Mutant Monsters Green Multi

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.

Dammit.

Mutant Monsters Gray Multi

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

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.

Werewolf [Altered Beast]

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!

POWER UP!

WELCOME TO YOUR DOOM!

It's impossible to think about Altered Beast without the soundbites and music playing in my head. Just like Matthew Sweet, I love the game. Memories of the millions of quarters sunk into the arcade machine at Circle K and elation of discovering the continue code when playing it at home. Of course I was excited to see the Werewolf represented in Jakks Pacific video game figures. Jakks has been pumping out a pretty solid line of toys inspired by several all time favorites and frankly... Altered Beast was one I never thought would ever get toys. There's a Weredragon figure as well that I hope to eventually get.

I had actually intended to talk about this figure last Halloween season but... completely misplaced it. It wasn't until recent organizing efforts that it was found and put aside once again to look at during Halloween on the site. Fortunately, I remembered where it was this time. As I said above, Jakks has a great video game figure line and Werewolf is another solid effort. He's pleasantly solid feeling, like a much more premium figure... but only cost $9.99. That's awesome. There's 22 points of articulation on his 4" body resulting in one super pose-able monster. Though I did have trouble getting the arms to close close to his body. Initially I wrote that off as a articulation limitation, until I saw others not having this problem online. Then I saw others having the same problem. Clearly it's a molding or QC issue as you can see where the joint is for that amount of movement. I chose not to force the joints on mine, maybe there's a fix out there for this?

Also, the head and crotch are a darker brown than the rest of the body. That's not a big deal, but you can't unsee it. As for accessories, he comes with a Spirit Ball, like the ones from the game that allow for your undead warrior to POWER UP! That's a nice little extra. There's a hole in the bottom of the ball for where a stand would have plugged into. Guessing it was omitted at some point. Clearly the figure isn't perfect, but I'm happy to actually have something from the game in toy form and honestly not bothered enough by the problems for them to overshadow that happiness. However, I'm an honest person and it wouldn't be honest to ignore those issues here. Regardless, it's still a pretty good figure. It's well sculpted and looks great. Hopefully I eventually get that Weredragon and more of the SEGA characters Jakks Pacific has been putting into their video game line. In my mind Altered Beast, Golden Axe, and Streets of Rage all take place within the same continuity. With these figures, they can take place on the same bookshelf.

Monsterbots/Misadventure

There's something about Transformers that intend to disguise themselves by turning into something that's not common. Pretty sure there wasn't any dinosaurs walking around in 1985, though there likely could have been a UFO just flying around. After all they were aliens. Though by the post movie years when things got more space opera, you got more far out ideas like the Monsterbots. A group of Autobots who transformed into monsters.

The Monsterbots took up with the Beastformers/Battle Beasts and made a home on Planet Beast. As awesome as that is, part of me wishes they would have had more of a role in Masterforce as they fit the series tone better. I think so anyway, with things like Seacons and Pretenders battling Super Sentai style, I can't help but to thing they'd fit in as their monster modes would effectively be Zords.

I've always enjoyed how the advertising for said bots of monster played up their standing as in fact monsters. From the commercial showing them bursting from the lab of there creation, to print ads indicating their scariness, Hasbro wanted you to understand that these are monsters. I talked about the Halloween Horrorcons here before. But, something tells me, that somebody clearly always wanted scary robot toys behind the scenes. I'm not complaining either, it's like 75% of my site. Considering the unreleased Universal Monsters Transformers around the same time... suddenly my weird site about robots and monsters isn't so weird after all. It's totally normal to post about Halloween in February.

What the heck did I do this weekend?

This weekend was pretty chill. The wife and I did our weekly shopping Saturday morning when I got home from work, leaving the rest of the weekend relaxing around the house. We stopped by Target to look at all the cool Halloween stuff they'd put out since last weekend. On the Transformers front they still hadn't stocked the last wave of Primemasters or Optimal Optimus. They did have Shadow Striker and Grimlock from Cyberverse in the larger $20 scale. I plan to get those, just didn't right then. I've got a few items coming from online purchases and I really don't like to spend too much at a time. Most notably from my online purchases coming is the bucket of monsters pictured above. I don't know what type of toy you technically call a green army man, but toys along that type are something I'm very fond of and jump on the more random assortments. In the past I've gotten great selections of robots, ninjas, zombies, skeletons, pirates, and all sorts of wacky designs. This set is really amazing. It's a large tube full of various monsters like Frankenstein, the Wolfman, Godzilla, and all sorts of cool monsters. It's coming Friday and honestly I'm having a hard time waiting. We also picked up out Walmart grocery order as well as a trip inside to peak the Halloween stuff. A nice supper from Zaxby's and a great weekend at home.

