Galoob 1984
I did not remember these, but they did exist! Golden Girl and the Guardians of the Gemstones were action figures targeted to young girls in a similar fashion to She-Ra, and most would like to claim these were an attempt to market on the fame of She-Ra but the thing is, Golden Girl came out a year prior. Still, it’s not completely without merit because, as we know, She-Ra was a spin-off from He-Man and Golden Girl was inspired from the Masters of the Universe line. She-Ra was unique at the time because it was not very common for manufacturers of action figures to create a parallel line of those figures for girl's, but Golden Girl was an even bigger anomaly since it was running parallel to another company's franchise targeted at boys! Crazy ain’t it?
The series was set in a time before history on Earth, which seems weird because we know the history of Earth up until a certain point and before that, Dinosaurs and Cavemen but I digress. There was magic and mysticism and a team of Women named after precious gemstones. They were The Guardians of the Gemstones, stones that held special powers, Golden Girl, Rubee, Saphire, Jade and Onyx. They were tasked with keeping the power of the Gems from falling into the clutches of the evil forces of Dragon Queen, the evil pale lady with pink hair who hailed from Storm Isle who, with her bad girl team in tow, Vultura, Moth Lady and Wild One, wanted to use the power to take over the island of Argonia!
And there is the plot!
Oh, and for the boys out there, no worries! There were two guys as well. Prince Kroma the good guy and Ogra the bad. Two guys and a bunch of girls?! Sounds like fun!
Galoob produced 11 of these figures, all around 6" and all with rooted hair, standard 5-point articulation and bendable legs, a metal shield, headpiece, gem, weapons, a comb and also an extensive fashion line that you could buy! At 6” they were just a smidge taller than He-Man figures and to me looked like a Masters of the Universe character with a Barbie head, and honestly, that is a good way to describe them.
We mentioned a fashion line. Three waves were released each with a specific fashin for each of the nine female characters and each wave with a theme. There was Forest Fantasy, Festival Spirit and Evening Enchantment.
But that’s not all!
There was a Palace of Gems playset as well as Olympia the Unicorn and Shadow the Steed available with, or without chariots! There was also a collector’s case and Dream Tents that fit the figures. There were Halloween costumes, books, Colorforms (complete with Swapped ethnicities of Onyx and Vultura) lunchbox, stickers and even a board game, and all of this in the very short time the line was produced.
Unlike She-Ra, which likely succeeded due to support from its He-Man tie in, Golden Girl never found it’s audience, which is sad really because it was just slightly, and I mean a tiny bit, ahead of its time.
For those who are interested you can find these on your standard auction sites where, in box, they will run you around $30-40.
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Great collection! If you are still looking for more stuff to collect, I recommend to add Lagim card game set with an awesome art design based on Filipino folklore to your collection. I found this game at Kickstarter. You can check their website and FB page for more info.