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01/29/2008: Return of the Madballs!

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Moving on!

Of all the ’80s toy lines that could’ve potentially resurfaced, I don’t think I would’ve ever put money on Madballs. Turns out, I’m a shitty gambler. Madballs are back, and they’re every bit as gloriously gruesome and pointlessly pleasant as the obnoxious originals. (I’m a shitty gambler, but I’m awesome at Scattergories.)


One of the most amazing things about this Madballs relaunch is the honest attempt by Basic Fun to market them as “toys for kids.” Granted, that’s what they are, but I have to suspect that most sales will stem from those in and around my age — people who grew up loving ‘em, hoping to reclaim a lost glory or two. Though they’re sold at many of the twenty-something hipster shops as sheer novelty acts, Basic Fun has somehow managed to persuade traditional toy store chains to carry the beasts. Will the kids of today respond so positively? Probably not, but I can’t say that I mind walking through Toys “R” Us and spotting a shelf full of simple Madballs next to all of the toys with MP3 players and flash drives pouring out their asses.

While the new Madballs share names and appearances with the old guard, they’re more detailed, feature better paint jobs, and if I was at all objective, I’d have to admit that they’re superior toys. If I had to search for any gripe at all, I guess I’d say that they’re a little less “literal balls” than the originals were…meaning that the extra details and shaping made for toys that are ball-shaped, but maybe not necessary real balls. That’s a pretty awful and transparent gripe, loaded with testicular innuendo, and I can’t even stand by it two sentences later. Toss aside the rose-tinted glasses, and they’re every bit as suave as the originals.


Looking back, it’s easy to see why Madballs were so successful during their first run. While seeming to be a wholly unique product unlike anything else that entered a child’s life, they certainly borrowed from many of the time’s established toy trends. Like Garbage Pail Kids, they were neatly gruesome. Like Nerf toys, they were safe to hit people in the head with. My argument would be a little more solid with a third comparison, but I’m dry. Nevertheless, the original Madballs collection was perfectly suited for every type of small boy. If you were a hands-on sporty type who liked to run around and throw things at people, all was a go. If you liked to quietly build collections for display on an errant bedroom shelf, all was a go. If you fell into both categories, then all all was was a a go go.

Note that not every member of the original Madballs squad made the grade for a revamp. Chiefly missing is my personal favorite, Oculus Orbus, better known as “the eyeball Madball.” Since the packaging for the current lineup is clearly marked as “Series 1,” we can only assume that decent sales will lead to other dead Madballs being resurrected.

You can read more about Madballs on their official website, and don’t think that I didn’t notice the sheer cultural catharsis that comes with knowing that Madballs has an official website. I did, and it’s awesome, and I’m forever at peace.

Oh, and while I’m here, I guess I might as well dust off a peculiar toy that I’ve been keeping in my special treasure box for a rainy day. It certainly fits with tonight’s theme.


The original Madballs were no small effort, but at the same time, they were easy to craft on the cheap. This led to an incredible amount of rip-offs, imitators and bootleg collections. Many of these idea-swiping lesser-knowns didn’t just steal the concept — they went straight for the original AmToy characters themselves. Check out the bad ball above, obviously inspired by the Screamin’ Meemie Madball pictured way up above. Despite the cheaper mold, looser paint job and overall ambiance of crap, it was still a foam monster ball. In a pinch, bootleg Madballs sufficed just fine.


Plus, I guess it’s cool that Screamin’ Meemie has an understudy if someone with dirty hands comes over and wants to play with my Madballs. Not gonna sacrifice my top tier player when that blue-tongued shitball can fly right under the radar. So yes, dirty hands man…take my Madball. No, I mean the other one.

On an unrelated note, if TBS doesn’t stop running those fucking promos for The Office where the guy who had head-sex with the mother from Six Feet Under keeps saying the “T” in “TBS,” I’m not going to watch Family Guy reruns anymore.


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 68 comments

JLAJRC They play that commercial all the time here. They also show a website so you can get a free no stank you tshirt if you live in Washington. I got a tshirt alright. Oh I got one indeed. I guess I should of lied and said I was a male because the shirt I got was really small and a babydoll femme shirt. Very small like 5 year old small. I picked XL on the form. So what is this shit. I think I lied and said I was 18 because the shirts are for teenagers. It has a cool 80’s design on it, neon pink and other neon colors on a black shirt. But what gives no stank you people this is a tiny shirt.

Ghosted by Goob @ 01/29/2008 3:41 PM EST


Still here… Though if the Easter madness is beginning already, I may officially go mad this time. Mad like Madballs! :D

Ghosted by Candace @ 01/29/2008 3:43 PM EST


I hope we get to see some advent action for easter.