Some stuff did come to my attention over the weekend. Just as I completed the first wave of scouts from Cyberverse there's been reports of wave 2. Now, there's just 3 figures I need from this set as I already have Bumblebee. I'm looking forward to the cool recolors of the Starscream mold for Windblade and Slipstream, though I'm a little hesitant to fiddle with them. My Starscream's wings kept popping off and his left arm was pretty loose. I'm hoping I don't have that same issue with these two jets here. The QC issue was a bit of a bummer for me as I've mentioned it's the recolors that make little toys like this fun and I'm betting the jet mold is going to get the most mileage. I really don't want to have the same issue with a million jets.

Pictures of the upcoming Battlemasters in packaging went about the internet this weekend and man do they look great. The package art with the neat SIEGE logo makes it looks like a game for the SEGA Genesis. Just super sharp packaging. Despite the negativity floating around online around Siege (I just don't get it), I'm really looking forward to it. This looks like a great time.

Mega Construx has been showing off their new Breakout Beasts blind package line and I think they look swell. Little monsters and dragons in an egg with slime... what's not to love? I'll be sure to jump on these when I find them.

Friday I finally figured out what Instagram TV is despite it being as thing for a few months now. Despite being a regular user of Instagram, that one just passed me by. It's pretty neat and I plan on using it semi-regularly. I had tried on doing some sort of vlogs using YouTube but I just can't put into words what went wrong there. For some reason Instagram TV makes more sense in my head, so be sure to check out my Instagram page for updates (links are in the about section... mobile users, click the full web version down at the bottom of this page for the links) and go ahead and follow me as I posts regularly there. I don't know if I want to call it my photo blog, but it sure is something.

Mail Away Creepy commercial

I miss these kinds of promotions, clip and save points, mail away for a free toy. Sometimes, like in this case, it was an exclusive version of a figure. I think the last time I can remember was around 2009 for that exclusive N.E.S.T version of Ravage. Creepy here is absolutely in the Halloween state of mind. A Monster Gobot decked out in those ooky spooky green and purple colors and appearing in a commercial straight out of a late night horror film. Not to mention his name is Creepy.

Sky Shadow bio

An intelligent, brilliant colored robot, Sky Shadow is one of the most charismatic and popular of the Predacons. A good statesman and leader, he acts as one of Megatron's most trusted counselors. In actuality however, he despises everyone and wants nothing more than to rule the Predacons with his own, "more imaginative techniques." He is an expert in concealment and surprise-assault tactics; with reptilian patience he can lie for days in wait and then suddenly attack with a powerful turbo-missile, or convert to robot form and overwhelm unsuspecting Maximals with his devastating saw-edged pincer. Powerful wings allow him to hover over targets, giving him a distinct advantage with targeting accuracy and in reconnaissance missions.

Pincher intsructions

Slog intructions

"Destruction is the highest form of art."

He has taken sculpture out of the art studio and transplanted it onto the battlefield. In his Pretender guise, he can whittle an Autobot warrior into an abstract wreck within minutes. He considers his carved-up conquests to be renowned masterpieces. His diamond-steel alloy talons can tear through any material known to man or robot. Enclosed creature/robot is armed with a magnetic repellor-attractor which rips iron-bearing opponents into microscopic pieces.

Golobulus bio

 

Descended from the serpent kings of pre-history; Golobulus rules over Cobra-La, a hidden, secret valley in the Himalayas where the high priests of the Bio-Mechanical cult have created a technology based solely on living organisms. The buildings of Cobra-La are really crustaceans, and the clothes of inhabitants are as alive as the people who wear them. Golobulus has achieved immortality through symbiosis... at the cost of his humanity.

"The plates of Golobulus' body armor are living mutations of lobsters and crabs, each genetically altered to perform a specific function and bred for the tensile strength of their chitinous shells. Over the centuries, so much of Golobulus' body parts have been replaced or bio-mechanically altered that very little of the original is left except for his brain and his central nervous system."

Dino Tanker

Bandora Gang ya'll

I'm trying my best to control myself and not start the Halloween celebration until September. That being said, my wife and I have been watching Halloween stuff since July. So... it might get a little spooky in here early. I've promised myself I wouldn't start officially until I see stores putting out stuff. I don't mean craft stores that always start early (because, hand making things takes a little longer), but like Target. Which has already started listing stuff on their website.

I don't think anyone would mind...

Castlevania season 2 trailer

SSSS. Gridman trailer

I'm pretty excited for this.

Whoops

Suddenly I don't feel so bad when I throw something into the garbage and miss.

Godzilla: King of Monsters trailer

Super Robot Red Baron opening

Mirror Man opening

Space Sheriff Shaider opening