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There are action figures inspired by the past, and then there are action figures that look like they might have fallen through a wormhole from the strangest toy aisle of 1977, stopping somewhere around 1984 to pick up a few storytelling lessons from Larry Hama and Snake Eyes.

Wandering Planet Toys is betting on the latter with Planetoid Raiders, a new line of 1:18-scale retro space figures headed to Kickstarter. The collection comes from company co-founders Gavin Hignight and Chris 'Doc' Wyatt, whose previous releases have turned cult-favorite pop culture into toys, including Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Nancy Drew, The Prisoner, Laurel and Hardy, and cartoonist Fletcher Hanks’ Headless Ones.

This time, however, they aren’t adapting an existing cast. They’re building a universe of their own; one populated by fearless pilots, deeply questionable decision-makers, slime-world saxophonists, and at least one robot whose acronym spells exactly what you think it does (C.R.A.P.).

The line takes its biggest cues from two very different pieces of late-’70s toy history: Kenner’s hugely influential Star Wars figures and Tomland Toys’ much stranger Starroid Raiders. The latter arrived in 1977, a year before Kenner’s licensed Star Wars line reached stores. Made by a Hong Kong toy company and sold cheaply through places such as drugstores and gas stations, the Starroid Raiders were unmistakably riding the space-opera wave without looking quite like anyone from George Lucas’ galaxy.

Related: WWE's Ultimate Warrior meets Mothman and Cthulhu becomes a luchador in these gloriously weird horror toys

That was part of their charm. Their bizarre head sculpts, loud colors, and anything-goes approach made them the underdogs of the toy box; initially dismissed by some collectors as knockoffs, but eventually sought out precisely because they were so odd.

“Starroid Raiders are great because they’re gloriously ugly space weirdos,” Wyatt says in a press release. “A combination of wild imagination and nonsensical random strangeness, they were intended as cheap knockoffs but managed to be so awesomely unique.”

Planetoid Raiders carries that chaos forward rather than simply reproducing it. Each limited-edition figure has five points of articulation and combines a vintage space-age silhouette with sharper contemporary character design and color choices. The result is meant to feel instantly familiar to anyone who once stared at rows of carded aliens — but not like a museum piece.

“Our Planetoid Raiders figures honor the imaginative history of knockoff space figures, but push a modern approach,” Wyatt says, “marrying outrageous design with bold colors and a retro space-age aesthetic.”

Sloog gets a “Silent Interlude” of his own

The toy homage is only half of the throwback. Wandering Planet is also tipping its helmet to one of the most celebrated experiments in licensed comics: Larry Hama’s 'Silent Interlude,' originally published in 1984 as G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #21.

The issue sent Snake Eyes on a solo mission without dialogue, captions, or written sound effects. Hama trusted movement, staging, facial expression, and the turn of the page to tell the story, proving that a comic created alongside a toy line could still be a bold piece of visual storytelling.

Related: Danny McBride grew up on Larry Hama's G.I. Joe comics, and believes he might've "manifested his own way into a G.I. Joe type existence, through making movies & TV shows"

Planetoid Raiders answers it with 'Sloog Interlude,' written by Wyatt and drawn by Chris Anderson. The title makes the lineage unmistakable: Sloog is stepping into the Snake Eyes position, carrying an action sequence through images rather than exposition.

It is a particularly fitting reference for this project. G.I. Joe helped define the bond between comics and 3.75-inch action figures in the '80s, while Hama’s issue demonstrated that characters born in the orbit of toys could support inventive, formally ambitious stories. 'Sloog Interlude' brings that idea full circle. Planetoid Raiders may begin as plastic figures inspired by bargain-bin space oddities, but the homage treats them as characters capable of telling a story before anyone says a word.

And where Hama had the masked, disciplined Snake Eyes, Wandering Planet has Sloog: a security officer from Slime World who secretly plays jazz saxophone. It is reverence with exactly the right amount of cosmic nonsense. Check out this preview:

The Arcade Raiders are waiting in the wings

The Planetoid crew will not be traveling alone. Wandering Planet Toys is also introducing the Arcade Raiders, a related group packaged in blind boxes designed to resemble retro arcade cabinets. The Kickstarter will launch with one Arcade Raider available as an add-on. More characters can be unlocked as the campaign passes funding milestones above its initial goal, with each unlocked figure becoming another add-on option for all backers. Planetoid Raiders: Wave 1 will be offered on retro-inspired card backs, while collectors who want the whole landing party together can choose a metal lunchbox-style collector’s case. Kickstarter-exclusive Planetoid Raiders baseball caps are also planned.

The Planetoid Raiders Kickstarter campaign is the place to follow the launch.

Interested? Here's where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet, and here's a guide to how (and where) to read comics online. If you're looking for the best comics in recent memory, check out the Eisner Awards winners and the Harvey Awards nominees. And if you like free comics, here's everything we know about Free Comic Book Day 2027.