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How big was Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs?

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 8:07 am
by Fireminer
I have just found out that the show Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, whose intro I remember seeing years ago on Youtube, was actually based on the Japanese series Star Musketeer Bismark. So, was it a hit in the US? It came from the same studio who did Voltron, right, so I imagine it must have had some footing? And wasn't 1960s nostalgia was a big thing in the 1980s? Were Western a part of that trend, since I remember Western was at its peak in America in the 1950s? Oh, and there was a centennial celebration in the 1970s too.

Re: How big was Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs?

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 5:38 pm
by runesaint
I can only speak for myself, but I had never heard of this show before. I watched the intro on youtube and confirmed that I had never heard of it. My wife hadn't heard of it, but upon watching the intro confirmed she remembered it existing, but she never watched it.
I hope that helps? =)

Re: How big was Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs?

Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2020 4:55 am
by davemerrill
Saber Rider aired on TV in the Atlanta market during the time we were having anime club meetings, and the anime club was aware of it. Some of us were taping it regularly, but the show didn't capture the interest of fans the way Robotech did. I think the main selling point was that the voice actor from Transformers who voiced Optimus Prime did one voice in the show (literally, one line). I do know some people who really liked it, though.

Around that time there were other TV cartoons that mixed the science-fiction and the cowboy motifs - Filmation's Bravestarr and the Galaxy Rangers are two examples. I think Galaxy Rangers was the most popular of the bunch, actually. I remember seeing fan art and fan fiction for that show. If anybody ever did Saber Rider fan art, I never saw it.

Re: How big was Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs?

Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2020 3:53 pm
by DKop
Surprisingly to me, Galaxy Rangers is a really well done series. I bought a couple of DVDs used a while ago and watch them and I was pretty engaged in what I saw. I'm not sure how I would feel about Bravestarr (probably not much), but I haven't seen much on Saber Rider/Bismark other than MIO doing the intro to the Japanese series.

Re: How big was Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs?

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 3:06 pm
by llj
It was not nearly as big as Voltron or Robotech, or as ubiquitous as the 80s Astro Boy. Trust me, during the 80s I seeked out every "Japanese style" cartoon on North American TV and Saber Rider was not a show that had much buzz at the time. I would say in terms of popularity it was around the same level as Visionaries or slightly less. Kids may have heard about it, there were some toys, but most kids never got around to actually watching it regularly.

Re: How big was Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs?

Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:53 am
by Fireminer
llj wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 3:06 pm It was not nearly as big as Voltron or Robotech, or as ubiquitous as the 80s Astro Boy. Trust me, during the 80s I seeked out every "Japanese style" cartoon on North American TV and Saber Rider was not a show that had much buzz at the time. I would say in terms of popularity it was around the same level as Visionaries or slightly less. Kids may have heard about it, there were some toys, but most kids never got around to actually watching it regularly.
That makes me want to ask this: Which genre was big among children and young teenage in the 1980s? Science-fiction? Action? Fantasy? Is there any general formula to make a successful television series that translated well to selling toys?

Re: How big was Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs?

Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 3:40 pm
by llj
Fireminer wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:53 am

That makes me want to ask this: Which genre was big among children and young teenage in the 1980s? Science-fiction? Action? Fantasy? Is there any general formula to make a successful television series that translated well to selling toys?

Rattling off the big names in the 80-- there was He-Man, Voltron, Smurfs, the Sunbow cartoons (Transformers, GI Joe), Thundercats...

Cabbage Patch Kids and Strawberry Shortcake were popular "girls" toys but those properties never had a really big dominant TV run unlike the boys' stuff.