But Wait, There's More!

Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in!  I had finally completed my Savage Mondo Blitzers collection, then I go and discover that there are repaints and unreleased figures out there!  Gah! But, that also means that there's more Savage Mondo Blitzers to add to my collection.  Yah!

There were actually 40 Savage Mondo Blitzers released, but eight of the figures in this pic never saw mass production.  The Crazy Eights set rounded out the 40.

Some of the Savage Mondo Blitzers card backs had cut-out ramps and obstacles that you could use with your figures, while others showed off two teams that were never released.  Or where they? 

I have no idea why two teams didn't make the cut, but of all the teams they could have chosen to leave out, they picked two of the coolest ones!  It's the nature of the toy collecting beast that you are going to be disappointed with the choices of toy companies at times.  One of my major disappointments is the two Savage Mondo Blitzers teams that didn't get to see a wide release.

BRAINS NOT INCLUDED

Out of the two cancelled sets, Brains Not Included would have been the "good guys" for me.  Wedgyson is a pleasantly chunky sumo Blitzer who would have only grown on me over time, as my love for Japan developed.  I probably would have brought him there with me if he had come out with the other figures.  Fly'd Out is just plain awesome - everything I love about weird-looking figures is in this character.  The wacky expression, the bright colors, the gross-factor - he has it all.  Gutter Brawl could have been a boring character (a brawling bowler?) but he works.  He's a normal looking guy, but he's using a bomb as a bowling ball and wielding a bowling pin like a club.  I dunno, I just like him.  Salad Bartender looks the least like a good guy out of all of them, but every "good" Mondo Blitzers team seems to have someone like that.  He's like some kind of axe murderer, but he's murdering vegetables, so I guess it's okay?  He's probably my least favorite of the bunch that went unreleased, but there's no denying that he's weird.  And I like weird.  His angry head of lettuce is a nice touch.

PUKE SHOOTERS GANG

Aw, this set hurts me the most.  If this set had seen the light of day, it could have easily been my favorite.  As far as good and bad characters go, these guys are definitely evil, and every figure has something to make them stand out.  Hex Bolt is a rubber burning, lightning throwing, scythe swinging grim reaper.  He doesn't even have a face and you know not to mess with him.  Gas Attack could work as a good guy, I suppose, but who would want to hang around with him?  Aside from the flatulence issues that the name implies, he's a greasy, long haired gas jockey.  He has a real "Rat Fink" vibe to him, which I think is cool.  If anyone knew anything about weird looking characters, it was Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.  Any character that can echo style that gets a win from me.  Leg Up reminds me of Bebop from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, only instead of mutating into a pig, he uses his own severed leg as a club.  I can see him taking on Armed & Dangerous in a brawl.  Bad Apple could have easily been my hands-down favorite of the series.  I mean, look at him!  He's a snake-faced monster worm coming out of a big rotten apple!  He's just got a wicked look to him, and I gotta love the food element. The fact that Direct Hit came out while Bad Apple was ditched just stings.

But there is hope!  As with a lot of cancelled figures, they did get a limited release in Europe.  There are both Italian and Greek versions of the Savage Mondo Blitzers that gave these characters a second chance.  They're rare, but they're out there, and I intend to find them all some day.

The Greek Savage Mondo Blitzers were called "Skateboard Mania", and they came blind-bagged rather than blister-carded like they were here (apparently Europe has been into the blind-bag thing for a while).  The Italian series was called "Gli Skatenati".  And as you can see right there on the packages, Fly'd Out was part of the "Motion Animals" set and Wedgyson was part of "Zombie-Scate".  I don't know how a sumo wrestler counts as a zombie (especially when Leg Up would have worked), but I won't be picky.  I'll take these guys however I can get them.  Including Armed & Dangerous in the "Barbarians" also seems like an odd choice.  I would have used Fat Ax, but like I said, I'm not being picky.

I haven't been able to get anyone from the lost teams yet, but I have been lucky enough to find some European repaints of the figures that came out here.  Most of the European versions are identical to the North American releases, while some of them are radically different.

METAL HEAD

Most of the repaints seem to be brighter versions of the characters, and Metal Head really stands out.  I don't know if I'd make him an all new character or just have the regular Metal Head go red hot for some reason.  I suppose he could get damaged and be rebuilt.  How ever I decide to use him, this figure gets noticed.

SECRET WEAPON

This looks like a poison-powered Secret Weapon.  I always said that I pictured his pointed tail as a stinger, now he has the wasp coloring to match!  The problem with secret weapons is when people find out about them, people want their own.  I can see this version as a separate character.

KNIGHT TO DISMEMBER

It's amazing the difference a few changed colors can make.  The cold colors of the original KTD have been replaced with warm coppers and reds here.  He still looks like a hero, but this time it looks like he has a plume of fire!  It would be been cool if he somehow managed to come out holding the mace like he is on the original card back, but that's probably asking for too much.

DESTRUCTION WORKER

Even the mighty Crazy Eights got in on the repaint action!  As far as I can tell, this is the closest a repainted Mondo Blitzer comes to the original.  In this case the hardhat is a brighter orange than the original yellow, which was different enough to make me get him.  I'm going for completion here, people!

JACK HAMMER

I was looking for Jack Hammer for years, and now I have two of him!  I already see Jack Hammer as the #1 champion of my Mondo Blitzers world, but Magma Jack Hammer?  He's not giving up that championship title any time soon.

Besides these five repaints, you can also look out for:

 - Pork Chopper (green skin)

 - Head Alert (purple mohawk)

 - Mr. Mutator Head (purple outfit)

 - Cleat Meat (yellow jersey)

 - Gun Runner (yellow body)

 - Tyrannosaurus Ax (bright green skin)

There may be other minor variants that out there that I haven't discovered yet.

Well there you have it.  That is my entire Savage Mondo Blitzers collection, in depth and fully detailed.  Back when I was first considering writing a toy blog, this series was one of the first toy lines that I knew I wanted to put a lot of focus into.  The spotlights on this series have been a labor of love for me for five months and I hope they stand out as one of the most complete rundowns of the line out there so far.  The Savage Mondo Blitzers is one of my all time favorite toy lines, and my love for this series has been a major influence on me for other lines I've enjoyed over the years.  If I'm lucky enough to get my hands on more variations (or better yet, the lost characters!), I'll spotlight them here at the Plastic Eyeball.  Until then, it's been MONDO.