1987 “Door Buster!” Hasbro’s Battle Beasts

In recent years, we have seen two attempts to revive the Battle Beasts toys of the eighties. Diamond Select Toys brought us their Battle Beasts* series, taking inspiration from the original toys but constructing an entirely new world and playscape as they used the Minimates body to bring their new Battle Beasts to life. And then there was Takara’s Beast Saga*, a game/toy hybrid that seemed to fail almost as fast as it was released. Too bad, because of the two, I thought Takara’s approach was the more interesting.

But maybe these two attempts were destined to fail. It’s not as if the Battle Beasts line was a success back in 197 when it was first launched. As proof of the line’s failure at retail in 1987, I offer up this December 6, 1987, Boscov’s advertisement where the then-new Battle Beasts were sold for almost two-thirds off the retail price. That’s a pretty steep discount for the line’s first Christmas. (Ad discovered in the Wilmington, Deleware, The News Journal newspaper. I just wish that there had been more than this Battle Beasts block in the ad; too bad the vehicles weren’t also listed for sale!)