Unreleased Madballs from Funrise, 2015

[hawanja]

Hello folks,

So lately I've been really into Madballs, since they just released the horror themed ones, and I've started collecting all the vintage toys as well. I came across this blog that has some pictures from the 2015 UK Toy Fair that shows a line of Madballs from a company called Funrise, which appear to have never been released. Scroll about halfway down past the MLP stuff for the pics.


www.idlehandsblog.com/2015/01/toy-fair-2015-funrise-madballs-my.html
 
What's interesting is that these appear to be larger, possibly plush balls that have the faces printed on, along with little bits like tounges and antennas and such, and were designed for actual rough play, like apparently intended to be used in games of baseball, soccer, football, etc. There looks to be at least three new characters that haven't appeared in any other lines, 

"Bee Ball" which is a basketball
"Pig Skin," which is an American Football
And some other which I can't read the label, that is a soccer ball.

Anyone have any further info, or ever seen these in the wild? As far as I can tell this is the only site that has any mention of these Madballs. I emailed  TCFC (who holds the Madballs copyrights) along with American Greetings, haven't heard anything back yet. I would really like to see more pics, as well as official artwork.

[hawanja]

Hello folks! Sorry to revive an old thread. So I found a couple of examples of concept art from this cancelled line. This is from an artist named Mel Nerell,


The first is for a character named "Brains Ball." It looks as if the it would have come in a set with both the ball and baseball bat.


Second is of PigSkin, who we saw in prototype form during the 2015 toy show.

I really find it fascinating to see cancelled toys like these (especially Madballs, which is like my 2nd favorite toyline ever next to MOTU.) These two below aren't cancelled Madballs but would fit into the "rare" category.


First off we have an exclusive Madball of the "Zombie Not Man" from the song of the same name by the band Anthrax. This one is an exclusive Madball which is only available if you buy the super deluxe edition graphic novel of their 1987 album "Among the Living." However this is priced at $399, and there'll only be 666 copies made, so looks like I ain't getting one of these anytime soon. Sucks because it looks pretty cool.


Secondly we have a sticker set of Fist of the North Star characters done in Madballs style. I know these were released also as a pin set (in Japan only) but AFAIK not as full fledged Madballs.

That's all for now!

[kylefromdirtnapp]

I wonder if these newer ones will hold up better to age than the originals?

[WishItWas1984]

Jan 28, 2021 11:01:56 GMT -6 kylefromdirtnapp said:

I wonder if these newer ones will hold up better to age than the originals?

I don't know. I've got 3 loose on my desk that are doing real good. Some splits and divets here and there, but 99% good.

My Tochdown Terror is just fine, but he's been in a football display case for a long time.

[WishItWas1984]

It really sucks that they were on the verge of doing the sports stuff again. I don't know any kid who'd see a Madballs "ball" and be able to pass it up.

[Ghouldrool]

Late to the party, but those Fist of the North star madballs look fantastic. I have a vague recollection of the larger football style one seeing production, but maybe I just saw a prototype picture in a catalogue or something when I was younger.

I still have a bizarre slime variant of Aargh. It has a lid that screws off so kids could put slime inside and squeeze it so it came out the mouth. Weird thing. Smaller than the original madballs but still totally legit.

This particular Aargh came packaed with a bag of slime. The ball's a fraction smaller than the regular Madballs, and it's hollow. Here it is next to a regular Oculus Orbus.

The bottom is actually a molded into a lid, a bottlecap that screws off so the slime could be poured inside the head and when squeezed, a slit along the mouth would open and release the goo.


I'm sure there were others in the line too. Does this sound at all familiar to you? Was it an original Madballs subline, it does have the original copyright markings. How hard to get are these guys nowadays?

[kylefromdirtnapp]

I have one that's a pencil topper that I stuck on a GI Joe Bazooka's head as a 'custom'. Man, I have no ides where that is now...

[figurecollector]

Sept 27, 2021 12:39:33 GMT -6 kylefromdirtnapp said:

I have one that's a pencil topper that I stuck on a GI Joe Bazooka's head as a 'custom'. Man, I have no ides where that is now...

It's in the 3rd box down in the 4th row under the Cobra Commander last time I looked. Right where you left it.

[hawanja]

Hey folks! So I managed to score one of these Zombie NotMan madballs recently for a half-way decent price! I'm not really that big of a fan of Anthrax (honestly haven't listened to them since high school) but I am very pleased with this madball. Check out my review!

[Ghouldrool]

Ah, well done! With a limited production run the price tag must still have been hefty. Let's hope this one is made to last a couple decades. I'm a little sour because I just found my vintage MOTU Sorceress with her legs fallen off, the rubber binder just completely dried out.

[figurecollector]

Oct 16, 2021 0:35:01 GMT -6 Ghouldrool said:

Ah, well done! With a limited production run the price tag must still have been hefty. Let's hope this one is made to last a couple decades. I'm a little sour because I just found my vintage MOTU Sorceress with her legs fallen off, the rubber binder just completely dried out.

That is heartbreaking when figures do that or get all sticky from the plastic breaking down.

[Ghouldrool]

I wanna share some pics of this beauty I found a few years back with other Madballs enthusiasts.

"Crazy Balls", hmm? I think we know them better as Madballs. Looks like this is a bootleg, but the fact that it's still on card is wonderful.


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