Mattel is preparing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Street Sharks with a reinvented version of the toyline.
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Mattel has been basking in the pink-hued glow of the Barbie movie this summer, but the company is also looking ahead. Following up on the nostalgic relaunches of lines such as Masters of the Universe, Mattel has revealed that both Street Sharks and Mighty Max are going to be making at least limited returns.
Speaking with ComicBook.com at San Diego Comic-Con this past July, PJ Lewis, VP of Global Marketing and Executive Lead for Action Figures revealed, “I think one of the things Mattel has done very well is manage the nostalgia aspect of [collecting], and Street Sharks and Mighty Max, I feel like it fits perfectly. Mattel has one of the richest IP libraries in pop culture, and I think the retro-nostalgic brands — be it Street Sharks, Mighty Max, and more — have opportunities of being reinvented. And at the same time, have opportunities for fans that grew up with them to relive some of those memories and storylines, and own a piece of that as an adult.”
“You have to make sure that the specific characters that we have are delivered in an authentic manner. As we like to say, there’s always a modern interpretation of a classic character,” said Lewis. “And that doesn’t necessarily mean a new look. [It] could mean enhanced articulation, could mean an improved deco [paint], right? If you have one of these old figures, and you’re lucky enough to either have it in [the] package or [haven’t] touched it in a long time, great! If you’re not holding on to one of those, and want a realistic interpretation of this memory of yours in the nineties, we want to make that available to you in that instance.”
The company did make one dive into the line in 2021 with some new figures based on unused designs. We’ll have to wait and see how much Mattel wants to do this time around, but it does appear that everything old is indeed going to be new once again.
