New items added to the Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic Page!
Hey Jewel Fans!
One of the things we here at the Archive love almost as much as Jewel Riders is the other 1995 magical girl show, ‘Saban’s Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic!” We recently acquired or ran across a few new items and wanted to highlight them here.
This trade advertisement showcased Saban’s offerings for 1995. The company really was riding high in the ’90s!
For a great read, check out Anime News Network’s feature story on the History of Saban!
Even though it’s not technically an actual Saban procution, you can see the ToonMakers Sailor Moon, colloquially titled “Saban Moon” in the fandom for years due to its similarity to Saban’s adaptation of Power Rangers. The full pilot only came to light a few years ago in one of the greatest fandom archaeological stories of all time.
It’s fascinating to see these early designs and names for the characters! Jason was originally “Janus,” a reference the two-headed god of ancient Rome. In addition to Steele and Bolt, there were also two Guardians name Mace and Hiro. Shonti is also given the last name Baraka.
Most tempting of all, there were plans for a 12″ (Barbie-sized) Tenko doll in a snow-leopard themed outfit, as well as a Janus doll and dolls of the three male and one female Guardians! It’s always bothered me that a show with so many male characters never had dolls of any of them produced. There were also plans to produce separate fashions themed to a Lion, Eagle, and Dragon, as well as a Tenko Box playset. I would love to see if there were ever any prototypes produced for these dolls, especially the boys and the the large Tenko!
If you want to find out more about Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic, check out our page on the site, or watch the entire series on our YouTube channel.
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