Box Art Archives: A Tribute to Paul Alexander
Tuesday, August 9. 2011
I've been asked a few times about the "1984" in "spencer1984," and no - it's not my birth year (I'd been kicking around for quite a few years by then). It was actually a reference to the car I had when I first registered my e-mail address. In the following years, the number became more and more appropriate as I realized just how many of the things I enjoy had their debut that year: Transformers, Wheeled Warriors, Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, The Terminator, and Gremlins just to name a few. One other property that first appeared that year but seems largely forgotten today was Robotix, Milton Bradley's modern take on the classic Erector Sets. The series' obscurity is too bad...not just because they were pretty decent toys, but because they had what remains some of my favorite box art of all time, courtesy of artist Paul Alexander.
Click to enlarge
Toy collectors often wax nostalgic about box art, usually citing the vivid paintings that have been largely replaced with simpler line art, CGI images, or straight product photos. But as great as that art was, it did generally suffer from the fact that you could never make the toy inside the box look like the art. Even Prowl's simple wide stance was impossible on a toy that featured zero leg articulation. Alexander, however, managed to faithfully recreate the actual figures down to the smallest detail. You could build all four of the original Robotix sets based on nothing more than the box art.
Then came the truly genius part: Alexander drew upon his work as a science fiction artist, and these faithful reproductions were scaled up to titanic proportions and placed in fantastic locations. Venturak was no longer just a toy, it was a Protecton Surface Trakker that was exploring an unstable outpost (with bonus points awarded for the alternate build of Venturak visible in the background); Tyrannix was a Terrokor Night Attacker hovering menacingly over the unknowing pilots patrolling below; Bront was a Protecton All-Terrain Crawler picking its way carefully across the frozen ice shelf of a foreign world; Argus was the Protecton Leader roaring through a valley on a strange planet. That combination of realism and fantasy lent an extra dimension to both the art and the toy. Like all great sci-fi pieces, the figures were clearly "real," but the settings were ambiguous enough to spark the imagination of the viewer.
Much like the Robotix series itself, information about Alexander can be difficult to come by. He was born September 3, 1937 in Richmond, Indiana and graduated from Wittenberg University and The Art Center College of Design. He worked in the architectural and advertising fields after graduation, showing an aptitude for mechanical devices. His first work as a cover artist came in 1977 with the reprint of The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction, and he went on to produce art for over 100 titles. Though his work has a definite style, he makes things even easier for collectors by having one of the most readable signatures in the art world (generally to the right of mechs' feet in these four pieces). For more information about Alexander's work, including a checklist of titles, visit Jeff Elmquist's Paperback Fantasies.
In the end, things simply didn't work out for Robotix. Hasbro bought Milton Bradley in 1984, and with the success of Transformers they didn't need to keep the underwhelming Robotix cartoon or comic book: the series was canceled after the 15 six-minute shorts produced for the Super Sunday program, while the comic was limited to a single issue. The toyline continued under the MB banner until 1994, when it was transferred to Learning Curve Brands. Learning Curve then sold the various sets in toy stores through 2001. Today, several sets are still available as educational toys via Robotics and Things (Bront has since become the "Robotix 2000" and Argus has become the "Robotix 4000" - Venturak and Tyrannix have been replaced with sets like the K9 and Robot Commander).
I recently had the opportunity to pick the final original piece for my collection (having missed Bront the first time around, getting him in his later "product photo" box). Finding sets in decent condition is actually pretty easy, though finding a set with a clean box is a bit trickier. Still, with a little persistence it can be done, and from my perspective it's well worth it. The largest box (Argus) measures just under two feet across, making the front panel the perfect size for framing and hanging as part of a sci-fi art collection. It's not too often that I can say that about box art, but I plan to do just that with all four of these.
The last I had heard, Paul Alexander was in semi-retirement in Ohio. I'd be interested in learning what the "semi-" part means, and if he's ever touring shows, conventions, etc. If you have any information, please send me an e-mail or leave a comment below.
Click to enlarge
Then came the truly genius part: Alexander drew upon his work as a science fiction artist, and these faithful reproductions were scaled up to titanic proportions and placed in fantastic locations. Venturak was no longer just a toy, it was a Protecton Surface Trakker that was exploring an unstable outpost (with bonus points awarded for the alternate build of Venturak visible in the background); Tyrannix was a Terrokor Night Attacker hovering menacingly over the unknowing pilots patrolling below; Bront was a Protecton All-Terrain Crawler picking its way carefully across the frozen ice shelf of a foreign world; Argus was the Protecton Leader roaring through a valley on a strange planet. That combination of realism and fantasy lent an extra dimension to both the art and the toy. Like all great sci-fi pieces, the figures were clearly "real," but the settings were ambiguous enough to spark the imagination of the viewer.
