Feeding Frenzy! The Jawsome Guide to Street Sharks Toys and Media

Bad guys beware – everyone’s favorite animated man sharks have just resurfaced!

While the Street Sharks started a little fishy (come on, we all know it was just cashing in on the TMNT craze), they managed to chew out a small niche for themselves alongside other derivative franchises like the Biker Mice From Mars.

Although the show is well-remembered by 90s kids with taste, it’s really the range of Street Shark toys that made such a splash all those years ago. We have the rundown on the entire range of figures, so let’s dive in and see what these sharks were all about!

The Street Sharks Cartoon

Just like the franchise that inspired it, the Streek Sharks cartoon follows a group of young men who are mutated into half-man, half-animal crime fighters – something that happened shockingly often in the 90s.

The show starts out with the boys looking for their father, Dr. Robert Bolton – a professor working alongside Dr. Luther Paradigm on a “gene-slammer” capable of mixing the DNA of humans and various sea critters. What could possibly go wrong with a machine like that?

As is tradition, Dr. Paradigm turns out to be a megalomaniac who wants to use the gene-slamming machine to take over the world, and Dr. Bolton disappears while trying to stop him. While looking for their daddy, the Bolton Boys (John, Bobby, Coop, and Clint) are captured and transformed by Paradigm into the anthropomorphic hybrids we know and love.

In the next episode, Paradigm gets a taste of his own medicine when, in an encounter with the Sharks, his DNA is accidentally combined with that of a piranha – enter Dr. Piranoid.

Dr. Paradigm creates more mutant animals throughout the series in his many attempts to take down the Street Sharks, because sending humans in to be eaten by sharks in a kids’ cartoon doesn’t play well for parents.

That would have been pretty cool for us though!

Now, the Street Sharks show raises many important questions if you pay attention. Like, “Why did Paradigm turn his enemies into powerful mutant sharks?”

But none of that’s important – all that matters is that you’ve now got a crew of mutant heroes and a villain for them to thwart! Don’t think about it!

…But maybe it was because sharks have more “bite” than turtles.

Street Shark Action Figures

Like any good 90s cartoon, the titular Street Sharks – Ripster, Jab, Streex, and Big Slammu (he’s great at parties) – got their own action figures. Despite the show only airing 40 episodes, the Street Sharks toys were a big hit and scream classic nostalgia for many 90s kids today.

Following the trend set by the mega-successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy line, Mattel released a variety of action figure variants and vehicles. Most figures had their own special action feature, like Ripster’s roundhouse punch or Big Slammu’s overhead fist slam.

In addition to the heroes, the Street Shark villains were also lurking on toy shelves – with characters like Dr. Piranoid, Slash, and Slobster getting action figures of their own. As the show progressed, the line would be expanded with new monstrosities – both good and bad – from 1994 to 1996.

If you’d like to get your hands on these classic figures – either hero or villain – your best bet is probably eBay, unfortunately.

2021 Resurface

Before spilling out onto our television sets, the Street Sharks were based on a few simple – and slightly unsettling – drawings. These sketches eventually morphed into the aquatic crime fighters we know and love, but they were very different in this early stage.

In 2021, Mattel Creations released a limited edition range of Street Sharks toys based on three original concepts that never made it to production – creating something truly special for fans in the process.

These alternate character designs include:

Karkass – This first concept sketch of Dr. Piranoid was far more literal, sporting a Piranha’s toothy grin along with removable fish fists.

Clambo – Half-mollusk, half-man, Clambo came equipped with multiple blasters, a camo shell, and a face only another bottom-dweller could love.

Ripley – The original Ripster. Ripley is soaked in 90s charm, featuring a Goldfish Gym tank top, sunglasses, shoulder-mounted football missile launcher, and a jawsomely toothy grin.

The Mattel Creations website has a fantastic rundown of these figures and how they came to be, which we highly recommend checking out.

Street Sharks Characters & Figures Recap

The Fin-Tastic Street Sharks

Just in case you forgot who’s who, here’s the lowdown on the Street Sharks and their allies.

Ripster (John Bolton)

Ripster is the lead shark of the feeding frenzy.

He’s a great white who can bite through steel and has somewhat of a sixth sense. His action figure is also the most iconic, with its unique gimmick being the ability to wind up a devastating roundhouse punch.

Ripster got several action figure variations, including a 12″ talking Ripster and ‘Rip Rider Ripster’ which sat him atop a motorcycle.

Jab (Clint Bolton)

Jab is the rather lazy hammerhead shark who likes to use his head in fights.

And by “use his head”, we mean as a battering ram.

He’s also somewhat of a gifted mechanic, and is seen using a jetpack in the very first episode of the series. That seems like something you might save for season 2, but few things got 90s kids invested the way a good jetpack did.

When it came to his toy, Jab’s original action feature allowed him to fire his head from his body for some ‘jack-hammerhead action’. Unfortunately, this feature was removed in the second toy series for some reason. Perhaps one too many sibling eyes were poked.

