So what was the 1st monster toy you ever had? Where did you get it? Do you still have it? Any extra cool memories about it?
The 1st monster toys I ever played with were my uncle's Remcos...which I fell in love with enough that I begged for my own.
Soon after I would be the proud owner of Dracula and The Creature...who regularly traveled in my pocket.
It was probably a monster jiggler. Everytime we visited my grandmother in NY, she would get me something like that from the local store along with comic books and such. I don't have any of them still, but I wish I did.
Rob
My Aurora Phantom which I got and painted in 1967 and I still have along with my Forgotten prisoner, Frankenstein monster. I will always treasure these models because my late father bought them for me and helped me make them.
I lost my monster toy virginity to Milton Bradly's Monster Old Maid card game. Playing that card game at my grandmother's house was one of my earliest encounters with uni-merchandise. Then came the Aurora model kits and Spook Stories gum cards. My life went downhill from that point on. ;D
Mego Human Wolfman was my first "monster" toy.
Aurora Frankenstein.
General, I thought for sure you would have said it was a Monster Jiggler... ;)
I think for me, it would have been probably an Aurora Glow Godzilla. As far as Toys, I'm guessing the AHI's. I still have them today.
BK
Quote from: michblk on April 06, 2010, 04:50:50 PM
General, I thought for sure you would have said it was a Monster Jiggler... ;)
No Brian, that didn't come my way until 35 yrs later when I married my wife. It's been jigglin' ever since. ;D
The Barnabas Collins model kit (MPC 1969).
My AHI Frankenstein. I must have been in Kindergarten.
My favorite was my 3.5" Remco Dracula. Phantom was cool. I also loved Remco's Frankenstein and Dracula Make Up kit.
Aurora Frankenstein for me, too-
As a baby, I had a stuffed gorilla, but that's not specifically a monster.
I had plastic Marx dinosaurs and some dinosaur model kits before my first Universal Monster toy.
At the time, I loved rubber bats, spiders, snakes and bugs, so we always looked at the rubber toys in the department store on the weekends.
That's when I got what I believe was my first monster toy: a stinky, oily Wolf Man jiggler.
Aurora Dracula, around 1968....which I no longer have, but have bought about 4 times since
OG
I can't remember what came first- Aurora Frankenstein, Remco Munsters, Monster Old Maid, Big Loo, or Marx Yeti.
One of those...
--------------
The Aurora Frankenstein kit was the first Monster Toy I discovered in a store- a long defunct drug store. I can still place myself in the moment, holding the kit in my 4 year old (or so) hands. I think I heard strains of "HAAAAAA-LLELUJAH..."! "HAAAAAA-LLELUJAH..."! in my head, whilst endlessly staring at that cool Aurora box art...amazed by the vivid yellow/green monster against the purple sky, thinking, 'look at him...standing in the tall grass in a graveyard...reaching at me'. More of a thrill than being scared. Frankenstein didn't scare me. Now Wolf Man and Dracula...they were scary.
---------------
I also recall the similar experience "holding and staring" at these in a store:
Aurora Creature kit (*at*) ALEXANDER'S VARIETY STORE (I loved frogs as a kid, and this thing looked like a rabid frog with teeth- I hadn't seen the movie at that point)
Aurora Munsters Living Room (*at*) KRESKE'S (I wasn't sure what it was...a room in a box? A flat playset?
A puzzle? All I knew was I was in love with Lily Munster at the time)
A 6 foot PYRAMID of Aurora Big Frankies on an aisle end cap at a department store called TOPP'S.
Jaymar "Dracula" puzzle- the freaky artwork stunned me! I wasn't sure what this was either, but I figured it was a puzzle. I saw it somewhere on vacation.
I had the hollow 6 inch Marx dinosaurs. Love those. And this guy I got when I was 4 or 5,I think.
They are all long gone.
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/mlc24701/monmag.jpg)
Munster's Paper Dolls, 1967, Kalamazoo,Mi......... Ahhhh..... the memories of playing with those while drinking chocolate milk and watching the Munsters on TV. :)
It wasn't a "monster toy", per se. but it has a definite connection. When I was in grammar school, the absolute RAGE were MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. trading cards. There would be five cards and one stick of gum per pack. I remember that there were 103 cards in the whole set. I never DID get the whole set, but I fondly remember the card with Elsa Lanchester as the Mad Scientist.. round and roly poly, with her hair streaked with silver and flying every which way...turned up nose and shining eyes. One NEVER forgets a loved one's face....
Elisabeth ededed
Either the Aurora Frankenstein or the Marx RC Frankenstein. I got them as Christmas gifts in '63. Sadly, they're both gone.
BTW, Elisebeth, I had those U.N.C.L.E. and many weapons and toys from that show. I really loved it , too.
I had a black plastic Luger with an impressed "S" on the grip. We even had an U.N.C.L.E. club, that was mostly running and jumping, dressing in black turtlenecks and figuring out how to avoid the local bullies. How innocent we all were. How innocent the times...
"E" ededed
The Aurora long box Frankie in '63...still have it to this day. [the built up, not the box, though i did score a boxed version from John Green in California during the late 80's]
Quote from: fmofmpls on April 06, 2010, 04:19:06 PM
I lost my monster toy virginity to Milton Bradly's Monster Old Maid card game. Playing that card game at my grandmother's house was one of my earliest encounters with uni-merchandise. Then came the Aurora model kits and Spook Stories gum cards. My life went downhill from that point on. ;D
My story almost exactly...MB's Monster Old Maid, then the Aurora Frankenstein, Dracula and Wolfman models.
I had a couple and I'm not sure which one came first . . . one was a hand-me-down "Green Ghost" game and the other was a "Forgotten Prisoner" model I got for Xmas.
