Madballs facts for kids
1985 TV commercial title card for Madballs
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| Type | Bouncy balls |
|---|---|
| Inventor(s) | AmToy |
| Company | Cloudco Entertainment |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | 1985–present |
| Materials | Rubber, foam |
| Slogan | "Freaky fun for everyone!" |
Madballs are a super cool series of toy foam balls that first came out in the mid-1980s. They were created by a company called AmToy, which is part of Cloudco Entertainment today. These toys were known for their gross and funny faces, each with its own weird name and story.
The Madballs toys became very popular and grew into a whole franchise! There were comic books, cartoons you could watch at home, and even video games. Get ready to learn all about these freaky, fun toys!
Contents
What are Madballs?
Madballs were bouncy balls made of rubber or foam. What made them special were their really grotesque (meaning super weird and gross) faces and designs. They were a big hit for a while, like a fun trend!
There were two main sets of the original Madballs toys. Each set had eight different balls. There were also "Super Madballs," which were bigger versions shaped like sports balls. For example, there was "Touchdown Terror," which looked like an American football. "Goal Eater" was a soccer ball, and "Foul Shot" was a basketball.
The Toys
Original Series Madballs
Here are some of the first Madballs characters:
- Screamin' Meemie: A baseball that looks like it's screaming, with a huge tongue sticking out.
- Slobulus: A green creature that drools a lot, with one eye hanging out of its head.
- Aargh: A blue-skinned monster, a bit like Frankenstein's monster, with stitches all over its face and one eye.
- Horn Head: A one-eyed monster with a horn and a nose ring.
- Dust Brain: A mummy with rotting teeth and wrinkly, teal-colored skin.
- Oculus Orbus: A bloodshot eyeball! Later versions even gave it a mouth.
- Skull Face: A skull with big eye sockets, tiny red eyes, and a big set of teeth. Part of its brain is showing.
- Bash Brain: A gory zombie head with part of its brain exposed.
The idea for all Madballs toys came from a creative team at American Greetings Properties in the early 1980s. This team was also known as "Those Characters From Cleveland," or TCFC.
Second Series Madballs
Here are some of the characters from the second set:
- Snake Bait: A monster with a forked tongue, like a snake.
- Freaky Fullback: A mutant football player.
- Splitting Headache: A monster whose skin on half of its face looks peeled off.
- Bruise Brother: An ugly biker with a battered blue helmet.
- Wolf Breath: A werewolf with big, rotten fangs that look like they're dripping blood.
- Fist Face: A hand that looks like it's clutching an eyeball.
- Swine Sucker: An ugly, drooling wild boar.
- Lock Lips: A creature whose jaw is locked shut, with one eye covered by a metal plate.
Super Madballs
These were the larger, sports-themed Madballs:
- Touchdown Terror: An American football with a crazy grin, missile-like fins, and a pointy tip.
- Goal Eater: A soccer ball with very large, pointed teeth.
- Foul Shot: A basketball that looks like it's bursting open, showing a face with worms crawling out of one eye.
Head-Popping Madballs
These were special figures that you could pose. Their heads could pop off or be swapped with other figures! Some characters from the first two series were made into Head-Popping Madballs, like Dust Brain, Skull Face, and Bruise Brother.
Similar Toys
Because Madballs were so popular, other companies made similar toys. Some of these were "Blurp Balls" and "Weird Balls."
Madballs Re-releases
In 2016, a company called Kidrobot brought back nine of the original Madballs. They were made in the same foam style but slightly updated. They also released Madballs keychains and vinyl figures. Later, in 2006, another toy company called Art Asylum also worked with American Greetings to bring back Madballs. They made both classic characters and some new ones.
Some of the re-released characters included Screamin' Meemie, Skull Face, and Horn Head. A new character called Repvile was also introduced, who was an angry, blue, lizard-like monster.
There were also "Sick Series" Madballs. These were special versions that you could squeeze to see their insides! For example, when you squeezed Bash Brain, its brains would bubble. When you squeezed Slobulus, eyeballs would pop out!
In 2020, Megalopolis Toys announced new 6-inch action figures of Madballs. These figures are more like action figures with moving parts, rather than the original foam balls.
Cartoons and Videos
Even though Madballs didn't have a regular TV show, they did have two cartoons that were released directly to home video. These were made by a company called Nelvana.
The first video, released in 1986, was called Madballs: Escape from Orb. In this 22-minute episode, the Madballs are a rock and roll band. They travel to Earth because music is against the law on their home planet, Orb! This video also introduced a new female Madball character named Freakella, who looked a bit like the Bride of Frankenstein.
The second video, released in 1987, was called Madballs: Gross Jokes. This 22-minute episode was a collection of jokes and funny skits performed by the Madballs characters. Both of these videos were only available on VHS tapes and haven't been released on DVD or Blu-ray yet.
Cartoon Characters
Here are some of the Madballs characters who appeared in the cartoons:
- Screamin' Meemie: A baseball with a spooky grin. He seemed to be the leader of the Madballs band.
- Horn Head: A cyclops with a horn. He was the strongest member of the group.
- Aargh: A blue-skinned monster, like Frankenstein, with one eye open and one shut. He was friends with Slobulus.
- Skull Face: A skull with a smile who was best friends with Horn Head and Dusty Dustbrain.
- Dusty Dustbrain: A very smart mummy.
- Freakella: A monster who looked like the Bride of Frankenstein. She didn't like being called "Mophead."
- Slobulus: A drooling face with one eye hanging out. He was friends with Aargh.
- Bruise Brother: One of the "Badballs," who looked like a biker with an eye patch.
- Wolf Breath: The leader of the evil Badballs. He was a werewolf who often used breath spray.
Comic Books
Marvel Comics, a famous comic book company, had a special children's comic branch called Star Comics. They released a series of Madballs comic books. The first was a three-issue mini-series in 1986. It then became a regular comic book series until 1988.
In the comics, the main bad guys were Dr. Frankenbeans, who was similar to the famous Dr. Frankenstein, and his clumsy helper, Schnivelitch.
Video Games
A video game based on the Madballs toys was released in 1988 by Ocean Software. It was a top-down action game, meaning you looked down on the characters from above. It was available for popular computers like the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64.
Later, in 2009, a new video game called Madballs in Babo: Invasion was released for Xbox Live Arcade. In this game, you roll around big maps, carrying powerful weapons like machine guns, and cause lots of destruction! It also had multiplayer modes where you could play with friends. Only two Madballs characters, Oculus Orbus and Horn Head, were in this game.
2017 Animated Shorts
In 2017, new animated Madballs shorts were released on the Madballs YouTube channel. These cartoons featured six of the main characters: Skullface, Horn Head, Screamin' Meemie, Oculus Orbus, Dust Brain, and Slobulus.
Images for kids
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1985 TV commercial title card for Madballs
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Madballs: Escape from Orb VHS front cover
