By Phantom Troublemaker
We are living in truly strange times.
After first being released over thirty years ago and
receiving a brief revival thanks to Art Asylum in 2006, Madballs are back! But
they’re back in a much bigger and more widespread way than I ever would have
anticipated.
I was immensely excited by this news and preordered the
first series – the three figures I’m looking at today – as soon as they went up
on Mondo’s website. At the time they were estimated to ship in August.
As the year went on, there were even more surprises in store
for Madballs fans.
In June, American Greetings announced a partnership with
a company called Just Play that would produce a new line of Madballs that were
actual toys for kids. Just Play has all-new designs for the classic Madballs
characters and will be releasing new balls, toys, playsets, and even a series
of animated shorts!
This, to me, was the best possible Madballs news. Collectibles
aimed at people my age are nice, but are going to be expensive and potentially
a pain in the ass to get. Actual toy lines, on the other hand, are designed to
sell to a mass market and to essentially perpetuate franchises. Niche collector
lines don’t have to worry about supply, consistency, and longevity as much as a
real toy line that is battling for shelf space at Walmart.
Not everyone loved the new designs from Just Play, but I
do. They’re updated to what I think are modern kid sensibilities and my son was
much more enthusiastic about them than he has ever been about the original
designs. In the toy business, evolution is a necessity.
Finally, we learned that Kidrobot was going to be
producing items aimed at collectors under the guiding hand of artist Frank
Kozik. This was the most baffling announcement, as it seemed to be horning in
on the business that Mondo had signed on for.
In record time, Kidrobot got a line of blind
boxed Madballs keychains to market and very quickly followed up with “medium” vinyl figures
(about 6” in diameter – almost twice as big as traditional Madballs) and blind
boxed “mini” figures (which seem to be about the size of the original
Madballs; I find it odd that Kidrobot doesn’t define their size on the order
page).
I ordered six of the keychains as soon as they were
offered – for immediate sale, not preorder – mainly because I was so excited
for new Madballs product. I did not actually need six keychains. They arrived before my Mondo Madballs.
The keychains look great, but they’re keychains. They’re
gonna end up in a drawer because I don’t know what else to do with them. I
honestly probably shouldn’t have bought them. As a matter of fact, if I hadn’t bought them, I might be more
willing to order a few of the mini figures. I haven’t seen them in person, but
I don’t totally love the online pictures. They look a little amateurish. And committing
to blind box figures at ten bucks apiece is not something I like doing. I think
the price would be perfectly fair for carded figures, but the whole blind box
thing is a huge turn off for me.
My Mondo figures did eventually arrive just before
Christmas. Between those, Kidrobot’s surprise offerings, and the new toys from
Just Play (which should be hitting Walmart and Toys R Us literally any day
now), we are flush with Madballs product and I couldn’t be more excited.
I wasn’t crazy about my experience with Mondo. The basic
attitude of the website seems to be, “Give us your money and we’ll send your
stuff whenever it’s ready”. Don’t expect updates or notes when ship dates aren’t
met or anything else. Now, I did email them at the beginning of November to ask
what was going on with the Madballs and got a very prompt response, but that was after months of wondering what
was going on.
Additionally, a set of Madballs Christmas ornaments were
offered at the beginning of December. It was made clear that they weren’t
expected to ship until January, which is fine because I expect there to be many
more Christmases. What was not fine
was that a couple of days after I preordered them from Mondo, Middle of Beyond
put them up for actual sale and had them shipping before Christmas. There was
some dirty pool somewhere in this deal, and it seems to have been from Mondo.
My ornaments have not, as of yet, shipped.
FIRST
GLANCE
These collectible figures from Mondo look straight-up
classy, which is an odd thing to say about Madballs. From the boxes to the
interior casing to the peek at the figures themselves, the presentation is
exciting. These were twenty bucks apiece (or $55
for all three) and I have to say that they look like $20 items.
PACKAGING
The boxes are gorgeous. They sport flat backgrounds with
glossy graphics, a combination I always like and feel adds class to a product.
The printing is bright and clear. Each box makes the products look like exactly
what they are – fancy versions of gross kids’ toys.
I love how the front window offers just a peek of the
figure. Inside, there is a two piece clamshell holding the ball in place. The
packages are completely resealable aside from the tape you have to cut to get
into them. That’s a big win.
LOOKS
While each of the characters is wildly different, I’m
just going to run them down as a whole and point out a few specifics here and
there.
