Air-Raiders - Battle Squad
Air Raiders (Hasbro) - Soldier Assortments
Rated 4.25 stars by Karl T. Face
Many 80s toylines were a gimmick first and a story second. It worked for a lot of them, but there were casualties. As I've said before, this was a small-scale army builder type of line, and there were often empty seats on the vehicles regardless. Once again, we have four troops and an officer. The grunts are tan, with orange torso armor. Said armor is intricately plated, almost buglike. A few hoses snake in and out, and there's a pistol holstered on the waist. The arms are fairly plain in the hands and biceps, but the bracers are a mass of greebles. The legs are also basically spandex above the knee, but the "boots" look like futuristic sneakers with leather leggings and heavy braces on the ankles. The helmets, meanwhile, are oh so pulp: almost a HALO jumper sort of thing, but...[See More]

Tyrants of Wind - The Enforcers
Air Raiders (Hasbro) - Soldier Assortments
Rated 4.25 stars by Karl T. Face
Air Raiders. Quite the obscurity these days, it was mostly just 5 issues of a comic I've never seen anywhere, and a gimmicky toyline. But it had a lovely swooping aesthetic, rather like pulp sci-fi art, with oddly detailed figures. And the best part was, there were troop builders. The Enforcers are the rank and file troops of the Tyrants of Wind, who tyrannically rule a large colony on an otherwise airless planet. They're totally brainwashed, and live to subdue, terrify, and enslave. Our daring rebels have their work cut out for them. And what figures they are! In simple blocks of desaturated purple and grey, without a lick of paint, they still look great. A visored helmet tops a knight-like environment suit with heavy gauntlets, thick boots, and concave pauldrons. Bits of hose peek out...[See More]