The comet and the parasite
This world has always been fascinated by Halley's Comet. (All comets mostly, but I am going to focus on Halley's for this blog) Like all the way back to 240 B.C.
The comet was seen as a "Harald" of death and destruction and doom. A harbinger of chaos, an Usher of oblivion, a Chauffeur of catastrophe, uh...the bus driver of the holocaust? But I digress.
It always had a knack it seamed for showing up at the wrong time. (Like me.)
It Appeared before the defeat of Attila the Hun at the Battle of Chalons.
In the year 1066, it was seen in England and thought to be an ill omen, later on, that year Harold II of England died at the Battle of Hastings; it was a bad omen for Harold, but a good omen for the man who killed him, William the Conqueror.
In 1910 Halley's comet was set to poison the Earth with it's 15 million mile tail. People went absolutely crazy
Evil creatures from the tail of Halley's comet! Matchbox came out with the Parasite toy line in 1985. And yes, Halley's comet showed up on February 9th, 1986.
In 1985 I was mad for the coming of Halley's comet! I couldn't wait for it to get here! Something that visited the earth every 76 years sounded amazing. And one cold February night, I got to see the comet with my own eyes. I remember standing in my front yard, just staring up at the night sky, admiring the comet's celestial beauty.
But let's get back to 1985, shall we?
In 85 I was gathering intel on the coming comet and ignoring everything else in my life ( I see a pattern here!), my father that ignored me or looked down on me as a failure. My school life where kids my age were pretending to be adults and making fun of me for being a kid. I thought kids still played with toys in 5th grade. Little did I know, that was not the case at all. If you did play with your toys, it was a lot like masturbation, you made sure no one was around when you did it and you had to make certain no one else knew about it!
I purchased my first and sadly the last Parasite then. I got it at K&B Toys at my local mall.
I loved the idea of these evil robotic entities that got came to earth after piggybacking off the tail of Halley's Comet. There was never any information on how they got their "Shells" and it was implied that the beings gutted out our vehicles and hid inside them. Hmm, a lot like a parasite. I imagined that they would eventually have to move on to another "Host body" since that's what parasites do. We just don't get the insertion, gestation, and egress phase of the parasites that we see in nature. (See Hair Worm)
Since I was a giant NERD about Halley's comet, I was forming stories and origin stories for them in my imagination. The length of the nucleus or center of the comet is roughly 9 miles long, and the width, about 5 miles wide. It would take you roughly 2 hours to walk the length of it. A comet the size of St. John island. It could harbor some alien life about the size of a parasite which would probably be about 15 to 20ft tall that originated from the Oort Cloud that resides outside the Heliopause and interstellar space in the furthest reaches of our solar system.
The parasites are distant relatives to transformers. Stephen Lee was brought on board to design the figures. His previous work was the spinoff Micronauts line Aliens including Repto, Antron, Membros, Kronos, Lobros, and Centaurus. You can see Lee's influence on the weapon/hands that the Parasites have. It's very reminiscent of those old figures.
I thought I would share what the artwork and the package for Parasites looked like, as well as the profile information on the back.
Specterite: "Leader of the Invasion Force"
Specterite -Leader of the evilest outer-space force ever to reach this planet, Specterite is bent on conquest and destruction. He's a master of the art of mind control. The ultimate menace to humankind. His wrap-around sensors give a computer scan image to detect humans wherever they may be. Specterite wraps, twists and bends his body to fit inside a Ford Pickup. Be on the lookout. Specterite has arrived!
Characteristics: Supreme Commander of Invasion Force, Master of Mind Control, Brilliant, Brutal.
Weapons: Two Batteries of Magnum Blasters; Wrap-Around Sensors
Mission: To conquer and rule the world.
Earth Vehicle: Ford Pickup
Nemisite delights in attracting attention with is bright orange Corvette.then strikes with the speed of lightning! A flashy dresser with purple armor, Nemisite bends and folds and twists to fit inside his four-wheeled home-away-from-home. His outgoing personality makes him the "Parasite Most Likely to Attack"!
Characterics: Flashy, Deceiving, Blinding Speed, Lightning Fast Reflexes
Weapons: Twin Electro-Action Multi-Maser Repeaters.
Mission: To quickly eliminate resistance.
Extermasite's role is to exterminate. Extermasite uses sophisticated weapons with silencers to complete this task discreetly and efficiently. Uncanny traits allow him to fold, twist and squeeze into a Dodge Caravan. Be on the lookout is somewhere waiting!
Characteristics: Accurate, Quiet, Deadly.
Weapons: Long Range Armor-Piercing Sniper Laser; Ultracide Hand Cannon; Weapon Silencers.
Earth Vehicle: Dodge Caravan
Destructite: "Master of Destruction"
Destructite is the Warlord of the Parasites. Cloaked in black armor, he travels only at night to spread extinction and desolation. Destructite can fold, bend and squeeze his awesome shape into a Ford Blazer. Destructite is here to do incredible damage!
Class: Master of Destruction
Characteristics: Expert in Conquest Tactics and Weaponry, Merciless, lethal
Weapons: Mega-Power Twin-Barreled Rapid Fire Masers.
Mission: The unconditional conquest of humankind
Earth Vehicle: Ford Blazer
Terrorsite: "Advance Spy Scout"
Terrorsite is the ultimate spy. A gigantic foe who can disguise his magnificent weaponry and unearthly shape in a Chevy Van. Caution: When detected Terrorsite unfolds instantly to become the biggest of the Parasites. Terrorsite has no fear! He's programmed to spy and destroy!
Origin: Halley's CometClass: Advance Spy Scout
Characteristics: Master of Concealment, Snake-Like Abilities
Weapons: 2 Twin Barrel Rapid Fire Laser Guns; 2 Multi-Laser Cannons
Mission: To spy on the human race
Gammasite: "Detection/Destruction"
Gammasite is known as the Master of Detection. His head contains a battery of radar detectors that search and pinpoint targets to destroy them! His radar is also a gun control center for his deadly accurate "Long Boy" Laser Cannons. His Firebird makes him as swift as he is sinister!
Origin: Halley's CometClass: Detection/Destruction
Characteristics: Alert, Calculating, Radar-Like Powers
Weapons: Battery of Microsonic Motion and Radar Detectors; "Long Boy" Laser Cannons.
Mission: Pinpoint targets for destruction.
Matchbox had a series two for the Parasites line set to go as well. We were going to see a Semi truck with a trailer, the cab of the semi would house a mini-Parasite and the trailer would have a giant one. For some reason, Matchbox never greenlit it. Probably because no one really remembers Parasites at all. It would have been really cool to see it come out though. Or even just the preliminary sketches and designs would be amazing.
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