5 LJN Toylines That Got Robbed
LJN is famous for making some of the worst video games of all time — the Angry Video Game Nerd has been proving that for years. But what almost nobody talks about is that LJN also made some of the BEST action figures of the 1980s. The same company that gave us the infamous ET cartridge and the Friday the 13th disaster was also putting out figures with incredible sculpts, creative accessories, and designs that in some cases were better than what Kenner and Mattel were shipping at the exact same time.
So what happened? Why did so many great LJN toy lines get robbed of the success they deserved?
In this video, I'm breaking down five LJN toy lines that should have been massive — from hits that were cut short by corporate greed, to obscure gems that most collectors have never even heard of. These aren't failures. These are toy lines that never got a fair fight.
📋 In this video:
• Bionic Six — Great figures, terrible timing. Walked into a toy aisle already dominated by Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Masters of the Universe, and LJN didn't have the marketing muscle to carve out shelf space.
• Photon — The laser tag line that was actually the better product in a two-way war with Lazer Tag. And then the entire laser tag market collapsed, burying both of them. Photon is the line that personally pulled me into 80s collecting, and I'll tell you why.
• ThunderCats — The hit that LJN didn't hold onto. This one stings because ThunderCats was genuinely massive. But LJN's corporate restlessness meant they walked away from the line before it reached its full potential, leaving money and shelf presence on the table.
• Advanced Dungeons & Dragons — The beautiful mistake. LJN had no business making a Dungeons & Dragons toy line for kids. The sculpts were incredible. The monsters were terrifying. The audience wasn't there. It's one of the strangest, most fascinating chapters in 80s toy history.
• TigerSharks — Same company, same designers, same magic as ThunderCats. Completely different fate. TigerSharks had everything going for it except the one thing that mattered: timing.
🕹️ Chapters
00:00 — The Worst Game Company… and the Best Toys?
1:45 — Bionic Six: Great Figures, Terrible Timing
03:05 — Photon: The Laser Tag War They Should Have Won
04:33 — ThunderCats: The Hit LJN Walked Away From
06:19 — Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: The Beautiful Mistake
07:42 — TigerSharks: Same Magic, Different Fate
09:00 — LJN's Real Problem Was Never the Toys
These five lines prove that LJN's real problem was never the toys themselves. It was bad luck, worse timing, and a company that kept chasing the next big thing before finishing the last one.
Whether you're a longtime collector hunting down these figures or just discovering LJN's toy legacy for the first time, these are five toy lines that got robbed — and five stories worth telling.
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Which LJN toy line do YOU think got robbed the hardest? Let me know in the comments.
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