Third Wave

There was a third wave planned, with concept designs and even wax models made for some of the ideas. Below, we’re excited to share Greg’s descriptions as well as photos of the concepts.

Jewel Riders Archive: What were the general ideas or themes for the third season of Jewel Riders?

Greg Autore: Very little was done on that from an animation point of view. If there was anything on the animation side started, I was not aware of it. Most likely, they were waiting to see if it would be picked up for a second season before starting any work on it. However, I always had rough ideas on how the feature would work in animation to further the story.

JRA: Any explanation for the new Jewel armor?

GA: First – I love armor and secondly – I believed that the jewel/power armor was one of the key elements that set it apart from every other line. There was a similar action figure line before by Mattel – She Ra and the Princess of Power. It had many similar elements but if they used crystal armor, it was rare. I loved the idea that the jewels had the power of light that would have solid form. It is very similar to how the Green Lantern’s ring can manifest what they think they need to stop evil aliens.

The second wave low price version (Jewel Power assortment) of Gwen had the girls in clear armor pieces that would turn pink, green, and purple with color change technology. We had working swatches but never shot that plastic into the new tools. I cannot remember if they were activated by light or temperature. These were designed quickly and needed to not very different from the first wave.

In the third wave of low priced figures, which made it only as far as sculpting, they have a bumpy texture as if they were wearing tight chain mail but the parts were to be shot in clear/tinted plastic so they would look like they were glowing with jewel power. In addition, each of the girls had a way that the jewels enhanced their armor. Fallon was given wings on her boots and the figure was to kick the legs fast when the user moved a button on her back. She would have the enhanced power of speed for an episode. Tamara had a shield that would fan out from her gauntlet in segments. She was always more concerned with nurturing and protecting so that feature fit her the best. Gwen had shoulder pieces that would slide down for more armored protection and give her some super strength for a situation to be determined. It was planned that her jewel could be pulled out of her hand and it was on a retracting string so it could fly ahead of her and pull her up to climb up somewhere.

JRA: Why are so many of the characters in the art boards in winter clothing?

GA: It gave them a new look. I would have come up with a few winter episodes for them to use the look.

JRA:  What were some of the action features you were looking at including

GA: The deluxe wave 3 figures more extreme features. Gwen had a snap-on backpack that was a star burst. It would have had a button for motion. In between the clear front and back of the faceted star shape there would have been a glittering disk spinning to give the effect like she blasting with the full power of the Sunstone. Tamara was to be given some power over snow and ice for an episode. She was to wear a clear snowflake shaped headpiece that would have water and glitter you could pump through it as if she was blasting cold power. Fallon had a special backpack with a reservoir and a flower petal like fan blade. If you blew from the back of her, the fan spun like a pinwheel, dipped into the reservoir, grabbed soapy water and with that same air of blowing to make it spin, it also made bubbles of power fly out from her. This was not just wild imagination. I made a hand sample and proved to the doubting engineers that it could really work.

I note on this – at first the engineers thought I was just wacko coming up with these features and that they would never work. However, each time I was able to make a rough working model showing how I expected it to work. After a while they just had the attitude of “okay, what have you come up with this time Greg?” instead of fighting me to say it will never work.

JRA: Can you explain the mechanism for Morgana? Did her skirt transform into the chair?

GA: Yes, her skirt was to transform into a flying throne and we would have her flying around on it in the show. I admit it was probably the dorkiest figure I planned. However, she did have a transparent flash of lightning that could be attached into her hand as if she was blasting someone.

JRA: How much of this came from you, and how much from Robert Mandell?

GA: They all came from my over-imaginative brain. He was actually happy when I came up with new products to drive storylines. We just had to make sure there was a way to work it in to the stories. I never showed him anything that did not have a plan to accomplish that.


Princess Gwenevere Product Wave 3 – Wild Magic

The concept behind Wave 3 was that after the normal Kingdom jewels were found in season 1 of the show, the wild magic jewels in season 2 would add unexpected magical effects to each of the girls.
These are the actual presentation boards shown for approvals in the internal Kenner meetings. The characters are drawn to be roughly the same size as the dolls to be more easily understood. Most of the boards have an added layer of sparkly film to highlight where glitter or effects in the plastic would be added.

 

Wave 3 Deluxe Tamara with Frost Wild Magic – Tamara has winter clothing and a headpiece shaped like a snowflake that was clear with floating glittery water inside.

Wave 3 Villainess – Her long skirt was to be molded and would open up to be a hovering throne she used to fly around in. She was to have a glitter molded blast of dark wild magic that could snap into her hand. The two part panel shows the before and after transformation.

Morgana on Throne Concept Board

Morgana on Throne Concept Board

Morgana Concept Board

Morgana Concept Board

Wave 3 Deluxe Gwenevere with Wild Sun Magic – To approximate a shining blast of sun magic, there would be a backpack that would be clear with a second layer spinning glitter plastic.

