Ok, since it seems like everyone is into AHI talk and trivia, here's my thoughts on AHI Mummy bend 'ems. I have posted a photo you won't see to often because it is three of them all together at once.. The story is that I collected all the AHI Super Monsters as a kid in 1973 and 74 in a suburb of Chicago. I would buy them at Kmart and Osco Drug with money I got from cutting grass in the summer and shoveling snow in the winter. One of my favorites, like Ray, was the Mummy. The one on the left in the photo was my original childhood Mummy bend em, which is to this day near mint, I never bent him to avoid breaking the wires. However, I left my collection at my parents when I went off to college, and my mom would bring them out for visiting kids to play with, and that's how someone decided to use a hole punch to destroy his hand as you can see. At least the kid didn't bite his head off and my mom didn't sell it in a garage sale for 25 cents. So, I tried to ignore the hole in the hand as I built up and upgraded my collection via ebay in the late 90s but it always bugged me. I finally had everything I needed and the one thing missing was a perfect mummy bendem. Starting in about 2005 I scoured constantly, there was an auction with a bunch of figures 10 or 12 megos, ahi 8" figures and included the mummy bendem, but I accidentally missed bidding, just forgot and it closed for around $160 (does anyone remember that?, did one of you win it?) ....finally in 2007 the middle one in the photo came up and I got him for $163, when he arrived I was shocked that every single wire was broken he could not hold any other pose than that of a starfish....I emailed the seller and they apologized but said they did not even know anything about the figure other than a lot of people wanted it and they were surprised how high it went. So I did not complain, how were they supposed to know about this 35 year old toy they found in their attic?
I was more determined than ever to find a perfect Mummy bend em, that's when I emailed Ray and Toy Ranch about it, they both had one and knew of others that had them but no one wanted to sell. I continued to search, like a possessed person and finally, the one on the right came up in December 2008, it was mislisted as universal mummy figure. I promised myself it would be my xmas present to myself and with 30 seconds left I bid to win, and got it for $263. It is as perfect and intact with nice paint and unbroken wires as any I will ever see.
I love these guys, all three and for their own reasons. I don't think I will ever sell them. I could not stop scouring for more mummies and I bid, but did not need to win the one that sold for $282 a few weeks ago. I might slow down collecting AHI for now, I think I will try to satisfy the mental disorder by sharing pictures and stories with you guys. The ahi mummy bendem is my favorite figure and this will be my favorite topic. Please post any stories and pictures of your AHI Mummy bendems, if you cant post a photo you can email it to me and I will post it for you. Please join me in making this the Ultimate AHI Mummy Bend 'em thread.
Thank you for reading and please share any AHI Mummy bendem comments, questions or photos.
(http://gibsonpix.smugmug.com/photos/636171685_UJVUT-XL.jpg)
I got lucky and finished my set last year. Getting a Frank, Kong, and near mint Mummy for a staggering $40.
(http://i32.tinypic.com/k2g58w.jpg)
Quote from: Dr.Terror on September 02, 2009, 04:04:43 PM
I got lucky and finished my set last year. Getting a Frank, Kong, and near mint Mummy for a staggering $40.
(http://i32.tinypic.com/k2g58w.jpg)
Dr. Terror:
...please do tell the story of how you got that group so cheap...was it a Buy it Now? Or was it somewhere other than Ebay? Also, for anyone interested, here is a close up of my original mummy's mutilated hand. (I hope it is not against any site rules to post such a gruesome, horrifyingly graphic photo here.)
(http://gibsonpix.smugmug.com/photos/637850594_CapPR-L.jpg)
Ouch!! That must hurt!(Mummys Hand). Thank you for the Great story & Pictures , Aurora1Craig :)
Ah-hah, now I know who clobbered me back in December. ;)
Quote from: AHI Creature on September 02, 2009, 02:39:08 PM
Ok, since it seems like everyone is into AHI talk and trivia, here's my thoughts on AHI Mummy bend 'ems. I have posted a photo you won't see to often because it is three of them all together at once.. The story is that I collected all the AHI Super Monsters as a kid in 1973 and 74 in a suburb of Chicago. I would buy them at Kmart and Osco Drug with money I got from cutting grass in the summer and shoveling snow in the winter. One of my favorites, like Ray, was the Mummy. The one on the left in the photo was my original childhood Mummy bend em, which is to this day near mint, I never bent him to avoid breaking the wires. However, I left my collection at my parents when I went off to college, and my mom would bring them out for visiting kids to play with, and that's how someone decided to use a hole punch to destroy his hand as you can see. At least the kid didn't bite his head off and my mom didn't sell it in a garage sale for 25 cents. So, I tried to ignore the hole in the hand as I built up and upgraded my collection via ebay in the late 90s but it always bugged me. I finally had everything I needed and the one thing missing was a perfect mummy bendem. Starting in about 2005 I scoured constantly, there was an auction with a bunch of figures 10 or 12 megos, ahi 8" figures and included the mummy bendem, but I accidentally missed bidding, just forgot and it closed for around $160 (does anyone remember that?, did one of you win it?) ....finally in 2007 the middle one in the photo came up and I got him for $163, when he arrived I was shocked that every single wire was broken he could not hold any other pose than that of a starfish....I emailed the seller and they apologized but said they did not even know anything about the figure other than a lot of people wanted it and they were surprised how high it went. So I did not complain, how were they supposed to know about this 35 year old toy they found in their attic?
