Mutant Monsters

We’re in that limbo time where some feel Halloween is too early while others have been at it for months. I manage to straddle the annoying line of already feeling like it’s gone on for some time, yet I also feel hopelessly behind in all that I hope to do.

I think I have some October articles settled upon, so since we’re only a few weeks away (aka only a few updates left), I may as well get a few of the outliers settled. Once again, I should have placed this in the Micros section, but I’m currently learning Python scripting in order to make sense of that whole section. Apparently dynamically running all the articles off of a JavaScript array and URL parameter is really neato, but Google Search Console gave me a rather stern finger-wagging about non-canonical URLs or something. I’m sure I’ll figure that out soon enough, just not soon enough.

Today, we’re going to talk about something I found in the entrance at Target. More specifically, the bins at the entrance, not just something I found on the floor, despite the fact that it would have lightened the bill quite a bit upon checkout.

With the departure of Christmas Tree Shops, I need to get my fix of cheap import junk somewhere. Unlike the rest of the Halloween displays at Target, they reserve stuff that would be more at home in a Dollar Store, up front. Generally, it’s basic home décor and knick-knacks, all ranging from about $1 to $5. As you can imagine, anything at these price points will have had to make some concessions in terms of quality and the like. As we see here, the notions of copyright, trademark, IP, and whatever other terms I’m using incorrectly were also on the chopping block.

Those of you in my age demographic who suffer from ailments such as “sleeping the wrong number of hours” may remember a line of toys back in the mid-80s called Mad Balls. They were less toys and more playthings, but certainly just shy of actual sports equipment. Made by Amtoy, two series were released, each with eight designs, all being somewhat gross-out themes, much in the way Garbage Pail Kids paved the way for such unpleasantry.

There have been some attempts to reboot the series over the years, particularly by Art Asylum, Mondo, and Kid Robot. The latter I recall getting one of the blind bags, but if you envision me finding it for the purpose of this article, then you overestimate my competence. I think I got it in a DinoDrac funpack, since I certainly couldn’t see myself spending the $5-10 to try my luck. I did get some of the larger-scale ones, but I don’t want to jump ahead too much.

I’ll link to the semi-official wiki in lieu of talking much more, but we now have a new entry into the field with Mutant Monsters. Technically, the full title is Mutant Monsters High Bounce Balls, but if I had made that the title, those in the back of the class would be snickering, and I just can’t trust the lot of you to remain mature enough for serious topics such as these.

Back in the original lineup, I recall only having have had one, which was the green, dislodged eyeball guy. Just today, I found out the proper name is Slobulus, which somehow makes the concern over ‘balls’ pale in comparison. Like much of my childhood, it never survived beyond that. I remember the coating peeling off in time, so rather than being displaced, it probably just fell apart. Nostalgia for broken remnants hadn’t kicked in, so it’s buried 5 miles deep in a landfill in all likelihood.

The similarities between MadBalls and Mutant Monsters are all too close for the litigious lawyers, and the first one of the batch is a dead ringer. Stitches, boogers, eye veins, and random teeth all fit the bill, as does the signature popped eyeball.

The second one threw me for a loop. I looked over the original lineup, and nothing really was close. I did see something similar on Google Images, but I wasn’t able to nail it down until I crawled through the aforementioned wiki and stumbled upon the Art Asylum lineup. 2007 was the first instance of a reboot since the original days, and two new series reintroduced 5 of the original options while adding a brand new character.

Repvile is the chap’s name, and they didn’t even bother to obfuscate the design to any meaningful degree. Perhaps the placement of the chitinous horns has some variability, but the snot and teeth are dead on. Well, the snaggle tooth turned green, so I guess we’re to assume it’s part of the slime, but that doesn’t really make much sense. Palette swaps go into some weird territory sometimes.

The final option (yes, there are only three) is one I certainly knew there wasn’t an original that it was copied from… I mean inspired by… Yet, I still recalled it looking familiar, so I did some digging. Not online this time, but in my mess of an office bookshelf, which has long since given up being exclusively for books.

Nestled behind yet another lineup of character-themed spherical collectables was my collection of the Kid Robot Horror/Sci-Fi MadBalls. You can tell that they hold a special place in my heart since I forgot I had them momentarily, but there was the facehugger in all its detailed glory.

I’m unsure if the dislodged eyeball is a reference to Slobulus or the movie. I think I watched Aliens once, and it was probably a knockoff by the Asylum, so I can’t be 100% sure. In any case, I was able to track down the references, and I can begin to worry about next week’s article a little sooner now.