14-605: MANTA Force is a line of toys produced by British toy company Bluebird in 1987. The toyline was initially divided into two main factions: the heroic MANTA Force and their opponents, the evil Viper Squad. Following the popularity of the MANTA Force toy range, an additional enemy was introduced in 1989; a group of robots known as the Karnoids, who were an enemy of both MANTA Force and the Viper Squad. The following year saw
28-624: A cybernetic alien known as Mad Karnock, who was served by an army of robots called Karnoids. Another enemy also emerged from the swamps of New Earth in the form of the vile Stinkhorn, leader of the Stenchoids, who attempted to destroy the humans with their decomposing Stench weapons (which excreted a green compound similar to Play-Doh). A comic strip based on the toyline was featured in the IPC Magazines anthology comic Eagle between 5 September 1987 to 23 January 1988. The first episode
42-467: Is also famous for his Big Red Fun Bus and Big Jumbo Fun Plane, A La Carte Kitchen, Polly Pocket, Lucy Locket (a larger version of Polly Pocket) and the Mighty Max range, as well as the invention of the plastic lunch box. Bluebird was an almost immediate success, coming within £18,000 of breaking even in its first year of business, on turnover of £1.25m. By 1983 turnover had reached £3.4, and in 1985
56-454: The British version of Oh Jenny! from Matchbox Toys , Mighty Max and miniature Thomas and Friends sets. Torquil Norman founded Bluebird Toys in 1980, his first product being the now famous Big Yellow Teapot House. This was one of the first 'container' houses which broke away from the traditional architectural style of dolls' houses in favour of this light and colourful family home. He
70-568: The company announced a license for a new line of Disney characters in the pocket-size format, which became the Disney Tiny Collection series, and a new distribution deal with Mattel. However, by 1997, Polly Pocket sales had fallen back. Mattel announced it would take no more of the existing stock until a reformat of the brand, and the share price was down to only a quarter of its previous peak value. Financier Sir Ron Brierley 's Guinness Peat Group made an unsolicited bid for
84-574: The company in January 1998, but was outbid by Mattel acting as a white knight . Mattel swiftly went on to integrate Bluebird's products into its own lines, closing the headquarters in Swindon and offering redundancy packages to all those who were not offered relocation to the Mattel headquarters. Unlisted Securities Market The Unlisted Securities Market ( USM ), which ran from 1980 to 1996,
98-548: The company went public on the Unlisted Securities Market . The shares had reached 500p by 1987, before sliding back to 26p in 1991, when the company reported a hefty loss. The company acquired Peter Pan Playthings in 1987 and Merit Toys in 1988. The company was saved by the Polly Pocket range, introduced in 1989, which became a global phenomenon. By 1993, the shares were back up to 575p, and
112-600: The creation of the MANTA ship. MANTA Force was an acronym for Multiple-Air-Naval-Terrain-Assault Force and was the most advanced Earth ship ever built. It was designed to work in any environment and its engine was fuelled by a substance called Thorium . Following the successful launch of the MANTA Force ship, the World Government created the Red Venom to help Manta Force colonise New Earth. On Saturn however, many of
126-476: The next year Bluebird announced profits of £7m on sales of over £40m, rising again to £20m on turnover of £100m in 1994–95. This figure was dominated by Polly Pocket and Mighty Max , a parallel line for boys introduced in 1992, accounting between them for 87% of sales. Already by 1994 nearly three-quarters of Britain's 2 million girls aged between three and eight were estimated to own a Polly Pocket. The shares rose still further, trebling again by October 1995 when
140-540: The packages of other Manta Force toys. In July 1989, Carnival released two books based on the Manta Force toyline, called Manta Force - The Enemy Within and Manta Force - Red Venom Attack! . Both books were written by Royston Drake . Bluebird Toys Bluebird Toys plc was a British toy company . They were responsible for the Polly Pocket brand, Havok wargame and Disney Tiny Collection. The company's previous toy lines included Manta Force , Oh Penny!,
154-453: The people had grown tired of living in plastic bubbles and believed New Earth should belong to them. During its test runs therefore, the Red Venom was hijacked by a group of highly skilled soldiers called the Viper Squad. Under the command of Major Vex, the Viper Squad attempted to use the Red Venom to hijack the MANTA Force ship, so they could be the ones to colonise New Earth. Later the two opposing sides joined forces to fight off attacks from
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#1732776670348168-495: The release of the Stenchoids, which were another new threat for the humans. By the early 1990s however, the popularity of the toy range began to decrease and eventually production was stopped. By 2012, humans had colonised many planets throughout the Solar System, including Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. The planet Earth however, had become polluted and overpopulated. In an attempt to save mankind, President Battaille ordered
182-483: Was a stock exchange set up by the London Stock Exchange to cater for companies too small to qualify for a full listing. The USM allowed companies to be traded which did not have the full three-year trading history required by the main market, or which wished to float less than 25 percent of their share capital. The USM allowed as little as 10% to be floated. The Alternative Investment Market (AIM)
196-585: Was written by John Wagner and Alan Grant (under the pseudonym 'R. Steele' and drawn by Ian Kennedy, with subsequent instalments scripted by Alan Hebden and illustrated by Mike Dorey. Following the conclusion of the comic strip in Eagle , Marvel UK produced a one-shot special in 1989. Bluebird themselves also published two promotional comics to promote the Black Barracuda and Vile Stinkhorn toy ranges. These promotional comics were generally found in
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