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 Battle Armor Skeletor USA can be identified by its bold yellow face mask, dark green outer mask, and blue/red eye paint application. The chest emblem is pink, with a neon green outline and bright silver battle damage slashes. The torso has purple tones, and the purple boots have a fish-hook paint motif.
Marked © MATTEL INC. 1981. 1983 U.S. PAT. PEND. U.S.A., the figure comes in 2 distinct variants. The French-style torso variant, and the Taiwan-style torso variant.
The French-style torso variant has narrow shoulders, and a face application with sharp, yellow face paint and a blueish hood. The Taiwan-style torso variant has wider shoulders, with the arm joints extending out from the torso. The face application has rounder, yellow face paint on a purple hood. The French-style torso variant is essentially a Mexico-Marked BA Skeletor, except for the USA marking.
Both variants share the same weapons. A sword marked USA (with SKU and a 30 or 31 batch number), and a no COO staff, except for 2 digit batch number (30 or 31). Both weapons are gummy and flexible.
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:
1. Bold yellow face mask, dark green outer mask, blue and red eyes
2. Pink emblem with a neon outline
3. Purple torso tones
4. Purple boots with fish hook motif
VARIATIONS:
1. French-style torso
2. Taiwan-style torso