The Story of Photon: The TV Show! The Video Game! The Action Figures! 

Happy to report that the Photon Documentary is progressing nicely. We hope to have filming complete by the end of Spring. Thanks for the plug!!!

Okay, Reddit: start propping up that Photon stock

RIP Jim, Sweetie Squad 4 Lyfe

Mandarr goes hard. He was a great villain. David Stay is the truth. I dig his Stayte of Mind show on RU-vid.

I loved Metokur's streams about this show, absolutely hilarious

Doesn't "with lasers" describe about 95% of the 80's?

Finally! I thought this show was childhood fever dream

Fountain Valley Photon was the best ever. Went so many times in the summer of 87. Great memories!

Shinji Aramaki, who did the effects has a long career as a designer and director in Japan, most recently he's been one of the big proponents of CGI anime - he directed all three Appleseed movies, Captain Harlock, the two Starship Troopers CG movies, and most recently the Ultraman and Ghost in the Shell TV shows that are Netflix co-productions.

i still have my Photon ID card from Wildwood, New Jersey. I wouldn’t even bother going to the beach, and spent all day and night playing. Those were great times.

A few years ago we went to a laser tag place for my mates birthday. The guns looked more like stormtrooper blasters. The whole thing was outside so it felt like the battle of Endor. Loads of fun until one of our group stepped in a rabbit hole and broke and dislocated his ankle.

Tivia's actress Loretta Heywood has a Facebook for her music and Mandarr has a channel Stayte of Mind with David Stay if anyone wanted to check them out for the nostalgia. Loretta still looks amazing and her voice is lovely.

I distinctly remember seeing Photon at Kay-Bee Toys. Right next to the M.U.S.C.L.E.S and GUTS! and across from the Karate Kid figures and Karate Kommandos. I ended up with a Montgomery Moose from the Get-a-Long Gang. I'm old.

As a really little kid I used to love watching this show, mainly because it was the only thing airing on Sunday mornings in my area that wasn't either a political talk show or a church show. I honor it nowadays by naming my ship on Star Trek Online the USS Bhodi Li.

"You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with ficken photon beams attached to their heads!"

I'm from Earth. Can confirm that this is the ultimate game on our planet.

As a kid I always got Photon and Captain Power confused with each other. I loved the Captain Power show but always called it "Photon" (I didn't like the Photon show, all that green screen was disorienting). After the Internet became a thing I would Google "Photon" but the results wouldn't be what I expected so I thought I imagined it all until Toy Galaxy cleared it up, and now confirmed I wasn't losing my mind (as much) with THIS video. So thank you TG! 😜

Toy Galaxy: "LJN" * AVGN twitches *

I'm from Dallas. I played this in the Garland facility back in the 80s.

For my 12th birthday, my father took me and some of my friends to Photon Garland TX Arena. Had a blast, but did kind of get annoyed with the fans shooting you, which one was my father. Thanks Dad. Great memories.

Funny enough, a basic VCR remote control be used to zap the Photon sensors.

God I miss the old Photon arenas. Those things rocked back in the 80s.

My uncle bought a creepy old farmhouse in the late 80s/early 90s. The place seemed to have a thousand doors. Like, every bedroom had a door to the outside. In addition to a door into the hallway, of course, every bedroom has a door into the adjacent bedroom. It as like something out of a Scooby Doo chase scene. Anyway, in the basement we found an empty Photon pistol box. Who were the weirdos that lived in the house before him, that somehow had enough cash to be into Photon, too? I had hoped they had left it behind somehow, but no such luck.

Owned the guns. Owned the novels. Watched the show. Played in a Photon center in Jersey. It was awesome. This brings back good memories.

RIP to the great David Stay.

Where is my boy Mandarr? Needed at least 2 minutes to explain who the bad guys were, since that's a funny story all in its self. Bohdi's arch rival! The good guy's coke to the bad guys Mentos! Good vid. Blast from the past.

10:19 "Brian Austin Green LOL" LMMFAO 😂🤣😂 It's just hella funny that you pointed that out. I fuckin remember that commercial too

Thanks Dan this is great! I can assure you that all 26 episodes remain. I was involved with a group that worked to reopen the company from 1997-2001. The shows and books were part of the plan to reopen. Disney had recently bought DiC at the time. We worked on restoring the series for a DVD/VHS release. Like you mentioned, the music has always caused the hang up. Maybe one day it will get a true release! Fan following is definitely growing!

