THE DRAGON ON HIS BACK
Dragon Blaster Skeletor
Skeletor in chains with a red dragon riding his shoulders, the figure that was meant to breathe smoke and ended up squirting water.
Dragon Blaster Skeletor is a 1985 Mattel variant of Skeletor sold with a dragon backpack, a metal chain and a padlocked cuff, and packed with the minicomic Skeletor's Dragon.
The record
The facts
THE 1985 FIGURE
From smoke to water
Dragon Blaster Skeletor started life as Smoke and Chains Skeletor. Martin Arriola told Battle Ram that the first idea was a bellows loaded with talcum powder, puffing "smoke" down a pipe to Skeletor's right hand. When Arriola tested it, the result was a flame, and the feature was dropped on safety grounds; cutting the powder with baking soda stopped it looking like smoke, so the team sculpted a dragon onto Skeletor's back and made it hold water instead.[1]
The figure reached stores around August 1985 as the deluxe Skeletor on an oversized card, with the dragon backpack, a real metal chain and a cuff and padlock cast in bright green, though early catalog art painted them gold. The lock, chains and cuff came from Colin Bailey's concept art for a dungeon-master Skeletor. William George painted the card front and Errol McCarthy the action scene on the back.[2]
Skeletor's Dragon, the minicomic in the package, drawn by Peter Ledger and colored by Charles Simpson, gives the chains energy-draining powers and the dragon a habit of wandering off its leash. The dragon never made it into a Filmation episode, and by 1987 Mattel's own style guide had promoted the dragon's water to "vicious paralyzing venom" that freezes Skeletor's foes.
[1] ^ In the same interview Arriola names Roger Sweet as pitching early concepts, Tony Rhodes as helping devise the water idea, and Gene Kilroy, Mattel's vice president of design, as the person he went to after the flame test. An early breadboard model was built from old legs and arms with a body cut from styrene blocks.
[2] ^ Early catalog photos show a standard hollow-headed figure with the new dragon; the production toy has a solid, rubbery head. Mexican releases kept face paint closer to earlier Skeletors, Hong Kong releases carry an M pattern on the green face, and most production figures have enlarged feet for stability. A sword belt shown in early art was cut from the production figure.
LATER FIGURES
The dragon comes back
Collector lines have brought the dragon back twice. Masters of the Universe Classics made a seven-inch Dragon Blaster Skeletor for its 2012 subscription, and its card bio, in which Skeletor rules Eternia until Hordak returns to overthrow him, belongs to that later Classics timeline and is covered on the Skeletor entry.
Origins followed in 2022 with a deluxe Dragon Blaster Skeletor in the vintage proportions, purple sword, chain and bright green padlock included, along with a new minicomic. BigBadToyStore lists it as sold out, and no other Dragon Blaster Skeletor is on sale there.
IN BRIEF
From the smoke test to Origins
The vintage figure
The deluxe Dragon Blaster Skeletor reaches stores in the summer, with Skeletor's Dragon in the package.
The style guide
Mattel's style guide has the dragon freezing foes with paralyzing venom.
Masters of the Universe Classics
A seven-inch Dragon Blaster Skeletor ships to Classics subscribers.
Origins
A deluxe Origins figure in the vintage proportions, with chain, padlock and a new minicomic. Now sold out.
Questions
Dragon Blaster Skeletor, answered
When did Dragon Blaster Skeletor come out?
Around August 8, 1985, by Battle Ram's dating.
What does the dragon do?
Fill it with water and it squirts.
Was it meant to breathe smoke?
Yes. The first concept puffed talcum powder through a pipe, but a test produced a flame and the idea was dropped.
What came in the package?
The dragon backpack, a metal chain, a green cuff and padlock, and the minicomic.
Who drew the minicomic?
Peter Ledger, with colors by Charles Simpson.
Is Dragon Blaster Skeletor in the Filmation cartoon?
No. The cartoon never used the dragon or the chains.
Why do some vintage figures look different?
Mexican and Hong Kong releases differ in face paint, and most production figures have bigger feet than the early ones.
What does the Classics card bio say?
That Skeletor rules Eternia until Hordak comes back and overthrows him. The Skeletor entry has the rest.
Is there a Dragon Blaster Skeletor figure in stock?
Not right now. The Origins figure is sold out at BigBadToyStore, and the vintage and Classics figures are long retired.
Compiled by the heman.org desk from Battle Ram's history of the vintage figure (Adam McCombs, January 8, 2018), including its interview with Martin Arriola, Mattel's product copy for the Origins figure, the Skeletor entry and BigBadToyStore's current listings.
Alongside
