Author Topic: What was your 1st monster toy?  (Read 43454 times)

Flower

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #135 on: December 30, 2017, 05:27:56 PM »
We need Big Bud in this thread.
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skully

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #136 on: December 31, 2017, 01:06:38 AM »
I was introduced to monsters with Famous Monsters, issue# 13, my cousin brought it home after someone left it on a bus she was riding.  The photos scared the heck out of me.  When Aurora put out their first monster kit Frankenstein, that was it.  Bought it, built it, hooked on monsters ever since!!

StyreneDude

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #137 on: December 31, 2017, 02:35:08 PM »
Bill Bruegman is still around but no longer deals in toys. He was one of the many big time dealers put out of business by Ebay.


I've never understood this mentality. Ebay shouldn't put anybody out of business if they embrace it. If anything their business should expand. You have millions of potential customers instead of a few hundred at a show. Not only that, it's much more cost effective. Even at EBay's current 10% final value fees, it's still cheaper to sell stuff there than it is to lug stuff to shows, pay for tables, lodging, etc.
Want further proof? Even as a customer, I've spent ten times more on monster collectibles on Ebay that I ever did at shows. I often left shows empty handed because they had nothing I was looking for. Plus, shopping on Ebay I have more money to spend, because I'm not wasting it on travel expenses and paying admission to get into shows.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2017, 02:47:35 PM by StyreneDude »

skully

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #138 on: December 31, 2017, 07:01:44 PM »
Bill was certainly a pioneer years ago with his printed "with photos" type catalog, along with the many publications he produced about building models, monster toys, and many other types of collectibles such as cartoon and character toys.  His catalogs with toys for sale were at the time much anticipated along with publications like the old "Toy Shop".  Only problem was, by the time you got them in the mail, even if you got them quick, certain items were already sold. Which, is why Toy Shop was successful with them implementing auctions with dealers that advertised, although many dealers had fixed prices , just like a few on e-bay too.  I guess it all boils down to one thing that I've brought up a few times.  I still like "the thrill of the hunt" to actually go out to shows, antique places and yard sales to find things, with the "exception" of these very dealers saying things like "well, I saw it on e-bay for -x- amount of dollars".  Not all of them do that, but many now do.  Along with putting up with that, many buyers now quickly check their mobile phones with e-bay to see completed auctions to see if a found item is a bargain or not. Times have changed a lot in the past 25 or so years with buying and collecting. Sure, many items turn up on e-bay, but, if it's a scarce or rare item, or extremely popular, you're probably going to be up against some competition till the auction is over. But, to be fair, many items are still bought at "bargain" prices on e-bay for one reason or another, it's the "luck of the draw".

StyreneDude

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #139 on: December 31, 2017, 08:06:12 PM »
I can honestly say that I rarely found anything decent either  price or condition wise in the wild. To me the "thrill of the hunt" was never more than an exercise in frustration and disappointment. Countless hours and thousands of dollars wasted traveling long distances to flea markets, antique malls, garage sales and shows.

I would not have the collection I do today if it weren't for Ebay. In mere minutes I can sit down and find exactly what I want, in the condition I want, saving valuable time and money.
I prefer to spend my time enjoying my collection, not hunting for it.

skully

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #140 on: December 31, 2017, 09:47:47 PM »
Well, I guess then, it's to each his own. Here in PA., things still pop up on occasion.  I don't know when you started your collecting. With toys, mine was in the early to mid 80's. The shows and flea markets and yard sales were a virtual gold mine of items. I never would have had the collection that I have, or had, if it weren't  for the time and effort of "the thrill of the hunt".  And guess what, I really do enjoy my collection more with the memories of hunting and finding my items!!

StyreneDude

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #141 on: January 01, 2018, 10:34:27 AM »
I started in the early 90's, and believe me I put in plenty of time and effort...it just never paid off, at least not for me. I never found anything in NE Ohio.
Ebay was an absolute godsend. It's how I got all my boxed Aurora kits, my Remco monsters, Don Post masks, Anchor Hocking glasses...

YoungestMonsterKid

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #142 on: January 01, 2018, 11:39:14 AM »
That's a pretty impossible one to answer for me. Because I've always had monster related things that my parents got me, long before I could read, maybe even before I could talk. One of my early ones that I still have today is a Cthulhu doll. This specific kind, I believe, they still sell at conventions. It's actually pretty amazing that they've sold these for nearly 20 years. I know they come in lots of different sizes but not quite sure mine's size. Maybe medium, it's definitely not tiny.
But anyways, it was a gift from my uncle. It was my whole introduction to Cthulhu. I remember that I hadn't learned how to make TH sounds so I called him "Cafoowloo". I also remember assuming he was more of just a giant movie monster, like Godzilla.


But again, even then, I've had things way before that, I'm sure. It depends on if you'd count any halloween decorations. There was also this really cheap styrofoam mummy/skeleton decoration from a drug store that I took everywhere with me when I was super little. My mom sat on it one day and broke it. But then we got another one later on but I don't recall really treating that one like a toy. I might have grown out of it by then. Then there was this bendy Frankenstein and also this much more cutesy mummy doll (not scary like the one I mentioned above).

