Help ID this Mummy figure please

[apesman]

I found this in a bag full of old cowboys and Indians figures. He is slightly smaller in scale to the MPC monsters and is 2 inches tall. The plastic is somewhat pliable and the left leg looks a bit deformed. Not that I think he's worth anything, just wanted to see if my UMA peeps could give me any info. Thanks UMA!

[Anton Phibes]

White Castle mummy toy?

[mjaycox]

White Castle mummy toy?

Definitely not the white castle you... But I don't know what it is

[horrorhunter]

     That is one of the creatures from the Strange Change, The Lost World toy made by Mattel in 1967. The creatures were made of memory plastic and would change from a small compressed square to the creature when heated in the Strange Change Machine (later called Time Machine). When heated again it could be compressed back into the square by cranking the compression chamber which was part of the Strange Change Machine. This was one of my faves when I was a little monster kid.

[Mike Scott]

[horrorhunter]

     Someone vandalized the mountain!

[apesman]

Thanks guys, I figured someone would know his origin. That toy came out the same year I was born, so he's going in one of my display cases! I have to check my bag of dinos and see if any are from the SC toy as well. Thanks again...Love my UMA!!

[apesman]

So I found a space man looking guy made of the same plastic and yellow color and I had a fuchsia snake that I didn't know its origin, but see that its a Strange Change figure as well. Thanks again guys.

[horrorhunter]

     There were some pretty freaky looking critters with this set. There was a three legged cyclops crawling thing, a gliding thing with a big eyeball for a head, and the "Membrane Man" which resembled a Mothman with membranes for wings. I used to see these sets for cheap years ago, but like most other things, the price has been climbing. It's hard to find a decent complete set with a working heating unit. And, that green mountain is vacu-form, so there are almost always splits at the bottom corners from the weight of the metal unit which sets on it inside the box. It's really thick vacu-form, a lot thicker than most pieces that came with toys (like that octopus which came in the Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea playset...you could look at it hard and it would crack). But, even though thicker than most, it is still brittle and subject to cracking. It's also hard to find a decent box. The weight of the metal unit took it's toll on the mountain and the box over the years.
     The Strange Change Machine playset was featured on the Toy Hunter show last year on the "Hunt For Misfit Toys" holiday episode. By calling more people's attention to it through that show it may increase demand and eventually drive up prices a bit. I know some people here think that show is laughable and unrealistic, but many people do watch it. Increased demand dries up supply which results in higher prices. Anyone wanting one of these should probably go on the hunt fairly soon. Sometimes you have to wait quite a while to snag a nice one.