I was more determined than ever to find a perfect Mummy bend em, that's when I emailed Ray and Toy Ranch about it, they both had one and knew of others that had them but no one wanted to sell. I continued to search, like a possessed person and finally, the one on the right came up in December 2008, it was mislisted as universal mummy figure. I promised myself it would be my xmas present to myself and with 30 seconds left I bid to win, and got it for $263. It is as perfect and intact with nice paint and unbroken wires as any I will ever see.
I love these guys, all three and for their own reasons. I don't think I will ever sell them. I could not stop scouring for more mummies and I bid, but did not need to win the one that sold for $282 a few weeks ago. I might slow down collecting AHI for now, I think I will try to satisfy the mental disorder by sharing pictures and stories with you guys. The ahi mummy bendem is my favorite figure and this will be my favorite topic. Please post any stories and pictures of your AHI Mummy bendems, if you cant post a photo you can email it to me and I will post it for you. Please join me in making this the Ultimate AHI Mummy Bend 'em thread.
Thank you for reading and please share any AHI Mummy bendem comments, questions or photos.
(http://gibsonpix.smugmug.com/photos/636171685_UJVUT-XL.jpg)
Great looking Mummys, though.
I love how all three of those Mummies have such individual personalities. I especially like the crabby expression on the far right one.
Here's my Mummy at Wonderfest '08.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3118/2690919405_f4683e64a0_o.jpg)
He's my childhood Mummy. He's got a few holes in his chest where Adventure People foolishly tried to kill him with cocktail swords. As you can see, he still lives. Kharis is immortal.
Quote from: raycastile on September 02, 2009, 10:25:27 PM
Here's my Mummy at Wonderfest '08.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3118/2690919405_f4683e64a0_o.jpg)
He's my childhood Mummy. He's got a few holes in his chest where Adventure People foolishly tried to kill him with cocktail swords. As you can see, he still lives. Kharis is immortal.
He seems very happy, with open arms. :D The look of Mummy is very reminiscent of Mummy's HAND/TOMB look, maybe a cross between (Kharis) Tom Tyler/Lon Chaney jr.
So YOU'RE the reason my the Mummy skyrocketed (yelled with shaking fist)! Only kidding, very cool you were able to add one in good shape to bolster your wounded one(s). Great pic, love the way the one on the right has almost a smirk with the way the red of the mouth goes up.
Interesting how the center one seems to have been passed over - or not as the case may be - with as much grey wash as the others. I've got some pics of figures where the white highlight for the loose bandages misses completely and is on the upper arm or thigh. Guess painting Mummies all day got mind numbing.
I'd dearly love to see unpainted production samples of any of these. Just an all black Frank or Drac or Kong, the Mummy in white, Wolfie in brown or, most of all, Gill in that pearlescent green. Anyway, keep giving us the AHI stories and photos please and thank you.
Raycastile wrote:
QuoteHe's my childhood Mummy. He's got a few holes in his chest where Adventure People foolishly tried to kill him with cocktail swords. As you can see, he still lives. Kharis is immortal.
ROTFLMAO!!!! :D
And here I thought I was the only one who used cocktail swords to impale my rubber bendy toys!
One of the cool things about all AHI Mummy toys is that they are definitely Chaney Jr.'s Kharis and not, as all Mummy toys are today, Karloff's Im-hotep. Not that there's anything wrong with Im-hotep, but he's more a horror villain than a monster. Kharis is a lumbering monster, a boogeyman, an "it." I like Kharis.
Quote from: raycastile on September 03, 2009, 12:33:00 AM
One of the cool things about all AHI Mummy toys is that they are definitely Chaney Jr.'s Kharis and not, as all Mummy toys are today, Karloff's Im-hotep. Not that there's anything wrong with Im-hotep, but he's more a horror villain than a monster. Kharis is a lumbering monster, a boogeyman, an "it." I like Kharis.
Kharis rocks fo' sho'. The Tyler/Chaney Mummy has my vote.
AHI Mummies are like snowflakes - no two are ever exactly alike.
Quote from: darkmonkeygod on September 03, 2009, 12:24:04 AM
So YOU'RE the reason my the Mummy skyrocketed (yelled with shaking fist)! Only kidding, very cool you were able to add one in good shape to bolster your wounded one(s). Great pic, love the way the one on the right has almost a smirk with the way the red of the mouth goes up.
