Lunar Silver Star Story promo toy question.

[den68]

http://www.icybrian.com/reviews/lunarsssc.jpg

yesterday at a thrift I picked up one of those boxing puppets of the guy with the sword in the above picture.

the box says "promotional item, not for resale". anyone know the story on this? it was in mint condition and only $4 bucks. they had another one, is it worth picking up?

[Anonymous]

I don't know where else they came from, but every year at E3 working designs has a mechanical crane where people can try to win those dolls. Not sure where else they come from, but I would be interested in buying/trading with you for both characters.

PM me if you're interested, please.

[Six Switch]

I have one of the other guy,and for $4 I think it is worth it.I would like another one myself! :)

[maxlords]

Hell, I'd buy that! It was originally a preorder giveaway for the Lunar PC game, but then they canned the game. I didn't know the Alex dolls were released at all. I have the Ghaleon one...I'd REALLY want the other one! The Ghaleon one came with preorders of Lunar Eternal Blue for PSX. If you want to sell me one of the Alex dolls, let me know!

[Kid Fenris]

Here's a release straight from the Working Designs website:

Wednesday, January 9th, 2002
"After years of fixes, changes, patches, and testing, we have finally decided to cancel Lunar:Silver Star Story for Windows/PC. The main problem was that a version of the software that was stable enough to meet our standards could not be delivered to us. An unfortunate side effect of this action is that the Alex puppet that was to be the premium item with this offering will now forever remain limited to the handful of manufacturing samples we had made."

I'd say that you have quite a collectible on your hands, Den. Get the other one if you can.

[zmeston]

http://www.icybrian.com/reviews/lunarsssc.jpg

yesterday at a thrift I picked up one of those boxing puppets of the guy with the sword in the above picture.

the box says "promotional item, not for resale". anyone know the story on this? it was in mint condition and only $4 bucks. they had another one, is it worth picking up?

You don't have the guy with the sword (Dragonmaster Alex), as that puppet was never manufactured; you have a puppet of Ghaleon, a white-haired dude with a funky tie.

Here's the story, as I originally wrote in PSE2 magazine about six months ago:

Videogame publishers occasionally resort to tchotchkes -- T-shirts, CDs, keychains, and other fun-but-useless crap -- to entice you into pre-ordering their games. But the coolest tchotchke of all time, and one you can now find only on eBay, is the Ghaleon "Limited Edition Interactive Amusement," better known as the Ghaleon punching puppet. Working Designs offered the GPP as a pre-order incentive for Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete, which was (and still is) the company's most lavish RPG production to date, and the toy went over very well -- with the five consumers who were able to get them, since many software-store employees jacked the GPPs for themselves.

As you might expect, the GPP is all my fault. During my three-year stint at Working Designs (a period of my life I now refer to as "The Madness"), I decorated my desk with a slew of goodies I'd been sent by videogame companies over the years. One of those attention-getting presents was a punching dinosaur, send out to promote the 3DO version of the Atari coin-op fighting game Primal Rage, in which various prehistoric beasts played rough with each other. One day, WD president Victor Ireland saw me entertaining my coworkers with the puppet and, rather than fire me or call the local mental institution, came up with the idea of turning the Lunar series' most popular character into a boxing fool.

Ghaleon's head-mold was sculpted in Japan by a group called Heavy Gauge, under the direction of Lunar's character designer, and it's simply stunning; with his sunken cheeks, flour-shaded skin, and reptilian red eyes, Ghaleon is the plastic embodiment of his videogame self. I wrote the copy on the back of the box, which states in part, "We know that Ghaleon looks a little scary, but we promise that, unlike most other puppets, this one will not come to life and try to suffocate you in your sleep."

WD intended to follow up Ghaleon with a second Lunar character, Dragonmaster Alex (whose prototype is pictured on the GPP box), but the initial promotion was such a disaster, and the production costs so high, that Alex weren't never made.

[zmeston]

Here's a release straight from the Working Designs website:

Wednesday, January 9th, 2002
"After years of fixes, changes, patches, and testing, we have finally decided to cancel Lunar:Silver Star Story for Windows/PC. The main problem was that a version of the software that was stable enough to meet our standards could not be delivered to us. An unfortunate side effect of this action is that the Alex puppet that was to be the premium item with this offering will now forever remain limited to the handful of manufacturing samples we had made."

I'd say that you have quite a collectible on your hands, Den. Get the other one if you can.

Every manufacturing sample of Dragonmaster Alex (none of which were ever boxed, which gives away the game right there) remains in the permanent possession of Victor Ireland, WD's president. I was heavily involved in the production process, personally gave each Alex sample to Victor, and watched him take each one home.

[Bratwurst]

OMG BBQ PICS PLZ

[den68]

I went back and grabbed that other puppet. they were both this Ghaleon dude. apparently he's no big deal. I thought he looked kind of like the guy with the sword.

here's a pic anyway.

http://www.quikey-c.com/den1/elements/lunar.JPG

[hamburgler]

looks pretty rare to me.

[maxlords]

looks pretty rare to me.

I have a rare Mario/Duck Hunt to sell you.


Seriously though, cool puppet! :)

[Kid Fenris]

Even if he's not rare, he's at least the single coolest piece of promotional game merchandise ever.

I always thought it strange that WD didn't make a punching puppet of Jean from Lunar 2. That would have made sense.

[zmeston]

Even if he's not rare, he's at least the single coolest piece of promotional game merchandise ever.

I always thought it strange that WD didn't make a punching puppet of Jean from Lunar 2. That would have made sense.

Ghaleon was supposed to be a preorder incentive for Lunar 1... but, Working Designs being Working Designs, it took more than a year to get the puppet made, by which time Lunar 1 had already shipped.

Victor wanted to do a Borgan puppet for Lunar 2, and we had a head mold made, but it never reached the prototype stage. The scantily-clad Jean wouldn't have worked as a puppet -- you need a character with a full-body outfit.

-- Z.