Blackstar companion figures: demon minions!

As I mentioned when I wrote about the ghost mini figures that came with Kenner Ghostbusters action figures, often toy accessories can be just as cool--sometimes even cooler--than the main attraction. Some of my other favorite "companion" figures of all time came with Galoob's 1980s Blackstar action figures.

If you're not familiar with Blackstar, it was a short-lived cartoon launched in 1981 that's representative of the fantasy craze of the decade, comparable to Masters of the Universe. For a more detailed synopsis, you can check out the series' Wikipedia page. I'm a few years too young to have experienced the show originally, but I have older brothers who happened to have a couple of the Blackstar toys, which were actually released a couple years after the show ceased production, from 1983-1985. One of those toys was the green-yellow demon on the right side of the above photo. Lucky for me, my brothers had stopped caring about their toys by the time I was old enough to play with them, so I was pretty much able to claim this guy for myself along with a lot of other cool stuff.

Not only do I like the Blackstar demons because they make me feel instantly nostalgic, I also think it's an excellent sculpt. This guy has a lot of personality. Just look at his face--he looks like a nasty, scheming little bugger. He's the perfect minion.

In my childhood I had no idea that the green demon I carried around was a Blackstar toy, or even what Blackstar was. But years later when browsing toys online I not only discovered what series he belonged to, but that he came in more colors. I quickly tracked down pink and orange ones, and just this week finally got a blue one. I think there's also a red variation that I have yet to add to my collection. I also found out that these demon figures came packaged with the line's evil character action figures, while the good characters came packaged with gnome-like "Trobbit" companions.

In addition to the original demon sculpt, some of the later figures came packed with different evil companions (which I believe were also referred to as demons, although didn't look anything like the original ones). You can see a couple of those in the photo to the right. In my opinion not quite as cool as the others, but I do like the little green armored cyclops dude quite a bit.

I love the toys that the '80s fantasy craze produced--from Masters of the Universe to Arco's The Other World and Dragons N Monsters to LJN's Dungeons and Dragons--and Blackstar figures, including these companion figures, definitely rank high among my favorites.

What do you think of these guys? And what are some of your favorite companion figures?