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Underworld Warriors Origins, Pt. III: By the Force of Buddha’s Palm!

It’s crazy, but it’s true. Remember me babbling about how that caped “Underworld Warrior” on Tung Sing’s packaging art was cashing in on the wrestling, the ninja, and the Japanese superhero genre at once? Well, I probably missed to mention another important link. A link that for some reason didn’t come to my mind before I saw a bunch of comic book scans from fellow collector Lawrence Conti (@kiddkyodo on Instagram). It’s almost a shame that I haven’t mentioned The Crimson Ghost (1946) as a possible blueprint for our “Ultra Tumba Luchador” before. The character’s striking appearance is much, much closer to that UW design than any Golden Bat reference that I was seeing when I put together those first two articles on the Underworld Warriors origins

But let’s talk about those scans that Lawrence sent me. My theory has been that the UW artwork was kitbashed from various pieces, and styles. That it might be aping 60s & 70s English pulp horror comic book covers, I said. What I didn’t know until yesterday is that our infamous Underworld Warrior is actually a villain, coming straight from a Hong Kong comic book series called The Force of Buddha’s Palm! We can even find that UW coffin in one of its issues! The series was published by Jademan comics, created by no other than “the Godfather of Hong Kong comics” Tony Wong. At least that’s what I have learned! The villain is called the “White Skeleton”, and the particular edition where he’s shown in that typical UW pose was published somewhere between 1982, and 1984. So a few years prior to Tung Sing’s Underworld Warriors, which were released around 1986/87. The first English editions of Force of Buddha’s Palm were published in 1988, btw.

The fact that the identity of our mysterious “Ultra Tumba Luchador” is finally solved keeps blowing my mind. Thanks for that, Lawrence! Our “Warrior” is a shameless, straight copy of a Jademan character. A bootleg, not a knock-off! The question in fact is, if we can call Wong’s “White Skeleton” a knock-off of Republic’s Crimson Ghost. Maybe. Maybe his design was even influenced by Japanese superhero Golden Bat, or Mexican wrestlers in skeleton suits. But maybe “White Skeleton” is nothing but a popcultural, Chinese interpretation of the classic depiction of the Grim Reaper. So would the Crimson Ghost be.

What can I say? The deeper I get myself into the tangled web of KO history, the harder it is to tell who’s the “ripper”, and who’s the “ripped”. Concepts, ideas, and designs aren’t moving on a one way street. Ideas interact, and influence each other forth, and back. All the time, knowingly or unknowingly. That’s how knock-off action figure culture in particular, and human culture in general seem to work.

#underworld warriors #tung sing #knock-off toys #grim reaper #crimson ghost #jademan #tony wong #force of buddha's palm #buddhas palm #hong kong comics #comic art #hong kong toys #death #sensenmann #popculture #ko history

Black Cyclone - Wrestling Champions (Tung Sing?)

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#wrestling champions #tung sing

Underworld Warriors (Tung Sing)

#underworld warriors #tung sing

Wrestling Champions (Tung Sing)

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Underworld Warriors Origins, Pt. I: MotU KOusins of Foreign Ancestry

From all the stuff that I’ve been collecting Underworld Warriors is one of the toylines that keep fascinating me the most. Maybe because its origins are still sort of a mystery. After they’ve been (re-)discovered by Justin Gammon of @weirdotoys they were anticipated as knock-off toys, or MotU KOs in particular.

Pic courtesy of Steve Seeley.

Is this true? If you look at the Underworld Warriors (UW) figures you keep wondering, what exactly are they knocking off? If they’re KOs, they should be exploiting the idea of another, probably more popular brand or franchise of the same time. Which at first sight certainly isn’t Mattel’s Masters of the Universe.

We know that UW was released in 1986. What other spooky, weird, horror & folklore themed toys were around at that time? What instantly comes to my mind is Filmation Ghostbusters by Schaper, and The Real Ghostbusters by Kenner. Both were released in 1986. Especially the Real Ghostbusters Monsters Series, and figures like Bad-to-the-Bone Ghost, or Schaper’s Scared Stiff & Prime Evil could have had some impact. The bright, fancy colors of the UW figures were maybe inspired by the Ghostbusters designs, too.

Pic courtesy of http://www.retromagicblog.net.

Pic courtesy of http://www.horrormoviebbq.com.

Figure H, Bad-to-the-Bone Ghost. Pic courtesy of http://uzicopter.tumblr.com/

What’s that MotU “KOnnection” about? As we have seen, the same company that made the Underworld Warriors also seems responsible for those gnarly Muscle Warriors figures, a real bad Sungold Galaxy Warriors bootleg line from the 80s. Galaxy Warriors definitely was a MotU KO. Which precisely makes Tung Sing’s Muscle Warriors a bootleg of a knock-off. Does this make UW a MotU KO, as well? Just because they were manufactured by the same company?

The infamous Tung Sing Muscle Warriors ad. Pic courtesy of http://plaidstallions.com.

In 1986 the market was swamped with all kinds of 5.5″ toylines that have been labeled as MotU KOs, rightfully or not. If we look at one of them in particular we find another possible connection to the MotU KO genre. Remco’s Pirates of the Galaxseas (PotG) from 1983 included two skeleton figures, Ribs and Bones. Could it have been their design the UW creators had in mind?

