Just grabbed this cool old Dracula "Creepy Monster" bank off of ebay. He's made of some kind of plastery composite material and is in surprisingly good shape. I also have a Batman bank from 1966 made from the same stuff. The only marking is on the rubber plug which says ,"Made in Taiwan". Didn't cost a helluva lot and i'm really pleased with it. Certainly never saw one of these before this auction. Enjoy and Goodnight!(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/Gasport2000/dracbank001-1.jpg)
I think I saw that one on eBay, just missed the close of the auction. Very cool! Glad you scored it.
Thanks, and NICE JOB on that paint job you rendered on the BK Creature in the other thread! I agree that it appeared to lack detail when unpainted, but there it is...it never looked so good!
Gasport, your Dracula "Creepy Monster" looks like he could be a companion piece to my Frankenstein-like "Mighty Monster" I won from eBay 5 or 6 years ago. He's missing the rubber plug on the bottom but there are some sculpt similarities, although I doubt if he was originally intended to have pink fingernails! Makes one wonder if there might be other similar monster banks out there that belong to this set. Perhaps a "Wolf Monster" or an "Opera Monster", etc...
(http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn143/The_Spangler/mightyfranky2.jpg)
Ok, never mind. I'm having waaaay to hard a time posting a pic! Lol
Quote from: Gasport on April 17, 2008, 11:00:50 AM
Thanks, and NICE JOB on that paint job you rendered on the BK Creature in the other thread! I agree that it appeared to lack detail when unpainted, but there it is...it never looked so good!
Thank you very much!
Neat, Mike - the Olden Days stuff just has more goofy charm, doesn't it?
There was less of it around, so if I'd found that at a garage sale as a kid, I would've likely tried to repaint it "so it looked more like the real Dracula!"
Best,
-Craig W.
Exactly Craig,
They came pretty close to a Lugosi face, so maybe they figured they had better make it less so by painting the clothing differently in order to escape the legal wrath of Bela Jr?
Regards ,
Mike
OK! I got it, and it only took 6 hours!
Spangler,
Your pic finally came thru...i'd have to say that upon first inspection, it sure looks like our two banks are related. It certainly DOES make you wonder if there indeed were other monster bank varieties available back in the day. Thanks for posting!
That is a neat Dracula. But what's up with that pinkish area on his left leg? Does he have his pants patched?!?!?!
I also like that cobra and the teletubby-ish Charley thing... ;D
Hey Dave,
Yeah, that's a pink patch alright! Like i said before...they came kinda close to a Lugosi face on the bank. so the costume alterations were probably to make sure they didn't get sued by either Universal or Bela Jr. The Charley robot is from the Charley n' Me game from the 60's by Topper Toys. He doesn't really do anything but get clamped onto a big battery powered gameboard to make it look like he's playing the game with you...pretty pathetic, but i had fun with it as a kid. The cobra is cool! I found it at K-Mart last Halloween, He has a rat's butt lodged in his mouth and they both squirm and make rude noises when you press the button.
Quote from: The Spangler on April 17, 2008, 02:17:12 PM
Gasport, your Dracula "Creepy Monster" looks like he could be a companion piece to my Frankenstein-like "Mighty Monster" I won from eBay 5 or 6 years ago. He's missing the rubber plug on the bottom but there are some sculpt similarities, although I doubt if he was originally intended to have pink fingernails! Makes one wonder if there might be other similar monster banks out there that belong to this set. Perhaps a "Wolf Monster" or an "Opera Monster", etc...
(http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn143/The_Spangler/mightyfranky2.jpg)
GASPORT: LOVE the Dracula Creepy Monster bank!
I'm not so sure about "Mighty Monster" - I think the pink fingernail polish goes very well with the lipstick.
(Maybe they got the "Mighty" and the "Creepy" bases switched at the factory.)
Thanks for reposting this thread, MFS...Forgot all about it! These banks HAVE to be related somehow. Still making up my mind if i want to sell it or not. Wish i could get some definite info as to its origin.
They should have used black nail polish like i do...................lol
Quote from: Gasport on April 17, 2008, 06:52:53 PM
Exactly Craig,
They came pretty close to a Lugosi face, so maybe they figured they had better make it less so by painting the clothing differently in order to escape the legal wrath of Bela Jr?
Regards ,
Mike
I was noticing that myself. The eyebrows, the hairline, the cleft...definitely Lugosi influenced.
The sculptor was looking at the Aurora Dracula box. C:)
Quote from: Monster Bob on April 11, 2014, 03:45:22 PM
The sculptor was looking at the Aurora Dracula box. C:)
Bob-- correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Mighty Monster Frankenstein ceramic bank the companion piece and 3rd piece to the Castle Dracula ceramic bank set?, (which also features the Wolfman and Dracula in poses based on the Aurora kits?) Or is it the companion piece to the Creepy Monster Dracula Bank?
Either way, I am missing the Mighty Monster bank and still actively on the search for one.
Matt
Here are the three banks I own.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7154/13789715275_2bcb9b7014_b.jpg)
Clearly all were inspired, in some way, by Aurora. The two on the left are inspired by the actual kits, in a nice little change of pace for 1960s monster iconography. The one on the right, by the box art.
They are among my favorite things. Some people say they are really rare, which I believe. Others say they are really common, and not particularly valuable, and likely just in end collections so they don't show up often... That latter theory doesn't hold much water with me (or nickels, as the case may be). Let me put it this way: I've seen alot more AHI Creature from the Black Lagoons than I have seen of the Wolfman bank.
I'm starting to think the "Mighty Monster" Frankenstein bootleg belongs with Creepy Monster Dracula, and NOT with the Castle Dracula set, as Kirk Hammet and other collectors would suggest. Nonetheless, it is an awesome piece. I wonder if the Castle Dracula set even HAS a Frankenstein representative..
Either way, these banks are awesome, and any collection is enriched by them. I was doing an internet search for pics of the Frank bank, and coincidentally enough, stumbled across two currently-active Ebay listings for the Dracula and Wolfman banks. I don't normally post active auctions, but these were too good not show. Plus I think the seller is a member here if I'm not mistaken, and would probably be glad of a boost in views.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-CASTLE-DRACULA-BANK-UNIVERSAL-MONSTERS-FRANKENSTEIN-SUPER-RARE-VAMPIRE-/111324501962?&_trksid=p2056016.m2518.l4276 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-CASTLE-DRACULA-BANK-UNIVERSAL-MONSTERS-FRANKENSTEIN-SUPER-RARE-VAMPIRE-/111324501962?&_trksid=p2056016.m2518.l4276)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-WOLFMAN-CASTLE-DRACULA-BANK-UNIVERSAL-MONSTERS-FRANKENSTEIN-SUPER-RARE-/111324493640?&_trksid=p2056016.m2518.l4276 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-WOLFMAN-CASTLE-DRACULA-BANK-UNIVERSAL-MONSTERS-FRANKENSTEIN-SUPER-RARE-/111324493640?&_trksid=p2056016.m2518.l4276)
Best,
Matt