My first monster toy was the Great Garloo which I still have. My first Universal monster was the Aurora Frankenstein which I got in 1963. My older brother put it together and painted it for me, and I still have it as well. I think the Palmer monster figures came next...sadly, I don't have any of those. They're probably buried in the backyard of my old house!
Hello there,
My first monster toy was the Herman Munster hand puppet from Mattel. I bought it at a garage sale with money I earned from the sale of my old comic books (doh!). I still have my Herman Munster puppet today!
I'd probably have to research when they were released to figure out which ones I obtained first. The first ones I remember having were:
THE MIGHTY KONG that beat his chest, roared & had flashing eyes
SON OF GARLOO
MPC 2" Monsters
PALMER Monsters
MARX 5" Monsters
AURORA FRANKENSTEIN
WOLF MAN PAINT-BY-NUMBERS (I have a photo of me holding it, I'll post later)
Had lots of hard plastic dinosaurs, too.
They are all in Monster Heaven, now, :'(.
Great topic.
I recall being monstrously influenced and affected by jigglers of all types, beginning in the early 70s, maybe 1972 and '73 by imperial animal jigglers, soft rubber, 1.5 lb. rhino, polar bear, and platypus, they were $1.49 in a dump box at the hobby shop, and had to compete for my finances needed for model rocket parts and engines, seemed a bit reckless at the time to spend that much on a rubber rhino when I could buy 3 C6-7 engines and 6 feet of dynamite fuse with the same $1.49. I still have the rhino with his horn bit cleanly off. The platypus was thrown away after his bill was bitten off in the early 80s. Almost bought an intact one in an ebay lot last year for over $300. Other important jigglers back then included rubber alligators in 4" and 12" sizes from the Chicago Field Museum gift shop, also found in roadside junk stores while driving on vacation across the midwest, in between begging my dad to stop at fireworks stands. Of course, obviously the standard 8" rubber gorillas, by Imperial and others unnamed Hong Kong manufacturers, available both hollow and solid on sticks and strings, at the county fair, and dump boxes at drug stores and junk shops, and always with the signature "morel mushroom" textured surface to imitate gorilla fur. Gaping mouths and upraised left hands always.
Next, I went through an obsessive time of casting and painting Rapco Famous Monster busts (see my earlier thread describing a modern day return to this passion, search return of the Rapcos.) Candles and plaster busts.
After that, 1973 and on, it was all AHI all the time, and has never stopped. I swear I will post a photo of my AHI collection soon.
Also, Stretch Monster, Xmas 1977 was as magical and perfect a christmas present there could ever be.
Thank you for reading my post.
I have loved monsters ever since I was really little. I had a lot of generic monster stuff, mostly Halloween-related merchandise all before I was three. I remember my animated vampire in a coffin quite well. I received him early on in my childhood. This was probably my first ever monster toy.
I was fortunate to grow up in a time when the Universal Monsters had made a comeback, the early '90s. They were literally everywhere: Shopko, Safeway, K-Mart, Woolworth. So, I had a lot of options when picking up my first licensed monster product.
My first Uni-monster item was probably the Rubies Dracula Halloween costume, which was purchased from Shopko in 1993.
My first Universal monster toys were purchased around the same time. Every Autumn, my family would take a road trip to this small town known only for its apple orchards and its pumpkin farms. On the way back from this place, we would stop at a variety of towns and small cities. One of them had a Wal*Mart, an invention which had not made its way to my city yet. While at Wal*Mart, I fell in love with the 18" Motion-ettes of Dracula and Frankenstein. I had to have them to add to my monster collection. I convinced my family to purchase them for me, as well as batteries so I could use them RIGHT AWAY. I was so pleased when I got them into the car, out of the boxes, and had installed the batteries. Just as I had brought Dracula to life, it was starting to storm outside. He was laughing and his eyes were glowing red and the rain was gently falling on the windows. I had just removed Frankenstein from his box and installed the batteries when I heard the thunder clap. Just moments later, I flipped the switch and the monster had come to life. I didn't know it then, but I guess I had sort of unintentionally recreated a scene from the movie... I was his father. The lightning was his mother. That experience will never be forgotten...
I think it was a Ben Cooper-style Frankenstein mask (without a costume)--the same one used for the target display a few years back. Next was either a Creature Aurora model or the Colorforms Monster putty thing.
(Were the Palmer monsters or something similar ever packaged with a suction-cup-dart gun? I remember something like that....)
Hmmm..let's see?!?!
I had The Mighty Men And Monster Maker 1978, Remco-mini's Phantom/Frankenstein/Monsterizer and a glow Jekyll/Hyde all around the same time....6/7 yrs old.
Aurora glow kit of Dracula and the Phantom I know I had. I'm sure I had jigglers and other trinkits.
Christmas 1961 Great Garloo; I remember waking up on Christmas Eve and hearing my Dad out in the living room playing with it. I could hear the whirr of the electric motors and wondering what was going on out by the Christmas Tree.
My first "real" monster toy was the Aurora Frankenstein, purchased at Disneyland at Tinkerbell's Toy Shop in Fantasyland. When ever I'm at Disneyland I make a pilgrimage to that toy shop and visit the counter where they had a huge stack of those great kits.
Growing up in Rochester N.Y., my fondest memory of my first monster toy was, a
AHI Frankenstein or couple of Aurora Monster kits. But, I can not recall which came first?
I do remember going to the Midtown mall in Rochester and my Mother and Grandmother
buying me the AHI Franky. That was a great memory as a child. I would watch Chiller Theatre
with my parents and play with my Monster toys. Frankenstein's Monster was always my
favorite too.
A battery powered tin robot (1960's, very cool, wish I still had it).