YoungestMonsterKid

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #143 on: January 01, 2018, 11:41:41 AM »
Ah, I found one image of that mummy that I mentioned.
Whoever took this added some golden dollar sign, gansta necklace. Don't know why, but that wasn't part of it. So ignore that.

skully

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #144 on: January 01, 2018, 02:24:23 PM »
YoungestMonsterKid,  great story.  For those of us who are a bit older, monster toys, in general, weren't really that abundant in the marketplace in 1961 or even earlier.  The younger crowd here had opportunities when they were children with a much more array of monster type items. They could find things that were made in the 60's, as well as the 70's and beyond, depending on when you were born.  Back in 61, you had magazines, movies, and maybe an occasional monster type toy or novelty, which is why I mentioned the Aurora Frankenstein really setting off the big monster craze that was to follow, it just exploded after that. I agree with you on Halloween items, they were great back then.  I remember having a 6 foot glow skeleton cardboard that was jointed, hanging in my room for a long time.

Hepcat

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #145 on: January 01, 2018, 11:05:48 PM »
Ebay was an absolute godsend.

I agree! Ebay has been a godsend for me as well. I'd been reading Toy Shop and going to toy conventions for years looking for some of the toys I had as a kid such as the Monogram Fred Flypogger kits, Monogram slot car kits, Hasbro Marble Mazes, Kenner Sparkle Paint Sets, Duncan Spin Tops etc, etc and never finding them. When Ebay came along though I found all these and more in short order.

I've never understood this mentality. Ebay shouldn't put anybody out of business if they embrace it.

But only if they embrace it!

Ebay was one of those disruptive new technologies. It was a complete game changer, and adapting to this new game would not have been easy for many. Bill Bruegman had built up his Toy Scouts business to the point where he was perhaps the biggest fish in a small pond. But with the onset of Ebay all of a sudden he had thousands of new competitors. And while he was previously one of the first go-to sellers for the customers on the mailing lists he'd painstakingly developed over a couple decades, these customers now had multifold alternatives, and all so very conveniently on one computer screen! Transitioning over to do business in this new era where he would be one of many smaller fish in a vastly expanded pond would not necessarily have come naturally to many old time dealers. Like many others Bruegman probably just shrugged and said "The hell with it. I'm giving this thing up. I'll let these other guys fight over the scraps."

 cl:)
« Last Edit: January 02, 2018, 10:11:57 AM by Hepcat »
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MadCow

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #146 on: January 01, 2018, 11:23:40 PM »
I can honestly say that I rarely found anything decent either  price or condition wise in the wild. To me the "thrill of the hunt" was never more than an exercise in frustration and disappointment. Countless hours and thousands of dollars wasted traveling long distances to flea markets, antique malls, garage sales and shows.

I would not have the collection I do today if it weren't for Ebay. In mere minutes I can sit down and find exactly what I want, in the condition I want, saving valuable time and money.
I prefer to spend my time enjoying my collection, not hunting for it.

I'm 50/50. The thrill of finding something in the wild is such a high. Unfortunately, my work and family schedules leave me very little time for that these days. Couple that with living in a heavy toy dealer/scalper area and my chances for finding anything is VERY rare. I've definitely embraced eBay over the years and have done very well by playing the patience game. While my collection has flourished from it, the feeling when obtaining an item isn't as rewarding.


And to the topic at hand, I honestly don't remember. I want to say I had a Drac or Frankenstein Remco Mini-Monster figure but the memories escape me. I really got into it in my 20's and the Remco Mini-Monster line was my gateway drug. It was a carded Glow Frankenstein to be exact and then all down hill from there. ;)

Happy New Years everyone!!!
« Last Edit: January 01, 2018, 11:28:19 PM by MadCow »

skully

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #147 on: January 01, 2018, 11:35:42 PM »
Hep, It could have been for other reasons too. Bill knew his stuff, and he knew it well.  If he went through the trouble of printing catalogs, as well as mailing them all off, I'm sure e-bay wouldn't have been much of a problem for him.  I too have found many things on e-bay, lets face it, now-a days, it's the place to go to for specific items, most everybody uses this site for finding collectibles, as well as prices for them. But, I still like going out into the wild to hunt things!

Hepcat

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #148 on: September 29, 2020, 05:27:43 PM »
Bill knew his stuff, and he knew it well.  If he went through the trouble of printing catalogs, as well as mailing them all off, I'm sure e-bay wouldn't have been much of a problem for him.

Other than from big auction houses, I haven't received a catalog in the mail for over eighteen years.

 :-\
Collecting! It's what I do!

Buzzybean

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Re: What was your 1st monster toy?
« Reply #149 on: September 29, 2020, 08:00:46 PM »
The earliest monster toy I remember in our toy box and most likely a hand-me-down from my older brothers was a Marx Phantom of the Opera figure. My oldest brother had an Aurora frankenstein kit also.

 

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