The Saga of Crystar: Crystal Warrior was a short-lived toyline produced by Remco in 1982. It was unique because the idea for the line originated with Marvel Comics - they wanted to develop a toyline that they would then promote with a comic book that they would produce. Sadly, the line was not successful, and the comic run came to an end after 11 issues. But this line holds a special place in my heart. I had a number of the toys as a kid, and they were completely awesome. So as I built a collection of the figures, I wanted to do customs with them, along the lines of what would have happened had Remco made better toys and the line had seen some success.

The first set is made up of Crystar and his crystal captains. Later on I'll post Moltar and his minions, the wizards, and other characters.

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Crystar
Prince of Crystal

All parts: Crystar (Remco)

Helmet, sword, shield: Crystar (Remco)
Prisma-Crystal: Crystal Dragon set (Remco)

Here is a custom of Crystar (the Prince of Crystal) himself, which is simply a paint upgrade of the original. The original figure had very little in the way of paint applications, so I’ve just added some details to make it a little more compelling.

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Kalibar
Armoury Captain

All parts and accessories: Crystal Warrior Battle Set (Remco)

Like all of Crystar’s captains other than Warbow, you wouldn’t even know Kalibar’s name without reading the comics, or buying certain stickers sets or colouring books. The figure is not named on the packaging he came in. This is a paint upgrade of the original, which had very little in the way of paint applications, so I’ve just added some details to make it a little more compelling. The eyes are painted, and white details added to the helmet. I assigned Kalibar the role of Armoury Captain since the figure came with a wide variety of weapons.

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Koth
Artillery Captain

All parts and accessories: Crystal Warrior Catapult Set (Remco)

Like all of Crystar’s captains other than Warbow, you wouldn’t even know Koth’s name without reading the comics, or buying certain stickers sets or colouring books. The figure is not named on the packaging he came in. This is a paint upgrade of the original, which had very little in the way of paint applications, so I’ve just added some details to make it a little more compelling. The eyes are painted, and white details added to the helmet. I assigned Koth the role of Artillery Captain since the figure came with a small catapult as part of the set.

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Stalax
Cavalry Captain

All parts: Crystal Dragon set (Remco)

Axe: Crystal Warrior Battle Set (Remco)
Shield, Prisma-Crystal: Crystar (Remco)

Like all of Crystar’s captains other than Warbow, you wouldn’t even know Stalax’s name without reading the comics, or buying certain stickers sets or colouring books. The figure is not named on the packaging he came in. This is a paint upgrade of the original, which had very little in the way of paint applications, so I’ve just added some details to make it a little more compelling. The eyes are painted, and white details added to the helmet. I assigned the character the role of Cavalry Captain since the figure was a dragon rider.

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Heyatt
Cavalry Captain

All parts and accessories: Crystal Warrior Catapult Set (Remco)

Heyatt is a character who appeared in a single issue of the comics, in flashbacks. He was one of Crystar and Moltar’s captains, who died before they underwent the crystallization process. This figure, which is a repainted Koth, represents Heyatt had he undergone the same process. In the action figure line, he might have been released as part of the second series - perhaps in the comics Ogeode was able to find a way to resurrect him by using the Magic of Crystal (TM). I assigned Heyatt the role of Cavalry captain, since I figured young Stalax replaced Heyatt after he died, and that is Stalax’s role.

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Warbow
Archery Captain

Head, torso, upper arms legs: Crystar (Remco)
Lower arms: Stalax (Remco, non-articulated version)
Hands: Warbow (Remco)

All accessories: Warbow (Remco)

Warbow is one of Crystar’s captains, and plays a prominent role in the comic series throughout its run. His action figure is very similar to the other captains, which presents a problem. The Crystar line actually has figures of three different sizes: Crystar and Moltar are 4-1/4 inches, Feldspar is 3-1/4 inches, and everyone else is 3-3/4 inches. So Warbow is 3-3/4 inches, but in the comics he towers over the other captains. This led me to make a custom to scale with Crystar, who I’m happy to have larger than the others since he’s the leader and magic is involved. I cut off Crystar’s lower arms and used Plastruct Plastic Weld to attach new lower arms and hands from other figures. The eyepatch is made of black Milliput, and the whole thing was painted with Tamiya paints (some clear, some opaque).

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pretty cool stuff. I don't remember these at all! i'd like to see some made with color/clear casted joe parts too. you might find a lot of fodder from the various skylander toys.

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I've been collecting some figures from various lines with an eye to making more Crystar customs. I've looked at some Skylander toys for that.

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Fun stuff! That custom Warbow is amazing.

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Moltar
Prince of Magma

All parts and accessories: Moltar (Remco)

Here is a custom of Moltar, the Prince of Magma. The main thing was a complete repaint - Moltar’s original action figure is a bright orange, while in the comics he’s a dark red. So this figure is a more comic-accurate colour, and I drilled some holes into the nodules along his arms, back and head, to reflect the fact that in many comic appearances those are represented as similar to smoking calderas.

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Grannik
Magma Warrior

All parts and accessories: Magma Man (Remco)

Moltar had a number of followers who became Magma Men. But rather than simply army-build the Magma Man figure, I wanted to give each one a unique name and colouration. Grannik here is the most basic - he retains the original colour of the figure, with detail added to his eyes and chest prism.

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Magmus
Magma Scout

All parts and accessories: Magma Man (Remco)

Moltar had a number of followers who became Magma Men. But rather than simply army-build the Magma Man figure, I wanted to give each one a unique name and colouration. Magmus here is a repaint of the Magma Man figure, with a colour that matches the custom Moltar, and detail added to his eyes and chest prism.

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Pyrash
Magma Crossbowman

All parts: Magma Man (Remco)

Crossbow: Warbow (Remco)
Mace, Prisma-Crystal: Magma Man (Remco)

Moltar had a number of followers who became Magma Men. But rather than simply army-build the Magma Man figure, I wanted to give each one a unique name and colouration. Pyrash here is a repaint of the Magma Man figure, and detail added to his eyes and chest prism. He is inspired by a magma warrior wielding a crossbow who appeared in one issue of the comics.

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Tephrax
Dragon Warrior

All parts and accessories: Magma Man (Remco)

Moltar had a number of followers who became Magma Men. But rather than simply army-build the Magma Man figure, I wanted to give each one a unique name and colouration. Tephrax here is meant to represent the figure which came with the Magma Dragon set. That figure was this same sort of mustard yellow, but it was non-articulated, lopsided and really ugly. This custom gives us a dragon rider with the appropriate articulation.

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