I've been collecting Universal monsters for about 10 years now and, mostly, collect Creature. I've posted on here now and then. I was mostly collecting "modern", but I've mostly collected every good Creature toy released in the last 25 years or so and, naturally, sought out more goodies, so I've been delving into vintage. Now, I'm like an obsessed maniac, though my budget keeps me from getting too serious.
I have a Remco Creature and Phantom (though I don't really consider that vintage). I was at a con this past summer and got a Marx creature on a good deal because someone tried to highlight him with darker shadowing. I got a good deal, but wasn't satisfied, so I just bought a pretty mint Marx Creature, along with a Hunchback. I got a mint condition Zoo Pik spoon recently as well.
There's no real point to my post, other than sharing my excitement as I'm a noob to the vintage scene and looking for good ideas. I would love a Soaky or AHI but they are mostly out of my range. I've been scouring Ebay for a Palmer, but I'm holding out for green. I don't like the yellow ones that I commonly see there.
I have put the Anchor Hocking glass and the AHI windup on my "wish list" also.
You're in good company here at UMA. Many of us are Creature fanatics.
Here's a thread with some Creature items on display: http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=11431.0 (http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=11431.0)
I'm drooling
Quote from: The Red Death 30 on November 08, 2015, 08:59:16 PM
I've been collecting Universal monsters for about 10 years now and, mostly, collect Creature. I've posted on here now and then. I was mostly collecting "modern", but I've mostly collected every good Creature toy released in the last 25 years or so and, naturally, sought out more goodies, so I've been delving into vintage. Now, I'm like an obsessed maniac, though my budget keeps me from getting too serious.
I have a Remco Creature and Phantom (though I don't really consider that vintage). I was at a con this past summer and got a Marx creature on a good deal because someone tried to highlight him with darker shadowing. I got a good deal, but wasn't satisfied, so I just bought a pretty mint Marx Creature, along with a Hunchback. I got a mint condition Zoo Pik spoon recently as well.
There's no real point to my post, other than sharing my excitement as I'm a noob to the vintage scene and looking for good ideas. I would love a Soaky or AHI but they are mostly out of my range. I've been scouring Ebay for a Palmer, but I'm holding out for green. I don't like the yellow ones that I commonly see there.
I have put the Anchor Hocking glass and the AHI windup on my "wish list" also.
Are you referring to the 3 3/4" or 8" Remco figures?
Just the 3.75 figures. Much cheaper and easier to find, though to my knowledge there was no Creech in the larger Remco, right?
One of the thing that always sort of kept me from collecting more Creech in the past was that I was into "realistic". I liked modern sculpts and tended not to like anything too stylized like the Mezco figures. Naturally, that also meant I didn't like the more simplistic designs of the vintage era. The more I got into collecting, though, the more my mania took over and I started to appreciate the vintage look for its' simplicity.
Quote from: The Red Death 30 on November 10, 2015, 09:46:55 PM
Just the 3.75 figures. Much cheaper and easier to find, though to my knowledge there was no Creech in the larger Remco, right?
Nope, there's a Creature.
(http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/MGalleryItem.php?id=615)
Quote from: The Red Death 30 on November 10, 2015, 09:46:55 PM
Just the 3.75 figures. Much cheaper and easier to find, though to my knowledge there was no Creech in the larger Remco, right?
There was an 8" Creature he and the Phantom were added to the 8" line just a little later. Does your Phantom still have his cape? Those are usually lost before he gets onto ebay. I have a Frankenstein, Dracula (Glow Version), Mummy, Creature, and a Phantom with his cape and one who's missing his. I also have the playset which has all but one piece.
My phantom does have his cape. He's actually in pretty decent shape.
Somewhere in my parents house is the original Phantom I owned back in 80. He's definitely missing the Cape and some paint though lol
Quote from: Mike Scott on November 10, 2015, 10:26:56 PM
Nope, there's a Creature.
(http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/MGalleryItem.php?id=615)
I don't recall ever seeing the larger Remco Creature. Is he particularly rare?
(Or have I not seen him just because I don't actively search Creature items?)
Quote from: Monsters For Sale on December 01, 2015, 12:44:01 AM
I don't recall ever seeing the larger Remco Creature. Is he particularly rare?
(Or have I not seen him just because I don't actively search Creature items?)
The four large monster were released at the same time as the six small ones. It was later that the large Creature and Phantom were released so they are more rare. Phantom is more rarer than Creature and that's not even counting the fact that his mask is usually gone.
The Creature and Phantom 9 inch figures were added to the line in its second year, 1981, and, tmk, in the same ratio per case. The Phantom is less common to find lose and complete because of his cape and mask/hat accessory (and quite often listed as Dracula in online sales until about eight years ago). The 9 inch line wasn't reordered heavily and those two figures didn't make it to a lot of markets or to catalog sales.
The initial assortment of 9 inch figures was released in 1980 and contained Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, and Frankenstein's Monster. There is a Monsterizer table play set for use with the 9 inch line and also a Dracula/Frankenstein's monster child's make up kit released that same year.
