Items14The creator’s order
  1. 1The Real Ghostbusters (1986)The Real Ghostbusters (1986) 7.6/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 13, 1986The best-written cartoon of the toy boom, and the one that rewards grown-up eyes the most. J. Michael Straczynski was chief writer and story editor for its first few seasons, and the scripts are witty and sometimes genuinely chilling, because the show trusted kids to enjoy being scared. Lorenzo…0
  2. 2The Transformers (1984)The Transformers (1984) 8.0/10 on IMDbFirst aired Oct 6, 1984The robots-in-disguise war that every other toy cartoon tried to copy. Peter Cullen created the voice of Optimus Prime in 1984, and that steady, fatherly baritone is still the reason the Autobot leader feels like a character rather than a box on a shelf. The 98 episodes are uneven, but the arc is…0
  3. 3ThunderCats (1985)ThunderCats (1985) 7.9/10 on IMDbFirst aired Jan 23, 1985The best-looking show here. ThunderCats was animated in Japan by Pacific Animation Corporation, and the fluid fights and moody lighting still stand apart from the stiffer American toy cartoons of the era. Mumm-Ra, the decaying sorcerer in his pyramid, is one of the decade's great villains, and the…0
  4. 4G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983)G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983) 7.3/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 12, 1983The Sunbow original, two miniseries followed by two full seasons, is gloriously bonkers: a huge cast of specialists, Cobra plots involving weather machines and super-soldiers, and laser fire that somehow never hits anyone. That sprawling roster is exactly what made the figures so collectible, and…0
  5. 5Dungeons & Dragons (1983)Dungeons & Dragons (1983) 8.1/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 17, 1983The easiest binge on the list: just 27 episodes aired between September 1983 and December 1985, so a long weekend covers all of it. Six friends stuck in a fantasy realm, a cryptic Dungeon Master and the villain Venger give it a darker, more serialized feel than most Saturday-morning fare. It never…0
  6. 6Robotech (1985)Robotech (1985) 8.5/10 on IMDbFirst aired Mar 4, 1985The one for viewers who want real story arcs. Robotech was stitched together from three separate Japanese series to reach the episode count American syndication demanded, opening with the Macross saga, and the result plays as a sweeping three-part space war across 85 episodes. Its romance and…0
  7. 7He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983)He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983) 7.6/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 5, 1983Filmation made 130 episodes over two seasons, and they look stiffer and cheaper than ThunderCats. What carries them now is Skeletor, a skull-faced schemer whose tantrums at his useless henchmen play as pure comedy to adult ears. The writing bench was stronger than its reputation, with Paul Dini…0
  8. 8Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) 7.9/10 on IMDbFirst aired Dec 14, 1987Pizza jokes, surfer slang and four brothers with clearly drawn personalities: the 1987 Turtles is the goofiest show on this list, and that is why it still works. The bickering between Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo lands better than the fights, and Shredder and Krang make a…0
  9. 9She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985)She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985) 6.7/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 9, 1985He-Man's twin sister got the better premise. Instead of guarding a castle, She-Ra leads the Great Rebellion against Hordak and the Evil Horde, so the stakes feel closer to a war story, and the supporting cast of rebels gives it more warmth than its parent show. Start with the film The Secret of…0
  10. 10BraveStarr (1987)BraveStarr (1987) 7.1/10 on IMDbFirst aired Sep 14, 1987Filmation's final cartoon series is a space Western set on the planet New Texas, with a marshal whose supernatural abilities keep the frontier in line. It is lovingly produced and stranger than you remember, which makes it a fine rediscovery. One episode is the reason people still talk about it:…0