DFC FANTASY FIGURES and PLAYSETS
One year during middle school, I had a very memorable gift for Christmas. Instead of buying presents for us kids, one of my grandparents took us to the store and let us pick a few things out. I don't remember most of the toys I grabbed, but there is one thing in particular that has stood out in my mind for years. That year I remember choosing some plastic wizards and monsters, in a bag similar to a bag of plastic army men. In the bag were gargoyles, snakes, and a couple of wizards. They quickly became some of my favorites in my collection. In late childhood years, the wizards especially, served as the magical forces among my plastic soldiers and waged battle with imaginary force fields and elemental powers. As the years went I lost a few here and there, and broke a couple of them. It wasnt until recently that I started to wonder who made those figures and how could I get more of them. Then last year I saw a picture of one of the wizards in a collection of a fellow member of an action figure online forum. He informed me where these awesome figures from my childhood came from. They were originally made in 1981 by a company called Dimensions For Children, or DFC for short. The original molds of the figures came with amazing playsets, many which I wish I had as a kid. The figures I got for Christmas as a kid were remolds made 10 years or so after the originals. Because there is so little information on these great figures, I will feature the molds that I have plus some of the original playsets.
The bag That I chose so long ago looked like one these:
Villains
Heroes
The next several pictures feature the original playsets from 1981. Most of these pics I snagged off of Ebay as I do not have any of these.
Giant Castle
I just recently saw this on Ebay. I have never seen it before.
Front of box.
Instructions
In the action figure world, DFC is widely known for making the Dragonriders of the Styx line. Not the related to the band Styx in any way.
Dragonriders Of The Styx
Demons of Castelon
The only picture Ive ever seen of this was on Ebay.
Tower Of the Night
(sorry for the picture quality)
Forest of Doom
Fires of Shandaar
The Villains
Gargoyles or Demons
The bag I got came with plenty of these guys with the axes. I always called them Gargoyles.
These are from my childhood collection
More Gargoyles/Demons with different weapons.
These are from my childhood collection
Different colors of Gargoyles/Demons.
I had two of the Green ones, but they are both broken.
These are also from my childhood collection.
More Gargoyle/Demons
More Gargoyle/Demons
Giant and a red Gargoyle/Demon
The Ogre is missing his stand, the Gargoyle is in excellent condition. Both are from trades from an action figure forum members.
Giant with a stand
Comparison of Giants
Ogre With Sword
Giant with a stand
Maroon Giant
Ogre With Sword
Faceless Naga
Faceless Naga and the Wizards.
If you notice other sets of DFC figures, the Naga have faces, and the wizards have a star instead of a ball on the end of their wands.
Last but not least...
Fires of Shandaar Flameman/Lavaman
The Flameman was the hardest to find for a decent price online
Collection of my Childhood DFC figures (except the ogre)
One day earlier this year I stopped by a local thrift store on a whim before class one day. They had these for .95 cents. Amazing thrift store score. Once I take individual pictures of the heroes Ill feature them here.
These pictures feature both heroes and villains. An Ogre with its stand, two pigs/orcs, a viking with a mace and three heroes with axes and one with a sword and a shield.
Heroes
Wizards
Newer Wizard
Fires Of Shandaar Wizard (1981)
Comparison of a 1981 Fires of Shandaar Wizard with the 90's mold.
Another Wizard
Knight with Sword #1
Knight with Sword #2
Archer
Knight with Axe #1
Knight with Axe #2
Viking with Mace #1
Oh, you lucky duck!
ReplyDeleteGreat finds.
Naga (Worm Men) are faceless because TSR sued DFC for using Dungeons and Dragons character designs without permission. The Orc (the pig guys were orcs) suffered a similar fate and later versions were rendered faceless and earless (they look terrible). The Lava Men (Flaming Men) may have been discontinued due to resembling AD&D's Shambling Mounds, which would explains their scarcity.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants were usually called Ogres. The Vikings were either called Titans or Giants.
From what I can tell the bagged sets almost always contained 12 Demons and 8 assorted other baddies (usually 2 each of whatever) or in the Hero bag, 12 Knights and 8 assorted dragonriders, titans and/or wizards. So demons and knights are the most common by far.
I know a local shop that has a whole bag of the fire-elementals for sale, I have to go see if they're still there!
ReplyDeleteI saw bags of these guys in the 90's, heroes and villains all mixed together. I recently found some at a flea market and it renewed my interest in the 80's fantasy figures. I also recall that these may have been sold in the 80's in a small castle that doubled as a storage bin.
Success! I now have about 50 of the lavamen, mint condition, if anyone needs any, email me at cargocultmagister at good old gmail's dot com!
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ReplyDeleteI just picked up 3 figures from this set today at a flea market, a wizard, giant, and a gargoyle less than a dollar! I am excited to find your blog to get some history on them. You mentioned a trading site, can I have that url?
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