Today at noon ET, Mattel Creations is rolling out a trio of new action figures based on the ’90s animated property Street Sharks. The twist? These new figures are actually based on designs that never made it to the screen, or to the toy store shelves, in the series’ original run. Clambo, Karkass, and (a different) Ripster are set to go on sale today, retailing at $75 and destined to live on collector shelves and build their own mythology for fans of the series. One of them is even an early interpreation — with slightly different personality and gear — of lead shark Ripster.
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According to the new description, Ripster was originally imagined as the lead jock and named “Ripley”, wears cleats, a helmet, and sunglasses. His weapon of choice? A football missile, of course. Long before he became “piranhoid,” Karkass had evil in his gills. Featuring a piranha’s toothy grin and removable fish fists, this nemesis is casually dressed in sneakers and a track jacket. And lastly, Clambo — half-man, half-mollusk — is armed to the teeth and all villain. He features a camo shell, multiple blasters, and a biting sneer.
Here’s how they’re described on the Mattel Creations website: “Before they became our favorite animated man-sharks from the ’90s, the Street Sharks started as sketches. Some of the sketches eventually morphed into the toothy crime fighters we know and love, and some never saw the light of day. Until now. Our designers dug through the archives to give three original concepts of Clambo, Karkass, and Ripster their time in the water. And the result is fin-tastic!”
You can see a photo of the three new figures below.
In Street Sharks, a university professor named Dr. Robert Bolton and his partner Dr. Luther Paradigm create a machine known as the “gene-slammer” which is capable of changing aquatic animals into anthropomorphic hybrids by combining their DNA. In his attempt to prevent Paradigm from using this machine for personal power, Bolton is transformed into an unseen monstrosity, but escapes. Later, Paradigm gives Bolton’s four sons John, Bobby, Coop, and Clint the likeness of four different sharks. When Dr. Paradigm captures their friend Bends, the resulting “Street Sharks” rescue him and the resulting battle causes Paradigm to be combined with piranha DNA (for which he is often nicknamed “Dr. Piranoid” by other characters). In subsequent episodes, Dr. Paradigm creates a variety of mutant animals to destroy the Street Sharks while attempting to persuade the inhabitants of their native metropolis of Fission City to imprison them. Of these mutant animals, a few sided with the Sharks themselves: namely Rox, Moby Lick, Mantaman, and El Swordo.
