SUMMARY:
Battle Armor Skeletor, the “evil lord of destruction” was produced in Taiwan, Mexico (Mabamex + Aurimat), Venezuela, Argentina, Spain, India, and France. Equipped with an ingenious “battle damage” action feature that had three damage indicators, as the chest is struck, the emblem changes from undamaged, to one slash, to two slashes.
The Aurimat Battle Armor Skeletor was released in the second year of the Los Amos del Universo production (1985). The first year it was released with a France-marked torso, a callus in the right hand for better handling of weapons, and all accessories marked HONG KONG. The bat emblem is red with an emerald green outline. This figure came with both a vibrant face paint and, and a muted (ghost face) paint app. The boots are a medium purple hue to match the torso.
The following year of production (1986) Aurimat used Taiwan molds and TAIWAN marked accessories. These no longer have a hand callus. The face app on these tends o have more elongated yellow triangles, but some can have paint apps similar to the France-marked BA Skeletor. Three different bat emblem paint apps are found. Red bat with a dark green outline, a purple bat with a dark green outline, or a pink bat with a light green emblem. The boots can be a dark purple that matches the darker torso, or a very dark (almost black) shade.
While this variant shares the (American release) Battle Armor Taiwan weapons mold, its weapons are easily distinguished from the standard American release weapons in color and feel. The Aurimat weapons are darker, more rigid, and are a close match to standard HONG KONG marked weapons (as far as color and flexibility).
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:
1. Pale blue skin tones
2. Dark boots on the Taiwan marked
3. Soft rubber head
4. Pointy (HK Style) yellow face paint application
5. Hand callus on some releases
FIRST WAVE (1985):
(All have a hand callus)
1. (Red bat, Emerald Green Outline), Vibrant Face
2. (Red bat, Emerald Green Outline), Muted (Ghost) Face
ALL MARKED: © Mattel. Inc. 1981. 1983. FRANCE
ALL ACCESSORIES MARKED: HONG KONG
SECOND WAVE (1986):
(No hand callus)
1. Bat Color 1 (Purple bat, emerald green outline)
2. Bat Color 2 (Purple bat, lime green outline)
3. Bat Color 3 (Red bat, emerald green outline - same as France marked)
ALL MARKED: © Mattel. Inc. TAIWAN 1981. 1983.
ALL ACCESSORIES MARKED: TAIWAN
Addendum: I’ve seen second wave, Taiwan marked BA Skeletors with callus on hands before, but at this point I’m not 100% convinced they aren’t hand swaps, so I’ve omitted them.
