Mutant Monsters Orange

It’s far past time I take a look at Mad Balls here on the site. Like a lot of kids in the 80s, I loved gross things — slime, Garbage Pail Kids, and of course Mad Balls. I’ve picked up various gross-out toys on and off over the years, and Mad Balls have always been a constant because they’re just freaking great.

When I got my most recent batch, it hit me: I’ve never covered them on Zone Base. What the heck? Time to fix that with a look at the new Mutant Monsters balls that have been popping up at Five Below and in Target’s Dollar Spot. The Mrs. grabbed me three of the six currently available… and I’ll absolutely need the other three. These are awesome.

Mutant Monsters are seemingly unlicensed knockoff Mad Balls, basically copying older official designs. And look, I don’t mean to come on too strong here, but… knockoff Mad Balls? Inject that straight into my veins.

They don’t have official names, so I’m going by what Five Below uses — just color descriptions. Weirdly, I kind of love how plain that is. From here on out, I’m just talking about each ball individually. Consider this your required preamble. Moving on.

Orange is one of the more unique Mutant Monsters, leaning closer to an original design. I say closer because it’s clearly playing off Alien with the facehugger-like creature latched onto its head. There was an official Mad Ball with that gag in one of the Horror Series lines, so it’s not totally new… but this version leans more into mutant/alien territory, with a green creature gripping a red head. You might think it has blonde hair in the pictures, but nope — those are exposed yellow brains. Yellow is an odd choice, but honestly? With the rest of the colors going on here, it works.

I’m also not sure why it’s called Orange when it skews more red, but hey, that’s knockoffs for you. The color isn’t even consistent — some spots are lighter, some darker. The monster itself has three angry, bloodshot eyes, and the sculpt reminds me of something you’d fight in classic Doom or Quake. Actually… anybody remember Bio-Freaks?

Orange is a really neat looking Mad Ball — or Sad Ball, as knockoffs are sometimes called. These seem to be more bouncy-ball style rather than the usual foam of the official ones, complete with a glossy finish that makes him look a little moist. Which is perfectly gross.