By Brian Heiler and Rob Bricken

The 1980s were a magical time. Leg warmers came into fashion, a young Markie Post stole our hearts on Night Court [or in some cases, Richard Moll. -Rob] and in the toy world, everybody was putting down their laser blasters and now embracing the sword. With science fiction flicks getting swept under the rug by the sudden popularity of fantasy movies, everybody on the toy aisle seemed to wearing a loincloth in the 1980s. Here are the 10 most fantastic fantasy toylines from that decade.

10) Visionaries

Hasbro’s offering in the fantasy realm had a unique claim to fame in that each figure had a hologram on his chest which displayed his power (hey, it was pretty special back in the '80s). These powers were all animals, which the Visionaries could transform into, having been granted the power by the wizard Merklynn—a stupid name, but no more so than making the main villain's animal totem be a mollusk. The resulting toyline was nicely designed, but the whole fantasy juggernaut had run out of steam by 1987, and the Visionaries were cut from Hasbro’s roster after only one wave and a 13 episodes cartoon.

9) Sectaurs

Coleco’s kick at the can in the fantasy world was a novel concept, taking place on the planet Symbion, where insects evolved into the dominant species. As is so often the case, one set of bugs was good, and one was evil. Specifically, the heroic Prince Dargon uses his giant bugs to try to stop the evil Empress Devora and her giant bugs, from taking control of the Hyves for some reason or another. All the humans on Symbion had insect-like features and powers—because evolution tend to rub off—but the figures were just okay; what made Sectaurs cool were the giant bug/vehicles, which were actually hand-puppets. Sectaurs only lasted one wave, but their hideous giant bug toys will live in our memories forever.

8) Crystar

Marvel Comics wanted in on the fantasy toy/cartoon love, and decided to make Crystar. While they had several amazing writers and artists on staff, for some reason, only the Marvel marketing department was involved in dreaming up the franchise. They ended up with the brothers Crystar and Moltar who allied with wizard of Order and Chaos, respectively, and were turned into crystal and molten lava, also respectively (and very fortunately, as it would have seriously been awkward if Crystar was lava and Moltar crystal. very confusing). Having been handed this assignment, the Marvel guys tried to flesh it out as best they could, but Remco's toyline came out before the comic and despite a nice Tron vibe to them, didn't go very far. The comic was mercifully killed after an inexpilcable guest appearance by Alpha Flight.

7) Dragonriders of the Styx

Dragonriders of the Styx were a virtually unknown series of 3¾-inch style figures from DFC with fun little fantasy themes. There was little no back story, and none needed—there were simply good guys, bad guys and dragons for them to ride. Bliss! The figures were well-articulated, and included ogres, demons, warriors, knights, wizards (with requisite pointy hats) and crazy dragons, demons and assorted fantasy creatures to fly around on. It was the closest thing folks had to a Lord of the Rings toyline for more than 15 years.

6) Manglors

You probably don't remember Manglors unless you were one of the few kids who had 'em. These monsters were made of some amazing stretchy rubber that not only allowed you to wad the figures into a ball, tie them into knots, or twist them until you thought they'd surely rip apart...and return right back into their original form. But the amazing part was that even if you did rip a limb or head off, you could put it back on. Seriously. It stayed. I don't know why the government didn't seize the technology from Ideal Toys, because it was amazing. Alas, the downside of the material is that it smelled horrible and was sticky, so if you dropped it once, it was covered in carper fiber and doghair, then and forever. FYI, IKen Kelly (who did the artwork for the good KISS albums) did the fantasy art packaging, which anyone would be proud to have on the side of your van.