Plastic dinosaurs
Jigglers
Dark Shadows trading cards
Palmer monsters (still have Gorgo, Frankenstein & Kong, minus Fay Wray)
Colorforms Outerspace Men.
Not sure if it was my first but its gotta be close. I had Shrunken Heads hanging on every doorknob in the house. :D
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/Roback/ShrunkenHeadplayset.jpg)
Quote from: Roback on April 07, 2010, 10:12:25 PM
Not sure if it was my first but its gotta be close. I had Shrunken Heads hanging on every doorknob in the house. :D
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/Roback/ShrunkenHeadplayset.jpg)
Does anyone have any shrunken heads they made with this kit?
Quote from: raycastile on April 08, 2010, 12:51:10 AM
Does anyone have any shrunken heads they made with this kit?
I made some as a kid, but I no longer have any. The memories remain though. They turned out pretty darn cool. The kit works just as advertised.
Quote from: raycastile on April 08, 2010, 12:51:10 AM
Does anyone have any shrunken heads they made with this kit?
I have the kit...brand new and never used. My son and I WANT to shrink heads...but honestly have just never had the time.
(and the required light bulb...all we have now are the energy efficient flourecent bulbs!)
WE WILL shrink some heads...no doubt. And I'll post pics here.
First Monster toy was probably an Aurora Wolf Man. OR the Mego Mad Monster Frankenstein.
They blur together so I'm not sure which came first for me.
I've got a factory sealed set too which is the only reason I haven't shrunk down any heads as an adult. I gotta find me an opened set so I can resume my shrinking head ways. :D
Had to be one of the Aurora monster kits for me -- but I don't recall which was first. I know my first kit was the Aurora Superman -- and the monsters followed.
Spooky kooky tree. I still have it in my collection!
my almost hairless hand me down Mego Human Wolfman (that i still have)
Remember this ad as you were reading your favorite Monster comicbook?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/Roback/Roback2007/Roback2008/Shrunkenheadad.jpg)
I had assorted generic monster jigglers but my first Uni Monster toy was the Lincoln Drac, it was a stocking filler at Christmas (I was about 5 I think)
I pretty much ignored every other present that year, I loved that little guy and still have him (minus a foot) ;D
We gotta find your Drac a foot! :D
QuoteWe gotta find your Drac a foot! /quote]
Look in your yard, you should have three!
nyuk nyuk nyuk
Quote from: raycastile on April 08, 2010, 12:51:10 AM
Does anyone have any shrunken heads they made with this kit?
I do!! I still had the box and about six of the heads I made, but I can't find the maker!
I think my first monster toy was the Mattel Herman Munster talking doll (full body). I had him till I was about 27 years old, and I went through a "born again' experience and threw everything I owned away (what a mistake!)
Quote from: Jim Bertges on April 07, 2010, 12:29:47 PM
Christmas 1961 Great Garloo; I remember waking up on Christmas Eve and hearing my Dad out in the living room playing with it. I could hear the whirr of the electric motors and wondering what was going on out by the Christmas Tree.
My first "real" monster toy was the Aurora Frankenstein, purchased at Disneyland at Tinkerbell's Toy Shop in Fantasyland. When ever I'm at Disneyland I make a pilgrimage to that toy shop and visit the counter where they had a huge stack of those great kits.
Cool story. It's amazing what we remember. My first memory of a universal monster toy was an 8" remco frankenstein from toys r us. It was dark on the ride home, so it was cool to see him glow in the dark in the back seat.
(http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn308/letulle7/Collection/monsterizer5.jpg)
My first exposure I had though not really a monster was seeing my father's friends kids Tarpit kit. Wow! I stared at that thing for hours. Loved it! I never got one you know why? Because they haven't reissued the DARN thing...That's WHY! Moebius has since done Monster Scenes, they need to start cracking on the Prehistoric scenes....
Oh, my first monster toy? 1980's Remco line. I had them all. They would regularly invade the Star Wars universe and Dracula would suck Luke's blood dry. Don't have any to this day because my "friends" broke in our house, stole all my toys and burned my freaking house down. Jerks! Anyway that was a long time ago. I was hoping in my trades for the PopTops that I would get some but alas, no one sent any. But I sure am grateful for what you DID send!
In the late 50's I had a little plastic charm depicting a white skeleton in a black coffin. I was fascinated with that. I guess it qualifies. The first official item would likely be the original Aurora Frankenstein kit. I painted the skin white (instead of the "flat green" suggested in the instructions - that just seemed "wrong"). Being the industrious tyke, I placed the finished model in a dark corner of the basement. I retrieved it about a month later; it had achieved a nice patina of dust and cobwebs. I was also VERY big on the Spook Stories cards (my fist posts on the UMA site were my obsessively meticulous recreations of the stickers that came in the card packs).
I think my very first monster was a red Devil jiggler, of the stinky, oily variety. Then it was followed by, a Dark Shadows Werewolf kit, a Thing Maker Fright Factory, a Monster Scenes kit,(Gruesome Goodies I think) and all the Auroras and AHI's I could get my hands on. I missed out on the Creature in both formats ,Aurora and AHI. :'(
great toys guys :) my first monster toy was the mad mad mad monster laboratory i remember ordering it out of one of the monster mags wish i still had it but after i used and made the things you could make it was no good anymore and was thrown out if only i knew then what i do now i would of never played with it
Wow, hard to say since I got so many monster toys as a kid. I'd say it would be either the Brother Mortimer Kooky Spooky, or the Dark Shadows game with the fangs, or the Green Ghost game. If we count sci-fi, then the Colorform Aliens are in the same circle of earliest monster toy memories. Oh, and the various rubber monsters from gumball machines, none of which I can find. :(
My first monster toy was an Aurora Mummy. It is what started me on the path to Universal Monster mania
This dino (thanks for the pics that michblk posted in a thread here: http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=1918.0 (http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=1918.0)
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh17/bkallenberg/PB250373.jpg)
As far as Universal goes, the Phantom Glow kit.