I was a regular on the leader boards at my local Photon arena. Those were the days.

I remember asking for Lazer Tag for Christmas when I was a kid. My brother and I got Photon instead. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't the "cool brand" of Lazer Tag, but we had a lot of fun with Photon.

This show, laser tag, and the Mr Roboto music video are one big 80s sci-fi mush in my head.

I love this show. When I started to use RU-vid. This was one of the first things I looked up.

I love playing at the Photon arena at the Harvey, Illinois location back in '87 and' 88! Some of the best fun of my teens, and got me ready to play with MILES gear. 😁

Used to go to the Kenilworth NJ Photon arena back when I was 20 years old. I would finish a game soaking wet from sweat. The group of us were pretty competitive.

I believe this is what Tom Hanks is playing in Big.

Brings back all the memories - as a kid I used to play Photon in NJ and Long Island. Used to have a Photon lunchbox, novel and watched the silly show!

I remember seeing the action figures once at SEARS. My brother and I liked to go into SEARS because that was the only store that had the the last wave of REMCO Wrestlers. We saw the two pack of PHOTON figures with main character guy, and 4 armed dude. We thought they were cool looking, but the $50.00 price tag was awe inspiring. I know modern action figure enthusiasts are comfortable with the idea of paying that much for two figures, but this was 1986!!! Seriously, did any kid have these? Adjusted for inflation, that's about $120.00 in today's money, which is 60 bucks per figure. I couldn't talk my parents into buying us the USS FLAG, so I knew it was pointless to attempt to acquire these. For the record, I was 10 years old in 1986, so it's not like I could go get a job. Mowing a lawn might land you 5 bucks back then. Basically I'm saying I'm not at all surprised these aren't common finds in the secondary market. That handful of rich kids who got Photon figures must still have have them.

It takes two phasers to tag lasers.

Let the Darkness Grow! Shout out to Uncle David Staye over at Stayte of Mind TV

The weird thing is I just found my Photon I.D. card yesterday from 1986!!!

I still have the books, they definitely rose above the source material thanks to Peter David

Still remember watching the Photon live-action show early Saturday mornings at 7:30 am here in Philadelphia on channel 57. Ahhh, the 80's.

I still have my Photon Picture I.D. Card from 4th Grade. The Arena had fog machines and flashing strobe lights. The last time I went I got sick and threw up outside in the back alley.

I played at the Photon in Virginia Beach around '87 too. Most recently I played Photon in Falls Church, Va, in the early 2010s.

This was absolutely my jam when I was 3. It is one of the few things I remember from my earliest memories, besides Star Wars.

I loved Photon as a kid. I was legit hooked on the show and thought it was the coolest thing ever.

I loved Photon. I lived 10 minutes from the original arena and always went there all the time. My friends and I all had the home sets also. The 80's had the best toys.

I played at a Photon Arena in Mt. Prospect, IL (a western suburb of Chicago). Myself, my then-wife, and an assortment of friends that would change from week-to-week. There were two courses within the arena. We went on Sundays when they had a special...play all day, all day meaning 12p-6p, for $20. With games costing $5 a pop at all other times, this was a fantastic deal. One time, I was running down a ramp in the largest course, "Omega." I was running a little too fast, tripped, and rolled halfway down. This is where you used a safety net. You removed your helmet and yelled (depending on which color helmet you wore) "RED! RAMP! DOWN!" Staff would assist you and removing the helmet was a signal to opposing team members to not shoot at you until you were ready. We had a blast once a week. They also had leagues that competed for prizes, but we never joined up.

I had the green one!!! I saw Photon on the locale news and thought it was cool. And it was. I never went to the Photon Arena. They were not around me. I was the only kid that had one. I still had one. I still had fun with it. I even wear it for Halloween one year. It was cool! Thanks for the video and the trip down memory lane 😁

Photon Lazer tag and roller skating! I still remember those fun days of being a kid and saving the universe!

