Final Playset Found!
Helm Toy released three playsets in 1983; Demon Mountain, The Castle of the Three Headed Dragon, and The Fortress of the Wizard King. I just recently found the Fortress of the Wizard King. I was not sure that it actually existed until I found it. It is the only one I have ever seen. The rare figure with the ball tipped staff is the Wizard King. He is on the box of the Three Headed Dragon playset, but only actually seems to have been included in the Wizard King playset.
Some of the same figures were cast in metal and sold as The Ironlords by a company called Migetoy. The knights are copies of Britians. The dragon is a three headed copy of the DFC dragon. The batriders are a weird bunch unique to Helm Toy. The bat is one of the strangest looking figures I have come across, kind of a lizard bat. These are fairly rare figures, and the playsets are very rare.
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| Full set of Helm Toy figures. |
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| These green figures are very rare. |
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| These are the only four colors I have found, with green being the rarest. |
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| Not sure what these guys are are. I call them bugmen or bugeyed orcs. |
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| The Wizard King. |
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| Ever wonder what the DFC dragon would look like with three heads? Now you know. |
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Do these figures have any kind of manufacturer or country of origin markings on them? I know the knights and horses are copies or Britains figures, as well as there also being bootleg versions in the polotoy sets you featured. I have not been able to acquire any figures from Helm or Polotoy, so I have no point of reference when searching for them. Any help would be great. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteNo markings I have ever found. You hit the nail on the head in terms of the big problem with finding these guys. Almost nobody selling them knows what they are unless they are still in package. I gave using name specific searches years ago. I use very general search terms like "fantasy playset" and "plastic fantasy figures" and take the time to dig through all the mishits to find the good stuff.
ReplyDeleteMishits...perfect name! I FINALLY landed a couple of auctions and will soon have 7 of these heading my way. Just had to find them buried in the muck, like you said. These are probably some of my favorite style of figures. There is just an epic quality to the villain characters. Can't wait to find more!
DeleteWow...congrats on finding the last playset. It is incredible. Not to mention in the condition you got it in?...figures still on trees, etc. Amazing amazing find. I had one more question for you on these, not having any playsets myself yet; Does the box say where the toys were produced, and does it list a city/state/country for Helm Toy themselves?
ReplyDeleteThe side of the box says "Made in Hong Kong exclusively for Helm Toy." Then "Helm Toy, NY."
ReplyDeleteAwesome find! Love the lizard bat thing and the three-headed dragon.
ReplyDeleteAwesome find! Even more awesome is you sharing this with us! Thanks as always for your great posts!
ReplyDeleteI found this image online but can't seem to find the figures anywhere. Do you happen to know what bucket these figures are from..http://www.stadsstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_20150214_162124_144.jpg
ReplyDeleteProduction was cancelled. Maybe we will see them produced in the future.
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ReplyDeleteI've got one set of the metal Iron Lords - the most interesting thing about it is that these figures are poses copied from the great Wallace Wood's fantasy stories "Prelude to Armageddon" and "War of the Wizards" from Warren's CREEPY and EERIE magazines, which made them amazing e4xamples of cool pirateware.
ReplyDeleteWow. I had no clue about any of that. Thanks much.
DeleteThe Flying Dragon Gliders were also sold as Pterosaur Gliders, specifically Pterodactylus. Although colors and the tail part are different. Probably explains why it looked more like a dragon.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that. Thanks.
DeleteHi, im new in This fantasy plastic world. I buy a complete boxed set of the demon mountain a week ago, if you want pics of the set I can share it with you. The playset its a little diferent in the box because the front es on english and the reverse is the same but in french, so I dont know if its a europea stock
ReplyDeleteHeck yes. I would a picture of a veriation of Demon Mountain. Thanks and welcome ot the hobby,
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