Mighty Max was a series of toy

Toy

A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...

s that were manufactured by Bluebird Toys PLC in the UK in 1992. The toys were similar to the earlier Polly Pocket

Polly Pocket

Polly Pocket is a toy line of dolls and accessories. The name comes from the fact that many of the original Polly Pocket dolls came in pocket-size cases. The current Fashion Polly dolls sold by Mattel differ significantly from those originally sold by Bluebird Toys. The original Bluebird dolls...

 toyline; however, these toys were marketed primarily towards young boys. In Canada and the USA, they were distributed by Irwin Toy

Irwin Toy

Irwin Toy Limited was a Canadian distributor and manufacturer of toys. It was Canada's oldest toy company and remained independent and family owned.- History :...

 Limited. and Mattel

Mattel

Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...

 Inc. respectively. The original toyline consisted mainly of "Doom Zones" and "Horror Heads." "Doom Zones" were small playsets with a horror

Horror (emotion)

The distinction between horror and terror is a standard literary and psychological concept applied especially to Gothic literature and film. Terror is usually described as the feeling of dread and anticipation that precedes the horrifying experience...

 theme and featured miniature figurines of menacing creature

Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...

s and the hero Max, a young boy with blond

Blond

Blond or blonde or fair-hair is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some sort of yellowish color...

 hair, jeans

Jeans

Jeans are trousers made from denim. Some of the earliest American blue jeans were made by Jacob Davis, Calvin Rogers, and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys, became popular among teenagers. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler...

, a white t-shirt

T-shirt

A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....

 with a red "M" on it, and a baseball cap

Baseball cap

A baseball cap is a type of soft cap with a rounded stiff brim. The front of the cap typically contains designs or logos of sports teams ,...

 (the color varied based on the playset purchased) which also always had an "M" on it. The "Horror Heads" were smaller-sized playsets, also shaped like the heads of creatures and contained miniature figures. It was later adapted as a TV series

Mighty Max (TV series)

Mighty Max is an American animated action/sci-fi/horror television series that aired from 1993 to 1994 to promote the British Mighty Max toys, an offshoot of the Polly Pocket line, created by Bluebird Toys in 1992. It ran for two seasons, with a total of 40 episodes airing during the show's run...

 and in a Super Nintendo

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...

 and Sega Mega Drive

Sega Mega Drive

The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...

 game.

Story

The background story of the toys was as follows:

Max's dad left him his old baseball cap. Trouble was, this was no ordinary baseball cap..."Gotta look the business" Max thought as he tweaked the cap's peak round to the side. "AAAARGH!" Suddenly, the world had gone weird and very unfriendly! The cap had changed colour! Something very strange was going on! He'd been caught in the Horror Zone. Stumbling from one terrifying adventure to another with only cryptic clues to help him escape...he was all alone. He was scared. But he was MIGHTY MAX, and he'd get back somehow!

Toys

This toyline is the father of all miniature boy-style playsets. Right now no company will make playsets that small anymore due to laws regarding children swallowing the figurines, and thus the companies being sued. If a collector wanted to start now, a complete collection of this line would be difficult and possibly expensive due to the scarcity of some of the sets (original 1994-1995 era Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle playsets are of the same rarity).

The toys featured a short comic on the back of the packaging summarizing Max's adventure in that zone.

Doom Zones (originally known as Doom Stones)

• Mighty Max Conquers the Temple of Venom (re-named to Mighty Max Conquers the Palace of Poison in the USA)
• Mighty Max Escapes from Skull Dungeon
• Mighty Max Liquidates the Ice Alien
• Mighty Max Slays the Doom Dragon
• Mighty Max Terminates Wolfship 7
• Mighty Max Trapped by Arachnoid
• Mighty Max Grapples with Battlecat (Hellcat in the UK version)

Horror Heads

• Mighty Max Against Droid Invader (re-named to Mighty Max Against Robot Invader in the USA)
• Mighty Max Battles Skull Warrior
• Mighty Max Challenges Lava Beast
• Mighty Max Defeats Nightwing (re-named to Mighty Max Defeats Vamp Biter in the USA)
• Mighty Max Fights Nuke Ranger
• Mighty Max Neutralises Zomboid
• Mighty Max Pulverizes Sea Squirm
• Mighty Max Versus Kronosaur
• Mighty Max Hammers Ax Man

