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Power Lords By Joe
When the Masters of the Universe burst onto the scene in 1982, several toy
companies tried to come up with something which would do just as well as He-Man
and the gang. One line of figures came from an unlikely source in 1983. The
line was the Power Lords - the extra terrestrial warriors, a full out science
fiction line made by the Revell company. Revell was not known for making action
figures but was regarded one of the best when it comes to making model kits.
To aid with the design of the toys Revell hired SciFi illustrator Wayne Barlowe, who
wrote Barlowe's guide to Extra Terrestrials. The result were some of the most
unique and highly detailed alien figures ever made. Just look at the amazing texture
on the skin of Sydot sometime.
The story of Power Lords concerns Adam Power (whose face was a little too generic but very realistic), an earthling who is given the Power Jewel, an item of cosmic might, which allows him to change into Lord Power, a blue-skinned humanoid with red veins revealed on the outside. With these cosmic powers, Adam must face the greatest threat to the galaxy in the form of the evil dictator, Arkuss. Arkuss is best described as a purple mosquito with crab-like claws and red wings. Arkuss is nearly invincible - never needing to eat or sleep. Arkuss is determined to take Adam's Power Jewel as well as his secret stronghold, Volcan Rock and use it's weaponry to conquer the galaxy. Shaya, The Queen of Power (a humanoid with a third eye who has cosmic might equal to Adam's and can change into a red alien form that gives off an intense heat), and Sydot the Supreme (an alien scientific genius who can best be described as Dr.Zarkov meets Mr. Spock meets Barney the Dinosaur) teamed up with Adam to help battle Arkuss. But evil Arkuss also has helpers in the form of the loyal alien Shock Trooper called Raygoth (billed as the goon of doom) and Ggripptogg a four armed brute who hates to serve Arkuss because before Arkuss came along, Ggripptogg was the big bad guy of the galaxy and then Arkuss took it all away. Each figure had an action feature of some sort. Adam could change into Lord Power by pushing a button to turn his torso around to reveal the Lord Power side. Shaya was a 2-sided figure who you changed by turning her cape around and removing the odd hat she wore. Arkuss' wings flapped. Each figure also came with a filecard which described the character and demonstrated how to initiate his special powers. Here are where the figures are from, according to the filecards:
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