Review – Air Raiders Twin Lightning

Manufacturer: Hasbro * Year: 1987 * Ages: 5+

After putting together the Glyos System Influences: Air Raiders post last week I found myself on eBay where, fortunately, I located this Air Raiders Twin Lightning for a reasonable price. And since it included almost everything (two missiles are missing), and even had the documentation and the sticker sheet, I grabbed it. And in keeping with my good fortune the toy arrived within a couple of days, so here it is ready for everyone to enjoy.

Packaging and Documentation

As with almost all of the action figures of the eighties we get some fantastic artwork on this box. Hasbro really knew how to design packages back in the eighties, with a great painting on the cover and a fun battle scene image on the back of the box to get us excited about the line. Just looking at the artwork on the box makes me wanna rip this thing open and start playing with it.

Inside we get instructions for assembling the toy and adding the stickers and we even get a short, illustrated story that puts the Twin Lightning in a fight and shows off how cool it is. It may look similar to a Twin Pod Cloud Car from Star Wars but even in this short story it sees more action than the Cloud Car ever did in the movies. It’s a simple story, but it’s fun and really helps build the Air Raiders setting.

The final document in the box is an offer to get two action figures, a bunch of missiles, a glider, and a map of Airlandia all for just $8.00. Sign me up! Oh, but the offer expired over twenty years ago so if I want this pack I’ll have to search the internet . . . and most likely pay way more than $8.

Air Raiders Action Figures

Only 2-inches tall, these tiny action figures are more about taking the role of vehicle accessories than they are individual characters ready for battle. Inside the box we get a pilot and a trooper, and though they’re different sculpts and colors the two toys are basically identical in terms of construction.

There’s very little articulation, with each arm swiveling separately and the legs swinging up as one piece. The toy can sit down, can raise his left or right (or both!) arms, but that’s the end of the posability options. As I said, these action figures are vehicle accessories first and characters second.

To give a better idea of scale, and in honor of last week’s Glyos System Influences: Air Raiders post, the below photo shows one of our Air Raiders action figures next to the Glyos System Glyan action figure (review here). As you can see the Glyan is much taller and more detailed, but both are sci-fi soldiers from some unknown worlds. Looking at the two together makes me wish we had a helmet like that Air Raiders design for Glyos System action figures. We could use some pilot-like helmets!

Twin Lightning

And finally we get to the star of the review, the Air Raiders Twin Lightning vehicle. At 11-inches wide and 8-inches long this is one big toy, but it’s thin and light and not at all a challenge for me to hold and fly around the living room. And with working missile launches I’ve gotta resist the urge to take shots at the cats; they would just eat my missiles and extras could be tough to find.

As I mentioned, the design is similar to the Cloud Car with a central engine and a crew compartment off to each side. But it’s only similar and not identical; the shape is different and the Twin Lightning seats two action figures on each side. And there’s that massive orange squeezable “button” in the center of the toy that powers the missiles.

Firing the missiles is as easy as selecting “left” or “right” with the lever on the front of the Twin Lightning and then squeezing the orange bulb HARD. You have really gotta apply force; a light touch has no effect on the missiles. But if you do it right you’ll force air through the tube which will fire the missile . . . and it actually gets some distance! Not as powerful as older spring-loaded launchers, it’s still an impressive contraption and I’m surprised we don’t see this idea pop up every now and then ever today.

Closing Thoughts

The eighties were a time of boys toys and action figures that were each trying to be the next big thing, with several lines that arrived and basically died because they didn’t have a cartoon or a great comic. As a toy the Twin Lightning is great — it’s got a fun design, a simple feature, and the action figures are so small that they were cheap at the time and kids could collect dozens — but as an intellectual property the entire Air Raiders experiment was a failure.

This is a semi-obscure, very silly action figure line from the eighties and even at over twenty years old the toys are not impossible to find and are not outrageously expensive. Someone looking for an odd line to collect could go after these, and I’m having enough fun with the Twin Lightning that I may even go after another vehicle or two myself.

It’s not great, but it’s fun. And that’s what matters most with toys.

Philip Reed should also track down a Starcom vehicle or two. Those look to be a lot more detailed and complex than this Air Raiders Twin Lightning.