Dragon Blaster Skeletor
SUMMARY:
The Aurimat can be identified by its large lilac boots and soft head with Hong Kong-style face paint. The armor is dark purple, with bright red highlights, and the top of the armor is red, as opposed to the purple top generally seen on Mexico or Hong Kong releases. The purple highlights on the dragon are sharply defined, as opposed to faded out (like on the Mexico or HK).
The Aurimat Dragon Blaster was released in the third year (1986) of the Los Amos production. The figure has two distinct marking variants. The most common is marked © Mattel Inc 1981, but there exists a rarer version marked © Mattel Inc 1981 MEXICO. The faces of the figure can either be muted tones similar to a ghost-face Skeletor, or it can be the more vibrant yellow tones of a vibrant face Skeletor.
The armor comes in two variants. The interior of the front of the armor can either be smooth, or it can have the texture markings of the chest/abdominal muscles. In any case, the figure was sold with tape on the interior of the front armor, so it's very common to see these with tape residue on the inside.
The lock comes in two variants as well, a version with a tiny batch number (Mabamex mold), or a version with no batch numbers (hk mold). On either occasion, the locks are more rigid than either Mabamex or Hong Kong locks. Likewise with the cuff/chain accessory.
Lastly, the sword is very similar to a Mabamex DB skelly weapon (same mold), but its darker, and semi-rigid plastic (as opposed to the softer, gummier Mabamex sword).
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:
1. Big Lilac boots
2. Soft head, Hong Kong-like face paint
3. Dark purple armor, with top in red (as opposed to purple)
4. Sharply defined purple lines on the dragon
5. Dark (Mabamex-style) semi-rigid sword
VARIATIONS:
1. Marked: © Mattel Inc 1981
2. Marked: © Mattel Inc 1981 MEXICO
FIGURE MARKED: © Mattel Inc 1981 or © Mattel Inc 1981 MEXICO
BACK ARMOR MARKED: © MATTEL INC 1984 MEXICO SKU 2059 + Batch No. 9, 10 or 11
FRONT ARMOR MARKED: SKU 2069 + Batch No. 9, 10 or 11
LOCK & CUFF MARKED: Either a batch number such as a 10, or blank.