Can Anyone Help Identify My DBZ Toy Collection?

[Nimbus]

Hey guys! It being the Christmas season, I was reflecting back on some of the cool gifts I received when I was growing up. Without a doubt the best one was the year (2001 I believe) that I got a giant bag stuffed full of DBZ toys. My parents apparently bought them really cheap on eBay. Some of the faces look a little bit funky so I always assumed they were some kind of knock-offs, but I didn't care! There were a good 30-40 figures in there with tons of these obscure characters that I didn't even recognize, so it was a super exciting gift. I played with these little guys to death (as evident by some of the missing limbs ) and I'm just dying to know which additional characters existed in this line of toys.

Here's what I know. The figures are all roughly 1.5 inches - 2.5 inches tall, with some variation depending on the character. The back of them says "© 1989 B.S./S.T.A." I assume the BS stands for Bird Studio, the STA being something Toei Animation? Doesn't really give much indication about who actually produced the toys. Also I'm guessing the 1989 is just a vague Dragon Ball copyright year, as a lot of the characters I have toys of didn't yet exist in 1989. There are a lot of movie characters in there, ranging from Broly to Tapion. I've managed to find a few similar sets on eBay and other shopping websites, but none of those posts provide much detail about the series. I would love to know who created these toys and how many different characters they made. I've seen quite a few that I don't have that are clearly part of the collection.

Here are some photos:










Separate from the mega set that I received for Christmas, I also got a small pack earlier that year (Spring 2001 I think). This came with 6 figures and we found that one in a legitimate toy store (KB Toys or Toys R Us). They look nearly identical to the others, with the main difference being that these ones were a solid stiff plastic. The ones from the mega set are a lot more flexible and bendy. I remember the box of this small 6-pack advertising others that looked familiar, so I'm quite certain the two sets are related somehow. (I always wanted that ghost Gotenks figure!). Anyways, here is the six-pack of the stiffer figures (Master Roshi not pictured because I can't remember which box I have him stored away in at the moment):



The fact that I was able to find part of this set in an actual toy store leads me to believe that this was a legitimate line of toys and not just bootlegs. But I don't know why some are flexible and some are stiff. Does anyone recognize these and know where I can find more info? It would be a childhood dream come true to find some of the characters that I'm missing (Piccolo, Pikkon, Ghost Gotenks, Majin Buu) and round out the collection. Thanks in advance!

[KBABZ]

Man, an Emperor Chiaotzu figure? That's a hardcore deep cut, right there.

[chaosyoshimage]

These were probably from Irwin Toy's early line of imported Bandai figures. I'm not sure if the mini figures were Bandai or not, but the regular sized figures were from Bandai's Super Battle Collection. Someone with more knowledge on the subject could probably tell you what the original molds came from. Just Googling "Irwin Toys Dragon Ball Z mini figures" will give you lots of packaged photos, including some from other international releases of the figures.

[Bardo117]

Man, an Emperor Chiaotzu figure? That's a hardcore deep cut, right there.

Damn, talk about a long overlooked character.