Food Fighters (Mattel)

Some of the best toy lines out there are the ones that very few people know about it. The 1988 Food Fighters (not to be confused with the band Foo Fighters) from Mattel is one of those lines. Combat at its Kookiest was its tagline, and kooky it was.

The series wasn't based on a television show, a comic book, or any other sort of entertainment related items, but rather was designed specifically for an action figure line. A total of ten figures were produced, along with four variants. Each figure, which included a weapon and a backpack, was made of a soft, hollow plastic similar to a squeaky toy that you would give your dog – though without the squeak.

The Kitchen Commandos, AKA the good guys consisted of; Burgerdier General, Lieutenant Legg, Major Munch, Private Pizza, and Sergeant Scoop. Each figure wore black boots, green combat gear (non removable belts, and removable backpacks), and carried a red weapon.



A variant of Major Munch was produced which depicts the character as both a chocolate glazed (original), and a strawberry glazed (variant) donut. A variant was also produced of Sergeant Scoop which depicts the character as a chocolate covered vanilla ice cream cone (original), and butterscotch covered vanilla ice cream cone (variant).

The Refrigerator Rejects, AKA the bad guys consisted of; Chip the Ripper, Fat Frenchy, Mean Weener, Short Stack, and Taco Terror. Each figure wore brown boots, black combat gear (non removable belts, and removable backpacks), and carried a blue weapon.



A variant of Chip the Ripper was produced which depicts the character as both a chocolate chip cookie (original), and a chocolate macadamia nut cookie (variant). A variant was also produced of Short Stack which depicts the character with maple syrup on top of his head (original), and blueberry syrup on top of his head (variant).

Three vehicles were produced for the series; Combat Carton (Kitchen Commandos), Fry Chopper (Kitchen Commandos), and BBQ Bomber (Refrigerator Rejects). Each vehicle contained a "firing mechanism" that either shot projectiles, or dropped things like a bomb.



A Refrigerator Playset was designed and advertised in toy catalogs as an item that was coming soon, but due to lackluster sales, the series was cancelled prior to it being released. Much like the vehicles, the playset was designed with projectiles and dropping bomb like items in mind via its firing popsicles, and bombing soda cans.

Unfortunately Food Fighters suffered the fate of a series that was simply unknown - With no animated Saturday morning cartoon, or sufficient advertising, the series simply drifted off into plastic history.

For those few who do remember it, the secondary market can become quiet the battlefield. Full mint on card sets of ten figures can fetch as much as $150.00, and mind you, that's not including the variants. A mint on card set of just the four variants can fetch as much as $250.00. The vehicles don't see as much success, and can sell for as little as $75.00 for all three, mint in boxes.

For those of you reading the comments, you may have seen some chatting about a duo of unreleased Food Fighters that someone 3D printed and is selling for a thousand dollars. The question at hand is are these legit designs of unreleased figures? The seller has an intriguing tale to their conception, but I'm not 100% convinced. For the asking price, if I was buying them, I would also expect them to remain a one of a kind pair, and not get reproduced over and over. Unfortunately, completed listings show this isn't the case, as the seller has already sold one.

Definitely an interesting listing, and I wish the seller the best. But, buyer's should definitely consider the above when determining if this is something they're going to drop that much cash on. There's really no guarantee these are based on authentic concept designs, and you're essentially paying a hefty price for a potentially mass produced custom pair of figures. Even legit prototypes of actual licensed products can sell for less than that. And those are one of a kind.

Legit or not, these look great, and they would definitely fit in with the line. I'm just not 100% convinced they're the real deal - in terms of being based on an unproduced concept. But who knows, I've been wrong before.

If you want to take a look at the listing, it's HERE (for now).

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