COLLECTION CORNER!!

[Sir Masksalot]

I really look forward to, and enjoy your posts

'Just killing time until your next review ...

[Sir Masksalot]

'My DPS Timberwolf in its luxuriant summer coat >

     

Mankind's first look at the mask, 1976 DP catalog >



Just a few years earlier, the character was a mere figment of comic book imagination >

[Sir Masksalot]

Today being Don Post's birthday, this installment shall feature another of his scary cool masks: the dreaded TONGARI >

      

It was only catalogued twice in the mid 1980s, come and gone before I even knew it >

     

I didn't hunt one down until 2013 ... or was it TONGARI who hunted me down? That's a scary thought!

[Sir Masksalot]

It may look like an old Topstone mask but this was created by Retro Rubber in 1991
as a quickie prop for a TV production >



It's been known variously as "The Monster Club mascot", "Castle Terror", and "Walkin' After Midnight"
although this is the only ad I remember seeing for it >



I've never seen anybody wearing it more than once but at least we have a record of that as well >

         

I've got my copy foam-filled and mounted on a base so it'll be around for a long time to come >

[Sir Masksalot]

This sci fi thriller came along rather late in my classic movie exposure. I didn't watch it for the first time
until well into adulthood. Without any close-up shots of the titular monster, I couldn't quite figure out
what it looked like ... and never really did until this mask came along in the late 1980s >



Although my copy was trimmed for wearing, I wanted it primarily to include in convention exhibits.
It's since been foam-filled and costumed for that purpose >



Its creators are known to visit The UMA from time to time. Maybe they'll drop in with a comment or two about its development.



 

[Doh!]

Awesome Thing mask!

[Gory Glenn]

Great likeness of James Arness. He was 6'7" which I'm sure had a lot to do with his being cast as The Thing.

[jupiter2]

Just incredible!

[Sir Masksalot]

"Zombie Isle" was a short-lived but unique line of jungle-themed masks released almost twenty years ago
under the Retro Rubber brand. Their most spectacular character was the Witchdoctor which I purchased
for masquerading along with some shrunken head props >

     

There was also a Gorilla mask in the series, its design based on a legendary simian superstar from 1933 >



That's me, wearing my copy at a Halloween event in 2002 >

[Sir Masksalot]

^ This Don Post catalog page shows the generic HUNCHBACK mask which replaced their licensed
Universal version in 1975. By August I had a first edition copy, in plenty of time for Halloween!

      

[Sir Masksalot]

I got my Savage Eye SATAN mask from Bert Wheeler Magic way back in January 1979.
It was the last original version in stock before S.E. redesigned the character for the '80s.
This style remains my all time favorite and featured such custom touches as extended bib,
zippered back slit, and I love the way it smelled (no, not like brimstone).

      

[Kidagain]

I have to ask this question if you were a member of the Halloween Mask Association but under a different name. If you weren't we could have used you to put needed life back into that site. Sadly it shut down after a very long and fantastic run for mask collectors.

[Sir Masksalot]

question if you were a member of the Halloween Mask Association

Hardly anyone recognizes me since I've quit smoking and shaved off my beard.

[Sir Masksalot]

It began nearly fifty years ago with a full-page portrait in issue #102 of Famous Monsters.
The mask never went into production and the original mold's whereabouts remain unknown.
Verne Langdon's NEANDERTHAL was not to be seen again until the first copies in a limited
edition started showing up for sale at conventions.

       

I scored my copy in April 2009 along with an ownership certificate signed by the artists >

      

[jupiter2]

Love this Neanderthal! Do you know why it never went into production?