Name of Toy Line: Weird Ball Wrestlers
Production Company: The Mel Appel Company/TTL
Distributor: The Mel Appel Company
Years of Production: 1986
Countries/Regions Available: US
Size/Scale: 1.5"
Figure Trade Markings: (c) 1986 TMAC TTL H.K.
Approximate # of Figures: 24+
Details: The people behind Weird Ball were The Mel Appel Company (T.M.A.C.), an 'inventing' firm that has various patents listed to its name. Weird Ball is an obscure line that very much followed the trend of Garbage Pail Kids. 'Gross' trading cards with a hint of Wacky Packages on the reverse and all manner of Weird Ball paraphernalia was available in the mid 80s. The cards were even released in Italy as part of a knock off GPK line known as Sgorbians.
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| #36 Front | #38 Front | #41 Front |
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| #36 Back | #38 Back | #41 Back |
Click images to see a larger version!
One of the more common items seems to be the Weird Ball Wrestler figures, which often turn up in M.U.S.C.L.E. lots on ebay in the US. Essentially, they're a cross between Mad Balls and M.U.S.C.L.E. figures. Six sculpts were available in flesh, purple, green, red and black.
Little is known about these cool little figures and we at Toypedia are yet to see any packaging but if we take a look back at the trading cards there are six wrestlers pictured, four of which match up with our little friends:
That leaves us with two figures that do not have cards (all six wrestler cards can be viewed at the end of this entry!):
And two cards that do not have figures.
Well, they don't have figures in this set of wrestlers but they can be found in a different set from the same range, Weird Ball Collectums!
Interestingly, a different Sewer Face Sam sculpt can also be found in the Weird Ball Collectums set. Here he is on the right, with the other two wrestlers from the Collectums line.
Within the set of six standard wrestler sculpts exists some sculpt variations indicating multiple molds per sculpt. Below you can clearly see differing locations for the trademarkings. Furthermore, when in-hand, one can see a slight difference in color as well. This slight color variation can be noted with purple and red figures as well. Finally, one can even note a size difference between the two figures, though the difference is actually much slighter than it appears in the below image:
Hopefully we will be able to bring you images of the packaging soon, in the mean time here's a clever graphic from the back of one of the trading cards:
And here's a look at all six wrestler cards and front and back shots of three more Weird Ball cards.
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| #01 | #02 | #03 |
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| #04 | #05 | #07 |
|  |  |
| #07 Front | #13 Front | #26 Front |
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| #07 Back | #13 Back | #26 Back |
Click on images to see larger versions!
Related Web Sites:
weirdotoys.com
More Weirdball stuff @ Weirdo Toys
5 comments:
The backs of card #'s 36 and 13 almost look like they could be the blister card for the wrestlers if they were bigger and had a blister attached!
IIRC, for the two without names:
the one with the lumpy head was "Brainball," although likely "Brainball ____." The big guy with his hands in the air was "Rock Slime."
I remembered the other names from when I was a kid, like Sewerface, Spitball Louie, etc., so those should be good, too. It was on the packaging for the mini-wrestlers (blister card, cheap cardboard like a bootleg, only with writing and pictures on the back).
Looks like some in original packaging showed up on ebay. Forum thread:
http://www.littlerubberguys.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=89403
@Smudge: Yes, thanks! Though I typically like to use my own pics or user submitted pics, I will be adding those images to this entry. They're too LEGENDARY not to!
Haha, thanks again!
And now a ring and packaging has shown up on ebay! I need to update this entry asap.
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