OMG, I had all but forgotten those T-rex and Triceratops toys! What year are they from? Gotta be around '68, right?
Quote from: Barlow on June 06, 2010, 12:03:03 AM
OMG, I had all but forgotten those T-rex and Triceratops toys! What year are they from? Gotta be around '68, right?
I am guessing that I was 4, but no older than 5 at the time. That would have made it 1969, but I am sure they sold them for more than a year.
Quote from: Bogey on June 06, 2010, 12:24:16 AM
I am guessing that I was 4, but no older than 5 at the time. That would have made it 1969, but I am sure they sold them for more than a year.
I got both the T-Rex and the Triceratops Christmas 1973. They were listed in the Sears Wishbook that year.
George
Quote from: ramsey37 on June 06, 2010, 02:51:18 AM
I got both the T-Rex and the Triceratops Christmas 1973. They were listed in the Sears Wishbook that year.
George
There it is. Then they made them for multiple years. Thanks, George!
Quote from: Mitchellmania on April 09, 2010, 11:58:55 AM
I think my first monster toy was the Mattel Herman Munster talking doll (full body). I had him till I was about 27 years old, and I went through a "born again' experience and threw everything I owned away (what a mistake!)
Oh crap.......I'm a Christian, and I don't find any contradiction between my faith and my love for monsters. I can only imagine somebody "spiritual" influenced you to do that, and they should be kicked in the groin by a mule for it.
Quote from: BANE on April 11, 2010, 03:19:11 AM
My first exposure I had though not really a monster was seeing my father's friends kids Tarpit kit. Wow! I stared at that thing for hours. Loved it! I never got one you know why? Because they haven't reissued the DARN thing...That's WHY! Moebius has since done Monster Scenes, they need to start cracking on the Prehistoric scenes....
Oh, my first monster toy? 1980's Remco line. I had them all. They would regularly invade the Star Wars universe and Dracula would suck Luke's blood dry. Don't have any to this day because my "friends" broke in our house, stole all my toys and burned my freaking house down. Jerks! Anyway that was a long time ago. I was hoping in my trades for the PopTops that I would get some but alas, no one sent any. But I sure am grateful for what you DID send!
Your "friends" stole your toys and burnt down your HOUSE? How does that happen precisely? How old were you/they?? Were there arrests?? Did you hunt them down and kill them years later?? If not, can I help you do it now??
Anyway, my first monster toy was the Barnabas Collins Dark Shadows Game.
(http://cheddarbay.com/DarkShadows/toddantiques/game.jpg)
Ah, the memories!!
Not quite sure...
First Aurora was definitely the Wolf Man, received in the Summer of '63.
Another early monster toy was the large Frankenstein target game with the styrofoam balls.
Even earlier, though, I distinctly remember being dressed up on Halloween as a skeletal prisoner in striped suit. Since that was before kindergarten, I would have been four, which makes that 1961.
Since I was born in 1986, my first monster toys (well, they weren't even toys) were the Pizza Hut holographic cards and cup lids. I still have my Dracula cup lid. You inserted the straw into his mouth, which I always thought was pretty funny.
My first toys, however, were the Burger King Kid's Meal toys given out in 1997. I thought it was amazing to have the Universal Monsters in my Kid's Meal. That was a good October.
-Andy
It would have to be this Munsters Colorforms playset. I got it for my 6th birthday. I can't imagine I had anything monster related prior to this:
(http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc311/illoman/6-67.jpg)
Mike
Quote from: Illoman on June 07, 2010, 08:00:40 AM
It would have to be this Munsters Colorforms playset. I got it for my 6th birthday. I can't imagine I had anything monster related prior to this:
Mike
Great photo Mike!
A rubber grizzly bear. And I had 3 of the groovy ghoulie figures, mummy, frankenstein, and werewolf.
Quote from: darkmonkeygod on June 08, 2010, 07:41:37 PM
Great photo Mike!
Thanks, DMG. My Mom made that Batman cake. She always made me and my two brothers a themed cake depending on who our favorites were at the time. I remember her making a killer Captain America Kirby face out of icing. I kept that part in the freezer for years! She also made me a Spider-Man and a Banana Splits cake, among others.
Mike
Mine, I believe, was the MPC monster checkers set. I remember playing with the monsters in red and black (still have all the originals but one). THey fought well against my Marx army men.
Thereabouts I then acquired the Palmer monsters with the gun that fired ping pong balls or was it darts? at the creatures to knock them down.
THen came Monster Old Maid. After that I was batman addicted and didn't return to monsters until I was a teen.
Quote from: Bogey on June 05, 2010, 11:37:48 PM
This dino (thanks for the pics that michblk posted in a thread here: http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=1918.0 (http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=1918.0)
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh17/bkallenberg/PB250373.jpg)
As far as Universal goes, the Phantom Glow kit.
I had one of these!! I used it to attack my Marx Knights carry all playset!!
My first Monster toy was a Christmas gift,when I was 5 years old..
It was Godzilla...he stood about 2 feet, he had a red lever on his back,and when you pulled it down,his flaming tongue would come out.
If I remember right, it seems he could shoot his fist off as well...I cant remember if he growled or anything else.
we have pictures somewhere, I will have to see if I can locate them...
That's the Godzilla from the Shogun Warriors line that you got.
I got one at a toy show about 12 years ago. Here's a pic I took of him.
Mitchellmania---I had that T-rex AND the Marx knights play set, too! I still have a couple of the little knights and vikings in a box somewhere.
