Golden Girl and the Guardians of the Gemstones


Golden Girl and the Guardians of the Gemstones was a line of toys manufactured by Galoob in 1984-5.
Galoob's toy line was focused on eleven 6" action figures with 5 points of articulation, bendable legs and rooted hair. The line consisted of five female heroes, Golden Girl, Saphire, Rubee, Onyx and Jade - and four female villains, Dragon Queen, Vultura, Moth Lady and Wild One. Additionally there were two male action figures included in the line, Prince Kroma and Ogra. Each figure included a cape, a comb, a diecast shield with a shiny gemstone embedded in it, a headpiece and a weapon.
An extensive fashion line was produced in conjunction with the action figure line. 3 waves were released, and each wave contained an individual fashion for each of the 9 female characters. Each wave had a specific theme: Evening Enchantment, a line of gowns; Festival Spirit, a line of shiny outfits; and Forest Fantasy, a line of rustic outfits.
Additional play elements were released including a castle playset for the heroines, The Palace of Gems. Golden Girl's unicorn Olympia, and Dragon Queen's steed Shadow were also produced. Both horses were available for purchase by themselves or in separate deluxe sets that included chariots. 4 Dream Tents were produced for the action figures in limited numbers. A Collector's case to store the action figures was also released.
Galoob also licensed out play items separate from the action figure line including Find Your Own Fate books, activity books, storybooks, a sticker calendar, a stamp set, jigsaw puzzles and a board game. Additionally, a 3-D Colorforms playset was produced that included all 11 characters. The ethnicities of Vultura and Onyx were swapped in the Colorforms playset.
Non-playline items included a Golden Girl Halloween costume, a Thermos brand lunchbox, drinking cups and a sleeping bag. Wearable metallic brooches representing the 5 heroines were also produced.

The Story

Golden Girl, Saphire, Rubee, Onyx and Jade are the Guardians of precious jewels called Gemstones. The Gemstones make the Guardians strong and skillful so they can defend the Kingdom of Argonia from all enemies. One of these enemies, Dragon Queen, seeks to conquer Argonia with her band of evil warriors Vultura, Moth Lady and Wild One.

The Characters

The Guardians of the Gemstones

Each member of the Guardians of the Gemstones was produced in 6" action figure form. Each action figure had 5 points of articulation, including neck, shoulders, and hips as well as bendable legs. All figures had rooted hair, female and male, and included a comb. Accessories for each figure included a fabric cape, diecast metal shield, belt, weapon and headpiece. Each diecast shield has a shiny gemstone embedded in it representing the Hero or Villain it belonged to and could also be worn by the toy owner as a brooch.
Each member of the Forces of Evil was produced in 6" action figure form. Each action figure had 5 points of articulation, including neck, shoulders, and hips as well as bendable legs. All figures had rooted hair, female and male, and included a comb. Accessories for each figure included a fabric cape, diecast metal shield, belt, weapon and headpiece. Each diecast shield has a shiny gemstone embedded in it representing the Hero or Villain it belonged to and could also be worn by the toy owner as a brooch.
Concept drawings of additional action figures, playsets and accessories exist.

The Guardians of the Gemstones

A very small quantity of the Dymondia figure was released in Europe. The figure appears to be a repaint of the Rubee figure rather than including any unique molding, which seems to indicate the Dymondia figures may have been prototypes that Galoob was using to sell Series 2 to retailers. The Dymondia figure was in a new blue Series 2 box as opposed to the pink Series 1 box design. None of the other Series 2 Guardians of the Gemstones characters are known to have been produced.
None of the Series 2 Forces of Evil characters are known to have been produced.