17 Apr 2009
MADBALLS: Grodie Inner Child Boogaloo the Remake
(Note: Tumblr is entirely counter-intuitive to me. I began blogging with LJ. Hence, my posts here will undoubtedly be less…sleek, than other’s. Instead of beating my head against my comp, I’m settling with just links, and no vids. I just work here. Blame management.)
Yep. Child of the eighties. Transformers. Kreepy Krawlers. Garbage Pail Kids. My Pet Monster. Inhumanoids. Boglins. You name it, I was obsessed with it. I still geek out every now and then, over those bygone gems, but with the rerelease of MADBALLS, I GLEE-creamed my fanboy panties. Wait…no, that’s totally how it went down.
A little history: http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0678/
Original ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvfYcZ8GAVM
New advert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEhYenr5sCU&feature=related
Official relaunch site: http://www.madballs.com/home.action#
They’ve even cropped up in a recent video game: http://kotaku.com/5124059/madballs-added-to-game-that-was-about-angry-balls-anyway
Yes, there was an old 8bit game too:
Their return pleases me. Instead of teaching my son the pleasures of fishing…I’ve introduced him to gross-out toys. Just as important, I know you’re murmuring in agreement with me. I can hear the din with my uber cyborgy Internaut ears. There was a particular sickness infused in the toys of the Goonies decade. A gooey, sticky, boggish ick factor sadly missing from today’s bevy of bland playtime offerings, geared towards wee ones.
So, what the hell happened? Why’ve we become so sanitized? This is a larger issue, clearly, but let’s, for the moment, investigate the matter from this perspective. I remember talking Freddy Krueger dolls on shelves, people. Not “action figures”. DOLLS. Does everything our children consume have to be sugary safe and Disneyfied? I’m the last person to pass gas in front of ANYONE. But c’mon, poo humor is funny. I defy you to prove me wrong. More importantly, KIDS think that stuff’s hilarious. My gobs can’t go a day without giggling over something toilet-related, or similarly gross subjects. It’s what children do.
My boy’s been so keen on MadBalls that he’s got half the new run, through being paid for happily doing chores he typically loathes. None of his other fave toys have ever had him chomping at the bit, the way this disgusting lot has. If bell bottoms can come back into style and stay, let’s hope this hint of resurgence in 80s gruesome playthings is a sign of more to come. I’m tired of kids fixating on Bakugan and Bratz.
