MPC Pop Top Head Charms

[Toy Ranch]

I've been collecting these for a while now.  They are vending charms with MPC Pop Top heads.  I had found 3 of them in the past.  They were always in lots of vintage vending and cracker jack toys, and were not highlighted by the 3 different sellers I got them from:



I worked out a trade with someone for a full set.  The other party didn't have a camera and wasn't able to send me a pic in advance, but I've dealt with him before and he's a good guy.  Here's what arrived:



The colors don't seem right, but the size is the same and the gold Wolf Man is the same as the one I already have:

The one on the left is the one I had before, the one in the middle arrived today, and on the right is avintage MPC pop top head




I know the Pop Tops and other stuff was repopped in Mexico in the 90's.  I've had some of that stuff before, but the plastic is more brittle and slightly oily.  The plastic on all of these is the same, and that includes the vintage pop top head.  Even so, that bright pink and green I wonder about.  Anyone have any history on these or know anything else?

[Monster Bob]

Bobby-

The neon colored ones are definately vintage. They have the look and feel of Nutty Mad plastic. I have never seen ones in gold before. I still have a couple of sets, out of like 10-15 sets found twenty+ years ago, along with the gum machine header card.

[Toy Ranch]

Cool, Bob.  Glad to hear that.  I feel tons better now. 

[poseablemonster]

Good to know they aren't re-pops.  I have the header card, but have never come across any of the charms yet.  Very nice score, Bobby!

[The Drunken Severed Head]

"They have the look and feel of Nutty Mad plastic." Bob, do you mean the Marx Nutty Mads? My brother and I used to collect those when we were kids, and I never saw one that was neon colored. (Or have heard of one since.) I've only seen pink and a sort of maroon.

What colors did they come in? Were the Nutty Mads repopped?

[Monster Bob]

Hey Max-

Just using the term 'Nutty Mads' generically. I am saying the same look and feel as the neon plastic Marx used on their 60s/70s bigger figures (Marvel characters, Disney, etc.), not Nutty Mads per se.

The Monster Heads I have are green, orange, red-orange, and fuscia pink. They are guaranteed 100% vintage, as I have had them like 20 years, and they were old then. They came from the same NY find as the original Addams Family figures and header cards. Very small find, like 6-8 sets or something. Most all (like 99.9%) of these Addams figures offered in the last 10 years are repops; not sure where the mold is at but I would think NY or Mexico. There is a a noticible difference in the color and feel of the plastic when comparing original Addams figs to the repops.

[Toy Ranch]

Marx Marvel figures were in those colors:


So were their Disney figures


Some Nutty Mads


They did make Nutty Mads in those other bright colors.  I've even seen white Nutty Mads.  The weird color Nutty Mad thing got harder to figure when they did the repops in Mexico, but there were neon Nutty Mads before the repops.

[Monster Bob]

Yes- thanks Bobby- those are the Marx colors I was thinking of. The "Monster Head" charms are similar in the plastic's llook and 'feel' to what was used in those Marx figures. Not identical color, but close.

Again- green, orange, red-orange, and fuscia pink.





As almost a continuation of a 'freak animal' thread elsewhere on UMA, on bottom are two "freaks"...a "siamese martian" (factory grafted!), and a poor orange martian manufactured without a loop!

Believe It Or Not!

[Getter_1]

Man, I'm jealous.  I love those MPC figures.  I have the Pop-Top Horros (still need carded sets) but now I gotta find some of those monster charm heads.

Thank you so much for sharing those.  I never knew they existed!

[The Phantom Creep]

Ha ya gotta love those conjoined Martian heads! 

[Toy Ranch]

I couldn't stand it...  the heads belong on rings and belong on the card.  I had to put them there.

[Getter_1]

Oh momma!  I need one of those!!!

I'm breaking out in a cold sweat. 

[The Drunken Severed Head]

Some Nutty Mads


They did make Nutty Mads in those other bright colors.  I've even seen white Nutty Mads.  The weird color Nutty Mad thing got harder to figure when they did the repops in Mexico, but there were neon Nutty Mads before the repops.

I'll be damned. I grew up seeing the Marvel and Disney figures in those colors, but never once the Nutty Mads. Just variations of the color of the figure on the left. And I've seen a lot of Nutty Mads!

Go figure. (Pun intended.)

[Toy Ranch]

I think the dayglo ones were a later issue (but still from the same basic time frame).  The distribution of merchandise for stores was very localized back then, and stuff that made it to one area would never be seen in another.  Until eBay came along, the perception of rarity was skewed.  Something that had never shown up in one place was relatively plentiful in another. 

[The Drunken Severed Head]

Thanks for the extra info, Bobby. I'd hypothesized something like that, but figure my guess was silly. I suspected that regional supply differences were possible, but had no idea they could be that different.