(http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/ab97/monolith_06/sc0d856c4d.jpg)
Remco Frankie doll. Which I still have. He now sleeps in the Monsterizer he wanted 30 yrs ago.
I believe it was AHI Frankenstein's Monster.
The first was the Shogun Warriors Godzilla. The lever broke so I sold it but I have a non broken replacement sitting on my shelf.
I also had the 9 inch Remco Dracula. I don't have him anymore.
Quote from: Scatter on June 06, 2010, 12:42:33 PM
Oh crap.......I'm a Christian, and I don't find any contradiction between my faith and my love for monsters. I can only imagine somebody "spiritual" influenced you to do that, and they should be kicked in the groin by a mule for it.
I know different now (too late), I don't know if someone told me, or I was over zealous, but it was after a Billy Gram Crusade, and I threw away all my rock albums (my entire RUSH album collection with picture discs ), my monster and model collection (with my Herman Munster) all went on the curb. :-\
Quote from: Scatter on June 06, 2010, 12:55:12 PM
Anyway, my first monster toy was the Barnabas Collins Dark Shadows Game.
(http://cheddarbay.com/DarkShadows/toddantiques/game.jpg)
Ah, the memories!!
Very cool! We had the more comic looking cover version
Quote from: Mitchellmania on July 14, 2010, 09:28:27 AM
I know different now (too late), I don't know if someone told me, or I was over zealous, but it was after a Billy Gram Crusade, and I threw away all my rock albums (my entire RUSH album collection with picture discs ), my monster and model collection (with my Herman Munster) all went on the curb. :-\
I did the same thing with my GI Joes and Captain actions before going to college. Man!
I lived in Japan when I was a kid, and if you're familiar with children's Japanese TV and films you'll know I had tons of monsters to choose from! I can't recall which came first, but my earliest monster toys were a Gojira (Godzilla) model kit that had motorized wheels on the botton and breathed sparks, and a menko card featuring the monsters from "War of the Gargantuas." I wish I still had them of course, but being an Air Force Brat required a lot sacrifices...the worst was having to get rid of our toys whenever we had to move!
Quote from: GodzillaGirl on July 14, 2010, 01:27:20 PM
I lived in Japan when I was a kid, and if you're familiar with children's Japanese TV and films you'll know I had tons of monsters to choose from! I can't recall which came first, but my earliest monster toys were a Gojira (Godzilla) model kit that had motorized wheels on the botton and breathed sparks,
How cool is that GG! I think I've seen one of these before.
Quote from: Opera Ghost on July 14, 2010, 01:54:04 PM
How cool is that GG! I think I've seen one of these before.
If I remember correctly, my brother and I had the exact same Gojira models. We put them together one evening with the help of an older neighbor kid who was babysitting us at the time, but mine didn't actually work when it was all put together. My brother had quite a bit more experience working with model kits (and that wicked glue), so his worked perfectly of course!
I just remembered my other first monster toy! I'm pretty sure this came way before my Godzilla model and the menko card. Again, I lived in Japan for a few years when I was a young child. My family lived on a USAF dependents housing base (closed many years ago) in Chofu and all the kids who lived there used to buy treats from a small store owner through a hole in the security fence that surrounded the base. While all the other kids mostly bought candy and other edibles, I always went for the "gashapon" (vending machines that dispense little toys in plastic capsules). Back then, gashapon consisted of very small oval-shaped plastic containers, usually some ugly gray color, with a plastic or rubber creature inside. Gashapon have since evolved into larger containers with very nice, finely detailed snap-together action figures inside. Anyway, the gashapon I used to get from the store owner contained rubber finger-puppet creatures. I didn't know what these were called so I just used to refer to them as "rubber monsters." I believe they are actually called "jigglers." I loved those things!
Looking back, I now feel kind of bad for the store owner. He had to cross a rather dangerous road to get to the hole in the fence just to gather a few yen from us gaijin kids. He either needed the money desperately or he was an incredibly nice guy...maybe both!
Quote from: raycastile on April 07, 2010, 08:41:14 PM
Colorforms Outerspace Men.
I loved the Outer Space Men. I just happened to be going through my old photo's and found this. I also just won an Astro Nautulis by Four Horsemen off of EBAY. Good price since there so hard to find already.
My original Outer Space Men
(http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu128/pongo657/IMG_0006_NEW.jpg)
The first monster items I ever had were the Leaf Spook Stories gum cards in 1961. But the first actual monster toy I had was a Hasbro Marble Maze which my mother bought for me at Woolworth's in downtown London a year or so later.
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/MarbleMaze.jpg)
tynhrt
I've had several. One was a grim reaper with a removeable head. I'm not sure of the company. I also had a spider game of some kind, and a monster machine molding kit and the remco dracula and Frankenstein.
Quote from: BANE on April 11, 2010, 03:19:11 AM
Oh, my first monster toy? 1980's Remco line. I had them all. They would regularly invade the Star Wars universe and Dracula would suck Luke's blood dry. Don't have any to this day because my "friends" broke in our house, stole all my toys and burned my freaking house down. Jerks! Anyway that was a long time ago.
Now that's beyond belief. "Friends" they certainly weren't.
:o
Quote from: pongo on May 25, 2011, 06:23:32 PM
I loved the Outer Space Men. I just happened to be going through my old photo's and found this. I also just won an Astro Nautulis by Four Horsemen off of EBAY. Good price since there so hard to find already.
Great photo! Cool that you are picking up the new versions by Four Horsemen, but don't overpay for them, they are readily (and perhaps exclusively?) available from the Four Horsemen's webstore: http://www.shopfourhorsemen.com/ouspmenfofis.html (http://www.shopfourhorsemen.com/ouspmenfofis.html).
