In 1995 FASA published a tie in gaming product, 1st Somerset Strikers, that was meant to be a gateway product for hypothetical "fans" of the series (I guess theoretically they could exist...).
Additionally, a 5 issue (including issue #0, because '90s) tie-in comic book series inspired by the cartoon was published by Malibu Comics from '94-95, the first BattleTech comics since the Blackthorne series.
We could have had an Atlas toy! And it looked awesome. It's a cruel world we live in...
Anyhow, that "competition" that I mentioned previously? That would be ExoSquad. Created for syndication by Universal Cartoon Studios, Exosquad (henceforth XOS) was a direct reaction to anime, and followed a very familiar premise: fighters in mecha-like "exo-skeletal armour" fighting an intergalactic war in the far future.
Would it help to know that the associated toyline for ExoSquad came from none other than Playmates?