Toyzinger
If you grew up in the ’90s, you probably remember those giant sharks with abs of steel, sunglasses and roller skates, spouting phrases like “let’s bite the asphalt!”.
Yes, they were the Street Sharks, a franchise born in the height of the fever for anthropomorphic mutant heroes, when any muscular creature with a radical attitude could become a children’s idol.
It was in the early 1990s, when David Siegel and writer Joe Galliani prepared a proposal for an animated series and toy line starring mutant humanoid sharks.
As Joe Galliani tells in his interview with Unpunched, the idea struck him while researching at the library: he discovered that children’s books about sharks had a waiting list. It was then that he thought, logically enough, that children are fascinated by sharks.
The funny thing is that Joe Galliani was not only a freelance scriptwriter: he also collaborated with Mattel, writing speeches for their executives. So, once he had his franchise proposal more or less put together, he showed it to some contacts within the company. And bingo: the idea caught on. Mattel saw potential and decided to develop it.
At the time, the competition was fierce. Playmates Toys was taking all the cake with its Ninja Turtles figures, which were sweeping sales and dominating toy store shelves halfway around the world.
Mattel, not wanting to be left out of this party of muscle mutants and cool monsters, saw Joe’s sharks as an opportunity to enter the battle. That’s how the Street Sharks were born. If Playmates had turtles… why not sharks?
If we talk about the Street Sharks animated series, we have to be honest: they are not exactly masterpieces of the genre. Seen today from an adult perspective, it is quite evident that they were created with a very clear objective: to sell toys. The scripts were simple, the animation was just good enough, and everything revolved around showing the characters in action so that children would want to have them at home.
But of course, if we go to the field of action figures, things change radically. After all, Mattel is not an animation studio, it is a toy company, and they really knew what they were doing. The Street Sharks line has some impressive figures: detailed sculpts, eye-catching finishes, resistant materials and action features that made them super fun to handle.
In addition to the toys, the franchise also generated a lot of merchandising: T-shirts, backpacks, comics, stickers… It may not have reached the level of success of the Ninja Turtles, but it left its mark. And when something like that works, the next thing is natural: more mutants.
Seeing that the mutant sharks were doing so well, Mattel decided to up the ante – what could kids love even more than sharks? Dinosaurs!
Thus Extreme Dinosaurs was born, a spin-off that basically took up the same formula: huge creatures, muscles everywhere, tons of attitude… and, of course, a new line of toys ready to take the world by storm.
Mattel was smart: it took advantage of Street Sharks ‘ own animated series to introduce these new characters.The Dinosaurs made their debut in some episodes, turning both franchises into “mutant brothers”, sharing universe and aesthetics.
Even if you weren’t a fan of the series, it’s hard to deny that the toys were really cool. And that’s where Mattel knew how to succeed: they turned more or less generic characters into unforgettable figures.
Many children of that time, myself included, were amazed with them, and now, as adults and involved in the world of vintage collecting, we are eagerly looking for them to add them to our showcases.
This boom in collecting has given rise to a sort of second golden age for the Street Sharks. Their figures have started to fetch quite high prices on the second-hand market, and nostalgia has done the rest.
In fact, Mattel has taken advantage of the pull and, on the occasion of the franchise’s 30th anniversary, has released a reissue of some of the most beloved figures.
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