Some of the greatest toys ever sold were the Food Fighters action figures that were made by Mattel. These toys were introduced late during the 1980’s and were only available from 1988 to 1989; however, because of their affordable design, discount stores carried them until early in the 1990’s. They were developed based on foods that were popular and were constructed from soft rubber with plastic limbs. They were offered with plastic backpacks and weapons that could be removed, and they wore hats and helmets.

Mattel’s Food Fighters were divided into two separate groups that fought against one another: the heroes, called the Kitchen Commandos, were headed up by Burgerdier General, and the bad guys were called the Refrigerator Rejects and were led by The Mean Wiener. Riding out to battle in vehicles, the Food Fighters action figures participated in combat operations with a functional arsenal at hand.

The Food Fighters never became mainstream due to their brief manufacturing period and the absence of a television cartoon series that depicted the characters, so people quickly lost interest. Those who were fortunate enough to have enjoyed these incredible action figures no doubt remember them fondly and know how awesome they were. Their movements may have been somewhat limited, but any child with an imagination at all loved the stories about and the personalities associated with these figures that made them so much fun to be played with. I absolutely loved these toys as a child and played with these figures for endless hours. I owned nearly every figure, but The Mean Wiener, which was the most difficult character to find, always eluded me, so I had to play with an actual hot dog instead. Oh well…

Kudos to Mattel for their Food Fighters action figures, which were the greatest toy of their kind ever sold; kids everywhere enjoyed countless hours of play with these toys, and they were an incredible toy concept. Mattel’s Food Fighters allowed kids to play with their food without suffering the parental consequences, and we know how much kids love to play with food.

The following is a list of all of the figures and vehiclesthat Mattel released in the Food Fighters line:

The Kitchen Commandos, distinguished by their black boots, green clothes, and red weapons.

• Burgerdier General, a cheeseburger (The leader of The Kitchen Commandos)
• Major Munch, a donut (available with either a chocolate glaze or a red strawberry glaze)
• Lieutenant Legg, a chicken drumstick
• Sergeant Scoop, an ice cream cone (available as chocolate ice cream or strawberry sherbet)
• Private Pizza, a pepperoni pizza slice
• The Combat Carton, an egg carton tank with a ketchup bottle cannon
• The Fry Chopper, a frying pan helicopter
• The Refrigerator play set, the Kitchen Commandos’ base (never released)

The Refrigerator Rejects wore brown boots, black clothes, and had blue weapons.

• Mean Weener, a hot dog (The leader of The Refrigerator Rejects)
• Chip the Ripper, a cookie (available in either chocolate chip or macadamia nut)
• Short Stack, a stack of pancakes (available in maple syrup or purple syrup)
• Taco Terror, a taco
• Fat Frenchy, a box of French fries
• The BBQ Bomber, a grill with a spatula catapult

Well, there you have it – that pretty much sums up everything about the Food Fighters. Anyone who loves classic toys, particularly the kind of stuff that was popular in the late ’80’s and early ’90’s, should try to seek some of these bad boys out!