Palmer Monster's Frankenstein, Creature, Wolfman were the first I had that I remember that I actually had. My cousin had the Revell models of the Creature, King Kong, Wolfman, Dracula and Forgotten Prisoner (all put together, painted and displayed) that I always wanted and admired.
Quote from: Elisabeth on April 06, 2010, 06:20:15 PM
It wasn't a "monster toy", per se. but it has a definite connection. When I was in grammar school, the absolute RAGE were MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. trading cards. There would be five cards and one stick of gum per pack. I remember that there were 103 cards in the whole set.
But if you're talking about the Topps set that was distributed in the U.S. and Canada, it consisted of only 55 cards.
???
My first was Wolfman and Shogun Warriors Godzilla.I used to like them a lot.
My first was a "Creepy Crawlers".........
(http://www.vintagetoysillustrated.com/vintagetoy/forsale/may/2011/MATTEL_THINGMAKER_TOY_FEATURING_CREEPY_CRAWLERS_SET_4477_BOX_LID.JPG)
My oldest sister bought me the Creepy Crawlers set one Christmas. She knew I wanted one BAD! She first gave me a "fake" present to open, which turned out to be an old vinyl album that featured some woman describing how to do Yoga. My family said the look on my face was priceless! Anna quickly handed me the "real deal", which was the CC Thingmaker set. I was thrilled!
Quote from: Unknown Primate on May 27, 2011, 04:16:42 PM
My oldest sister bought me the Creepy Crawlers set one Christmas. She knew I wanted one BAD! She first gave me a "fake" present to open, which turned out to be an old vinyl album that featured some woman describing how to do Yoga. My family said the look on my face was priceless! Anna quickly handed me the "real deal", which was the CC Thingmaker set. I was thrilled!
Man, I STILL got the scars from the hotplate !!! LOL!! You had to be a BADASS to survive the 60s and 70s as a MonsterKid!!
Yep! I saw a modern version of the hotplate, and it was WEAK! Can't get away with that stuff these days - wimps!!!
Quote from: Scatter on May 27, 2011, 03:51:24 PM
My first was a "Creepy Crawlers".........
(http://www.vintagetoysillustrated.com/vintagetoy/forsale/may/2011/MATTEL_THINGMAKER_TOY_FEATURING_CREEPY_CRAWLERS_SET_4477_BOX_LID.JPG)
Awesome!
8)
Man Hep............wouldn't you KILL to have one of those in minty condition?
Yes. It's one of my top ten straight toy priorities!
8)
The first Monster toy I remeber buying was a "Haunted Hulk" playset by Marx. It was a ship with plastic monsters that could float in our pool.
The first one I can remember is my AHI frankenstein jiggler. But I also remember before that when i was 4 or 5 my dad had gotten a aurora glow wolfman from somewhere.(probably in a box of junk at an auction) and kept it way up on the fridge in the box. I used to stare up at it wanting to see it built up. I remember begging him to put it together and he always said we would get around to it. Well we never did. And it dissapeared. So recently I just bought a crudely painted one with its box 30 something years later and am currently in the process of taking it apart reglueing and repainting it. It is something I've wanted to do since I was A little boy. And the memory stuck with me so I feel like a kid again as I put together a piece of my childhood.(and I just bought two more aurora glow kits partially built frankenstein and the phantom) I can't wait!
Hello again Lester! That monster magnet is really something! My first monster item was the Aurora Frankenstein too! Buddy
Quote from: frankenstein73 on June 21, 2011, 05:52:36 PM
But I also remember before that when i was 4 or 5 my dad had gotten a aurora glow wolfman from somewhere.(probably in a box of junk at an auction) and kept it way up on the fridge in the box. I used to stare up at it wanting to see it built up. I remember begging him to put it together and he always said we would get around to it. Well we never did. And it dissapeared.
Very sad.
:(
Quote from: frankenstein73 on June 21, 2011, 05:52:36 PMSo recently I just bought a crudely painted one with its box 30 something years later and am currently in the process of taking it apart reglueing and repainting it. It is something I've wanted to do since I was A little boy. And the memory stuck with me so I feel like a kid again as I put together a piece of my childhood.(and I just bought two more aurora glow kits partially built frankenstein and the phantom) I can't wait!
Yes, finally! Very cool.
8)
Anyone remember Trolls? I had a red-headed one that I dressed in a white handkerchief. With her hair standing on end, and a few streaks of WHITE OUT on each side, she didn't look half bad. :)
I remember the trolls being sold in quarter vending machines at the supermarket.
8)
Mine was the Marx Prehistoric Animals set in 1960. The one I wish I still had was the Godzilla board game but not sure which year I got that. I got King Zor in 1962, I think. And the Godzilla board game in 1964 or 65.
Just spotted an Ideal Monster Lab on E-bay currently at $685! That would have been one of my first monster toys, but never knew it existed back then! Buddy
Definition of monster toy is kind of gray...rubber spider from a vending machine? 1950s steel space ship bank? Odd Ogg? They just put me in the mood for my first Aurora kit, I want to think it was Frank but can't be sure but I would call that my first real monster toy.
Not sure of this counts as a monster toy but it's the first I can remember
(http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu69/YukonLeeFX/5611089777_2c45b6f4f6_o.jpg)
Quote from: Dr. Madd on May 26, 2011, 11:48:09 AM
I've had several. One was a grim reaper with a removeable head. I'm not sure of the company.
That would be the MPC Pop Tops from around 1964. I had a purple witch and a yellow executioner.
