The Nacelle Company, the production unit behind Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us and The Movies That Made Us, Amazon Prime Video’s A Toystore Near You, and Disney+’s Behind the Attraction, is cranking up the nostalgia meter and will actually create a new animated series based on an ’80s cartoon/toy brand– Silverhawks. The revival comes in tandem with California-based toy company Super 7, which recently announced the release of modernized toys based on the originals.
The vintage cartoon was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions in 1986 and followed the success of that studio’s hit Thundercats. While Thundercats featured characters based on various land-based animals (most notably cats, of course), Silverhawks took to the skies… space actually, and featured a team of bird-inspired intergalactic cyborg heroes who could survive in that vacuum and battle the evil forces of gangster Mon*Star.
The team was led by Quicksilver, who was accompanied by Talley-Hawk, also a cyborg, half-hawk, half-machine. Other members included the twins Steelheart and Steelwill, the cowboy Bluegrass, who piloted their ship the Maraj (“mirage”), and the Copper Kid, a teen from the Planet of the Mimes, who only spoke in beeps and bloops. Their mentor was the grizzled veteran cop, Stargazer, and the team was based out of the space station Hawk Haven. Quicksilver, Steelheart, Steelwill, and the Copper Kid could glide with wings under their arms and had laser-blasting abilities.
In subsequent episodes, newer Silverhawks were introduced including African-American Hotwing, green, time-traveling member Flashback, the tornado-powered Moon Stryker, and an old associate of Stargazer’s named Condor.
Mon*Star’s Mob included the snake-like Yes-Man, inventor Hardware, New Wave-style pop singer Melodia (the counterpart to Bluegrass), the shapeshifting Mo-Lec-U-Lar, the robotic Buzz-Saw, casino-themed Poker-Face (who Lady Gaga later wrote a song about), the robotic bull Mumbo-Jumbo, and more.
Ultimately, Silverhawks only lasted for one season, but being a syndicated weekday show, that amounted to an impressive 65 episodes. The first 32 episodes were released on DVD by Warner Home Video. Presumably, due to lackluster sales, the final 33 episodes were released three years by Warner Archive Collection as a manufacture-on-demand DVD set.
The accompanying toys were produced by Kenner, after LJN, the makers of the Thundercats toys opted to pass at the last minute. The Silverhawks action figures were in scale with Kenner’s Super Powers Collection and employed vac-metal paint applications, which gave them a shiny, mirror-like look.
The new Super 7 figures, unfortunately, don’t have the vac-metal paint, but the sculpting and possibility are far superior.
Brian Flynn, founder and owner of Super 7, stated, “SilverHawks is a beloved franchise that has been overlooked for far too long. We are super excited to be working with Nacelle to bring SilverHawks back into the limelight for the die-hard fans as well as a new generation of fans to experience the magic of SilverHawks for the first time.”
Super 7 has also created modern/retro toys based on Thundercats, Masters of the Universe, and more.
Founder and CEO of The Nacelle Company, Brian Volk-Weiss replied, “When I spoke with Brian Flynn the first time, I was like the character Yes-Man! ‘Yessss, just tell me where to sign!’”
Hopefully, this turns out better than Cartoon Network’s recent reboot, Thundercats ROAR! which old-school fans loathed and failed to attract an audience of actual kids.
In addition to Thundercats and Silverhawks, Rankin/Bass also created a third water-based animal-human hybrid series, TigerSharks, which aired as part of the anthology series The Comic Strip and a toy line, by LJN, makers of Thundercats.
Check back as this project develops!