Click to enlarge
Much like the Robotix series itself, information about Alexander can be difficult to come by. He was born September 3, 1937 in Richmond, Indiana and graduated from Wittenberg University and The Art Center College of Design. He worked in the architectural and advertising fields after graduation, showing an aptitude for mechanical devices. His first work as a cover artist came in 1977 with the reprint of The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction, and he went on to produce art for over 100 titles. Though his work has a definite style, he makes things even easier for collectors by having one of the most readable signatures in the art world (generally to the right of mechs' feet in these four pieces). For more information about Alexander's work, including a checklist of titles, visit Jeff Elmquist's Paperback Fantasies.
Click to enlarge
In the end, things simply didn't work out for Robotix. Hasbro bought Milton Bradley in 1984, and with the success of Transformers they didn't need to keep the underwhelming Robotix cartoon or comic book: the series was canceled after the 15 six-minute shorts produced for the Super Sunday program, while the comic was limited to a single issue. The toyline continued under the MB banner until 1994, when it was transferred to Learning Curve Brands. Learning Curve then sold the various sets in toy stores through 2001. Today, several sets are still available as educational toys via Robotics and Things (Bront has since become the "Robotix 2000" and Argus has become the "Robotix 4000" - Venturak and Tyrannix have been replaced with sets like the K9 and Robot Commander).
I recently had the opportunity to pick the final original piece for my collection (having missed Bront the first time around, getting him in his later "product photo" box). Finding sets in decent condition is actually pretty easy, though finding a set with a clean box is a bit trickier. Still, with a little persistence it can be done, and from my perspective it's well worth it. The largest box (Argus) measures just under two feet across, making the front panel the perfect size for framing and hanging as part of a sci-fi art collection. It's not too often that I can say that about box art, but I plan to do just that with all four of these.
The last I had heard, Paul Alexander was in semi-retirement in Ohio. I'd be interested in learning what the "semi-" part means, and if he's ever touring shows, conventions, etc. If you have any information, please send me an e-mail or leave a comment below.
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Seeing the art work for that R-1500 kit sure does bring back memories. I always loved building toys, and Robotix constructs didn't generally look like a building toy. At least, not as much as Erector sets and Legos did. Their semi-scale looks and provisions for action figures really set them apart.
I was crushed, when the action figure that came with mine came up missing. It had become one of my favorite figures, just because it looked so cool.
I was crushed, when the action figure that came with mine came up missing. It had become one of my favorite figures, just because it looked so cool.
Many, many thanks to you for compiling all this info. I've been on & off obsessed with finding out anything about the origins of the original Robotix box art for the past couple years, as I've always been fascinated by them (I had Argus and Tyrannix both as a child). I went so far as to contact Hasbro via email a year or so ago asking if they knew who the artist was but never received a reply. I also emailed robotsandthings.com about whether they had any leftover MB packaging or instruction booklets (particularly Tyrannix as the full art piece was used for the booklet cover, and unobscured by inset images of the kit unlike the box cover). Robotsandthings were happy to reply and suggested I call them but I have yet to do so (things keep coming up forcing me to set this project aside). Sadly I just missed a sealed, unopened Tyrannix kit on eBay by only two days!
Also, many thanks for the great box cover scans! These are the only ones online of this quality and I've been looking on & off for some time now.
Also, many thanks for the great box cover scans! These are the only ones online of this quality and I've been looking on & off for some time now.
Thanks, nice to hear from more fans of this art! I had also tried contacting Hasbro, but they told me that everything left over from the MB acquisition was pretty much gone. It's too bad, I'd love to see the originals of these.
I absolutely love the art for this line! I was dissapointed, even as a child, when they stopped using this style of box and went for the blue with graph line bacgrounds. I have been a collector of Kenner/Hasbro related items for nearly 2 decades and live in the Cincinnati area where Kenner (Hasbro after the merger took place) headquaters was located. Based on what you learned from Hasbro and what I know about the consolidating and moving of archival material from Cincinnati to Pawtucket, RI, all of these material were likely thrown away. This is yet another tragic realization of Kenners last days as they were forced, management, to scrap these priceless items here in Cincinnati 
Thank you so much for finding these and researching about Mr. Alexander. Such great artwork! Really gives me that old nostalgic feeling of Christmases past. Keep up the good work!
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