Roboskull (1984/1985 Action Force)

Finally–the entry you’ve been waiting for after all these years. 1984 Storm Shadow? No–it’s the Roboskull! This is the most awesomely crazy enemy vehicle ever. Only the Cobra Rat is second to it, at least in my warped opinion of such things. How can you go wrong with a TIE Fighter inspired design with a skull stuck in the middle of it? This is sheer toyetic brilliance, and I don’t mean that in an ironic way. I love this toy. If I had known this existed back when I was a kiddo in 1984, my little brain would have exploded. And I totally would have had my Kenner Darth Vader and/or Boba Fett piloting it as often as a Red Shadow/Cobra figure.

In the Action Force mythos, the Roboskull is a formidable air/space fighter, with VTOL capability thanks to its variable position wing/engine sections. In the pages of Battle Action Force, the vehicle was a capable nemesis of Moondancer and his Space Force teammates. The vehicle remained active when the Red Shadows morphed into Cobra, with pilot Red Wolf changing his duds to match US figure Wild Weasel.

Menacing is an understatement when it comes to the look of this toy. The mixture of sci-fi and gruesome imagery meshes unexpectedly well, and I daresay the toy approaches the level of a true work of art.

If you want to check out more of the Roboskull and all the other interesting Red Shadows and Action Force toys, there’s still a few days left to get in on bloodforthebaron.com’s Palitoy Guide Kickstarter. Check it out here.

Images via bloodforthebaron.com