Skullworld Warriors: Underworld Warriors Re-Boot(-legg)ed
When I first heard the rumors, I couldn’t believe it. A Hong Kong based vinyl toy company named @skullmark was about to release a giant 10″ Underworld Warriors bootleg line?! This sounded too good to be true. I started working on my Underworld Muscle resin bootlegs about the same time, when I first heard of Skullworld Warriors. I thought it couldn’t hurt to reach out to the guys behind the project, who confirmed the rumors to be true. About a year later, I am now among the lucky ones who can call a complete set of Skullworld Warriors their own.
The original Underworld Warriors (or Ultra Tumba Luchadores, as they were called in Spanish) were made by Hong Kong based Tung Sing Toys in 1986. It’s certainly one of my favorite KO lines of all time. It featured six figures with skeleton bodies in bright colors.
A witch, a bone head, a vamp, a snake face, a devil, and a krampus. These are also the characters that Skullmark included in their Skullworld Warriors line-up, introduced as…
After the prices for the original Underworld Warriors figures went through the roof (especially when considering that these were $1 toys back in the days!), it was probably just about time to give them the upgrade they deserve (and actually make them worth their money).
Skullworld Warriors are upgraded Underworld Warriors in terms of size, sculpt, paint, articulation, and - last but not least - art(work)! They’re twice as big as their predecessors, and have been all new sculpted as close to the originals as you can probably get. Underworld Warriors had five points of articulation (neck, shoulders, legs). Skullworld Warriors have ten (neck, shoulders, hands, waist, legs, and feet). While Underworld Warriors look like they’ve been painted by 3-year-olds, Skullmark’s paint apps came out super clean. I’m a big fan of the original UW artwork, so this was probably the toughest part to improve. But Skullmark got no other than @lamoursupreme to do the header artwork.
All in all Skullmark did an outstanding job on their Skullworld Warriors. They certainly lack the garbage feel you get when looking at your original Underworld Warriors (you probably paid way too much money for). Skullworld Warriors are no garbage. They’re passionately crafted pieces of art, and ironically with just $80 a pop even more affordable than their older but smaller brothers. Go grab one if you want to convince yourself!