Is any one else going to be talking about the weird dancing guy at the beginning of the video? No just me? Ok then lol

My brother and I had a Red and Green helmet sets. My dad got them for us at a department store on the Ft. Bragg army base. I'm surprised someone else remembered these things.

I saw a Dancing man in the intro, or was it a fever dream.

Man, the best birthday parties from my childhood were the ones at the Photon arena in Harvey IL. I begged every friend to have theirs there. Could never get enough.

"John Stossel had fun." That's not something you hear a lot.

Finding a Photon Helmet at a thrift store (circa 2015) was one of the happiest moments in my adult life. Never had one as a kid.

I had the pleasure of playing in a Photon arena as a kid. It was ridiculously fun, even though I was tackled by a random older kid, held down and repeatedly shot over and over. This is because a random older kid on my team flying tackled him off me and we both unloaded on him (after my penalty time for being shot was up).

I spent most of the summer of 1985 hanging out at my local Photon arena in Aurora, CO... Playing Photon and "Gauntlet." What a great summer...

I was born in '87. I played a game (five rounds) of laser tag in February, it was awesome!

Holy shit, got this for Christmas as a kid. Been trying to remember the name of this for *FOREVER* and couldn't come up with it. Remember literally nothing about this other than the action figures looked cool.

I'm sitting here watching this and having my mind blown to find out that the first "laser" gun toy comes from South Bend Indiana while I'm maybe 5 miles away from it right now. That brought a smile to my face. Simple pleasures, simple pleasures.

I highly enjoy these videos because of your wonderful personality and relatable nature. It was truly hilarious having your rival Game Dave over and having him dancing during the credits and the intro. You two are a fun whacky match! This video is very well done! Photon was before my time but I still enjoyed this video a lot!

Damn, I remember my brother and I getting up at 6am every Saturday Morning back in 1987 just to watch Photon. For some reason, that was the time our local cable station aired the show, but I used to get real excited for it and sure miss those times lol

There was an amazing novel in the series which I remember reading. The ending was that basically there is this god of good and god of evil playing a game of chess. The main character lands on the board. Essentially one side has one and that was going to be the end of all existence. He says, why stop now? Why not try again and see who wins? At the time, it was a mind blowing experience for me as a kid to think of reality in that way. Some higher entities treating all of reality as a game board. So, yeah, the book series was pretty awesome. :)

I grew up in Garland and I was addicted to this place. For 5 dollars, you could play 2 rounds and I would beg my mom to take me there. I still have my Photon card from the place and because I loved the movie Top Gun, my nickname was IceMan; such great memories.

I always get such wonderful tidbits from your show. I had no idea it was originally a stadium style game first. Memories, memories..awesome episode!

I played at the Photon Arena in Tempe AZ. I still have my ID card. I remember a middle aged overweight guy, always had top scores. He would never run just walked around picking players off. Because he exploited a weakness in the game. He knew the timing between when a player was shot(when shot your were out for a so many seconds), then brought back into the game. Thus were fodder for the wise player. Most players didn't know this trick. I only learned it years later playing other laser tag type toys. It would be fun to go back to an old arena using the original gear. But most today would complain about the bulky battery belt we had to wear. It was a lot of fun, I do miss stuff like that.

I played "laser tag" at a place called Q-Zar in Concord, CA. in the '90s and at a place called Pharaoh's Lost Kingdom in Redlands, CA. in the '00s. Q-Zar had 2 bases and charging stations and played more like Search and Destroy but with respawns as your objective was to destroy the other teams base. Pharaoh's was just a straight up Deathmatch, team with the most kills wins. Q-Zar had score sheets they gave to the players after the match and there was a TV showing how people ranked against each other.

I use to watch the Photon show when I was a kid!

Why isn't half this video about Mandarr?

My dad used to take me to the Photon arena in Wildwood. Ahhhh, those were the days...