Television series

In 1993, an American animated series was created based on the toys. After the series began to air, the characters Virgil and Norman and toys based on episodes of the series were added to the toyline to form a new series. The story on the packaging was revised accordingly, and a short-lived comic book series by Marvel UK

Marvel UK

Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US produced stories for the British weekly comic market, though it later did produce original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dillon and Grant Morrison.Panini Comics obtained the...

 was created as well. The appearance of Max changed considerably; he was no longer portrayed as a young boy but as a taller adolescent with longer hair and an untucked shirt, similar to his portrayal in the television series. The older Doom Zones, Horror Heads and playsets were re-released with the original story replaced with the revised one:

Max was bright and pretty good at getting in and out of trouble, but he'd never forget the day he broke his Mom's mysterious old statue and found the Cosmic Cap inside. How was he to know it made him 'the Mighty One', able to travel instantly from place to place by means of time Portals? And how were Max, his Cosmic Cap and his two friends and protectors, wise old Virgil and fearless Norman gonna' measure up against the ultimate evil of the Skull Master!!?

Doom Zones

Series 1:

• Slays the Doom Dragon
• Trapped by Arachnoid
• Terminates Wolfship 7
• Liquidates the Ice Alien
• Escapes from Skull Dungeon
• Conquers the Palace of Poison

• Series 2:
• Tangles with the Ape King (Gargantua)
• Grapples with Battlecat
• Outwits Cyclops
• Stings the Scorpion
• Blows Up Dino Lab
• Caught by the Man Eater

• Series 3:
• Sinks the Nautilus
• Bytes CyberSkull
• Squishes Fly
• Traps Rattus
• Lashes Lizard
• Crushes the Hand

Some of the renames:

• Mighty Max Caught in the Jaws of Doom (re-named Mighty Max Caught by the Man-Eater in North America)
• Mighty Max Blows Up Mutasaurus (re-named Mighty Max Blows Up Dino Lab in North America)
• Mighty max Grapples with Hellcat (re-named Mighty Max Grapples With Battle Cat in North America)
• Mighty Max Stings Scorpio (re-named Mighty Max Stings Scorpion in South Africa)
• Mighty Max Saves the Kingdom of Gargantua (re-named Mighty Max Tangles With the Ape King in North America)
• Mighty Max Grips the Hand (also known as Mighty Max Crushes his Hand) (RARE)
• Mighty Max Lashes Lizard (also known as Geela Guts) (RARE)
• Mighty Max Sinks Nautilus (also known as Sea Slug) (RARE)
• Mighty Max Bytes Cyberskull (also known as Cyro-Skull)

Some more infos about the doom zones (Wrote by Himber from his playset webside spectrumisgreen):

• The available variants in the Doom Zones line include The Wolfship7,Scorpion, Ice Alien, and Arachnoid. There is talk of a Skull Dungeon and Cyberskull variant as well.
• The original 6 Doom Zones later came repackaged with a bonus Norman figure , and later issues of the 2nd series Doom Zones came packaged with a Bonus Hairy / Dread Head . Take a look at the packaging variations listing for more info..
• Recently, package variations featuring 2 doom zones packaged together has made itself known . Also discovered are some great Mighty Max 3-packs with multiple Doom Zones and Horror Heads together!

Heroes & Villains

A total of six figure sets were released, each including Max, Norman, Virgil and various villains and monsters. The first three were simply repaints of pre-existing figures that came with recent Doom Zones and Horror Heads as well as from a few of the bigger playsets. The second three, however, were all-new figures done in the style of the cartoon.