Interesting how the center one seems to have been passed over - or not as the case may be - with as much grey wash as the others. I've got some pics of figures where the white highlight for the loose bandages misses completely and is on the upper arm or thigh. Guess painting Mummies all day got mind numbing.
I'd dearly love to see unpainted production samples of any of these. Just an all black Frank or Drac or Kong, the Mummy in white, Wolfie in brown or, most of all, Gill in that pearlescent green. Anyway, keep giving us the AHI stories and photos please and thank you.
I have often wondered about the production of these toys, and where they were made over there in Hong Kong...what happened to all of the molds and production machines? How many Super Monsters were made? How many workers and what was the production on a good day? Can you imagine if we could find the manager of the factory and interview him? Yes definitely I have wondered what ever happend to those production molds, is it possible they were thrown away?? They must be somewhere. I would be interested to hear anyones opinions or thoughts. Also, since it caught several peoples attention, here is a close up of the "smirk" on my perfect mummy.(http://gibsonpix.smugmug.com/photos/638451051_BC88E-XL.jpg)
Quote from: AHI Creature on September 03, 2009, 11:31:08 AM
since it caught several peoples attention, here is a close up of the "smirk" on my perfect mummy.
Thank you. That is truly just too cool. Now I gotta find a
smirking AHI Mummy Bend 'Em! Of course, as poseablemonster points out, no two are alike.
Quote
I have often wondered about the production of these toys, and where they were made over there in Hong Kong...what happened to all of the molds and production machines? How many Super Monsters were made? How many workers and what was the production on a good day? Can you imagine if we could find the manager of the factory and interview him? Yes definitely I have wondered what ever happened to those production molds, is it possible they were thrown away?? They must be somewhere. I would be interested to hear anyone's opinions or thoughts.
Oh yes. I've actually had dreams of clambering over dusty pallets in forgotten warehouses and finding cases of AHI releases, of touring factories in Hong Kong and seeing dusty production samples in odd colors on a shelf in an under lit office and having the occupant relate the tale and pull old transparencies and hand cut rubyliths and chormalins from flat files, or finding out who did any of the design or, the ultimate, the illustration or sculpting for ANY of the products. I hold quite a desire that someone in some way related to the production will some day notice that a small but fervent grouping of people GREATLY love the work they did in the early '70s and come forward with any info at all. Obviously, I'm rather into the 'anothropology' of toys and other objects - if you'll allow me the juxtaposition - that's why it's great to hear from someone who was buying these off the shelf at the time! I've got many a question and some small bits of info to share - mostly just leads to follow up - and will get around to hitting you up for more info as time and your willingness permit. In the ATL again now and crazy busy for the weekend, but next week...
P.S. Besides the danger it posed and the loss of live that occurred, I was really disheartened by the high category storm that hit Hong Kong, Taiwan and China last month, as it was the worst in 50yrs, potential washing away just that much more of the long cold trail. That and the economic down turn which has closed so many factories. Isn't it funny that I really do view those things (in part) by how they relate to monster toys? OK, gotta sleep, I have to interview Mike Mignola and Helen Slater among others (!?!) in 7hrs, and then see if I can find any monster toys!
Since it is too hot to sleep, I thought I would add a bit to the discussion...thanks to everyone who has contributed to this important topic. I hope anyone with a Mummy bendem will add a photo, or interesting story. One photo that would make this the definitive AHI Mummy bendem discussion would be the photo of the carded Mummy from the photo gallery, I think it is also in Ray's Gallery of Monster toys. Could someone find and post that, or can I post it?
Here is the carded Mummy photo:
(http://thegalleryofmonstertoys.com/70swing/ahimummybendems.jpg)
I like how it uses the Aurora artwork. I don't think any other Bend 'Ems card does that.
Quote from: raycastile on September 04, 2009, 09:34:17 AM
Here is the carded Mummy photo:
Cool, looks like that's one of the examples with the blob on it's right arm rather than the protruding bandage that I mentioned earlier.
QuoteI like how it uses the Aurora artwork. I don't think any other Bend 'Ems card does that.
I think the Kong is aped (I slay me!) from the Aurora box art, but with an airplane replacing Fay Wray. The Dracula is based on the Jack Palance inspired Count that Gene Colan created for Marvel Comics' Tomb of Dracula comic book series, but I've never taken the time to source the 'inspiration' (looks similar to Giant-Size Dracula #2, but think there's a far more direct reference). The Wolf Man also looks to be a Marvel lift, perhaps from one of Mike Ploog's Werewolf By Night issues, but I dunno. The Creature is from the standard PR still methinks. The Frankenstein's Monster is the oddest yet, depicted wearing the vest from "Ghost of...", something that would be made as a statue in the '70s (Esco?) but not become a figure that I'm aware of until Sideshow's release in the late 90's.
Quote from: AHI Creature on September 04, 2009, 06:13:29 AM
Could someone find and post that, or can I post it?
You can post pics from the Gallery by using the URL under the pic (with the image link code).