The X-Entertainment Blog!

09/09/2003: New Article: Super Madballs!

I’ve spoken of Madballs toys before, but never at length about the larger cousins, the Super Madballls. Touchdown Terror, Goal Eater, and Foul Shot helped AmToy corner a new market with the scary-faced franchise: now kids could really play sports with their Madballs toys. Commercial download included, along with a look at some of the other Madballs spinoff items. Woooooo. I’ll be back later with a scanned picture of Dr. Catherer’s Gremlins 2 trading card. Like the shitty horror-version Pinocchio says in that movie they keep rerunning on HBO: I prooomise.

Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

Discussion Thread: 38 comments

First Comment! Yea!

Um….Go Madballs Woohoo!

Ghosted by Garrison @ 09/09/2003 5:01 AM EDT

Goes back to watching an episode of "What’s My Line?" filmed 30 years before he was born as he gets ready to greet the day.

Ghosted by Garrison @ 09/09/2003 5:03 AM EDT

Matt is much cuter than a MadBall. Don’t tell Phoebe! (…the babysitter’s dead)

Ghosted by BillyPeltzer @ 09/09/2003 5:42 AM EDT

Look out! They’re Maaaaaaaad!

Mad and big.

Ghosted by Evin @ 09/09/2003 5:45 AM EDT

Let’s see miss shortcake cheat on
one of these guys. Hulk is so whipped.

Ghosted by turkeys can't fly? @ 09/09/2003 6:44 AM EDT

I have the basketball face mask.

also is that a madball under the ""advertise" link on the navigation bar? I can’t quite figure it out… it’s either that, or a milkdud.

Ghosted by chad @ 09/09/2003 9:50 AM EDT

I remember having a few of the head poppers, and I also had the football (who didn’t). But being born in 78 the og mad balls were HUGE in school. I remember a kid walked in the first day s.mad balls came out with the soccor ball, needless to say he was god on the playground for at least a week.

Is it madballs or am I remembering something different where you would squeeze ‘em and and thier eyes/tounge would pop out?

Ghosted by Toxikfoxx @ 09/09/2003 10:16 AM EDT

yeah, those were madballs. Of course, if your parents wouldn’t buy you one you could replicate the effect pretty accurately with your pet hamster.

Ghosted by sharkie @ 09/09/2003 10:22 AM EDT

I had the mummy madballs head poper figure. Those heads were deadly weapons! The thing was at least a tenth of a pound and the inside of it was hard plastic. My sister nearly knocked me out when she beaned me with it. And after a while the lack on the neck would go faulty and shoot the head out with the littlest of jolts right into some ones eyes.

The 80’s were a mad mad mad mad mad mad madball world.

Ghosted by Mr Mango @ 09/09/2003 10:22 AM EDT

I had soooo many Madballs.

Mighty… did I just respond on XE? wow.

Have you done a review on the Cartoon based on Madballs? I believe there was only 5 episodes tops… but it was there. Oh.. dear savior was it there…

Ghosted by Wric @ 09/09/2003 10:50 AM EDT

GAH! i SO remember them! GO MADBALLS!!!!!

Ghosted by Xen @ 09/09/2003 10:51 AM EDT

All right, I’ve learned to look closely at the articles for eggs, and there’s a few in here. Besides the commercial and gallery, clicking on any other picture takes you to a comic. Click on any picture on THAT and you get an mp3. Fun stuff.

Ghosted by Compo-Net @ 09/09/2003 10:56 AM EDT

I remember getting eye gouged by the pointy rocket end of the football. I was good at the football. Thanks for churning up long lost mem’s Matt!

Ghosted by Slacker @ 09/09/2003 11:13 AM EDT

Great. I’m at work/university, reading about madballs, and I burst out laughing because Jesus quotes Gandalf. Fortunately, I’m alone in the office, but still.

And no, I don’t want to go back to work.

Ghosted by Sean @ 09/09/2003 12:16 PM EDT

chad, i think that graphic might be one of the swirly Oreos… the creme half… heh.

Madballs are so awesome. i remember seeing the football one and wanting it. it’s the only time i’ve ever wanted a football. ever. good story, eh?

Ghosted by zann @ 09/09/2003 12:34 PM EDT

Oh thank you, this totally made my day.
I would love to download the original commercial that you reviewed years back.

I loved Madballs so much I still have the comic books and the head popping mummy figure. I have never seen the halloween masks. That silly string shooter is on ebay all the time along with the motorcycle thing for the head poppers. As God as my witness, I am going to get the "Ugly Ball" knockoffs from my mother’s house this week to prove that I had them. You would think that basketball would get scuffed up on the pavement. Man that kid receiving the football looks genuinely petrified.

Ghosted by klatubaradanikto @ 09/09/2003 12:46 PM EDT

Touchdown Terror was a lot more fun to throw than to receive. Ouch!

Ghosted by Mike W. @ 09/09/2003 12:48 PM EDT

Does anybody remember the Pizza Hut knock-offs ‘Misfits’?

Ghosted by Keener @ 09/09/2003 12:50 PM EDT

I had the Mad Rollercycle,along with a Oculus Orbus headpopper. I think that was the only Madballs stuff I had as a kid.

