In response to other companies emulating Japan’s Keshigomu toys, such as M.U.S.C.L.E. and Morrison Entertainment Group’s Monster in My Pocket, Hasbro created the Amry Ants. These small warriors stormed into stores in 1987.
Even though the Army Ants lacked any articulation, they oozed with personality. Many of these ants also came with colorful weapon accessories, though some had their weapons molded into the figure. Each figure also had a distinct mold, with some ants having only 4 legs while others had 6. Moreover, they featured squishy abdomen guts that could be removed and swapped around.
While most of Hasbro’s toy lines in the 1980s had distinct good and evil sides, the Army Ants made no moral distinctions between their sides. All of these critters were rotten with the desire to devour everything. Still, they formed under two banners. The orange army was led by General Patant while the blue army took orders from General Mc-Anter.
Each army was released to stores on card backs in squads of either 8 or 3 figures. These units also were assigned themed squad names.
For the orange army, there were five different squads. General Patant’s Special Strike Force Team had 8 different members who all came with a purple abdomen. The 3-member Assault Team featured fuchsia abdomens. Then, the 3-member Sniper Team came with yellow glow-in-the-dark abdomens. There was also the 3-member Bazooka Team with red abdomens. Finally, the 3-member Aerial Assault Team came with green abdomens.
The blue army also had five different squads. There were 8 members in General Mc-Anter’s Special Forces Team, who all had green abdomens. There was a 3-member Mortar Team with red abdomens. Then, there was the 3-member Artillery Team with purple abdomens. They also released the 3-member Flame Thrower Team with yellow, glow-in-the-dark abdomens. Finally, there was the 3-member Bomber Squad with olive green abdomens.
The Army Ants also marched their way overseas to the European Market. In Italy, they were released as the Kombattini from GiG. Meanwhile, France had the Termitors that GT produced. El Greco also created these figures for the Greek market. Unlike the American toys, these ants were released in packages and pyramids. They also lacked the detailed paint jobs that Hasbro gave them. European orange team ants featured iridescent blues, greens, or whites. Meanwhile, the blue team ants came in blacks, pinks, and greys. These companies also produced rare transparent ants.
Unlike most of Hasbro’s toy lines from the 1980s, the Army Ants never had a piece of media tied to them. However, they did eventually make their way to comics. In 2018, IDW included the Army Ants as a monstrous menace in the Scarlet Strike Force #1.
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How to use the Identification Tool to find your action figures and toy lines
Do you have an old-school G1 Transformers toy you are trying to identify? Don’t know the name? No problem! I’ll help you use this identification tool. For example, just type in “jet” in the figure name field and hit search. You’ll see all the Transformers G1 Toys that are jets. Maybe try “car” and select the color “blue” and a list of Transformers matching those results will appear. Maybe you don’t know what the finished vehicle will make, so try searching by “red” only. Did you forget to remove “car”? Now search just the color “red”. Perhaps you know the name, but can’t spell it try “Wheljck” instead of “Wheeljack” and all the Wheeljack characters are listed for you.
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