After Lego, these were my second favorite toy in the 80s. I'm only one figure away from having a complete collection! Still need about 14 weapons, though... All except one have working rubs.

Do you oldfigs remember these? They were actually based on a Transformers one-off episode where the Transformers went to a planet full of humanoid animals called Beastformers. Released in the US as "Battle Beasts," they were 2" armored anthropomorphic animal action figures with only two points of articulation (their arms) and they came with a unique weapon to hold. Their torso featured a heat sensitive sticker or "rub" that would reveal a symbol when you held your finger over it -- wood, water, or fire. It was a rock-paper-scissors mechanic where fire beat wood, wood beat water, and water beat fire.

They were followed by Laser Beasts, which were a little more detailed and featured a sort of marble with the elemental symbol that could be seen by holding them up to a light that would shine through the pinhole in their back. Those were a lot more uncommon in the US and as a result their second-hand market prices are a bit higher than standard Battle Beasts. More recently there were "Beast Saga" figures that were sort of a revival of this classic line, featuring more detail and color but not as high quality in materials (IMO) and swapping out the wood/water/fire aspect for a dice game where they could launch dice out of their chest.

Long live this amazing line of toys!