Though… you know, for EASTER, they don’t call it an ADVENT. They call it LENT.
*squee!s*

Ghosted by kittymao @ 01/29/2008 4:22 PM EST


I used to have a purple plastic baseball bat that I believe was part of the madballs series. It was purple with this goofy madalls-esque face molded into it. Anyone remember that?

Ghosted by Gweff @ 01/29/2008 5:36 PM EST


Brian, I just realized I said, “I’m NOT gonna get my hands on some Madballs.” That was a goof. Let me be clear. I will most certainly get my hands on some Madballs. And I’ll play with my Madballs all day and night. What do you think about that?

Ghosted by DJ D wants to play with your Terrortits @ 01/29/2008 5:38 PM EST


I loved Madballs. I loved to constantly throw them at my friends,lol. The one I remember most, but was not my favorite was the baseball one.

Ghosted by ULTRAMAN @ 01/29/2008 8:00 PM EST


DJ D wants to play with your Terrortits – http://members.cox.net/pimpbot9000/roflcopter.gif

THAT’S what I think

Ghosted by Brian Crazyclit the Awesome @ 01/29/2008 10:28 PM EST


so….I had the screamin mee mee and my brother had Oculus…we also had a load of bootleg ones from the korean store at the local auction farm market flea market. There was an ugly football one that looked like the deformed nuclear diareaha faced bastard clone of Leonard Nimoy.

Ghosted by mandy_Reeves @ 01/29/2008 11:30 PM EST


I saw these new Madballs at the local Newbury Comics and immediately was overcome with a flood of memories from my childhood. It took some serious effort on my part not to buy the whole set while I was there.

Ghosted by BMovieGeek @ 01/30/2008 12:46 AM EST


rainn wilson will always be arthur from “six feet under” to me. no matter how many overly precious lines he has in oscar nominated films!

Ghosted by cb @ 01/30/2008 1:20 PM EST


matt.. – the creators have released a preview of “Series 2″.. – not sure if you’ve seen it yet:

http://madballscentral.blogspot.com/2007/11/madballs-series-2.html

Ghosted by Brian @ 01/30/2008 3:36 PM EST


This is a really good article. Do you guys know that I-Mockery is running a similar piece? Your sites should have a contest to see who can come up with better Madball designs.

Ghosted by Valarauko @ 01/30/2008 3:37 PM EST


I hadn’t seen the new ones of these, either, but I haven’t been in Wal Mart in over a month. My sisters and I had a few small knock-offs we got out of vending machines, but by and large, we didn’t really have many of the real ones. I don’t remember why now – Mom may have objected to the sheer grossness, or maybe we just weren’t that interested.

Ghosted by starwenn @ 01/30/2008 8:41 PM EST


I worked at Walmart when they had a knockoff line of golfball sized ’screaming balls’. They were sold in packs of 6, and had contacts that activated sound effects when touched. Some screamed, others moaned, barfed, laughed, etc. They were close to the break room, so we heard them practically nonstop.

Also, I remember in Marvel Comics mail-in advertisements for ‘ugly balls’ with a blond haired, green hulk like character monologuing about the epic journey he would undertake to find them. They had a similar design to the baseball one, but with more stitches.

Ghosted by Pyrotard @ 01/31/2008 3:32 AM EST


Madballs were awesome…I’ve definitely gotta find some for my kids. I don’t care if they don’t want them. They will get them anyway.

Ghosted by JT @ 02/01/2008 7:36 PM EST


I had the wolfman madball when i was 6 or so… had the greatest smell, I never really played with it, just smelt it.

Ghosted by Courtney @ 02/06/2008 2:04 PM EST


MADBALLS! Theyre the best. I recently purchased the entire series one set of 6 madballs worked on by the talented people at Art Asylum. I gotta say, Im actually impressed with these. Though, I noticed these were much softer and squishy foam than the originals. They share the same size and styling of the originals but with much better paint apps and detailed features. If youre something of a madball fan, i suggest you hop on these things fast. I hope they make ARRGH! and Oculus. I saw that the mummy madball and football helmet wearing madball was already in production. Im hopings series 2 shoots out soon.

Ghosted by Narcomics @ 02/08/2008 10:14 PM EST


hey yeah i rented this movie out every single time we went to the local video shop. I had my own copy of it also years and years and years ago. It was the best cartoon ever for kids and for me. I dont think we have madballs here in Australia. But i wish they would come down under because i would definitely have my own collection.

Ghosted by matt musgrove @ 08/09/2009 6:02 AM EDT


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