There is a brief thread on it here with a couple pics. They have remade these fairly recently but the plastic is shinier and they are not quite as cool.
http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=4304.0 (http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=4304.0)
Quote from: lblambert on July 19, 2011, 10:57:00 PM
Not sure of this counts as a monster toy but it's the first I can remember
(http://i634.photobucket.com/albums/uu69/YukonLeeFX/5611089777_2c45b6f4f6_o.jpg)
Shaker Makers were a very popular line of toys in the seventies. There were several different ones.
:)
AHI creature jiggler (the smaller one) My dad got it for me when i was about 7 years old. Don't have it anymore, can't remember what happened to it but i now have 3 in my collection...
Quote from: Jim Bertges on April 07, 2010, 12:29:47 PM
Christmas 1961 Great Garloo; I remember waking up on Christmas Eve and hearing my Dad out in the living room playing with it. I could hear the whirr of the electric motors and wondering what was going on out by the Christmas Tree. // My first "real" monster toy was the Aurora Frankenstein, purchased at Disneyland at Tinkerbell's Toy Shop in Fantasyland. When ever I'm at Disneyland I make a pilgrimage to that toy shop and visit the counter where they had a huge stack of those great kits.
>>>When ever I'm at Disneyland I make a pilgrimage to that toy shop and visit the counter
>>>where they had a huge stack of those great kits.
I'm curious... All these years later... your trip back to "the same counter"... What did you find???
Was there anything to compare with the joys of Aurora Monster Models or anything retro/ worthy???
Just wondering...
1960s light green Creature pez.
Quote from: drmark7 on January 12, 2014, 02:52:42 AM
>>>When ever I'm at Disneyland I make a pilgrimage to that toy shop and visit the counter
>>>where they had a huge stack of those great kits.
I'm curious... All these years later... your trip back to "the same counter"... What did you find???
Was there anything to compare with the joys of Aurora Monster Models or anything retro/ worthy???
Just wondering...
Disneyland only carries its own merchandise/toys anymore. (They used to carry high-end, specialty lines up through the early 2000s, but I don't think they do that anymore either.) No outside vendors are welcome, and that's just as well -- since Disney's park merchandise is usually a cut above anything modern toy makers produce.
Mine was a Haunted Hulk, which helps explain my obsession with it. That, and it's cool. cl:)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/HauntedHulk_zpsbe9b4e44.jpg)
Those plastic monsters with the switchable heads.
It's tough to believe that you're not able to name that particular monster figure line.
???
Can't remember the first one I played with as a kid, but collecting, my first item was the Remco Addams Family Lurch figure. I purchased from Toy Scouts in Akron, OH in the late 80s. The founder, Bill Bruegman, was such a great guy and authority on 60s toys of all kinds.
Wish I knew if he was still around, as he was a super nice guy!
Quote from: Darkside1 on January 12, 2014, 08:45:00 PMI purchased from Toy Scouts in Akron, OH in the late 80s. The founder, Bill Bruegman, was such a great guy and authority on 60s toys of all kinds. Wish I knew if he was still around, as he was a super nice guy!
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.
He's been seen at comic shows in his area and I understand that he is still actively involved in model building.
:)
easy the 1961 aurora frankenstein. my dad had an italian rest next to Henry's hobby house in Worcester ma. i saw that Frankie kit in that display window behind a yellow plastic screen which warded off the suns rays to the models in the window. i ran back to the restaurant and begged my dad for a dollar so i could buy the kit, then when i got it i had to beg him for more money to get the glue and the paints......like it was yesterday i can recall that day. and i sat in a booth at the restaurant and built it......
Very cool! How did the kit turn out? Were you compelled to buy the other Aurora monster model kits when they were released?
???
Hep! needless to say i bought everyone afterthat not too mention then running all over downtown worcester ma. looking for marx plastic, wind ups, battery ops, trading cards, FM's and here we are today 50 years later!!! hahahahhahaha
Quote from: freddie poe on January 13, 2014, 01:53:46 PM...and here we are today 50 years later!!!
And you're still not finished the job.
cl:)
Quote from: freddie poe on January 13, 2014, 11:33:51 AM
easy the 1961 aurora frankenstein. my dad had an italian rest next to Henry's hobby house in Worcester ma. i saw that Frankie kit in that display window behind a yellow plastic screen which warded off the suns rays to the models in the window. i ran back to the restaurant and begged my dad for a dollar so i could buy the kit, then when i got it i had to beg him for more money to get the glue and the paints......like it was yesterday i can recall that day. and i sat in a booth at the restaurant and built it......
This is what it's all about, bro! If I ever find that time machine we'll go back. ;)
if we ever went back into that time tunnel...a many lot of us would never come back........i know id stay for eternity............
Quote from: horrorhunter on January 13, 2014, 02:50:08 PMIf I ever find that time machine we'll go back.
This is as close to a time machine for Worcester as I can find:
Downtown Worcester - Gone But Not Forgotten (http://cf.telegram.com/submissions/gonebutnotforgotten.cfm?CATEGORY=TOWNS%20Worcester)
It seems that Worcester was almost exactly the same size as the London, Ontario of my formative years, although London has fared somewhat better since then.
:-\
Yup! there it was Grants Woolworths & Newberrys! Loaded with 60's monster stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks Hep! LOL
Quote from: freddie poe on January 13, 2014, 03:03:46 PM
if we ever went back into that time tunnel...a many lot of us would never come back........i know id stay for eternity............
I'd be right there with ya brother.
Aurora's Creature
followed in short order by the Phantom and Godzilla
(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/ULTRA-RARE-KING-KONG-RUBBER-GORILLA-70S-VINTAGE-IMPOSSIBLE-TO-FIND-/00/s/MTYwMFgxMDc0/z/BkUAAOxyE3pSGD0G/$T2eC16N,!zQE9s3srYVcBSGD0F1%2Bcw~~60_57.JPG)
one of my favorites that i still own from 70's
I'm almost certain it was a plastic Godzilla. The most prominent toy that sticks out for me though are the Remco 3 3/4" figures.
