Suckerman

Released by Mattel in 1978, Suckerman was a huge hit! Suckerman was the best! The all-vinyl/rubber toy is of a simpler era where FUN didn’t necessarily need to be souped up and overdone. As basic as it was, Suckerman was amazing and millions loved him! And there was a Halloween costume as well! How can you beat that?

The original version came in three colors – red, black and green. Obviously, when you’re purchasing a toy that’s supposed to be a mutant hybrid of scary animals morphed together into a monstrous form, the darker the color the better. I’d definitely opt for the black version. Still, none of these three originals were the coolest of the Suckermen.

Though I had managed to own all of them, the best Suckerman of all, was a special glow-in-the-dark version. The Suckerman glow version retained a scary, marbleized milky skin tone that looked way creepier than any primary color ever could. I have to say it was probably one of my favorite toys in my youth. Something about being able to attach him to any surface and the fact that he glowed made him very versatile and super killer FUN!

A BIG stretchy creature that mixed elements from bats, monsters and octopi. The toy was over a foot in height, which made him large and sucky! Suckerman’s appeal was undeniable.  His body felt creepy and lifelike, his face was decidedly ominous, and that scary mouth played host to more fangs than an alien Zenomorph.

At first glance, he might not have seemed like much, but few of us kids were willing to go on living without owning him. Just on his appearance alone, Suckerman was a BIG winner. Everybody had one or had to have one!

Yes, lined with twenty-eight suction cups, Suckerman would stick to practically anything you threw him at, except sand. You were supposed to beat the Hell out of him and that was the best part! Mattel always knew how to cater to our monsterous instincts.

Sadly, Suckerman’s reign of terror didn’t last long. Plenty of kids had him, but the Sucky boom only lasted a few months. There’s no denying that Suckerman is 100% badass!