Great time to grow up. We had lazer tag. We were so bummed when half our friends had photon and the other half lazer tag. Us kids thought they work together. Unfortunately they didn't. Lol

The only exposure I had ever had to Photon was having that read-along book that came with the audio cassette. I only ever read the book if I was playing the tape too, but often I would listen to the tape on its own. The production value was actually quite high for what it was. All the narration, voice acting, music and special effects were exceptionally well done and actually made it all sound extremely exciting. It seemed so obscure to me, though. Nobody else I knew or talked to had ever heard of Photon before (then or now), so I assumed it was some random one-off venture that went nowhere, and that I just got lucky in discovering a hidden gem. I had no idea it was a whole franchise until I was an adult. I'm not sure whatever happened to the book, but I'm sure I still have the cassette somewhere. I actually really would recommend listening to it if you somehow get the chance. I'd honestly put its quality up against anything else that came out during that time.

Awww man, Photon takes me back. Found out about when Universal Studios Hollywood had a promotion in park for Photon. Used to get my dad to drive me about 90 minutes once a month down to Fountain Valley to play on Sundays (when they had a all-day play special), and would sometimes play out in Las Vegas as well. I remember how heartbroken I was when I discovered that the Photon in Fountain Valley pretty much up and disappeared. I would always call on a Friday before heading down to make sure they still had their all-day play special, but this time, instead of getting Photon, I got a message saying the number had been changed. Tried calling that number but it was disconnected. Tried calling the Fountain Valley Chamber of Commerce and they had no idea. I didn't find out that it was closed until I thought to call the Del Taco that was in the same strip mall. I would go on to still play various laser tag systems over the years like QZar, Ultrazone; and managed a laser tag center (don't know what the official name of the system it used, but the center was called LazerPower in Santa Clarita),. Every so often I still get a hankering to play from time to time, if for no other reason than to see how things have progressed. Still do pretty well, especially for an "old" man. I will say though.. over all of the years, no Laser Tag center had as good of theming and immersion, and nowhere near as good of an arena design than the original Photon.

Hooray, I didn't imagine this! Nobody else remembers the giant Photon game center in the back of an old shopping mall next to the movie theater in my town. The theater is now a trade school and the mall is completely outdoor-access-only, but this video proves it was real!

Wow! Had this as a kid in 89/90 in the UK. Nostalgia right here 😁

“Ever feel like you’re just sayin’ words?” - Dan “May I mambo the dog face to the banana patch?” - Steve Martin

I still have my photon ID card from my local arena. Brings back the memories

Ever thought about doing a video on "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad" in the future?

Hey Dan, I think your Photon arena in Virginia Beach doubled as a teen club. My cousin used to go to dances at Photon in the 80’s in VA Beach!

As soon as I clicked, my son (3) saw Dan and the colourful background and exclaimed "Look! That's where the bad guys live!"... 😳 Umm...

I lived on Long Island, New York up until I was about 15. About a year before my family moved, they opened a Photon arena near me. I loved it!! For a while I would go every Friday. Everything inside was good, video game arcade, snack area, 2 arenas. But let me tell you something: even as a 15 year old I could see a problem with their business model. They were open most days and through the weekend, but they were open *during the day, Monday through Friday*, They would be empty during those hours. Everyone was at school during those hours. I know, seems like roller rink hours. But I still think keeping it open during the day when all the kids at school was silly.

As a kid I went to Photon in Kennilworth, NJ with my dad. It was always a great time. For the late 80s though it was kind of pricey at $5 per game for an adult and $3.75 for a kid. In cost per minute of entertainment it was much more than your average arcade so it was more of a "special treat". Plus the wait times were usually long because of the setup time to get geared up, waiting for the game to conclude and the final posting of the scores. The original Photon also had very few rules around running and jumping or diving behind obstacles for cover. On many occasions as a kid I would get smashed into by an adult 3 times my size barreling around the corner in the dark. Honestly, some of the most "phun" I ever had as a kid and memories I wouldn't trade for anything.