Deluxe Gwen S3 Concept Board

Deluxe Gwen S3 Concept Board

Wave 3 Prince – This new character was to be a suggested love interest for Tamara with her affinity for animals. It was a prince who was trapped by dark wild magic to take the form of an animal. The two part panel shows the before and after he transformed with snap on animal head, arms and legs.

 

Wild Magic Basic Gwenevere – This Gwenevere would have crystal armor that would expand and a sunstone that could be pulled out attached to a string as if it is levitating with stronger magic, then would spring back in with touch of a button. The three photos included are of the final wax sculpted parts. Note that the new look gave the girls a faceted version of chain mail on their body that would be molded translucent as if they are glowing with wild magic. This was as far as the development went before the line was cancelled.

Gwen S3 Concept Board

Gwen S3 Concept Board

 

Gwen S3 Concept Board

Gwen S3 Concept Board

Wave 3 Wild Magic Basic Tamara – This Tamara would have crystal armor that would expand on her gauntlet. The doll was also to have an internal mechanism to spring her arms up to defend her friends. The three photos included are of the final wax sculpted parts. Note that the new look gave the girls a faceted version of chain mail on their body that would be molded translucent as if they are glowing with wild magic. This was as far as the development went before the line was cancelled.

Tamara S3 Concept Board

Tamara S3 Concept Board

Wave 3 Wild Magic Basic Fallon – This Fallon would have crystal armor that would expand on her grieves visually signifying she could use enhanced speed. The figure was also to have a mechanism inside that made the legs kick back and forth fast to pretend she is running fast with wild magic. The three photos included are of the final wax sculpted parts. Note that the new look gave the girls a faceted version of chain mail on their body that would be molded translucent as if they are glowing with wild magic. This was as far as the development went before the line was cancelled.

Fallon S3 Concept Board

Fallon S3 Concept Board

Fallon S3 Concept Board

Fallon S3 Concept Board

Wave 3 Deluxe Fallon with Wild Bubble Magic
There was one more presentation board that is now lost which showed Fallon with a whirling backpack that had a pinwheel shape that moved when the child blew on it. It would pick up bubble fluid from a reservoir as it spun so bubbles flew from her. There was a rough test model of the feature made to show the mechanism would work but that is believed to have been destroyed.

 

If you’d like to read fan concepts for the unproduced third season, check out the entries from our contest!

 


Further Questions and Answers with Greg Autore about the Art Boards:

JRA: When, during the planning of the second wave of the toys (or earlier?), were these art boards created? 1996? After the second series had debuted on TV?

GA: I do not remember the exact timing, but the second set was designed just after the first 13 episodes and product was finished. That is why so many of the features were in episodes 14-26. The third wave was designed after the all of the 26 episodes were finished. It takes about 12-18 months to create a toy from concept to shelf so we had to keep moving ahead assuming the toys would sell.

It was a HEAVY blow for me when it was cancelled as my heart was really wrapping in it. I do not think it is a stretch to say that other than Robert Mandell, no one else was as emotionally invested in the show.

JRA: Would the girls and Morgana have had shared parts?

GA: No – One of the design failures of the line was the Lady Kale body. I did not understand that they would make new tools for each figure. I thought they would swap parts. So when I made the Lady Kale figure, it had very similar parts. The result (in my mind) was that the figure ended up looking like Lady Kale’s little sister and not like the cool character from the show. Therefore, I would not make that mistake again. Morgana would have had a woman’s body and even been a bit taller. Robert never cared for Kale either but let us do it that way as we thought we had to. It was a shame since Kale had such a cool feature with light up eyes.

JRA: Would there have been more or fewer fabric pieces with the third wave? The second wave feels more highly dependent on plastic armor pieces.

GA: Fabric parts are much more costly. Since I was pushing more for feature than fashion play in the 3rd wave of product, much soft goods was removed to pay for it.

JRA: It seems the decision to make a second season was made before the introduction of Morgana in the 1st season finale, as she was still unnamed “season 2 villain” when the pictures were made?  At what point did the team know that they would move forward with the second season? Was the first season still in production or was it after the release of the first season? Or do you have more insight into what the early discussions were centered around the second season plot?

GA: The first season was being wrapped up but not complete when they found out they had to do 26 episodes if they wanted to sell it in the European market. Robert always had Morgana in the back of his head as a villainess he wanted to do. Her time finally came. I cannot give you any real timing info on that. The early discussions were, “Quick, we need to do more episodes… anyone have any thoughts?” Old ideas were examined, new ideas were put forth. I was very lucky as I have been working on where to take Gwen in year 1.5 and 2. Working with a license, I always wanted to create the “Why” the character would do “what.” That is why several ideas were ready and fell right into place.