Titans Of Titan - The Toyline
Everything that follows in this long-intended entry is fictional. Some of it is a fiction within a fiction. It is arguably expository crossover fan-fiction and a new level of whimsy for me.
One of the most popular trends of the 1980s was toys that converted from one form to another. The biggest brands were Transformers and Gobots but there were many others and those brands tended to have local variations and overlapping product lines. One of the most unusual and overlooked was Titans Of Titan from the alpine Duchy of Grand Fenwick (known as Titanoj de Titano in Esperanto which had been adopted as an official language of the micro-state alongside English at the start of that decade).
The prime movers behind this toy line were the recently crowned Duchess Gloriana XIII and the Ducal Minister for Trinkets 'Professor' Dom Woodlock. Under the guise of developing "a new enterprise that will bring fortune and renown to the duchy and act as a testing ground for integrating existing Fenwickian industry into future-focused multi-media and the service sector" the two explored a shared love of international pop-culture. Such terminology wowed the locals and obscured the fact that the duchess and the professor were having a wonderful time playing with toys.
Most of the toys in the Titans Of Titan line were licensed from various manufacturers in Japan. As such many Titans Of Titan are simply differently decorated Transformers or Gobots. However the Duchess and the Processor were keen on local value-adding and so many items were also re-tooled and some were original Fenwickian designs. Modifications were done by hand at the ducal trinket works in possibly the only instance worldwide of formal large scale kit-bashing.
Gloriana and Woodlock clashed on some creative matters including seemingly trivial things like colour. The toy that became Ace Rider was delayed for release onto toy shelves because Gloriana wanted to make its torso pink but Woodlock wished to keep its original Japanese red. Eventually they settled on a violet chest but by then packaging and artwork for the line had been finalized and Ace Rider was relegated to mail-order status advertized by stickers hastily attached to the boxes of other Titans Of Titan toys. Ironically this made the toy more interesting, it sold out, and more were prepared for sale on-shelves the following year.
Relatively few Titans Of Titan sold internationally because they were competing with very similar products and were somewhat late to the converting robot party. The worldwide craze had begun in 1984 while Titans Of Titan debuted in 1986. Gloriana and Woodlock had anticipated this and so never produced too many of the toys. For them it had always been an exercise in fun. The toys were only sold in numbers within Grand Fenwick from just seven outlets - The Fenwick Capital Toy Shop, Fenwick Department Store, Onador Games And Hobby Shop, Onador Emporium, The Nether Rhimney General Store, and the factory-direct showroom at the Mount Fenwick Trinket Works.
The toys were also given as gifts to the children of diplomats who visited the micro-state or its few international consulates. In the decades since then Titans Of Titan have become a much desired rarity among adult collectors of retro memorabilia. They are so rare however that a hobby of replicating Titans Of Titan by modifying more common toys has developed.
One Titans Of Titan toy became a source of controversy because its name - Specteron - was seemingly pilfered by another state-subsidized toy maker in the faraway Himalayan micro-state of Shangri-La. That Specteron was a very different toy however, converting into binoculars, and legal advice to the Duchess suggested it was best to let the matter pass. The Professor, however, made a scene at an international conference of tinkers with his counterpart from Shangri-La which resulted in some small media coverage of the 'amusing snippets to start your day' kind. This news drew the attention of an international toy company which noticed that those toy binoculars were one of its designs that had never been licensed to others. This time legal action did result to the financial detriment of Shangri-La (and an incidental cooling of relations between the two micro-nations that lasts till this day).
The Toys
Sixteen Titans Of Titan models were released in 1986 (divided into the rival factions of Probots and Kronotons). All sixteen were re-stocked in 1987 alongside another ten designs. In 1988 two of the original designs were re-stocked alongside the ten from 1987 and another six new models (see here and here). Finally in 1989 only those last six were re-stocked under the new banner of Cold-Blooded Clash (Titans Of Titan) but by then Fenwickian kids had lost interest and those six are the only Titans Of Titan that can be readily found second-hand. Many of them however are rather dirty and rusty as they became a popular porch and garden ornament among Fenwickian grandparents who purchased them at clearance prices.
Human companions of the Probots appeared in telemovies and two were depicted as toys. They were auburn-tressed Talina Werner, an FM radio reporter, and Andrin Gupta, a roadside assist mechanic and child of Punjabi migrants. Keen collectors noticed that likenesses of these characters were made as 5cm tall figurines for the authorized Grand Fenwick large-scale model railway set of the time (they should have been packed with the Titans Of Titan that assumed the form of vehicles for them to drive). Just one other Titans Of Titan toy accessory was made - A sturdy card-paper and cellophane Progenitor Kiln diorama was included within the Titans Of Titan Role-Play Game boxed set and doubled as a Game Programer screen.
Very few children of Fenwick collected the entire line since parents considered such collections an extravagance. Enthusiastic children had to collaborate with friends to make sure they got distinct designs as gifts so that an entire collection of thirty two could be amassed by the kids of one neighbourhood or village. The fact that the robot characters were masculine and feminine helped make the Titans Of Titan a unisex brand which assisted in the practice of sharing among siblings and friends. They were also popularized locally by the three telemovies and the role-play game.
Well that was a bit of an effort getting those various linked pages written and all for the most obscure combination of topics. I would be very surprised if transforming robots and satirical micro-states are something that have ever been blended. It was fun however indulging in the wish-fulfillment of imagining a quality transforming toy line of finite size.
