This
week at Flashbak, I also remembered Diener’s “Space Raiders!
Here’s
a snippet and the url: (http://flashbak.com/space-1979-remembering-dieners-space-raiders-and-space-creatures-361374/
)
“In
the late 1970s, Diener Industries create two memorable lines of characters (and
spaceships) that also doubled as…erasers.
The
first was a line called “Space Raiders,” which premiered in 1979 and was a kind
of (delightful) Star Wars (1977) knock-off.
The Space Raiders could be found in stores, but also -- delightfully --
were sold in McDonalds Happy Meals.
The
Space Raiders were actually four unique robotic individuals.
First
there was Zama, who looked like an offspring of R2-D2 and the Lost
in Space (1965-1968) robot.
Then
there was Dard, who seemed part-Darth Vader, part-Shogun Warrior.
The
other two robots were Horta (think Star Trek’s “The Devil in the Dark”)
and Brak (think: This Island Earth [1951], replete with giant forehead).
The
Space Raiders were also sold with spaceships earasers, including a flying
saucer (the Lyra 4), a rocket ship (the Altair 2), and two other vessels, the
Ceti 3, and the Kyrgo 5.
I
vividly recall, in the summer of 1979 – while on a cross-country trip – absolutely
begging my parents to take me and my sister to McDonalds’ so we could collect
more of these Space Raiders, who came in a variety of colors (pink, brown,
blue, green and yellow, if memory serves).
I
definitely recall having a Green Zama, a brown Dard, a pink Horta and a green
Lyra 4.
In
1980, Diener went a (slightly) different way and marketed “Space Creatures.”
These small erasers were marketed as “Space Aliens” in McDonalds’ Happy Meals,
and looked quite familiar if one happened to be a fan of classic science
fiction movies…”
Please continue reading at Flashbak.
I too enjoyed collecting Space Raiders and begged to go to McDonalds as much as possible to get more! After they ended their run at McDonalds, I did find them at a local toy store, sold separately in big bins along with other toys, including the Space Creatures which I also collected as well. A friend and I played endless hours with our Space Raiders and enjoyed them very much in the late 70's and early 80's. I wish I still had my collection!
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