Travel through time with us to the 24th century in this Retrospective of the BraveStarr franchise. The space western franchise, BraveStarr, released through many forms of media from the mid to late 1980s. The franchise includes toys, comics, books, a television series, movie, and video game. BraveStarr stands to be unique in genre, mixing both superhero and steampunk as well as Sci-Fi and the old west. The setting of these space western characters takes place on a desert planet named New Texas in the year 2349. Marshal BraveStarr, the protagonist in the franchise, takes the role of an officer from Native American descent with incredible superpowers. The animation production company, Filmation, first began this franchise in 1986 as the Mattel toy company created action figures, playsets, and other merchandise.
Join Us in a BraveStarr Retrospective
Join us in a Retrospective of the BraveStarr franchise. Travel through time with us to New Texas during the 24th century where we find the space western character, Marshal BraveStarr. Through this retrospective we will mention the toys, comics, books, television series, movie, and video game that released to make the franchise diverse and memorable. We will also mention the exciting recent release for the BraveStarr franchise in 2024.
BraveStarr Toys
In 1986, Mattel released a new toy line, titled BraveStarr, which then accompanied comics and an animated cartoon the following year to go along with the toys. Both figures and playsets of over 15 million dollars worth released to stores late in 1986. Mattel designed and planned for a second line of toys but with the season two cancellation of the series, the toy line never came to production.
Each figure also included unique accessories according to the specific character. The figures stand at almost 8 inches tall and came in a windowed box. Col. Brobot, Deputy Fuzz, Handle Bar, Laser-fire BraveStarr, and Laser-fire Tex Hex were all included in the basic series of action figures. Along with this, Marshal BraveStarr, Outlaw Skuzz, Sand Storm, Skull Walker, Tex Hex, and Thunder Stick were also included in the series. Mattel released these as individual figures but also paired four of them into two packs. The BraveStarr and Thirty/ Thirty toys sold in a two pack as well as the Laser-fire BraveStarr and Tex Hex.
Mattel also came out with playsets and accessories. The Laser-fire Backpack came out in both an evil version and a heroic version. The largest playset released by Mattel through this series, Fort Kerium, featured three parts. This playset included the Command Center, Bank, and Jail. These parts both sold separately and as one combined set. The Thirty/ Thirty Robotic Stallion and Stratocoach were the two vehicle-like accessories within the toy line. A Neutra-laser role play action toy also came out along with the figures and playsets.
BraveStarr Comics
In January 1987, before the animated series came out, Blackthorne Publishing created the two part BraveStarr in 3-D comics. The author, John Stephenson, accompanied by illustrators, Adrian Moro and Steve Shanes, designed the comics. The cover of the two comics appears unique with a collage of the characters. It gives the readers an action-packed first look at what the story contains. The Legend of BraveStarr released first and The Boy and his Horse released second.
The first seven pages of The Legend of BraveStarr begin with the Shaman appearing in New Texas. Shaman then sends the young BraveStarr to the Galactic Marshal Outpost. Shaman arrives in New Texas when his ship crashes, landing on top of a mountain, after surrounding it with meteors. After these first 7 pages, the character, Judge J.B. Judy, narrates the rest of the story. The plot continues as Tex Hex’s group makes an appearance and BraveStarr defeats Tex Hex for the first time.
Comic number 2, The Boy and his Horse, tells the reader important life lessons through a flashback. The story begins with Judge J.B., BraveStarr, and Thirty-Thirty walking down the road when they unexpectedly see two boys fighting. The message expressed here from Judge J.B. Judy and Brave Starr tells the boys and the reader to never treat a friend like that. After this, the story moves to a flashback of how BraveStarr and his horse, Thirty-Thirty, met.
BraveStarr Ladybird Books
Next, on this Retrospective of the BraveStarr franchise, we have the BraveStarr books released in the UK by Ladybird. The book series consists of four books based off the BraveStarr storyline. These books were all written by Ian Alexander and illustrated by Robin Davies and intended to gear towards children.
The first book, The Phantom Herd, came out in 1987 and consisted of 28 pages. This first story tells of BraveStarr returning after vacation to New Texas. He sees new chaos with Tex Hex as he began creating a herd of Longhornosaurs to take over the planet. Book number two, The Tail Drive, also consists of 28 pages. This book tells the story of Tex Hex as he takes on the disguise of an attorney named Hiram K. Hornswogger the third. Here, Tex Hex claims to own the land that the Prarie People tried to use to get their robot cattle across. Tex Hex then steals the people’s robocows and BraveStarr takes matters into his own hands to retrieve the lost cattle.
The third book by Ladybird, The Rodeo, tells the story of Marshal BraveStarr and his horse as they compete in a rodeo. Lastly, The Great Kerium Robbery took place as the fourth book of the series. This book tells the story of a robbery that took place trying to steal as much Kerium as possible.
BraveStarr Television Series
The 1987 animated BraveStarr television series includes 65 half-hour episodes. The series ran from September 14, 1987 until February 24, 1988 in the United States. This series followed the events from the other BraveStarr media appearances through the franchise and turned them into animated form. As well as other Filmation animated series at the time, this one also features a moral lesson at the end of each episode. The plot of BraveStarr the series tells of settlers arriving on planet New Texas to mine the special energy-variety of green rocks called Kerium.
Similarly to the comics and books, Tex Hex, the evil outlaw, constantly stirs up trouble with his gang while trying to steal as much of the valuable Kerium as he can. Marshal BraveStarr gets sent by the planet’s Federation to maintain law and order. BraveStarr does this while using his powerful abilities based off spirit animals as superpowers. With his “eyes of the hawk”, “strength of the bear”, “ears of the wolf”, and “speed of the puma” powers as well as his trusty horse, Marshal BraveStarr keeps things safe for the people in New Texas.