Although, he did receive a shiny metallic paint job in the redux!

Streex (Bobby Bolton)

Cool, calm, and collected, Streex is a self-proclaimed ladies’ man who is often seen on his rollerblades. After his transformation, Streex becomes a tiger shark with bright purple markings on his body that really pull the whole look together.

Streex’s figure came with rollerblades and a unique gimmick where his claws would extend if you pressed a plug on his shoulder. Later variations of this speedy shark saw him swinging a hockey stick or rolling around as ‘Moto Streex’ on his motorized rollerblades.

Because the regular rollerblades just weren’t extreme enough.

Big Slammu (Coop Bolton)

The young, strong, sports-loving Big Slammu is a whale shark who, true to his name, can create earthquakes with his signature ‘Seismic Slam’. He’s the dumb but loveable heavyweight of the group, and doesn’t seem to have as much personality development compared to the others as a result. That hasn’t hurt his standing among Street Sharks fans though, since he’s still a favorite.

Big Slammu’s action figure (originally called ‘Boomer’) didn’t change much over series 1 and 2 of the toy line, as both iterations kept his single fist-slamming action. In series 3 though, he would get the moniker ‘Slugger Slammu’ and come equipped with a pair of boxing gloves, ready to knock out the Street Shark’s latest challenger.

It just goes to show, it really is never too late to change!

Moby Lick (Jets Taylor)

Another one of Dr. Piranoid’s experiments, the half-man, half-orca Moby Lick started off as one of the Shark’s most dangerous adversaries, but later turned into a powerful ally. He appeared in several episodes and got his own action figure with his signature bumpy pink tongue.

Some of the other good guys to get action figures include Melvin “Rox” Kresnik, Bends, and Mantaman.

Which Shark Was the Top Seller?

Street Sharks’ Ripster figure, obviously!

As the quintessential Street Shark, Ripster was a fan favorite and was instantly recognizable with his ripped muscles, massive blue head, and what appears to be… cowboy boots?

The 1994 Mattel Ripster was one of the better-selling action figures of the 90s, which explains why there are so many loose ones available to buy online today on sites like eBay.

However, the other Sharks (Streex, Jab, and Slammu) sold pretty well too. After all, fans of the show would naturally want the whole set – you can’t just split the brothers up!

“Top sellers” aside, we all have our favorite sharks.

What was yours? Did you ask for Ripster for your birthday in 1995? Or were you more of a Street Sharks villains fan? Regardless of what your favorite was, these action figures did see a few makeovers throughout the height of the show’s success, with four original toy series in total. 

Now, while it would be easy to spend all day talking about our jawsome heroes, what about the Street Sharks villains?

The Murky Street Sharks Villains

Of course, in order for the Street Sharks to be successful, Mattel knew they would need their own set of signature bad guys.

Luckily, Dr. Piranoid and his unhealthy obsession with genetic engineering meant that there was never a shortage of monstrous mutant sea life for the Street Sharks to battle!

Dr. Piranoid

The arch-nemesis of the Street Sharks, Dr. Piranoid (formerly Dr. Luther Paradigm) is a Lex Luthor-type character whose scientific genius is brought down by his insatiable lust for power (or at least a lust for creating fish people).

Despite accidentally injecting himself with piranha DNA, his mutation was less transformative than it was for others, and he can switch between human and mutant depending on his mood (which helps him turn the city’s authorities against the Street Sharks).

His action figure was released along with the first wave of Street Sharks toys. This figure actually had a lot of play value with a spinning head that went from human to mutant and a launchable missile. In a later release, he got an upgraded figure called ‘Power Bite Paradigm’ featuring his new mechanized power suit.

Along with the Dr. Piranoid toys, 90s kids were also bestowed with the “Seaviates” action figure line.

The Slimy Seaviates

What’s a villain without his minions? While not the most memorable TV bad guys of all time, we do have to hand it to the aquatic-themed, fishy puns behind the Seaviates’ names.

Slobster

One of Dr. Piranoid’s earliest lackeys, Slobster is actually a combination of lobster DNA and villainous figures from history like Genghis Khan to create the ultimate evil crustacean. Vicious and constantly salivating, Slobster mysteriously disappeared as of season 3 of the show.

His action figure had an impressive level of articulation compared to other Street Sharks toys though, with all his limbs and joints being moveable. Interestingly, his figure features what looks like a shark bite on his crotch area. Make of that what you will, but maybe that had something to do with his mysterious disappearance.

Slash

Appearing at the show’s start alongside Slobster, Slash is a mutated swordfish with a drill bit on his nose who speaks with a hissing lisp. Despite appearing quite fearsome, he was often the source of comedic relief on the show, with a running gag of him getting his nose stuck. Still, Slash was ultimately dropped by season 3 just like his cohort.

Slash’s action figure featured a detachable nose drill which, predictably, was frequently lost by 90s kids. A fin on the figure’s back could also be manipulated to make the nose drill spin.

Killamari

Again, we really have to hand it to the creators of the fish puns.

