Street Sharks Funko Pop Joins New Mattel Action Figures For 30th Anniversary
Half-shark, half-man, all '90s nostalgia.
Everything '90s is coming back for nostalgic adult fans, and that included Street Sharks figures from Mattel. A new wave of figures debuted in March in time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1994 animated series. The collection included 6-inch scale figures of Ripster, Jab, and Slash with modern features that include real feel skin (ewww?), updated articulation, chomping jaws, and shark cage accessories that can be combined together to form larger cages. Today, Funko joined in the fun with the launch of a Streex Pop figure that you can pre-order here at Entertainment Earth (free US shipping on orders $79+) and here on Amazon now. Hopefully more Funko Pops in the Street Sharks lineup are on the way.
As for the Street Sharks action figures, you can still order them here at Walmart, and restocks may happen here on Amazon and here at Entertainment Earth at some point around the July 1st release date. The figures are priced at $24.99 each. As you'll see below, Street Sharks might be followed by other nostalgic Mattel relaunches, most notably Mighty Max.
"I would pay a little bit of extra attention to some of the things we're doing at Mattel Creations," PJ Lewis, VP of Global Marketing and Executive Lead for Action Figures, exclusively told ComicBook's Jim Viscardi about Mattel's fan-driven content platform for creators and collaborators. At San Diego Comic-Con, Mattel Creations polled fans on toys they'd like to see make a comeback — with Street Sharks and Mighty Max leading the votes.
"I think one of the things Mattel has done very well is manage the nostalgia aspect of [collecting], and Street Sharks and Mighty Max, I feel like it fits perfectly," Lewis said. "Mattel has one of the richest IP libraries in pop culture, and I think the retro-nostalgic brands — be it Street Sharks, Mighty Max, and more — have opportunities of being reinvented. And at the same time, have opportunities for fans that grew up with them to relive some of those memories and storylines, and own a piece of that as an adult."
"You have to make sure that the specific characters that we have are delivered in an authentic manner. As we like to say, there's always a modern interpretation of a classic character," Lewis explained. "And that doesn't necessarily mean a new look. [It] could mean enhanced articulation, could mean an improved deco [paint], right? If you have one of these old figures, and you're lucky enough to either have it in [the] package or [haven't] touched it in a long time, great! If you're not holding on to one of those, and want a realistic interpretation of this memory of yours in the nineties, we want to make that available to you in that instance."
What Was Street Sharks About?
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.
