Mighty Max goes toe-to-toe with axe-wielding psychopath, “Big Red”. And the colour red is everywhere. The outside of the play set gives us the head of Big Red. His face is bound in metal bands, strapped tight and locked shut. The lopsided eyes, the yellow teeth, the scars and expression, Big Red is a tormented monster.
We get small a small peak into the interior of the play set through gaps in the eyes and teeth. As we open the play set up, we see a barn layout with red used throughout to indicate the wooden planks of the barn walls. There’s bales of hay, a pitchfork, rope and a lantern, and a tiny green ledge Max can stand on vertically.
On the base of the play set, we can see the massive door Big Red bursts out from and eventually, gets locked back behind. His axe partially breaking through. The door piece is the largest in the set with the large lock poking out into the exterior of the set, forming the lock on Big Red’s face.
The set contains two mini-figures. Mighty Max as well as Big Red. We can see the metal bindings across the figures face with a bright green jacket. His figure looms over the Mighty One.
Mighty Max Tangles with Lockjaw is a second-series play set from the toy line, being released alongside the popular Mighty Max cartoon series. This play set was either inspired by, or inspired The Axeman Cometh, originally aired in October 1994. During the clearing of a field, an ancient-enemy of Norman was released, Lockjaw. We get extensive flashbacks of Norman’s first encounter with the monster, summoned when a rival tribe (the Strangers) couldn’t defeat Norman and claim the village he was guarding. The demon cannot be defeated, but during the episode kills numerous humans and causes significant destruction. In the episode we learn that Norman has battled Lockjaw twice before, the first time he gets sunk deep into a nearby lake, the second time he gets chained to a tree.
The fighting in the episode is intense, and the longer in continues, the more furious and carless Norman becomes. It takes Mighty Max returning Lockjaw’s key to end the episode. Once Lockjaw removes his mask, he screams his battle-cry that is so powerful, it causes a mountain to crumble, burying him once again.
The TV episode also has a lot of ties to the play set, Mighty Max Hammers Ax Man. Lockjaw is a large, green demon, similar to ax man, and attacks using a chainsaw before reclaiming his axe. In the comic panel, Ax Man is also a crazed viking warrior. There’s significant cross-over between the cartoons and the play sets at this point in the franchise.