Today’s Mutant Monster knockoff Mad Ball is named Green Multi on the Five Below website, but any Mad Balls fan knows exactly who this is — it’s Slobulus, just reincarnated as one of these glossy bouncy-ball freaks. Slobulus is a classic Mad Ball who shows up all the time in official and unofficial lines.
He’s a booger monster who’s often the butt of a joke, hates being the butt of a joke, and absolutely cannot tell a joke. But don’t mess with him — the dude can snort out snot hands. Fuck around and find out, I guess.
This is classic Slobulus all over: green skin, popped-out eyeball, boogers everywhere. He doesn’t have any hair here, which the real ones usually do… but knockoffs often skip that detail. Honestly, as a Mutant Monster he’s got a bit of a baby face, and it’s kind of cute. And of course he’s sporting the exposed yellow brains that at this point feel like the official hallmark of the Mutant Monsters line. On Green Multi they look infected — which, for a guy like him, totally tracks. You just know if he had legs, he’d be wearing a pair of grubby solid black sneakers. He’s that guy. I can practically smell him coming.
Today’s Mutant Monster knockoff Mad Ball is listed as Gray Multi on Five Below’s website… which is a pretty wild name for a guy who’s mostly blue, but whatever. Gray Multi is a very direct knockoff of Repvile. Repvile is a reptilian monster who, after years of being a boogeyman and scaring kids, learned about Swamp Thing and decided swamp-life was the way to go.
For whatever reason I always wanted to call him Cretin. He just looks like the mascot of an early 90’s punk band in ball form. You can practically see him painted on a drum kit or slapped on stickers the band hands out after shows. I’d have absolutely stuck him on my school notebook and then immediately gotten made fun of by the kids who were “cooler” than me. Man, I do not miss those days of never being able to do anything right according to other kids. Regardless, it would’ve been a cool sticker — and it’s a cool Mad Ball design.
His Mutant Monster incarnation is pretty spot-on. A little more smoothed out than the official one, and of course featuring those exposed yellow brains that might just be the Mutant Monsters’ signature trait. These guys seem to be more in the bouncy-ball lane compared to the foam official Mad Balls, and that thicker coating gives Gray Multi a shinier, wetter finish than Repvile ever had. I don’t mind it, but it’s definitely noticeable. It’s really cool seeing this design again as a Mutant Monster. I genuinely hope this little line keeps going — I dig it
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.
Good morning Zone Base readers, welcome back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! It's that sacred time of year, Halloweek! This year's Halloweek is particularly special as Halloween is on a Friday! That means extra fun without worrying about getting up the next day! One of my favorite Halloweens was on a Friday. It was 1986 and I was in the 3rd grade. That year was a special one. Transformers the movie had came out just as school was starting and it was the Halloween that I was the Wolfman! Yes, that freaking Paas make up kit werewolf costume I've talked about a million times happened that fateful Halloween on a Friday night!
I'll never forget coming home that evening with my cousin, washing off the make up with a McDonald's sponge and watching Teen Wolf! The following day I picked up Masters of the Universe Rio Blast! I don't know what toy luck I'll be having this weekend, but whatever it is will be the last toys I buy for myself untill after Christmas. I've got plenty of stuff to talk about here on the site, but hey... how was your weekend?
Mine was great. The Mrs and I went to Five Below and Target Saturday morning. While there we got the last of our Trick or Treat goodies for the kids Friday night. The Mrs happily spent the weekend making treat bags for handing out to our lucky door knocking ghouls. At around 15lbs, we've got a lot to hand out! Candy, little toys, and lots of fun. Speaking of lots of fun, as tradition, the Mrs and I exchanged our annual Halloween gifts to each other. We like to do it before the actual day to enjoy the spooky season a little more.
The Mrs gave me mine in awesome Lego monster buckets! There was candy, Mad Balls, cool toys, a DVD of Witches Night Out, a new yokai book, and tons of love! As usual she included this years Halloween Star Wars Droid Factory droid. It's a fun little tradition of hers that I always look forward to. There were also some great skeleton figures in the bucket. They're in various colors and really neat with tons of articulation and fantasy weapons. I'll definitely be posting about them in the weeks to come. Afterwards we ordered Taco Bell for dinner and I carved the pumpkin!
Sunday morning meant another annual Halloween tradition of mine. I took a small roadtrip to the nearest Krispy Kreme for this years Halloween donuts! It's about an hour away and was a great time to enjoy the fall weather while listening to the radio. One station that usual has a b-side show on Sunday morning played spooky hits for the holiday. It's been a while since I've heard Echo and the Bunnymens version of People are Strange and a pretty good occasion to play it. The Mrs had breakfast (and she made one amazing dinner later) ready Sunday and I spent the day finishing that Flame Toys Furai Model Rodimus kit I've been working on the past few weekends. Please look forward to an upcoming post on it soon.
I also started a new game of Cave Story as I forgot where my last save left off. I didn't delete the old save though, just incase my memory returns. Yesterday was the start of the Halloween version of the game. Halloween and Christmas are observed in game and it's fun to see the familiar characters get a new seasonal look. Cave Story is a game I really do enjoy, I'm glad I've got it on my Switch. I've had it on multiple consoles, but damn I love the Switch!
Well, aside from the Halloween gifts from the Mrs, I also got some great toys. Target had the Godzilla Monster Series 5" Flaming Godzilla and Destoroyah! As for Transformers, they had Age of the Primes Minimus Prime, Venin/Venom, and Skydive! Target also had a great Circle deal on toys, so I save a little money thankfully. Well, as usual, I've got to do some household chores and take toy pictures for upcoming posts. It's also a nice rainy fall day, so I think one of those donuts with some coffee while enjoying the sounds outside and watching Gobots is in order. Have a great Halloweek Zone Base readers. Just a heads up, next Monday I'll be a little busy, so there won't be one of these Weekly Update posts. But don't worry, normally scheduled content is on the way! I hope everyone has a fun Halloween. Please feel free to check out my Instagram for updates from me. If you like what you see, give me a follow! Thank you all for reading Zone Base. Please remember to share with your friends and Mutual High Fives everyone!