Pirates of the Galaxseas Ribs, and Bones. Pic courtesy of Steve Seeley.

From the same year come the Nightmare Warriors by Multi Toys Corp (MTC). The line featured six skeletons figures depicting historic warriors. The Roman (Spartacus), the WWII US soldier (Major Bones), the native American (Geronimo), the medieval knight (Sir Lancelot), the pirate (Captain Kidd), and the Mexican general (Pancho Villa). The bodies are pretty similar to the Remco design. Because both lines were released in 1983 it’s hard to tell which of them was first. Anyway, “Underworld Warriors” definitely sounds like a straight knock-off of “Nightmare Warriors”.

Pic courtesy of http://weirdotoys.com.

Pic courtesy of Andrew Williams.

Iconic heads on skeleton bodies, could this be the idea UW was knocking off? Where Nightmare Warriors refer to historic figures of the “real” world, Tung Sing’s creations are depicting historic monsters of the underworld! Devil, Witch, Krampus, Vampire, Snake, and Reaper are icons of folklore and modern popculture, just like the classic characters of the Nightmare Warriors line-up.

As I mentioned in the beginning, Ghostbusters toys might have affected the UW designs, too. Although (licensed or unlicensed) classic monster toys and action figures have been around for years. The 70s were full of that stuff. The best known lines are maybe Mego’s Mad Monsters, and AHI’s World Famous Super Monsters.

Spanish Mad Monsters ad, pic courtesy of http://www.megomuseum.com.

Pic courtesy of http://plaidstallions.com.

Even Remco relaunched an official line of 3.75″ and 9″ Universal Monsters in 1980/81. Imperial put out their licensed but very bootleggish looking Classic Movie Monsters in 1986, in the same year when UW came out.

Pic courtesy of http://plaidstallions.com.

Pic courtesy of http://weirdotoys.com.

Another name you come across all the time when searching for “classic” or “vintage monster toys” is Ben Cooper, Inc. The New York based company made a variety of cheap looking horror figures during the 60s, and 70s. Most notably rubber jigglers like their infamous House Haunters, which were KOs of AHI’s Super Monsters. Ben Cooper was followed by numerous other KOmpanies and bootleggers, cashing in on the enduring classic monsters franchise.

Pic courtesy of http://universalmonsterarmy.com.

Ben Cooper’s House Haunters included three figures. A witch, a devil, and a skeleton. You can tell by the looks that these monster jigglers and Tung Sing’s UW share a certain style. They look like prizes from a sleazy, horror themed shooting gallery in the US or European backlands, somewhere between 1969 and 1989.

Pic courtesy of the Internet.

Let’s sum this up, and come back to the initial question. If they’re KOs, what exactly were Underworld Warriors knocking off? What Tung Sing was directly going after is the idea of MTC’s Nightmare Warriors. One of the many 5.5″ lines of the 80s that have been described as MotU KOs. The MTC designs remind us of the two PotG figures Ribs and Bones. As the name already suggests, Remco’s Pirates of the Galaxseas can be considered a Masters of the Universe knock-off. Although the skeletons are unique designs and stick out from the rest of the line.

PotG ad from the 1985 Remco toy catalog. Pic courtesy of http://plaidstallions.com

Like I said, it’s hard to tell for sure if Ribs and Bones are either pre or post Nightmare Warriors. One of the designs is apparently ripping off the other, though. What I can also see is that especially Multi Toys were aping Mattel’s bent legs & arms, and body symmetry. But you don’t see much of this in the UW designs any longer. Slightly bent arms, and the 5.5 scale is all that remains.

I conclude, Underworld Warriors are possible, far related “KOusins” of Prince Adam, with a good amount of bastardly hybridized blood in their rotten veins. They’re MotU KO related, but at the same time descending from a strange, foreign ancestry. They’re also horrible cheap, “classic” monster rip-offs, following the haunted house aesthetics of Imperial, Ben Cooper, and Co.

I still wonder where those amazingly creepy head sculpts are coming from, if they’re “originals” or bootlegs of something yet unknown. The answer at the end of either of these two ways is gonna be a mindblower, that’s for sure.

Tung Sing Toys Manufactory LTD. Specialists “in Top-Quality PVC Action Figures”!

It’s been a while again, my garbage KOllecting friends. I’m currently buried under diapers, resin, and paper work. So much stuff that hasn’t been highlighted on here yet, and so little time! I just gotta keep it coming sporadically, I guess. Like today, when @the_old_force (an active member of the 5.5 KOllector scene, check out his IG channel if you haven’t already!) posted another vintage Tung Sing advert, that I haven’t seen before.

We have already learned that the infamous Muscle Warriors came from the same manufacturer as Underworld Warriors. Now this ad from 1987 adds even more infamous MotU-KO bootleg lines to the stack! Wrestling Champs (or Wrestling Champions, or Wrestlers Champion, or Champion Wrestlers or...), The Boxer, Ninja Warrior (or Ninja And His Combat Master, depending on which cards they came out on) Galaxy Heroine, and Adventure Man! All of this stuff came from one and the same Hong Kong toymaker. What can I say?! Tung Sing Toys Manufactory LTD.’s gotta be one of my favorite toymakers of all time. If not the one, hands down!