In 1981 Remco introduced the Mini Monsters, non glowing 3&3/4 inch action figures and a play case/haunted house. They added the Creature and the Phantom to the 9 inch assortment then as well, and released a Creature/Phantom make up kit to accompany the Dracula/Frankenstein's monster set. The Monsterizer continued to ship.
1982 brought about the glow in he dark Mini Monsters on cards that have a graphic starburst with "glow in the dark" written in it. The play case got the glow treatment as well. I think the full assortment of six different 9 Inch figures and Monsterizer were still available, as were both make up kits.
1983, the final year of Remco Universal Monsters from this licensing run, saw another change to the cards of the glow Mini Monsters, adding an explosion graphic behind the figure. The Mini-Monster Monsterizer also became available. The 9 inch line was discontinued but a line of puppets, Monsters At Home, featureing Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy, The Creature, and Dracula were released and used modified head and hand sculpts from the 9 inch line.
Quote from: darkmonkeygod on December 02, 2015, 03:39:03 PM
The Creature and Phantom 9 inch figures were added to the line in its second year, 1981, and, tmk, in the same ratio per case. The Phantom is less common to find lose and complete because of his cape and mask/hat accessory (and quite often listed as Dracula in online sales until about eight years ago). The 9 inch line wasn't reordered heavily and those two figures didn't make it to a lot of markets or to catalog sales.
The initial assortment of 9 inch figures was released in 1980 and contained Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, and Frankenstein's Monster. There is a Monsterizer table play set for use with the 9 inch line and also a Dracula/Frankenstein's monster child's make up kit released that same year.
In 1981 Remco introduced the Mini Monsters, non glowing 3&3/4 inch action figures and a play case/haunted house. They added the Creature and the Phantom to the 9 inch assortment then as well, and released a Creature/Phantom make up kit to accompany the Dracula/Frankenstein's monster set. The Monsterizer continued to ship.
1982 brought about the glow in he dark Mini Monsters on cards that have a graphic starburst with "glow in the dark" written in it. The play case got the glow treatment as well. I think the full assortment of six different 9 Inch figures and Monsterizer were still available, as were both make up kits.
1983, the final year of Remco Universal Monsters from this licensing run, saw another change to the cards of the glow Mini Monsters, adding an explosion graphic behind the figure. The Mini-Monster Monsterizer also became available. The 9 inch line was discontinued but a line of puppets, Monsters At Home, featureing Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy, The Creature, and Dracula were released and used modified head and hand sculpts from the 9 inch line.
Thank you so much for explaining this. I've gotten so much misinformation whenever I read about these things. It's always different as to when the mini monsters came out.
Thanks for the concise history of the Remco Unimonsters, Shannon!!
Quote from: YoungestMonsterKid on December 02, 2015, 03:42:58 PM
Thank you so much for explaining this. I've gotten so much misinformation whenever I read about these things. It's always different as to when the mini monsters came out.
Happy to do it, obviously they are a passion of mine. ;D Yeah, a number of people "remember" having the mini-monsters on Christmas 1980, but it's in the same way they "remember" playing with Star Wars figures on Christmas 1977. Through the hazy cloud of memory and time they've bumped it back a year after looking at the copyright dates on the figures for decades.
And that's not to say that some version of prototype, pre-production, or pre-release of all these things didn't exist in the year to two years before shipping to retail (they had to, as one to two years is a typical window for creation), but the dates I've given are when they shipped to retail and were for sale to the general public.
Quote from: darkmonkeygod on December 02, 2015, 04:33:03 PM
Happy to do it, obviously they are a passion of mine. ;D
You know your stuff! :)
Quote from: darkmonkeygod on December 02, 2015, 03:39:03 PM
... In 1981 Remco introduced the Mini Monsters, non glowing 3&3/4 inch action figures and a play case/haunted house. They added the Creature and the Phantom to the 9 inch assortment then as well, and released a Creature/Phantom make up kit to accompany the Dracula/Frankenstein's monster set. The Monsterizer continued to ship.
1982 brought about the glow in he dark Mini Monsters on cards that have a graphic starburst with "glow in the dark" written in it. The play case got the glow treatment as well. I think the full assortment of six different 9 Inch figures and Monsterizer were still available, as were both make up kits.
1983, the final year of Remco Universal Monsters from this licensing run, saw another change to the cards of the glow Mini Monsters, adding an explosion graphic behind the figure. The Mini-Monster Monsterizer also became available. The 9 inch line was discontinued but a line of puppets, Monsters At Home, featureing Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy, The Creature, and Dracula were released and used modified head and hand sculpts from the 9 inch line.
Are there Canadian market card variations? I seem to remember them being mentioned before - but I can't recall seeing them anywhere.
Quote from: Monsters For Sale on December 02, 2015, 05:25:06 PM
Are there Canadian market card variations? I seem to remember them being mentioned before - but I can't recall seeing them anywhere.
There are Canadian versions of the six mini-monsters in their glow in the dark permutation, but nothing else that I'm aware of. Ideal, under license from Remco, released the first four 9 inch monster in the UK but nothing else according to distribution catalogs.