I was never a huge fan of the cartoon show (I wouldve prefered a show focused on adult characters like Strongheart and Warduke), but it had a lot of traction in the UK. (But Spain fell in love with the cartoon even more).
Even rarer are the Mark and Spenser sticker books, which are very hard to find as they were UK exclusives.
You're definitely not alone - I've found there is a sizeable segment of old school roleplayers who didn't care for this show. It makes total sense for those who already knew the rules of D&D - the cartoon show really didn't check all the boxes and could have felt like a step backwards in promoting "real" Dungeons & Dragons.
According to Flint Dille's book, "The Gamesmaster", the networks were also very censory at the time for kids shows - especially for D&D after the satanic panic, which most definitely led to a watering down of the meatier fantasy material that D&D players were accustomed to.
For me, I hadn't played D&D yet, and was of an age where I could suspend disbelief more readily, so this show served as one of my first enjoyable pathways to a love of fantasy and role-playing.
I'm totally with you, though - A show about Strongheart and Warduke would have been (could still be?) epic! (And I would TOTALLY love to get a hold of that D&D sticker book you mentioned.)
I watched the show for sure. We didnt have anything else. Ive always wondered why they had the action figure line and the cartoon which really didnt coincide.
My personal theory, based on no evidence, is that the D&D show was being developed as an individual generic fantasy series and late in production, they realised it was similar to D&D and merged the license, while the toy line was probably developed concurently. But it was too late to merge the two (other than a few episodes).
I always wondered about the mismatched action figures/cartoon characters too. There was some cross-over between the two in a few episodes, but not enough to allow my cognitive dissonance to dissipate completely. Interesting theory! I'll report back if & when I can uncover the truth 🕵️♂️
My theory is based on no evidence. But Ive never seen info on this (other than general TSR mismanagement.) If you find anything, Id, at least, be really interested.
I was never a huge fan of the cartoon show (I wouldve prefered a show focused on adult characters like Strongheart and Warduke), but it had a lot of traction in the UK. (But Spain fell in love with the cartoon even more).
Even rarer are the Mark and Spenser sticker books, which are very hard to find as they were UK exclusives.
You're definitely not alone - I've found there is a sizeable segment of old school roleplayers who didn't care for this show. It makes total sense for those who already knew the rules of D&D - the cartoon show really didn't check all the boxes and could have felt like a step backwards in promoting "real" Dungeons & Dragons.
According to Flint Dille's book, "The Gamesmaster", the networks were also very censory at the time for kids shows - especially for D&D after the satanic panic, which most definitely led to a watering down of the meatier fantasy material that D&D players were accustomed to.
For me, I hadn't played D&D yet, and was of an age where I could suspend disbelief more readily, so this show served as one of my first enjoyable pathways to a love of fantasy and role-playing.
I'm totally with you, though - A show about Strongheart and Warduke would have been (could still be?) epic! (And I would TOTALLY love to get a hold of that D&D sticker book you mentioned.)
Cheers Kveto!
- J.Q.
I watched the show for sure. We didnt have anything else. Ive always wondered why they had the action figure line and the cartoon which really didnt coincide.
My personal theory, based on no evidence, is that the D&D show was being developed as an individual generic fantasy series and late in production, they realised it was similar to D&D and merged the license, while the toy line was probably developed concurently. But it was too late to merge the two (other than a few episodes).
I always wondered about the mismatched action figures/cartoon characters too. There was some cross-over between the two in a few episodes, but not enough to allow my cognitive dissonance to dissipate completely. Interesting theory! I'll report back if & when I can uncover the truth 🕵️♂️
My theory is based on no evidence. But Ive never seen info on this (other than general TSR mismanagement.) If you find anything, Id, at least, be really interested.