Forgotten Memories Dino-Riders

The 80's were the best time for toys and kids cartoons. But with so many great shows some are bound to be forgotten by many. One such show was Dino-Riders.

Dino-Riders was a 1988 cartoon made to sell the toys by Tyco. I can recall them existing as toys and getting them on Christmas I don't know if I ever saw the cartoon until recently. The show only lasted for 13 episodes.

The premise was that two fighting factions from the future were transported back in time to the age of the dinosaurs. The good guys were the Valorians. They looked like normal humans and they befriended the dinosaurs. The bad guys were known as the Rulons which were animal like. They used technology to subjugate the dinosaurs.

While the cartoon only lasted 13 episodes the toy line lasted for 4 series from 1988-1990. During this time toys, coloring books, and other common kids products were made based on the franchise. Marvel even produced a short comic series. The Dino-Riders had and international presence making into Europe and even somehow being one of a small number of properties to get into China.

The idea was genius. To bad Tyco is the one that tried to implement it. Think of what alien, sci-fi, battle dinosaurs could have been with Mattel! Don't get to disappointed though because there has been talk of making it into a movie. Sadly the movie currently seems to be in development hell.

Did you ever have Dino-Riders? If so what did you like about them or best remember? If you did not know about them do you think you would have liked them had you known? Feel free to leave your comments below and let us know.

Image copyright of Mattel Inc.