BraveStarr Video Game
The next part on this Retrospective of the BraveStarr franchise is the video game. This game released on the Amstrad CPC, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and Commodore 64 from late 1987 to early 1988. Even though the game released on many different home consoles and the graphics appear unique on each, the overall game remains the same throughout.
Throughout the game, BraveStarr needs to save planet New Texas from both the Stampede spirit and Tex Hex. The player in this game takes on the role of Marshall BraveStarr as he carries a laser gun to complete missions. BraveStarr needs to destroy the enemies as well as gather information from surrounding people and places in order to find Shamen. The controls of BraveStarr allow the player to both run and jump. When enemies get attacked, collecting amulets from the evil character increases firepower. The game runs on a timer where, if failed to rescue Shamen within the time, Stampede wins and the player must start the game over again.
BraveStarr: The Movie
The BraveStarr movie takes the next place on this Retrospective of the BraveStarr franchise. Although BraveStarr: The Movie released in 1988, shortly after the animated series ended, the movie serves as a prequel to the BraveStarr series. The movie uses the opportunity to expand on Marshall BraveStarr’s background as well as the past fictional universe. This animated BraveStarr film features 91 minutes of the space western characters. BraveStarr: The Movie released by Taurus Entertainment on March 18, 1988. It also released in Europe on June 24, 1988 as BraveStarr-The Legend and in some Asian countries on December 15, 1988 as The Legend of BraveStarr.
The cast consists of five voice actors who played the role as a total of nine characters. Pat Fraley plays both Marshal BraveStarr and Thunder Stick in this movie. Alan Oppenheimer plays both Stampede and Outlaw Skuzz. Charlie Adler takes the roles of Deputy Fuzz and Tex Hex while Ed Gilbert takes the role of Shaman and Thirty- Thirty. Lastly, the character, Judge J.B. McBride gets played by Susan Blu. Tom Tataranowicz directed this movie along side the writers: Bob Forward and Steve Hayes.
Bravo! Spin Off Series
This BraveStarr spin off series, Bravo!, was still in the works when Filmation unfortunately shut down. Filmation sold to the L’oreal company but in 1989, L’oreal closed their studio. Only one episode of this series got to the point of full animation. The series, originally named “The Quest for the Prairie People“, then changed to “Bravo!” and even later changed to “Bravo!: The Quest of the Prairie People“. Although the episode titled “Fun with the Fuzzy Folk” never aired on television, it released on DVD in 2007 as one of the bonus features on BraveStarr DVDs. Bravo! the animated series originally intended to center around the Prairie People as found in New Texas through the BraveStarr animated series and movie.
New BraveStarr Action Figures
Lastly, on our Retrospective of the BraveStarr franchise, Dasin and Ramen both hold recent designs in 2024 of BraveStarr action figures. Although these figures feature the same space western character from the franchise, there are still some differences between the brands. The figures give an updated, modern appearance to the previous figures released by Mattel.
Dasin Action Figure
Shown for education and entertainment purposes.
The first of these, the Dasin figure, released in a cardboard box for around $40. The character gets named “The Sheriff” and stands at almost 6 inches tall. The Dasin figure represents the animated character well with the bright red blue, and yellow coloring. The figure even includes five different facial portrait expressions including two neutral faces, an open mouth smile, smirk, and a fierce battle yell facial expression. The figure also comes with two different hair styles featuring his signature pony tail. The first hair style allows the character to wear his hat on his head while the second hair style incudes a full head of hair so the figure can hold his hat in his hands.
Along with the hat, facial expressions, and hair pieces, the figure also comes with five different sets of hands. The hand motions feature: fists, gripping hands, trigger holding hands, relaxed hands, and ones with the OK motion. The figure includes many points of articulation all the way from his feet up to his neck. BraveStarr’s bazooka and pistol come along with the figure as well and with the different poseable hands, the figure can pose many ways with his accessories. Another special feature with this figure is the stand to pose the figure on. The stand also doubles as a spot to store extra pieces for the toy.
Ramen Action Figure
The second of these action figures in 2024, The Marshal, will release by Ramen Toys. The figure can be found available on Ramen Toy’s website ready for pre-order at $99.95. Incredible detail and design gets shown throughout the figure and includes lots of accessories. Of these, leg guards, a tomahawk with sheath, pistol with holder, translucent shield, and utility belt all come with the figure. As well as these, one blue and one white vest, a poncho, four sets of hands, two cowboy hats, and two heads with different facial expressions all come with the toy also.
The Marshal action figure stands at about 6.5 inches and features over 24 points of articulation. This figure comes in a collector’s box with a window to see the figure through. Along with all of these epic accessories and features, the figure also comes with three bonus items when pre-ordering. These include a rifle, medallion, and Red Crystal. Marshal BraveStarr’s horse, Thirty-Thirty, also appears to be in the works for an action figure by Ramen Toys. These new figures bring nostalgia and joy to fans of this franchise. They also guide new fans into the franchise through their epic designs and incredible accessories.
Do You Have Old and Used BraveStarr Toys?
If you have a collection of old and used toys, you can turn those toys into cash. There is no reason to let those old toys collect dust. Contact us today to sell your BraveStarr toy collection.
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Chris Ingledue
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Bio: I am the founder and owner of Wheeljack’s Lab Pop Culture and Toy Shop. My vision has always been to reunite customers with their favorite childhood toys and pop culture, triggering fond memories, and reigniting their imaginations. Every day, I work in the “lab” where it’s Christmas 365 days a year. I scour the internet, like when we had the Sears Catalog of yesteryear, for the next great treasure. Then, I await the arrival of the postman as if he were Santa Claus himself and helping collectors worldwide with their versions of Christmas. Every day as a vintage toy buyer is an absolute joy!