The third of Dr. Piranoid’s malicious experiments, Killamari, is an evil squid that can shoot venomous harpoon stingers from its mouth. He had an ongoing rivalry with Slash, who mocked Killamari for initially being unable to speak. On the show, he actually wore a speedo in reference to the fact his DNA was sourced from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Killamari’s action figure came with two stinger darts that he could hold in his upper tentacles as weapons. They could also be inserted into his mouth and fired by pressing switches on his back, but he could also spray water from his gob for a less violent method of play. Unlike the show, his figure had six legs instead of two, and, devastatingly, did not sport a speedo.

Repteel

Another fan-favorite toy was the sea slug thug named Repteel.

Repteel was actually the manager of a run-down hotel that was accidentally destroyed by the Street Sharks, so he swore revenge and allowed Dr. Piranoid to inject him with the DNA of a moray and electric eel. Repteel’s motto was, “I’ll turn those sharks into sushi!” (despite being better suited to sushi himself).

Repteel’s action figure was released in series 3 and featured a voltage backpack as well as the ability to launch eels from his hands and mouth. Like the other Street Sharks villain toys, the design of his action figure was much more terrifying than how he appeared in the show.

Vin Diesel’s 1994 Toyfair Performance

Of course, we can’t talk about Street Shark toys without bringing up this hilarious video of Vin Diesel pitching them at the New York ToyFair 1994. The video was produced before the TV show aired when the Street Sharks still had their original working names.

In the video, Vin enthusiastically shows off the action features of each of the main Street Sharks. Funnily enough, Vin uses a Troll TMNT figure as the test dummy – an unsubtle jab at the competition that you just don’t see these days.

Let’s face it, marketing in the 90s was just so much better!

Right before the video ends, Vin also has fun playing with Big Slammu’s rubber Hand Shark, demonstrating its “Rocky Balboa” action.

Check out the video below – we promise you won’t regret it!

Other Street Sharks Media

While there are absolutely many notable licensed video games from this time, the early to mid-1990s were more about cartoons and toys than video games and tech-related media. The Street Sharks met their demise right before the video game mania hit, sadly leaving us without a game to play.

However, the Sharks manage to live on in several… surprising ways.

For instance, you might be surprised to learn that Street Sharks cosplay is very much a thing. Like most great cosplay costumes, you’re going to have to do this one yourself, because there aren’t too many ready-made Ripster adult costumes floating around on the internet. We can’t imagine the market for that kind of item is very big at all.

Thankfully, that hasn’t stopped people from crafting and wearing Street Sharks cosplay to some of the world’s biggest comic conventions.

Is There a Street Sharks Movie?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the Street Sharks Movie doesn’t exist.

There are plenty of fans out there who have been begging for a live-action film, but we never got to see it come to fruition. Probably because imagining what the Street Sharks would look like in the real world is horrifying, as evidenced by the video above.

The show turned out 40 episodes over three years, but the Sharks never actually made it to the big screen. However, while we don’t have a Street Sharks movie, we have what some might consider the next-best thing thanks to a very brave digital artist named George Evangelista. George is a digital artist who specializes in re-envisioning some of the best 90s franchises for modern eyes.

Wondering what the Street Sharks would look like today? George created some prototype live-action versions of our favorite characters, and boy, did he come through with the vision!

George isn’t actually a big fan of the show, but he got so many requests to give the Street Sharks a makeover that he decided to do some research and give the people what they wanted.

If you’re craving more awesome 90s content like this that covers all of the toys, games, and media you loved as a kid – you can follow Rediscover 90s Toys on Instagram, Pinterest, and all our other social media pages!

Peeps Asked!

When did Street Sharks come out?

The Street Sharks made their TV debut in 1994. Mattel introduced the Street Sharks toy line the same year.

How much are Street Sharks worth?

The value of Street Sharks toys comes up a lot. You’re probably dying to know if your old Street Sharks Ripster figure is worth anything. Currently, eBay has quite a few Street Sharks toys that range from around $20-$50 loose. If you have an unopened member of the gang, a sealed Street Sharks action figure can earn you upwards of $200.

Where can I watch Street Sharks?

Looking to relive the action? We’re happy to announce that Street Sharks – The Complete 40 Episode Series – is currently available on Amazon. Now you can watch the sharks kick some serious fin whenever you want.

Is Street Sharks on Disney Plus?

Unfortunately, no. If you want to watch the brothers stop Dr. Piranoid from transforming the citizens of Fission City into mutants, we suggest heading to Amazon.

How many seasons are there of Street Sharks?

There are three seasons in total. The show was on the air from 1994 to 1997 on the BKN network.

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Lee Davey

Lee is curator of nostalgia and a long-time collector of loveable junk. An 80s baby, 90s kid, he knows he had it good when it came to Saturday morning cartoons. Spends his life trying to recapture the dopamine hit of playing Game Boy for the first time and believes Beanie Babies will make a fortuitous comeback. Obsessed with everything (and anything) retro, he is your trusted guide to a world of 90s toys, games and collectables.

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