Dir 05 / Record 003
1987: The Starwatch Year
Wave 2 flagship. Twenty-five new episodes. The company bets big.
Abstract
The largest wave shipped in August and September 1987, concurrent with the year's twenty-five new episodes airing daily from Monday September 14 through Friday October 16, 1987. The Starwatch Command System was the flagship product. Viceroy's figure arrived eleven months after his Episode 20 debut, supported by a full year of daily reruns. Omen's Episode 40 debut landed during the same fall promotional window as his Wave 2 figure. This was peak commercial and creative output. Initial movie story development began in summer 1987, with a formal production commitment by fall. After October 16, the forty-five-episode package entered daily rerun rotation through summer 1988.
Archive Notes
Official first-run dates: Episodes 21 through 45 aired Monday September 14 through Friday October 16, 1987.
Wave 2 products included Orbit, Canopy, Sounder, Cipher Keeper Gear, Gate Keeper, Viceroy, Vesper, Omen, Relic, Shadow Guard, Night Lancer, HELIX Splice Unit, Shadow Wing, Skybridge VTOL, Overrun, Riptide, Trailcat, Prowler, Sabre Assault Command, Skyrake, Groundbite, StarEye Drone, Linkrunner Pod, Starwatch Station, GroundLink Command, HELIX BioCore Lab, Keeper Seal Kit, and The Asterion Index accessory.
Tooling costs for the Starwatch Command System stressed margins. It was the most ambitious product Remarkable ever made and it proved how thin the business model really was.
Commercial peak and the beginning of the commercial problem.