Wandering Planets Toys co-founders Gavin Hignight and Chris “Doc” Wyatt never seem to stop looking for cool new pop culture projects to transform into action figures!
Having previously brought Kolchak the Night Stalker, Nancy Drew, The Prisoner, and Laurel and Hardy to life as action figures, Hignight and Wyatt have now turned their attention to a sci-fi relic from the past: Tomland Toys’ Starroid Raiders.
The original figures were released in 1977 (one year before Kenner’s first wave of Star Wars action figures) and were designed to capitalize on the success of George Lucas’ seminal sci-fi film. The odd-ball Tomland figures were sold in gas stations and drug stores across the country to offer fans a low cost sci-fi toy that at least partially resembled characters that you might have seen in the famous Mos Eisley Cantina scene.
We were excited to speak to the pair of designers once again about their upcoming homage to the Starroid Raiders (now called Planetoid Raiders and coming soon to Kickstarter) in this exclusive interview.
You’ve done a ton of classic TV and movie character toys, so why was now the time to resurrect a cult-classic action figure line?
Gavin Hignight: THANK YOU for having us back BTW! Much appreciate talking more toys with ya’ll. Doc and I love toy collecting as much as we do all the properties we’ve been lucky enough to make toys for. But, we had an itch to scratch. I feel like we’ve made some amazing collectible toys for those who are fans of a property who didn’t get a good toy… but we hadn’t made anything yet for people who are just fans of toys. As we often do, we are making these because we want them! LOL. But, it’s cool to make something specifically for the toy collecting community. It’s a slightly different approach and fanbase. It also just celebrates a nostalgia that I think many of us would like to get lost in.
Chris “Doc” Wyatt: Additionally, there is a call from space– a distant call, only audible to those with powerful radio telescope relays – that says it’s time for Planetoid Raiders to come forth.
What was your initial exposure to the Planetoid Raiders?
Hignight: There is a mystic and obscure line of KO action figures from the late 70s/early 80s called Starroid Raiders. They are these amazing relics of another time and of a company called Tomland which is now part of toy history. We wanted to create something that honored that vibe, and provided these style figures to a new generation of collectors… OR if someone is fortunate to have collected the original Starroids, offer them some universe expanding additions that don’t step on the toes of the originals. So us being Wandering PLANET Toys… started thinking about… what if… PLANET-TOIDS. And here we are.
Wyatt: I didn’t have any Starroid Raiders as a kid. I only found them as an adult collector, when I got some as a gift. I was amazed I’d never come across them, and now I love them.
The Starroid Raiders line was one designed to capitalize on Star Wars fever in the late 1970s. How would you compare the design and look of the Raiders to the classic Kenner Star Wars figures?
Hignight: LOL, These oddballs probably weren’t allowed in Mos Eisley… they had to go to a worse space-pub in a smaller even lesser known town. And that’s why we love them.
Wyatt: Yeah, they only really fit in with your Kenner Gredo, Hammerhead, and Snaggletooth if you squinted really hard. But they’re lovable underdogs. They were to Star Wars what Go-Bots were to Transformers.
How did you go about constructing the new versions of these figures?
Hignight: Faithful but different. Capturing the vibe, but not absolutely replicating.
Wyatt: We wanted to honor the core of that Starroids were: UGLY SPACE WEIRDOS in bright colors. The imagination, the strangeness.
What can you tell us about the Arcade Raiders and how they figure into the new Kickstarter campaign?
Hignight: The first wave of Planetoid Raiders are very faithful to the vibe and colors of the original, very hard to get, toys. But we couldn’t stop ourselves. Once we started designing figures we couldn’t stop. They are too fun. We had to find an outlet for the other cool figures we were coming up with… and we love Kickstarter Campaigns that have great unlocks and add-ons (Looking at you Cryptoids: War For The Green Planet!) So we thought.. Why not do a really fun subline of add-on Raiders figures, that feel like blind box surprise figures… and then we kept going, what if the box they came in was as fun as the figure… and then the arcade cabinet came to us… and then we knew… Arcade Raiders were going to arrive to support the Planetoid Raiders! They are like the artsy edgy cousins from the big city… or big space station.
Wyatt: Because of how pledging and Kickstarter rewards work, these figures are not packed at random, you can add-on who you want, but wow…the packaging is going to be fun. It’s almost like the package you get with the figure is the surprise part.
Will the figures come as a set or individuals for the Kickstarter?
Hignight: We are doing both. We have classic carded style Planetoid Raiders, and a really cool tin lunchbox stuff with all eight figures like a collectors case/lunchbox… and both the card art and retro tin lunchbox case have awesome hand painted space adventure scenes with the Raiders by artist Bill Rude.
Wyatt: We’re giving backers the power to collect the way they want to collect.
Any chance you guys can reproduce a S.T.A.R. Team Knight of Darkness for me?
Hignight: Consider it done. Seriously though, we are paying tribute to many awesome space toys of yesterday with this line… so the possibility is very strong… I guess we need capes in wave two. Check!
Wyatt: “Zeroid” from S*T*A*R Team Knight of Darkness is my jam.
Upcoming projects?
Hignight: OH… it’s happening, man. We don’t get any sleep, but amazing stuff is coming. We are nearing the finish line on Prisoner and Kolchak deluxe figures coming from the factory… We have a new Deluxe 1:12 scale figure in development that I still can’t believe we get to make. And The Prisoner retro figures have a BIG SPECIAL release coming in the months ahead… and we have a new horror themed retro line coming… Hope that’s enough to spread some joy and excitement… and should we be able to fund Planetoid Raiders, we have TONS of amazing ideas for the future of this line as well.
Wyatt: Also, coming right on the heels of Planetoid Raiders will be a line of soft vinyl monster figures called Cryptid Combat which features Lovecraft’s Cthulhu and the Mothman as a wrestler. These are in partnership with a sculptor and horror artist named VELIKAN, and you can follow the campaign right now at http://www.backerkit.com right here.
You can also sign up to be informed when the Planetoid Raiders go live on Kickstarter.