I believe Marvel also made a short-lived Madballs comic book series,under their kid-oriented Star Comics imprint,so start digging those 25-cent bins!

I’ve seen a sticker set at my local Rite-Aid with the Madballs characters on them,a prelude to a comeback? If so,I’m getting anything Horn Head and Oculus Orbus-related,becuase they were the coolest-looking Madballs to me,and I like disembodied eyeballs for some reason.

Ghosted by Overlord @ 09/09/2003 1:42 PM EDT

Am toy actually stood for American Greeting toy. They were made my the same people who brought you the care bears, strawberry shortcake, and my pet monster.

Ghosted by pikachulover @ 09/09/2003 2:21 PM EDT

I had a few hand-me-down Madballs in my early childhood. That mummy guy. He was cool.

Ghosted by Mr. Mr. Mr. @ 09/09/2003 2:55 PM EDT

I just wanted to mention that I had the eyeball madball. I forget what his name was, though. Anyway, I thought he was the coolest thing ever, and he was the only Madball that I really wanted at the time. However, the Christmas when I got him was the same Christmas in which I received my NES. Needless to say, I was only interested in him and my Micro-Machines city (the first MM playset ever) for about the two seconds it took me to open my biggest package.

Ghosted by Nate @ 09/09/2003 3:05 PM EDT

It’s Swine Sucker! Swine Bugger doesn’t make any sense. Not that Madballs did, but still. Swine Sucker, Matt!

Ghosted by Wes @ 09/09/2003 3:18 PM EDT

Matt, did you know the action figure madballs had a vehicle? What about the cartoon?

Ghosted by Nemesis @ 09/09/2003 4:25 PM EDT

Matt, you have the wack version of Jesus. Evryone should get Jesus from the Biblical Action Figure line. They make black and white versions of every character.
http://www.encyclopedia-obscura.com/toysbible.html192716646
http://www.trainupachild.com/cgi-bin/shopnow.cgi?ACTION=thispage&thispage=orig-figures.html&ORDER_ID=192716646
http://www.jesuschristsuperstore.net/

Ghosted by Black Jesus @ 09/09/2003 4:36 PM EDT

The eye ball one was/still is the best.

ITS A BIG EYE BALL!!

Ghosted by Skeletor @ 09/09/2003 9:14 PM EDT

"Madballs" weren’t very popular with my sisters and I (though we did have a few – we just didn’t collect them as obsessively as many other kids did), but I do remember both the Super MadBalls and the commercial. I thought the football in particular was cool-looking, with that demon mouth and, yes, purple eyebrows. Even my makeup-crazy teenaged sister hasn’t managed that one yet.

Ghosted by starwenn @ 09/09/2003 9:53 PM EDT

Does anyone remember MadBats? They were wiffle bats with the madball faces. I still have one and I’m trying to firgure out its name.

Ghosted by Madball Dude @ 09/10/2003 1:35 PM EDT

Wes –

HA! I just KNEW I saw the word "bugger" in that article yesterday! I was going to come make a comment on it (something to the effect of "I wonder if they knew what "bugger" meant when they named that toy") but then when I searched the article today, it was GONE. I thought I was going all crazy.

Thank you.

Ghosted by freakachu @ 09/10/2003 4:13 PM EDT

Yes Wes, you saved me from my millionth typo.

Ghosted by Matt @ 09/10/2003 4:46 PM EDT

Soooo many memories came back. I had completely forgotten about these guys. I had the red muscle guy with just a big eye for a head. Maaan…I wish I could get my hands on these guys again. I have never seen them since the 80s here in sweden.

Ghosted by Worm Eater @ 09/11/2003 4:39 AM EDT

i miss mad balls so much. i wish still had them. Besides the balls, i had a few of the dolls that had that spring head action. I think my cat ate them.

Ghosted by Nelson @ 09/11/2003 9:34 PM EDT

I had the Screaming Meanie mask, and I had plans. First, I trotted it out for my grammar school and made myself into something of a mascot for the teams. Then I thought that I could sell the idea of someone wrestling under this mask to Vince McMahon. Needless to say, I was an eight year old with a good business sense. Sadly, it didn’t really work out that way. In retrospect, my idea was never really that good. Oh well. I can’t beleive that Full House is going to be on TV Land. Damn. I’m getting old. Meh. Time for Pop Tarts.

Ghosted by Tuff daddy Cool @ 09/12/2003 9:19 AM EDT

I recall playing with one of the action figures on the toilet as a lad and the head popped off and fell into my leavings. I couldn’t see it, so I flushed the toilet to try to get a better view. I remember when the plumber retreived it from the murky depths a few days later, But I think it was thrown away shortly after.

Ghosted by monkeystank @ 09/16/2003 6:36 AM EDT

Dude, I just recently found a super madball I had as a kid. I got the Goal Eater! Jawsome!

Ghosted by Baron Von Stupor @ 11/20/2003 4:41 PM EST

Just the other day I found my mad balls plastic mug, I still can’t find the episodes of the sat. morning cartoon show I have on beta.
hmmm, I’ll get back to ya on that one.

Ghosted by Lykaon13 @ 02/02/2004 8:17 PM EST

I want MADBALLS

Ghosted by Rachael @ 09/12/2006 5:20 PM EDT

Add A New Comment!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2003 at 3:34 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.