When can we call a toy a knock-off? Most of the people I know would call this “Goddess of the Ultra Cosmos” a knock-off: it’s very similar to popular toy lines like She-Ra: Princess of Power (Mattel) or Golden Girls (Galoob), but this one seems to be of worst quality, and is made by an unknown toy company in Hong Kong.
The manufacturer of these dolls is Lucky Bell, but this figure is a re-edition. The same figures were packaged and sold a few years earlier by Agglo, another Hongkongese company specialised in low-cost toys and knock-offs of famous toy lines. That year was 1985, the same year in which the “She-Ra: Princess of Power” line was released by Mattel.
The package is poorly illustrated, and I guess it didn’t take much time the designers to create the story behind these goddesses (read it on the cardback, that text in the "Star Wars" style: "Long long ago, and far far away"). Each goddess reigns in a planet and three of them had the evil idea of conquering the other three due to the scarcity of natural resources in their home planets… poor against rich.
Unfortunately, I can’t write much about this figure, it is almost impossible to find information about the line, further than that the whole collection are 6 figures, and that each figure came with a “marble” horse. The same figures were also available without the horse (like this one). If you check the other figures, you’ll see that all of them include a cloth cloak, a mask, a shield and a sword, just like many She-Ra figures.
Even though I would also agree to call this collection a knock-off, I have to admit, that this is well done and is still a quality toy, the bodies of the figures have different casts and different hairstyles, the weapons are all different, they include a cloak made of cloth (presumably hand-made or at least hand finished). If I found any of the other 5 figures, I would buy it.
In Spain, this kind of figures was not sold in toy shops, but in street markets. Everywhere where a celebration, fair or procession was going on, came those vans full of cheap toys and candies for the children. Maybe that’s why some of this knock-offs are extremely difficult to find, maybe it’s just that there were only a few thousands of each made (in comparison to the millions of She-Ra figures, for example). With the time, some hard-core collectors of similar lines interest themselves for those bootlegs, and, as they are so difficult to find, the price raises a lot.
Please leave a comment if you want to add something or if you liked (or disliked) this article!
FACTS and FIGURES:
- Name: GODDESS OF STIBNITE
- Toy Line: GODDESS OF THE ULTRA-COSMOS
- Year: 1992
- Company: Lucky Bell (Hong Kong)
- Size of the figures: 5½’’ or 12 cm
...she is like Nina Hagen! :-D
ReplyDeleteyes! you're right, although this figure is from 1992, it was designed in 1985... those were the eighties...
ReplyDeleteNina Hagen Pic 1980:
http://jbtaylor.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54ffd96ba8834010534c7ab42970c-pi
Hi Sean!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment and for joining this blog!
This figure is very similar to Dragon Queen, one of the enemies in Galoob's Golden Girl. When I wrote the article I was not familiar with Galoob's toyline, but later I got to buy three figures, and one of them was Dragon Queen.
I guess your comment goes in that way, although in my opinion, Golden Girl is more than a ko, they're quality toys.
see you!
Oh goodness I have seen these online! I do love how there were so many bootleg items from She-Ra. I also love how the doll looks like a member of KISS. Great article. I don't know that I could ever own one, but they are an important part of toy history.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment! They are rare, although if you search regularly ebay (or any of the many auction sites in america -envy!-), you'll find one sooner or later. If I found another one, I would buy it (but not at any price, of course)!
ReplyDeleteI actually bought this figure at a market in Sydney when i was a kid and i remember being disappointed when the lion mask didn't actually fit her head. If i recall correctly it was too small.
ReplyDeleteHi, many thanks for your comment!
DeleteI have not opened the package, so I have no means to prove it, but yes, it wouldn't surprise me, if the mask had not fit the head :)
Golden girl was not a knock off it came before she ra
ReplyDeletehi, thanks for the comment!
DeleteActually, I do not say that Golden Girl is a knock-off in any part of the article. She-Ra and Golden Girl came almost simultaneously to market, as I explain in article #299.(http://toysfromthepast.blogspot.com/2013/07/299-golden-girl-jade-dragon-queen-and.html)
Just found this figure loose at a toy fair, thanks for the information on the toyline as never heard of it before even though I have complete golden girls collection
ReplyDeleteGreat find! And what did you search for to find it was a "Goddess of the Ultracosmos" and not any other figure?
DeleteThanks for the comment!
Hi. I found two figures With horses in their boxes unopened. They are Lucky Bell. Thank you for your information
ReplyDeleteHi Elena,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! They are hard to find.
Thanks for the commen!