Ring Raiders

Synopsis

Set in 1998, the world nears a catastrophic war. The Skull Squadron, a band of renegades whose planes can travel through time, seeks world domination through aerial warfare. Their pilots, twisted by war, swell the squadron's ranks. By the 1990s, the Skull Squadron is powerful enough to launch its master mission.

The world's nations, realizing the threat too late, jointly produce the Justice-class air carrier, a time-traveling aircraft. The carrier, with a small crew, is sent back in time to gather pilots and planes from historic air battles to train against the Skull Squadron. A few pilots become Ring Commanders, identified by special signal rings that allow them to summon or be summoned by fellow Ring Raiders. Five pilot episodes were produced: "Ring of Fire", "Scorch's Revenge", "All the Right Stuff", "The Best Man for the Job is a Woman", and "A Pilot's Faith".

The animation art design was by Peter Chung, based on Those Characters From Cleveland art and toy designs by Mark Spangler and Jim Groman. The catchphrase "The command is in my hand" was used when characters transformed their planes via their rings, gaining improved forms that could only be held briefly or risk burning out the pilot's nervous system.

Pilots and planes

Victor Vector, a stealth fighter squadron leader, was picked in 1993 to lead the first Justice-class air carrier and the Ring Raider squadrons. He flies the Victory 1, a modified F-19 stealth fighter. Yuri Kirkov, a disciplined Soviet Air Force major, defected to the USMC during the Vietnam War. He pilots Kirkov's Comet, a customized F-4 Phantom II with a nose beam-cannon that can slice through planes or blind infrared sensors.

Yinsu Yakamura, a space-fighter pilot from 2235, was taken aboard a Justice-class air carrier. He commands the Samurai Flyer, a modified Grumman X-29 packed with battle computers, AWACS gear, and a 3-D split-laser "Deceptor" that generates 1 to 50 extra radar images. Joe Thundercloud, a full-blooded Sioux, flew with the USAF in Korea before being beamed onto a Justice-class air carrier. He can spot enemies before they show up on radar.

Toyline

The Ring Raiders toyline consisted of small plastic toy planes (3–4 centimeters long) mounted on plastic rings via detachable display stands. Few molds were produced; most aircraft were repainted three or four times. The line lasted about six months. The bulk of the release was packs of four aircraft, each squadron with its own color scheme.

Twelve packs were released: six Ring Raiders and six Skull Squadron. Later packs contained two aircraft, one from each side, repackaged from earlier Wing packs. Four bases were released: three Ring Raiders and one Skull Squadron. The Air Carrier Justice was the largest item, a massive Flying Wing design resembling a scaled-up YB-49.

Skybase Freedom and Skybase Courage were smaller bases that connected to Justice, sharing most parts. The Skull Squadron Mobile Base was a heavily armed flying fortress based on the same design. Accessories included a soundbox shaped like a flight stick worn on the wrist, with three sound effects. Two versions were produced, one for each side; the Skull Squadron version played a revving sound on startup.

Rare eight-aircraft packs were released at the end of the line, mixing previously released and new molds with new color schemes.

Comic book

A Ring Raiders comic book was published by Fleetway Publications in mid-1989, running fortnightly for six issues. Each issue contained 5–6 serialized stories, often including a one-shot origin story for a featured character.

The comic was abruptly cancelled at the sixth issue, with most stories ending in cliffhangers; a letters page notice stated this was happening "beyond our control." Fleetway later released a special edition around March of the following year that concluded the hanging stories, included another origin story, mini posters of covers for planned future issues, and completed airplane fact-files. The comic followed a different continuity from the cartoon, with characters looking different and having radically altered origin stories tied more to the toyline. Two annuals were also published: Ring Raiders Annual 1989 and Ring Raiders Annual 1990.

Did You Know?

• In the United Kingdom, a PAL VHS tape contained "Scorch's Revenge" and "All The Right Stuff".
• Much of the music composed by Shuki Levy for this cartoon was later reused for the English dub of the first two seasons of Digimon.