Your Holy Grail Monster "Toy"

[Richard]

Bobby- it is two completely different molds and two different companies.

They obviously used the same sculpture for the 3 pieces,  but the  'plug' (or whatever the proper term for the positive is) and molds were all together different, as the head tops are distinctively different between the speaker and the bucket/light.

The bucket is a light head with the hole cut in it- the light has a guideline mark in it to show the line worker where to cut the hole. For the light version, they simply didn't cut the hole out, and cut a small hole for the clip light in the back of the head.

 Of course the speaker has a much smaller hole than the bucket, plus it has a lip or ledge molded in for the speaker to rest in and be screwed to.

Again, THANKS ALL, for this discussion!
Monster Bob, everything you say seems to be exactly right! The way you've explained it clears up my questions, thank you! Everything seems to fit together now (And I am still determined to get a "bucket head" ~the more I see pics of them, the more I want one! I REALLY love that light head version too!!).

I obtained, what I am sure, is an original speaker head.
If not, PLEASE guys~ jump all over me!
I have Keith Sarno's repro tribute speaker head too and the detail is sharper (ie. skin pores, face wrinkles, the U.P. copyright stamped behind/below the left ear) JUST LIKE the pics of the bucket/light heads. The sculpture is the same but the molds, producing the pieces, must have been different. Either that, or the mold was cleaned/sandblasted and lost some detail in the speaker head production ~but doesn't seem likely. Monster Bob's explanation works for me.

Best,
Richard

[Richard]

three more pics

[fmofmpls]

Terry- Your headspeaker is THE headspeaker that Keith Sarno molded to make the resin repops everyone has (I thought you knew that). So all the repops around are casts of yours. He also did the paint/glue work on your speaker.

That's what I had always assumed. Still, I'm confused why it is that my head speaker has these finer detail markings than the others discussed here? Mine has the indentation line on the brow that is also found on the candy buckets, and it doesn't appear to be nearly as smooth as Richard's head speaker. I need to go and get my camera. And yet I still know that it's an original head speaker. Green blow mold plastic doesn't lie. I'll be back.

BTW Richard - nice score! You snagged one alright! Congrats! That's a head speaker. No doubt about it. Where did you unearth that may I ask? You don't have to answer that if you'd rather not.

[Toy Ranch]

Bobby- it is two completely different molds and two different companies.

They obviously used the same sculpture for the 3 pieces,  but the  'plug' (or whatever the proper term for the positive is) and molds were all together different, as the head tops are distinctively different between the speaker and the bucket/light.

The bucket is a light head with the hole cut in it- the light has a guideline mark in it to show the line worker where to cut the hole. For the light version, they simply didn't cut the hole out, and cut a small hole for the clip light in the back of the head.

 Of course the speaker has a much smaller hole than the bucket, plus it has a lip or ledge molded in for the speaker to rest in and be screwed to.

Yes, and I didn't say what I meant.  I meant sculpt and I said mold.  Of course the mold had to be different for the speaker, because of the ledge, and the light because it had no hole in the noggin (except the little air hole).  But Richard's and mine both have smooth brows, and Terry's has the line along the brow like the bucket head.  Molds are expensive to make, and I have a hard time imagining they made another one for the speaker head as it doesn't appear to have been a big seller.  But anything could have happened there...


Richard~  Congrats!  I know the speaker head has been a want of yours for a very, very long time.  That is absolutely the real deal and original.  There were variations in the paint jobs.  Some had the green paint and some, like mine, didn't.  I like them both ways.  Yours looks great!

[fmofmpls]

Here are pics of my head speaker. Note the fine detail along the face and brow areas which are more commonly found on the candy buckets. Also note that this head speaker has had some touch up work done by the person I bought it from. I would have preferred he left it alone, but beggars can't be choosers. Also note the second from the bottom pic featuring the green colored plastic. This color is not a blue-green, but just a green colored plastic. These characteristics seem to vary from head speaker to head speaker? Does this mean that like the AHI varaiants, that we should try and collect all the different variants? 

[Monster Bob]

That's an exceptionally nice speaker head, Richard, and unusual. The blue/green plastic is unique, and the face paint looks thicker and more evenly applied than you often see. Most often the plastic is an emerald green with either a green/yellow or grayish paint shot to the left and/or right of the face, letting the plastic's color show through like 50-75%. Yours is all original though, and a thing of beauty.

I think the eye ridge thing, as well as any detail issues, is a result of a mold wearing out. If yours is lacking the brow ridge line, I think it' safe to say it was done later in the run, or at least later in the run of that mold. Perhaps this would explain a slightly different paint job, too.

Now this one has the "ridge"...

[Meek]

    What a pair of mugs! This is living proof that one should never try to apply lipstick while traveling on a bus or other forms of public transportation.
     It must've smarted like heck to get it in the eyes.

     "Meek"(lipstick on your pallor told a tale on you)

[Monster Bob]

I'm not sure how many molds they would have had for each version, but I think it would be safe to think they had two of each. I know when Ideal sold off some their vinyl slush molds, it seemed 2-3 of each type of head mold was average. When Kevin Burns and I first met face to face, we were buying Ideal head molds, and luckily there were two Grandpa Munsters at the place, so there was no fist fights! 

[Monster Bob]

Oh, and Richard...the paint loss thing is not only normal but should be expected. If there wasn't any paint loss, especially uniformly across the hair, plus nose tip, etc. I'd look for signs of touch-up. The hair/face paint should have a "dullness" to its value (about equal to the sheen of the plastic itself), not gloss black, but not quite "matte" either. It especially easy to detect in the black  hair paint. Even the example on the box looks like it has some paint wear!

[Richard]

THANK YOU, Monster Bob!...AND Bobby, Terry...for all the info!

The color of the plastic is a BLUE-green rather than a GREEN-blue. The closest I can think of is a Marx blue-colored monster figure. Or, King Zor. I think my pictures, below, captures the color close but the camera really pulls out the blue color. I'm thrilled to have this piece. At certain angles, the bright green top coat of paint broken up by the blueish base gives me a feeling of a Basil Gogos painting.

I LOVE this thread! I had no idea that there could be variations of the speaker head as well as the bucket and light heads. We need to catalogue this info! A definitive CORRECT "monster toy collectables" book could be written with the vast knowledge at the UMA!

Best,
Richard

[avenger]

A little off the topic ,Bob,but I was admiring the robot in the background. What is it ?

[Toy Ranch]

This one sold on eBay a little while back.  It is a lighted head with a base.

[Monster Bob]

Avenger-

He is a Rosko Astronaut from the early 60s. Kind of a human cousin to Robby. He walks, then stops and "beeps"(talks) into his lighted walkie talkie. He came in red too.

[avenger]

He looks great,Bob.Thanks for sharing.

[raycastile]

Wow, that's amazing.  How much did that sell for?

This one sold on eBay a little while back.  It is a lighted head with a base.