On the Menu > Oculus Orbus

Maybe it’s just the nostalgia talking, but it seems to me that the 1980s was a great time for the odd, eccentric toy. From Food Fighters to Barnyard Commandos to Army Ants to Boglins, the ’80s were a boon for fans of original license action figures.

But also in the ’80s, in a trend that continues to this day, electronic forms of entertainment (from videogames and computers to cell phones and Ipods) began to supplant action figures and diecast cars, just as those toys had supplanted the wooden treasures of old.

PGPoA’s site menu (with images created by the incomparable Red Kryptonite) pays tribute to several of those toys whose popularity was obscured by the mega-lines such as Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Masters of the Universe. But there were a few toys that managed to break out into the public consciousness as well. One such toy line was Madballs.

Made from squishy foam rubber, Madballs were like shrunken heads crossed with tennis balls. They were a number of characters with kid-friendy names like Slobulus, Horn Head, Wolf Breath and Screaming Meemie. I never owned any of the “normal” Madballs, though I did have all three of the Super Madballs–Touchdown Terror, a football; Foul Shot, a basketball; and Goal Eater, a soccer ball.

(Probably the most interesting footnote to my experiences with Madballs was my encounter with their short-lived comic book; I got them from my father, who had picked up a few comics for me while I was home sick from school. That same fateful pile of comics included my introduction to the final figure fad of my childhood, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. On a side note, I wonder what I was sick with? I have a distinct memory of having to chew some sort of white, foul-tasting gum while reading those comics.)

Of course, while disgusting-looking balls (giggle) were fun and all, my young heart lay, of course, with action figures. AmToy, makers of Madballs, knew they had a pretty good thing going and had to capitalize on the fad before it went the way of the Pet Rock. And so, we young consumers were offered the Madballs Head-Popping Action Figures. They were quarter-size Madballs with bodies, whose heads would pop off at the touch of a button (and often, in my experience, without any provocation at all).

To me, the greatest of all the “MHPAF” was Oculus Orbus. One of the more popular Madballs in the regular line, OO was nothing more than a giant, bloodshot eyeball. Most of the other characters’ designs had obvious cues as to what their bodies might look like, but what do you do with a giant eyeball? The answer is obvious: you make his body from the same red, ropey muscle tissue as the extraocular muscles.

The resulting figure, with its deep red, heavily-textured body, gleaming white head and bright blue eye, is an aesthetic pleasure to behold. That, combined with his above-average articulation (hinges at the elbows and knees as well as the usual peg joints at the shoulders and hips) and the well-suited action feature make Oculus Orbus one of my favorite little baubles from my childhood. His value as a campy nostalgia piece earns him a permanent place in my collection.