Editor's Desk 
PLANETOID RAIDERS: Wacky New Toy Line Recalls TOMLAND’s 1970s Beloved Knockoff Figures
EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK at the figures’ packaging and the GALAXYWIDE EXCLUSIVE REVEAL OF… WARLOR!
Every aspect of popular culture has its own subcultures. And each of those subcultures has their own subcultures, and on an on. In the end, what you have is an interwoven tapestry of fandom that can reach across time and genre.
Classic example: Wandering Planet Toys’ Planetoid Raiders — a spankin’ new line that pays homage to the 1970s Hong Kong-based knockoff brand Tomland Toys, which was best known for cashing in on the popularity of both Mego and Star Wars with its own lines of low-rent toys that mimicked each — perhaps most notably, the Kenner-esue Starroid Raiders.
Original Starroid Raiders
Naturally, if you want the history, you go to Brian Heiler’s Mego Museum section on Tomland. But if you want to get Wandering Planet’s range that includes new characters such as Oton, Ryot, and Snatoon, check out their newly launched Kickstarter.
Not just that, we’ve got the whole gang to show off to you, including an EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK at the figures in their packages — and the BIG REVEAL of the mysterious Warlor, certain to be the most popular of them all!
Dig this:
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NAME: OTON
POSITION: Captain of the Planetoid Raiders
HOME PLANET: Ontaria
FUN FACT: Otan is not sure exactly what captains are supposed to do.
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NAME: RYOT
POSITION: Helmsman (and former space racer)
HOME PLANET: Kaaldor
FUN FACT: The others have no idea, but Ryot’s long since disabled the ship engine’s safety features.
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NAME: BUZZZ
POSITION: First Mate of the Planetoid Raiders
HOME PLANET: Also called “Buzzz”
FUN FACT: Buzz is on all the apps.
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NAME: SNATOON
POSITION: Celestial Cartographer for the Planetoid Raiders
HOME PLANET: Stanoonian Planetoid
FUN FACT: Snatoon doesn’t like your new haircut.
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NAME: SLOOG
POSITION: Security Officer for the Planetoid Raiders
HOME PLANET: (too hard to pronounce) but translates to Slime World
FUN FACT: Sloog plays jazz on the sax when no one is looking.
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NAME: WARLOR
POSITION: Mysterious Space Traveler
HOME PLANET: Unknown
FUN FACT: One day Warlor will either save us or kill us all…
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NAME: YOGUN
POSITION: The Computational Rapid Assessment Processor robot
HOME PLANET: None
FUN FACT: Highly intelligent, yet somehow also very stupid.
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And get this, the Planetoid Raiders even have their own theme song!
Wandering Planet Toys has established a strong record as an inventive, boutique toy company, with releases based on The Prisoner, Kolchak, Laurel and Hardy, and Nancy Drew.
With Planetoid Raiders, they’re going in a Bold! New! Direction!
“Starroid Raiders are great because they’re gloriously ugly space weirdos,” sez Wandering Planet’s Chris “Doc” Wyatt. “A combination of wild imagination and nonsensical random strangeness, they were intended as cheap knock-offs but managed to be so awesomely unique. Our Planetoid Raiders figures honor the imaginative history of knock-off space figures, but push a modern approach, marrying outrageous design with bold colors and a retro space age aesthetic.”
His partner in all this space madness is Gavin Hignight. They’re writers who’ve worked in the worlds of animation and graphic novels.
“Doc and I go way back,” sez Hignight. “It’s kind of crazy. Iron Man: Armored Adventures was the beginning and Planetoid Raiders is the current chapter! He grew up in Atlanta, I grew up in Denver, but wow did we grow up the same. … Same toys, same TV shows, same joys. We can talk Fourth Doctor Who episodes, well, really any Doctor episodes, and we can talk toys. That’s how it began, in writing rooms on shows, when we had downtime, it was toy talk. That evolved into ‘Let’s make toys’ talk, and that has evolved into ‘Everyone in the known galaxy needs Planetoid Raiders in their life, how do we make this happen?’ talk.”
The figures are 1/18-scale with five points of articulation. But that’s not all — there will also be a line of Arcade Raiders, which will come in arcade-cabinet blind box packaging. The campaign will launch with a single Arcade Raider as an add-on; each funding milestone will unlock additional ones.
“Starroid Raiders are everything that is magic about toy collecting to me,” Hignight added. “The vibe, the memories and visions they evoke. These are toys for toys’ sake.”
Wave 1 will be available on card backs or pre-packed in a metal lunchbox-style collector’s case, both featuring art by Bill Rude. There will also be baseball hats available.
For much more, including pricing, check out the Kickstarter, which is live now.
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MORE
— 13 Reasons to Watch THE PRISONER, by Chris “Doc” Wyatt. Click here.
— 13 Great LAUREL & HARDY Films You Have to See, by Gavin Hignight. Click here.
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