Before He-Man lifted his Power Sword, Filmation tapped into the same combination of sci-fi and fantasy with a hero called John Blackstar. Just like Masters of the Universe, this series told a story of a hero battling monstrous creatures, and even came with his own mighty magical sword, but despite having all the makings of a global phenomenon, the series was canceled after just 13 episodes and even a belated toy line could not save it from falling into obscurity. And a recent eBay listing has proven that this is a perfect storm to create some highly sought after vintage collectibles.
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Two recent auctions centering on Blackstar toys have proven that forgotten vintage lines are worth just as much, if not more, to collectors. While one job lot of a near complete collection of open figures with Ice Castle playset sold for the very reasonable price of $1,499, single boxed figures have sold for sums that rival or beat it. A boxed example of Warlock, Blackstar’s dragon-horse steed, sold last week for $999, and a boxed AFA 60 graded Space Ship Rocket doubled that with a sale price of $1,999 — more than the entire near-complete collection. Not a bad return for action figures based on a brand all but the most ardent fans have forgotten.
Blackstar Should Have Been a Big 80s Hit
The series, which only got its toy line two years after cancellation, deserved far more than it received at the time, and should have been remembered alongside the likes of He-Man and ThunderCats as an imaginative and thrilling animated action series.
Blackstar followed Earth astronaut John Blackstar, voiced by George DiCenzo, whose shuttle is pulled through a black hole and crashes on the magical planet Sagar. There he joins the shape-shifting elf Klone, the enchantress Mara, a band of dwarf-like Trobbits and his loyal dragon-steed Warlock to battle the tyrannical Overlord. Blackstar wields the Starsword, one half of the all-powerful Powerstar, while Overlord holds the other. If that setup sounds familiar, it should: a displaced hero, a split magical sword, a skeletal-styled villain and an exotic fantasy world were all elements Filmation would recycle and refine into He-Man and the Masters of the Universe just two years later.
The main issue with Blackstar was not the series itself, but more about the timing of it. While TV series with their own toy line would become commonplace just a couple of years later, that was not the case when Blackstar aired in 1981. With only the TV show to work with, Blackstar was quickly lost among the many other animated shows of its time, and it was only after the success of Masters of the Universe that Galoob licensed the property and produced a series of toys while the series was being aired as reruns.
By that time, though, it was all too late for Blackstar, as more shows were being developed, many of which came with their own merchandise and toys, and the franchise failed to capitalize on the success of others that came in its wake. That did not do much for the show and the brand at the time, but has now made Galoob’s small run of toys as collectable as anything else from the decade thanks to their low production numbers and the even smaller volume of boxed figures that have remained locked away for four decades. Blackstar may have handed its formula to a hero who became one of the 80s’ most recognised brands, but in collectors’ terms it is now more than equal to its more famous counterparts.
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