Addendum 1.1 Dragonriders vs Dungeons & Dragons

Описание: It turns out Dragon Riders of the Styx was sued by TSR (the creators of Dungeons & Dragons) for directly copying monsters from the original Monster Manual. Instead of redesigning the figures, the toy company took a truly bizarre approach: they literally shaved the faces off their characters and kept selling them. Yep — that’s why those Dragon Riders figures are faceless.

Much research/photos/theories from, and many thanks to:
www.2warpstoneptune.com
www.fantasytoysoldiers.blogspot.com
   / @thelittlethings3309  

⏱ Chapters

00:00 – Emergency addendum & viewer tip
01:22 – Dragon Riders sued by TSR (Dungeons & Dragons)
01:44 – The faceless snake: Naga origins revealed
02:57 – Orc knockoffs and shaved-off faces
04:08 – Corporate fixes vs creative choices
04:31 – The Shambling Mound comparison
05:02 – TSR’s own monster toys & Man-Thing influences
06:30 – Crude fantasy art and “binder notebook” aesthetics
08:10 – Playmats, cheap materials, and accidental beauty
09:00 – Toyco’s Dragons & Demons discovered
09:56 – Arco, Otherworld, Sword & the Sorcerer
10:40 – Warriors of the Galaxy & logo confusion
11:45 – Everything comes from one seed
12:50 – Conan, D&D, Star Wars, Clash of the Titans collide
13:33 – Anne McCaffrey & Dragon Riders origins
14:30 – Ray Harryhausen: the godfather of monsters
15:18 – Harpies, Army of Darkness, and creature lineage
16:30 – Illustration culture & Mexican pulp art
17:40 – Stressed artists + capitalism = childhood mythology
18:50 – Brian Eno: limitations become aesthetics
19:40 – Analog vs digital & embracing imperfection
21:20 – Why this stuff still matters

“Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature. CD distortion, the jitteriness of digital video, the crap sound of 8-bit — all of these will be cherished and emulated as soon as they can be avoided. It’s the sound of failure: so much modern art is the sound of things going out of control, of a medium pushing to its limits and breaking apart. The distorted guitar sound is the sound of something too loud for the medium supposed to carry it. The blues singer with the cracked voice is the sound of an emotional cry too powerful for the throat that releases it. The excitement of grainy film, of bleached-out black and white, is the excitement of witnessing events too momentous for the medium assigned to record them.” Brian Eno — A Year With Swollen Appendices, Faber and Faber | 1996

"Many artists have directly and indirectly affected and influenced my work... but perhaps Doré has been the most influential." Ray Harryhausen

#KoolThings #DragonRiders #VintageToys #PopCulture #80sToys