The Wild History of Battletech: The Animated Series - Yes, It's Real

Back in the 1990's FASA wanted to expand the Battletech brand and partnered on a line of toys and an animated series.

Neither of them did very well but they may have been more inclined to stick with them if it wasn't for the mountain of lawsuits Battletech was buried under.

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[kurtweldon]

I produced this show. Nice to see someone remembers it.

[theblackpantslegion]

The series is canon, as in-universe propaganda from the Tharkad Broadcasting Company.

[corvusdove]

When I was a kid, we started taking apart the Battlemech toys, replacing their weapons with fireworks. It's how I learned what each degree of tissue burn means.

[andrewsuryali]

Both the 1st Somerset Strikers and their leader Adam Steiner are not only canon in the main Battletech universe, they also have a major influence in the lore later on because Adam Steiner ultimately became Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth and his descendants still rule the realm in the present day of the lore. Adam gained his throne in large part due to his popularity stemming from the holovid series (well, that and staunchly defending the Commonwealth from the Clans again while the Steiner-Davions had their civil war). Yes, boys and girls, Battletech the Animated Series literally helped someone rise to the throne of an interstellar empire!

[redgrain]

No one is going to believe this, but this video brought up a repressed memory of 13 year old me yelling "Hit his Blast Panel!" and then kicking another kid in the crotch. I must have at least been familiar with the ads. Wow.

[Alverant]

I would have loved a toy Atlas. They needed the Steiner Scout Squad.

[RichtorLazlo]

One thing that you missed in those lawsuits was that fact that copyright law was different across international boarders and that was one of the big problems was that in Japan copyright law allowed images, ideas and concepts to be released for use almost like a lease, in that fasa had purchased the images only and harmony gold had purchased story elements, as in America under copyright law you cannot split the intellectual property but in other nations (japan) you can.

[cutter]

Thank you for this! Battletech is nearly 40 years old and in the middle of a huge revitalization and it is great to see these throwbacks!

[Cobralalalala]

Two things:
1. I love that the play feature was that they exploded if they were hit in the junk.
2.
That is all. Keep up the good work.

[GameAlicornLuna]

Interestingly enough, there is a canon Battlemech called the Daboku (I think) that was the prototype for what would become the Mauler. The Daboku was a mech plagued with technical issues, including one such issue where if the front was hit in a certain way, it would cause the mech to activate the ejection feature. The Daboku was actually based off the toy line's Mauler due to the crotch launching feature of the toy.

[jonathanwapner]

"HIT HIS BLAST PANEL!, THAT'S MY PURSE!"

[sleeplessknight]

4:27 "...with ONE weakness"
Hitting each other in the groin. LOL

[anthonyspecf]

So happy to see you Toy Galaxy cover BattleTech. It is one of my favorite SciFi franchises. From the Table Top game, to the novels, MechWarrior games, MechCommander, and especially the relatively new BattleTech PC game from HBS, it is a franchise filled with so much lore and depth, it is just so enjoyable.

[Dovoline]

"Whose home planet was the first to fall to the Clans"
*Cries in literally worthless Periphery worlds*

[lsgreger]

I absolutely missed this series. I loved the Mechwarrior/Battletech games. My inner nerd would be complete if we actually got another old FASA property Shadowrun got its own show or animated series!

[BoisegangGaming]

"Says 'MadCat' instead of 'timberwolf'."

Insert TexTalksBattleTech "Clanners lost and are dumb" speech

[rustedbeetle]

Oh Harmony Gold, how you kept destroying our childhoods with tenuously based litigation.

[Icedpyre]

Nice "Cheers" shirt.

Battletech for life. I still have most of the toys from the cartoon. CGL(Catalyst Game Labs) is still pumping out new Battletech fiction, and recently closed a $2.5M USD kickstarter to produce new miniature packs, maps and other game paraphernalia. That combined with the two two video games that came out over the last few years? Battletech is doing just fine my friend....just fine :D

[scottsanburn]

Nothing says toy line like multi-tiered legal actions spanning decades. 🙄

[thundercactus]

As someone who actually played battletech back then, the most annoying thing was the serious lack of mech designs that FASA allowed them to have. Which lead to the REALLY awkward scene where a brand new, top secret, Draconis Combine assault mech was guarding a middle-of-nowhere backwater spaceport in the Lyran Commonwealth