Wacky Goulies: Madballs knockoffs that suck

Here are some more monstrosities from the wild world of Madballs knockoffs, the Wacky Goulies! I guess you could say these things really suck. I mean, literally. They have suction cups on their back sides so that you can stick them to hard surfaces.

Unlike the Bad Bad Balls, the soft rubbery Wacky Goulies are not merely inspired by AmToy's official Madballs. Nope, these guys are direct ripoffs, copying actual Madballs characters such as Oculus Orbus, Slobulus and Dust Brain. In fact, there is a Wacky Goulie version of all 8 series one Madballs monsters. The lineup includes the six shown here plus a couple I'm missing (the ones that rip off Horn Head and Screamin' Meemie).

They're actually pretty detailed, too, capturing the various features of the Madballs characters, such as Slobulus's dangling eye and corroded face, or the veins on Oculus Orbus.

While I got the six pictured above loose in a lot off eBay, this excellent post on the blog Dinosaur Dracula shows some of them sealed on their vending machine display card. It is from there that I learned these things were even called "Wacky Goulies," so thank you Dinosaur Dracula. The display artwork is pretty damn awesome, featuring a demonic yet gleeful-looking ghoul, the exclamation "Faces even a mother can't love!!," and the additional descriptors "gross," "ghoulish," and "weirdos." Man, why can't today's vending toys be like this?

The card also confirms that there were 8 different Wacky Goulies, that they came out in 1986, and that they were produced by D.V.S. (the same name on the Bad Bad Ball box).

Unfortunately, some of the ones I got came a bit misshapen, no doubt from being stored smashed together in a box or in plastic vending capsules for over two decades. But that's not a huge deal. These weirdos are noteworthy Madballs knockoffs and I'm happy to add 'em to my collection.

What do you think of the Wacky Goulies? Do you remember ever seeing them in vending machines?