1991 – Playmates Toxic Crusaders: Toxie's "Clean Up Time" Watch, Sealed - RARE

A watch that's stood the test of time.

In 1984, Troma Entertainment released The Toxic Avenger. R-rated splatter-horror comedy. A scrawny janitor falls into a barrel of toxic waste, mutates into a deformed superhero. It flopped on release, then became a cult classic after a legendary midnight movie run at Bleecker Street Cinemas in New York. By 1991, someone at Troma decided the natural next step was a children's cartoon. They were absolutely serious.

Toxic Crusaders premiered in syndication in early 1991, airing in over 90% of U.S. households. Toxie and his crew of misfit mutants fighting pollution, battling alien invaders from planet Smogula, all in Saturday morning format. Sanitized just enough to clear broadcast standards. Gross enough to make kids love it. Only 5 of the 13 produced episodes actually aired before the show got pulled. The whole thing was over almost before it started.

Playmates built the toy line to the same standard as their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures. Same scale, same sculpt quality, glow-in-the-dark accessories, neon everything. Nine action figures, vehicles, slime canisters, and accessories like this watch. On paper it should have worked. It didn't. The line bombed commercially and retailers dumped unsold inventory at clearance. What didn't sell got destroyed. A toy line that succeeds gets mass-produced, restocked, and hoarded. A toy line that fails gets one production run and a clearance bin. Thirty-four years later, the math works in the collector's favor.

The watch itself is peak early '90s toy aisle energy. Toxie's grinning mug inside a toxic waste barrel face. Neon red strap with blue stars. "Clean Up Time" branding tying the environmental crusade theme to a functional kids' watch. Still sealed on its original card with slime splats, hazard stripes, and an original retail price sticker in the top corner. Card presents well with bold colors and clean edges, minor typical shelf wear. A time capsule detail from a toy aisle that doesn't exist anymore.

The franchise is having a moment, too. The 2023 Toxic Avenger reboot starring Peter Dinklage, Elijah Wood, and Kevin Bacon landed an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes and put Troma's flagship IP back in the conversation. New eyes are finding the original film, the cartoon, and the merch for the first time. But there's no Toxic Crusaders cartoon revival. No toy reissue. The only way to own a piece of the original 1991 line is to find one that survived.

This one survived. Sealed, on card, 34 years untouched. From a toy line that failed fast enough to become legitimately scarce, based on a cartoon that barely aired, adapted from an R-rated cult film that was never supposed to be for kids. That's not just a collectible. That's one of the best stories in the entire auction.