These are like high definition versions of the Madballs I
had when I was a kid. I don’t have any of the originals anymore, so I’m having
to go off of memory, but these Mondo figures seem to have more fine detail and
texture than any of the toy versions. That makes sense because the vinyl is a
better medium than foam for such things. Not only that, the paint apps are absolutely gorgeous.
There’s a bit of unavoidable flash around the production
stamp on the bottom of each figure. Mondo kept it to a minimum and it doesn’t detract
from the in-hand or front-on look of the Madballs at all. Otherwise from every
angle these are incredible figures.
Horn Head was never my favorite Madball. When compared to
giant eyes, skulls, and slobbering monstrosities with goo everywhere his
cyclops/unicorn act just didn’t compare. But Mondo’s take on the guy ups the
ante in every way. With distinctive fangs, a thick beard, and overall better
proportions this Horn Head achieves true monster status.
Plus there are the bizarre bone plates sticking out of
the back of his head. Those are creeping me the heck out. I believe they’re
unique to Mondo’s version. The original just had some stitches on the back of
his head. Speaking of which, this one has great-looking stitching running along
both sides of his head.
Skull Face’s game has been upped, as well. The 2006
version had a tongue that I never liked. Mondo wisely chose not to incorporate
that – it seems that all of these are enhanced versions of the original designs
and mostly ignore the Art Asylum relaunch.
Mondo went all-out on the gristle and gore on this one,
with brain and neck muscle exposed in a much more graphic manner than the
original character. This update goes far beyond being “just a skull” and has
made Skull Face more of a unique character.
The paint apps go a long way toward defining Skull Face,
with tons of shading and dark washes to bring out all of the sculpted details of
the skull and the meaty bits. I particularly like the deep, glossy black of the
eye sockets surrounding the red “pupils”.
Slobulus is the crown jewel of these three Madballs. He
is probably the best representative of not just the Madballs toy line, but of
what 80s gross-out toys were all about. He’s slimy, malformed, possibly
diseased, and almost uncomfortable to look at. Any one of Slobulus’ defining
features could have been enough on its own – the slime bubbling out of his
mouth and stitches, his ghastly green skin, or the eyeball hanging by a thread
of gristle down to his cheek. But no – Slobulus is just one huge ball of nasty
bits.
I love how the stitching on this one runs all the way
around the head – from nose to cheek. The eyeballs and slime have a glossier
finish than everything else and look great. I wasn’t a huge fan of bugs being
on Madballs because 1) they seemed like extraneous design elements that actually
distracted from the characters’ inherent grossness, and 2) I hate bugs. But the
lil’ roaches on Slobulus only help to define what a reprehensible brute we’re
dealing with here.
The back of Slobulus’ head might seem slightly dull, but
the sculpt is so messy and matted that I am grossed out just by the idea of
what kind of head of hair this guy would really have.
Each of these figures is a thoroughly satisfying representation
of a “best case scenario” for the character. The designs are fantastic and the
sculpt, paint, and final execution are flawless. I might not have loved Mondo’s
“you’ll get it whenever” presentation, but I can’t deny that the results are
great.
FUN
They’re balls. I’m not going to throw mine around because
they cost $18.33 apiece, but I could if I wanted to. And it would be fun.
OVERALL
Mondo’s Madballs are works of art. I sort of understand
the fascination with vinyl collector toys because of these.
You know what the best comparison is for them?
When you get your hands on a toy you had when you were a
kid and it doesn’t look how you remember. The sculpt isn’t as good, the
proportions aren’t as realistic, or it just doesn’t look as good, somehow.
These Madballs are how you remember the originals. They didn’t
look anywhere near this nice, but your brain probably saw them this way. These are
the idealized Madballs that have been in my 80s gross-out toy-loving brain for
decades. They’re priced as collectibles and are worth it, but are sturdy and
definitely great toys.
5
out of 5
I don’t know what the future is for Madballs from Mondo.
They haven’t announced any further releases and haven’t even put the Venom
Madball up for preorder. The combination of the lack of news and of Kidrobot’s very similar offerings has me
speculating about American Greetings’ satisfaction with Mondo’s ways.
Personally, I would love it if Mondo produced
reproductions of every single original Madball. I’d skip the more specifically
sporty ones, but I would buy all the rest. I’d just like for them to be a
little more timely with the production and release schedule. Whatever the case,
I expect to know something after Toy Fair this year, the anniversary of the
original announcement for these three.
Just for fun, here are pictures of hot girls in Slobulus
dresses:
If you enjoy toys, toy collecting, or Needless Things, you might enjoy SupportPhantom.com.
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