

  10. First off, I am completely miffed I didn’t get this email too.

    Second, a quick trademark search reveals that Ned Strongin, the man who developed the original Power Lords toy line along with his partner Len Mayem and artist Wayne Barlow, applied for the Power Lords trademark for “Collectable toy figures; Play sets for action figures; Toy action figures and accessories” in May 2012.

    So however these are getting made, Mr. Strogin is clearly involved in some way.

    1. Cancel that – Mr. Strongin died in 2011. The trademark was applied for by Jeanne Strongin, general partner and Michael Strongin, general partner, of “Ned Strongin Creative Services.”

  11. Pingback: Sightings > Power Lords coming back – and no one told me, dammit? : Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation

  12. Power Lords coming back is great news!! I just hope they’re compatible with existing figures and not a wonked out scale.

  14. Power Lords were -amazing- looking toys, and had an articulation level matching “modern” toys even this early. But sadly that also meant they were pricey and fragile. I owned Arkus, the insectoid dictator of evil, and he broke into so many pieces…

    I’m very excited for this news tho. I mean, it was a huge ripoff of MOTU, but with Barlowe designing all the monsters looked so great. I still remember that freaky tri-legged tongue vehicle/beast thing…

  15. WOW…Thats kinda of cool..Believe it are not i still have the Vulcan Rock playset,it’s has a few broke pieces here and there..mainly the elevator. I’ve been using it every now and then as a villain’s HQ. Can’t wait to see how they will tackle the Power Lords toy line this time around….Now all we need is M.A.S.K. to make a come back 🙂 !!!

  16. Good Heavens! THIS is a Blast From The Past I never saw coming! I’m a casual fan (I “inherited” my sister’s entire Power Lords Collection a while back), but they’re really obscure, aren’t they?

    What next–? An “Upsy/Downsy” Revival???

  17. I get strange e-mails in my inbox, but they’re usually for Viagra or some prince in Abu Dhabi looking to give me millions of dollars…

    I’m not even sure I remember Power Lords — I think like you, I saw ads for them in comics/magazines but that was about it.

  18. I had a few of the Power Lords back in the day. I have to say, they really are some of the creepiest, most unattractive characters ever. With the cost of making action figures nowadays, i’m more than a little surprised to hear that someone’s actually going to try and bring back a line of toys that never really set the world on fire, and only lasted one “wave.” But to each his own, and good luck, I guess. Maybe they’ll turn out awesome this time around.

  19. While I agree that the Power Lords were not a gigantic hit back in their all-too-brief heyday, the line actually DID have a second wave of figures. The new foursome were (in my mind) eerily similar to MoTU’s original follow-up figures, one of them (Disguyzor) was even a 100% homage to Man-E-Faces! The others were spring-loaded porcupine man Bakatak, water-spraying Dr-r-rench, and the astonishingly weird wind-up Tork from planet Twearth. If Revell had ever HEARD of the “Buck System”, they certainly didn’t subscribe to it, judging from the bizarro builds of these fascinating figures…

    1. Totally didn’t know there was a second wave. I don’t think I ever saw them in any store. Thanks for the info, I’m gonna have to track down some images of these guys.

  20. Even when I was a little kid I had trouble suspending disbelief with this line. The dude has a whole face and body on his back! And look at all those thumbs! How can the other toys not see that?

    If they try to update the gimmick hopefully they do better than MOTUC King Hsss’s transformation.

  22. I never had a toys but remember the ads too. Should be interesting to see what the new versions will look like.

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