My parents bought me a red and green Photon helmet set for Christmas the year it came out! Me and my dad would often play at night and the glowing lights on the gear used to look awesome! I REALLY miss the 80's😢

Yes, I did. Oklahoma City. Drove down from Wichita, Ks. on weekends, with a friend along most trips. Regular trips, often a few times a month, from late 1985, I think, and into 1987. Luckily, there was a decent sized crowd of enthusiastic players like me who kept feeding it our money. As a result, that Photon Arena, as I recall, stayed open far longer than any other (or was among the last ones open and operational, at least) long after the parent company was gone. I heard, in the mid 1990s, that they were STILL operating; but had moved to a smaller space. They were able to remain open by rebranding to keep the doors open and had some computer nerds (like I was, and remain) keeping the actual heart of what made the Photon arena a truly amazing innovative experience: the scoring computer systems. Photon was wildly more advanced than Lazer Tag. It tracked hits wirelessly and live, so the scoreboard accurately displayed what was going on in the huge multilevel arena. The array of sensors did not just track 'hits' - but also a basic damage system that used far more than a single chest target. Hits degraded your power crystal (Ammo) and you had to shoot your own crystal to heal/recharge. The gear had over a dozen IR scattered over the helmet and harness. You could be hit in different places, not just in the middle of your chest. Lazer Tag was a cheap toy: a laughable joke compared to the far higher tech and far more ambitious Photon Arena. The board room 'geniuses' being prodded by greedy but clueless investors ruined Photon with all the marketing garbage. An insultingly vapid TV show and cheap toy junk. Photon was poused to become a high tech sport, with upgrades to the tech over time. Which would have gone as mainstream as auto racing, football, baseball, soccer, or any competitive team sport. It was amazing. Your writeup did not cover, except for a bare mention of the data encoded into the IR beams without mentioning how that was used, all that differentiated it from the far inferior me-too junk that flooded the market (including the Photon home system toys). The actual Photon was the Photon Arena.

I was not expecting the VA Beach, Virginia shot out at the end. I remember going to a Tag place near Lynnhaven Mall here when I was younger, perhaps the same facility :-)

I have so many fond memories of hitting up the Photon arena with my friends!

I remember my family receiving two Photon sets with helmets one year for Christmas. My brother, 6 years older than myself, lost interest quickly and it just became target practice for my 4 or 5 year old self. 10-ish years later a place opens up called LazerQuest and my brother becomes someone who goes there weekly. Buys a membership, gets involved in a league, etc. Bunch of guys there take names of Transformers characters and...well, it's a fun place. Eventually my brother falls out of it and the place sticks around until it closed a few years ago. Kind of a shame. They had a good thing going, despite seeming to never have updated anything there ever. Trying to remember if the last time I was there, which would have been 2009, they still had the same Mortal Kombat 3 machine.

You guys are like time lords of my youth! I really appreciate are the hard work yall put in to educating me on the products that shaped my life! Thank you!

I played in the Toronto Photon arena and had the red set of home game armour. I loved it. Thanks for the memories!

My parents got me a Photon rig when it first came out. It was the coolest thing.

Great research Dan! Seeing the MILES gear brought back not so great memories. We wore vests and gear on our Kevlar helmets so we could get “tagged”.Each MILES device for the M-16s had a key that could turn it on and off. There was a “god” gun that supporting staff could use to zap you or reset your gear once you were hit.

In the hay-day of Laser-Tag, we all had a blast no pun intended! I wish they still had places to play Laser-Tag. We had one in our home town and everyone went there when we were kids. I also remember getting a Photon Laser-Tag set for Christmas. We had good fun with those!

I was fortunate enough to play at the arena in Maryland a couple of times. Had a great time - lots of good memories.

Gosh...that ad...gives me goosebumps!

I played at a Photon arena somewhere in SoCal back in the mid-late 80's. I was a kid. I did terrible. But I also remember having a ton of fun! I remember seeing the action figures in Toy's-R-Us all the time and coveted them *SO* much. Just a few years ago I finally finished re-collecting the kid's books and honestly, they were really fun and went kinda dark at times too. And a series shot mainly on blue screen? *No one* would really watch something like that! Never not in a mando-illion years. Honestly, this is a brand I'd like to see revive. It was some fun space opera that *isn't* the usual brand.

I live in the North Texas area and remember the rapid rise and fall of Photon. I never got to play it due to being poor, but I knew people who loved it.

A baby's toy. Much appreciated Back to the Future reference ;)

I have no recollection of watching Photon in 1986; to my knowledge, I saw that show for the first time here on RU-vid.

Photon. The number one birthday spot in the Chicago suburbs back in the day!!!!!