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Defenders of the Earth (Galoob) – 1986

The Defenders of the Earth was an animated series launched in 1986 by Marvel Productions and King Features. The show centered around three classic characters of old, Flash Gordon, The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, with their children being supporting characters. The series lasted 65 episodes and even spawned a short comic book series by Marvel. Galoob secured the toy licensing rights to the show and released their action figure line in 1986, with six different figures, along with accessories and five unique vehicles.

For more information about Galoob’s Defenders of the Earth line, see bottom of the page for a complete summary.

Defenders of the Earth (1986): Basic Action Figures

Galoob released a total of six different action figures for their Defenders of the Earth line in 1986. There was the heroic Flash Gordon, Garax the evil robot, Lothar the Caribbean ninja, Mandrake the Magician, the evil Ming the Merciless and the mysterious Phantom.

Flash Gordon

Market Value:
Carded $50 – $75
Loose $20 – $30

Flash Gordon
Accessories: Energy Sword, Blaster
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Less Common – Appears often but some hunting needed
Notes: Flash Gordon is the intergalactic space traveler known throughout the galaxy as the man who defies the evil Ming the Merciless. Like the other figures in the Defenders line, Flash comes with a Power Punch feature which is activated by the knob on his back. Flash Gordon comes with his Energy Sword, Blaster and die-cast arms for poseable action.

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Garax

Market Value:
Carded $140 – $210
Loose $35 – $55

Garax
Accessories: Freeze Gun
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes some patience and appears less often
Notes: Programmed by the wicked hands of Ming, Garax is the most villainous robot in the galaxy. He is the evil leader of the Ice Robot Army. Like the other figures in the Defenders line, Flash comes with a Power Punch feature which is activated by the knob on his back. Garax comes with his Freeze Gun and die-cast arms for poseable action.

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Lothar

Market Value:
Carded $50 – $75
Loose $20 – $30

Lothar
Accessories: Grappling Hook, Blaster
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Less Common – Appears often but some hunting needed
Notes: Lothar is Mandrake’s special assistant. He is also relied upon by the Defenders team for his military genius. According to his packaging, he is described as the “Ninja from the Caribbean”. Lothar comes with a Power Punch feature which is activated by the knob on his back. He also comes with his Grappling Hook, Blaster and die-cast arms for poseable action.

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Mandrake The Magician

Market Value:
Carded $65 – $90
Loose $22 – $35

Mandrake The Magician
Accessories: Cape, Magic Cane
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Less Common – Appears often but some hunting needed
Notes: Mandrake is a dapper and sophisticated magician who is more adept at hypnotic deception than anyone on Earth. Mandrake is the ultimate authority on anything magic or super natural. Mandrake comes with a Power Punch feature which is activated by the knob on his back. He also comes with his Cape, Magic Cane and die-cast arms for poseable action.

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Ming The Merciless

Market Value:
Carded $50 – $75
Loose $20 – $30

Ming The Merciless
Accessories: Cape, Serpent Staff
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Less Common – Appears often but some hunting needed
Notes: Ming the Merciless is a ruthless tyrant who rules over the planet Mongo, who has been battling Flash Gordon for years at this point. Like the other figures in the Defenders line, Ming comes with a Power Punch feature which is activated by the knob on his back. Ming also comes with his Cape, Serpent Staff and die-cast arms for poseable action.

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The Phantom

Market Value:
Carded $65 – $90
Loose $22 – $35

The Phantom
Accessories: Lash Whip, Blaster
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Less Common – Appears often but some hunting needed
Notes: The Phantom possesses the most unique powers in the world, that draw on ancient secrets and super natural strengths of his roots in the deep woods. Like the other figures in the Defenders line, Phantom comes with a Power Punch feature which is activated by the knob on his back. The Phantom also comes with his Lash Whip, Blaster and die-cast arms for poseable action.

Defenders of the Earth (1986): Accessories

In addition to several vehicles, Galoob also released Mongor, who is Ming’s slithering serpent.

Mongor

Market Value:
Boxed $150 – $225
Loose $50 – $75

Mongor
Accessories: Saddle
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes some patience and appears less often
Notes: Mongor is described as “Ming’s Slithering Evil Serpent” and carries Ming into battle. Mongor comes with “Real” slithering along action, a saddle for a character to ride, light-up eyes and a flickering tongue. This is actually kind of cool looking and the only creature mount released for the Defenders of the Earth toy line.

Defenders of the Earth (1986): Vehicles

Galoob certainly didn’t skimp when it came to vehicles for their Defenders of the Earth toy line. They released almost as many vehicles as they did action figures, with Defenders Claw Copter, Flash Swordship, Garax Swordship, Grip Jaw and the Phantom Skull Copter.

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Phantom Skull Copter

Market Value:
Boxed $250 – $350
Loose $75 – $100

Phantom Skull Copter
Accessories: Missiles x 2, Rotor Blade, Trigger Handle
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed
Notes: The Phantom Skull Copter is exactly what it sounds like…..a helicopter shaped like a skull that belonged to the mysterious Phantom. It kind of looks like Crystal Head Vodka, but I digress. The Copter comes with an opening cockpit, working robotic claws, a trigger controlled whirling rotor and a couple of missiles. The Skull Copter is actually pretty cool looking and can be somewhat tough to track down nowadays on the secondary market.

The Defenders of the Earth was an animated series launched in 1986 by Marvel Productions and King Features. The show centered around three classic characters of old, Flash Gordon, The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, with their children being supporting characters. The series lasted 65 episodes and even spawned a short comic book series by Marvel. Galoob secured the toy licensing rights to the show and released their action figure line in 1986, with six different figures, along with accessories and five unique vehicles.

The Defenders of the Earth action figure line included a total of six figures in 1986. There was Flash Gordon (the leader of the team), Ming the Merciless (Main bad guy in the Mongo Universe), Mandrake the Magician (dapper and sophisticated magician), Garax (ultimate evil robot), Lothar (loyal assistant to Mandrake) and the mysterious Phantom. Each of these figures were made in a new 5 inch format, which allowed for some extra detailing by Galoob. In addition, there were five different vehicles and a creature mount called Mongor. The Defenders of the Earth action figure line certainly did not break any sales records at the time, but has definitely earned some respect throughout the years by collectors and remains popular on the secondary market nowadays.

The packaging for Galoob’s Defenders of the Earth action figure line was actually quite nice and very fitting of the overall old school theme. The figures used a carded blister pack, which was the norm at the time. The figure itself was to the right side of the card, while the left side was adorned with a classic illustration of each character. The name of each character was directly above the illustration in bold letters. The classic Defenders of the Earth logo was centered at the top of the card, which featured all three of the main characters of the show. The overall color scheme was a nice looking dark blue that worked well with the logo and accents.