• Featuring Skull Master
• Featuring Lava Lord
• Featuring Warmonger
• Featuring Battle Conqueror(RARE)
• Featuring Medi-Evil Mauler(RARE)
• Featuring Pharaoh Phang(RARE)

Horror Heads

• Mighty Max Against Droid Invader (re-named to Mighty Max Against Robot Invader in the USA)
• Mighty Max Battles Skull Warrior
• Mighty Max Challenges Lava Beast
• Mighty Max Defeats Nightwing (re-named to Mighty Max Defeats Vamp Biter in the USA)
• Mighty Max Fights Nuke Ranger
• Mighty Max Neutralises Zomboid
• Mighty Max Pulverizes Sea Squirm
• Mighty Max Versus Kronosaur

Series 2

• Mighty Max Hammers Spike (re-named Mighty Max Hammers Ax Man in North America)
• Mighty Max Hounds Werewolf
• Mighty Max Survives Corpus
• Mighty Max Tangles With Lockjaw
• Mighty Max Zaps Beetlebrow (RARE)
• Mighty Max Crushes Talon (re-named Mighty Max Crushes Clawber in North America) (RARE)
• Mighty Max Out Freaks Freako(RARE)
• Mighty Max Rams Rhesus 4 (re-named Mighty Max Rams Hydron in North America) (RARE)

Monster Heads

These were playsets considerably smaller than even the Horror Heads, and did not actually open up. They each came with one monster/villain figure and a Max figure unique to that playset.

• Zombie Commando and Jack Knife
• Mecha Crawler and Octo-Slime
• Gorillabat and Ape Warrior
• Imperial Dragon and Samurai Serpent
• Phantasm and Dr. Destiny
• Basilisk and Zilard Beast (RARE)

NOTE: Recently there's a bronze colored phototype Monster Head which looks like a one-eyed wolf discovered on IDEAL toy catalog (in Mighty Max Archive forum), so there should be 7 monster head ever planned out there at the time.

Hairy Heads (also known as Dread Heads)

Hairy Heads were only released on single cardbacks in the UK and Europe (where they were known as Scalps). In the US, they were called Dread Heads and released as bonuses with Doom Zones.

• Hemlock
• Karbon
• Anthrax 9
• Razorback (also known as Razor)
• Garrotid
• Skull Crusher (also known as Crusher)
• Eruptus (also known as Ruptus)
• Berserker (also known as Serker)

Shrunken Heads

The smallest Mighty Max playsets ever, the Shrunken Heads had little play value because of both their tiny size and lack of a detachable monster or villain figure to pit Max against (the majority of the Shrunken Heads did have an embossed and separately coloured monster as part of the molding on the wall or floor of the open set). However, the Shrunken Heads did come with a Max figure, and, like the Monster Heads, it was unique to that set. The first eight sets were original, while the remaining eight were based on episodes of the cartoon. The first eight originally came packaged in sets of two but later were released on separate cards by themselves. They were also available as cereal box prize

Cereal box prize

A cereal box prize is a promotional toy or small item that is offered as an incentive to buy a particular breakfast cereal. Prizes are found inside or sometimes on the cereal box...

s in some regions.

• Bloodsucker (re-named Insectoid in North America)
• Lobotix (re-named Brainface in North America)
• Pharaoh's Curse (re-named Mummy King in North America)
• Venom (re-named Wraptile in North America)
• Rat Trap
• Meltdown (re-named Head Case in North America)
• Rok Monster
• Vampyre

(The next 8 are all SUPER RARE)

• Skull Master
• Dr. Zygote
• Fang
• Conqueror
• Gargoyle
• Necrosaur
• Lava Lord
• Doom

Battle Warriors

These were action figures which transformed into small playsets, based on the same principle as the Mighty Max Blasts Magus playset (see below) but on a much smaller scale.

• Challenge #1 - Battle Conqueror (also known as Mighty Max Defeats the Conqueror)
• Challenge #2 - Double Demon (also known as Mighty Max Head to Head With Hydra)
• Challenge #3 - Lava Beast (also known as Mighty Max Melts Lava Beast)
• Challenge #4 - Pharaoh Phang (also known as Mighty Max Strikes Fang)
• Challenge #5 - Medi-Evil Mauler (also known as Mighty Max Shatters Gargoyle) (RARE)
• Challenge #6 - Megahert (also known as Mighty Max Shuts Down Cybot) (RARE)

Large-size playsets

It should be noted that Mighty Max Defies the Dread Star and Mighty Max Takes On Terror Talons are in fact the same playset, but came boxed differently and with different pieces. For instance, Dread Star featured a total of six alien villains, plus a "Skelemonster Robot" and a "Scavenger Vehicle." Terror Talons meanwhile had only five aliens, and no Scavenger Vehicle.