One of the most popular trends of the 1980s was toys that converted from one form to another. The biggest brands were Transformers and Gobots but there were many others and those brands tended to have local variations and overlapping product lines. One of the most unusual and overlooked was Titans Of Titan from the alpine Duchy of Grand Fenwick (known as Titanoj de Titano in Esperanto which had been adopted as an official language of the micro-state alongside English at the start of that decade).
The prime movers behind this toy line were the recently crowned Duchess Gloriana XIII and the Ducal Minister for Trinkets 'Professor' Dom Woodlock. Under the guise of developing "a new enterprise that will bring fortune and renown to the duchy and act as a testing ground for integrating existing Fenwickian industry into future-focused multi-media and the service sector" the two explored a shared love of international pop-culture. Such terminology wowed the locals and obscured the fact that the duchess and the professor were having a wonderful time playing with toys.
Most of the toys in the Titans Of Titan line were licensed from various manufacturers in Japan. As such many Titans Of Titan are simply differently decorated Transformers or Gobots. However the Duchess and the Processor were keen on local value-adding and so many items were also re-tooled and some were original Fenwickian designs. Modifications were done by hand at the ducal trinket works in possibly the only instance worldwide of formal large scale kit-bashing.
Gloriana and Woodlock clashed on some creative matters including seemingly trivial things like colour. The toy that became Ace Rider was delayed for release onto toy shelves because Gloriana wanted to make its torso pink but Woodlock wished to keep its original Japanese red. Eventually they settled on a violet chest but by then packaging and artwork for the line had been finalized and Ace Rider was relegated to mail-order status advertized by stickers hastily attached to the boxes of other Titans Of Titan toys. Ironically this made the toy more interesting, it sold out, and more were prepared for sale on-shelves the following year.
Relatively few Titans Of Titan sold internationally because they were competing with very similar products and were somewhat late to the converting robot party. The worldwide craze had begun in 1984 while Titans Of Titan debuted in 1986. Gloriana and Woodlock had anticipated this and so never produced too many of the toys. For them it had always been an exercise in fun. The toys were only sold in numbers within Grand Fenwick from just seven outlets - The Fenwick Capital Toy Shop, Fenwick Department Store, Onador Games And Hobby Shop, Onador Emporium, The Nether Rhimney General Store, and the factory-direct showroom at the Mount Fenwick Trinket Works.
The toys were also given as gifts to the children of diplomats who visited the micro-state or its few international consulates. In the decades since then Titans Of Titan have become a much desired rarity among adult collectors of retro memorabilia. They are so rare however that a hobby of replicating Titans Of Titan by modifying more common toys has developed.
One Titans Of Titan toy became a source of controversy because its name - Specteron - was seemingly pilfered by another state-subsidized toy maker in the faraway Himalayan micro-state of Shangri-La. That Specteron was a very different toy however, converting into binoculars, and legal advice to the Duchess suggested it was best to let the matter pass. The Professor, however, made a scene at an international conference of tinkers with his counterpart from Shangri-La which resulted in some small media coverage of the 'amusing snippets to start your day' kind. This news drew the attention of an international toy company which noticed that those toy binoculars were one of its designs that had never been licensed to others. This time legal action did result to the financial detriment of Shangri-La (and an incidental cooling of relations between the two micro-nations that lasts till this day).
The Toys
Sixteen Titans Of Titan models were released in 1986 (divided into the rival factions of Probots and Kronotons). All sixteen were re-stocked in 1987 alongside another ten designs. In 1988 two of the original designs were re-stocked alongside the ten from 1987 and another six new models (see here and here). Finally in 1989 only those last six were re-stocked under the new banner of Cold-Blooded Clash (Titans Of Titan) but by then Fenwickian kids had lost interest and those six are the only Titans Of Titan that can be readily found second-hand. Many of them however are rather dirty and rusty as they became a popular porch and garden ornament among Fenwickian grandparents who purchased them at clearance prices.
Human companions of the Probots appeared in telemovies and two were depicted as toys. They were auburn-tressed Talina Werner, an FM radio reporter, and Andrin Gupta, a roadside assist mechanic and child of Punjabi migrants. Keen collectors noticed that likenesses of these characters were made as 5cm tall figurines for the authorized Grand Fenwick large-scale model railway set of the time (they should have been packed with the Titans Of Titan that assumed the form of vehicles for them to drive). Just one other Titans Of Titan toy accessory was made - A sturdy card-paper and cellophane Progenitor Kiln diorama was included within the Titans Of Titan Role-Play Game boxed set and doubled as a Game Programer screen.
Very few children of Fenwick collected the entire line since parents considered such collections an extravagance. Enthusiastic children had to collaborate with friends to make sure they got distinct designs as gifts so that an entire collection of thirty two could be amassed by the kids of one neighbourhood or village. The fact that the robot characters were masculine and feminine helped make the Titans Of Titan a unisex brand which assisted in the practice of sharing among siblings and friends. They were also popularized locally by the three telemovies and the role-play game.
Well that was a bit of an effort getting those various linked pages written and all for the most obscure combination of topics. I would be very surprised if transforming robots and satirical micro-states are something that have ever been blended. It was fun however indulging in the wish-fulfillment of imagining a quality transforming toy line of finite size.
Labels: Creative Writing
posted by Dan at
13.7.20
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