Mighty Max Assaults Skull Master was the only playset for a planned "Mega Heads" line. A second playset, based on Skull Master's minion Warmonger, was planned, but never produced despite being featured on a free poster depicting most of the later playsets.

• Mighty Max Blasts Magnus
• Mighty Max Defies the Dread Star(Terror Talons + one extra alien and Vehicle)
• Mighty Max Takes On Terror Talons
• Mighty Max Storms Dragon Island
• Mighty Max Assaults Skull Master Mega Head(RARE)
• Mighty Max Warmonger Mega Head(Unproduced, completed made prototype is found)
• Mighty Max Doom Mega Head(Unproduced, with concept drawing, not sure if there's ever a prototype produced)

McDonald's playsets

• Totally Toy Holiday 93 "Boys" Mighty Max Playset
• Totally Toy Holiday 95 Mighty Max Playset

Watch Playsets

• Lizard
• Wolfship 7
• Ice Alien
• Skull Dungeon
• Doom dragon
• Doom dragon(2nd ver. with different terrain color)

Official known released color Variants

• Wolfship 7 blue color variants(RARE)
• Wolfship 7 skin tone color (COMMON)
• Ice Alien black color (RARE)
• Arachnoid black color (COMMON)
• Rat trap black color (IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND))
• Scorpion golden/purple color (SUPER RARE)
• Skull Dungeon with brown/gray face (Sun damage or color variants?)
• Horror head Corpus light blue color(RARE)
• Horror head Lockjaw dark blue color(RARE)
• Horror head kronosaur red color (RARE)
• Battle conqueror gold/red color (EXTREMELY,EXTREMELY RARE)
• Conqueror shrunken head purple color (SUPER RARE)
• Skullmaster megahead with pure black wing(RARE)

Influence

On the trail of the popular Mighty Max, other companies would soon implement the miniature playset style into their merchandise for properties including Star Wars

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

, Godzilla

Godzilla

is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...

, and Batman Forever

Batman Forever

Batman Forever is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is a sequel to Batman Returns , with Val Kilmer replacing Michael Keaton as Batman...

. Such toys would often feature a character's head as the unfolded playset and an environment familiar to the property at hand (i.e. Batman

Batman

Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...

's head unfolding to reveal the Batcave

Batcave

The Batcave is the secret headquarters of fictional DC Comics superhero Batman, the alternate identity of playboy Bruce Wayne, consisting of a series of subterranean caves beneath his residence, Wayne Manor.-Publication history:...

). Galoob

Galoob

Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. was a toy company headquartered on Forbes Blvd. in South San Francisco, California. Best known for distributing the Game Genie, a videogame cheat device, for Codemasters in the US, Galoob was founded by Barbara Frankel and Lewis Galoob in 1954 as an import business. Before...

's popular Micro Machines

Micro Machines

Micro Machines: The Original Scale Miniatures were a line of toys originally made by Galoob in the mid 1980s and throughout the 1990s. Galoob licensed the idea behind Micro Machines from Clem Heeden, a toy inventor from Wisconsin...

 line already bared a similar scale to Mighty Max and created a variety of miniature Star Wars "head" playsets ranging in size. Playmates

Playmates

"Playmates" may refer to:*Playmates , written in 1940*Playmates , directed by Mauritz Stiller*Playmates , starring Oliver Hardy*Playmates , starring Diana Serra Cary...

 also introduced mini Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...

playsets in 1994 and continued producing them the following year.

Mighty Max revival movement

A campaign has started to revive the Mighty Max toyline, which Mattel has acknowledged in an Infinite Hollywood interview.