I can't remember the first....
I had the Glow Frankenstein door poster. my mother always screamed!
Strange Change Machine
LIS Robot from Ideal or Kenner? large size
Aurora Monsters
Shrunken Head Apple Sculpture Kit
Monster Goop Maker
Styrofoam Tyrannosaurus Rex. large box about 200 pieces. I loved this!
GI Joe's as well. I remember buying them at Child World with money from delivering news papers.
A lot from the late 60's early 70's
Those were the days! ;D
Quote from: Jscareshock on June 09, 2010, 08:19:21 AMMine, I believe, was the MPC monster checkers set. I remember playing with the monsters in red and black (still have all the originals but one).
Cool! The MPC Checkers set wasn't very popular when it was released. As a result it's really tough to find these days. Here are some pictures of one:
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3742/9826834955_823614f719_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3698/9826841316_089845a435_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3714/9826811814_e19c96f731_o.jpg)
Quote from: Jscareshock on June 09, 2010, 08:19:21 AMThereabouts I then acquired the Palmer monsters with the gun that fired ping pong balls or was it darts? at the creatures to knock them down.
Well if it was darts it could have been this Weirdo Target Set which included Palmer monsters:
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/Palmer_zps7594f45f.png)
But if the ammunition was more like ping pong balls, are you sure that the set wasn't the MPC Horror House Target Set?
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/AHorrorHouse.jpg)
???
We need Big Bud in this thread.
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!!
Quote from: Hepcat on January 13, 2014, 09:25:08 AM
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.
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".
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.
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!!
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...
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.
(http://www.toyvault.com/cthulhu/Cthulhu%20Medium%20-%20Large.jpg)
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).
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.
(https://us.123rf.com/450wm/webking/webking0710/webking071000009/1849137-photo-of-a-mummy--decoration.jpg?ver=6)
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.
Quote from: StyreneDude on January 01, 2018, 10:34:27 AMEbay 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.
Quote from: StyreneDude on December 31, 2017, 02:35:08 PMI'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:)
Quote from: StyreneDude 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.
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!!!
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!
Quote from: skully on January 01, 2018, 11:35:42 PMBill 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.
:-\
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.
While not really being a "monster toy" I also remember waking up on Christmas morning to a set-up Marx Operation Moon Base that my parents bought me along with a Mike Mercury Super car toy. But, Horrible Hamilton was one of my favorites.
One of many first Monster Toys
I remember, either my Mom or Grandmother buying/giving me an A.H.I., Dracula when I was a kid.
(https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/1/0413/25/vintage-ahi-official-world-famous_1_bf7c6231d532c01b27ac2c97aae40f91.jpg)
Probably the Weebles Haunted House for me
Not trying to big time it here, but mine was a set of Mego Kiss dolls. After that it was a Mattel Shogun Warrior Godzilla. Wish I had those today but I beat the s*%# out of all five toys. At least I enjoyed hours of fun doing so. The Mattel Godzilla I have now I had to buy as an adult collector.
Quote from: geezer butler on September 30, 2020, 09:45:04 PM
Not trying to big time it here, but mine was a set of Mego Kiss dolls. After that it was a Mattel Shogun Warrior Godzilla. Wish I had those today but I beat the s*%# out of all five toys. At least I enjoyed hours of fun doing so. The Mattel Godzilla I have now I had to buy as an adult collector.
I was lucky enough in 1995 to find a MEGO, Gene Simmons, through a trade. Then later Paul, Peter and Ace followed. I found a MEGO Peter Criss at Fangoria Weekend of Horrors convention. A few years ago, I found a Mattel Godzilla on eBAY. Unfortunately He was missing the lever for the flicking tongue. I sold that one. But later, I found another at a vintage toy shop. Now.....the Mattel Godzilla is WAY expensive. 😳
my dad is/was a Halloween junkie so always had monster stuff including Don Post masks. We saw the movies as very young kids, we had the decorations, costumes and toys, and we loved every minute of it. Still my family's favorite holiday.
One of my earliest memories is sitting on his knee watching him draw "the classic monsters" on some butcher paper at the kitchen table. The first Uni-monster toys that I can remember are monster jigglers Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, Mummy perhaps others when I was 3 or 4 years old in a Ben Cooper hairy Scary mask around 1980-81 on Halloween. Next I remember Remco mini monsters from the 80's, my prize Uni-monster possessions that I have owned for most of my life. A little later we got the Imperial toys Monsters from either Pic-N-Save or MacFrugals, both discount retailers (later bought by Big Lots) by my teens I was painting Aurora monster model remakes from Polar lights. I have always been a strong monster fan, because I am second generation from an original monster kid of the 60's, my dad.
Quote from: skully link=topic=8494.msg590302#msg590302 date=16014431p
...along with a Mike Mercury Super car toy.
/quote]
Orange, battery powered? I had one for years, loved it!
Hi LundyAfterMidnight. Yes, it was orange, battery powered with discs you would place in the back trunk of the car, for going in different directions. It was a lot of fun, and it was rather sturdy because of the hard plastic, I too had it for many years, I used to watch the TV show too.
Not sure which came first for me, but it might have been the Vampire's Midnight Madness kit from the 70s. I no longer have it, but distinctly remember the red vinyl cape and that cool action feature:
https://www.tylisaari.com/models/disney/vmm.htm (https://www.tylisaari.com/models/disney/vmm.htm)
(https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tylisaari.com%2Fmodels%2Fdisney%2Fvmm.htm&psig=AOvVaw0x61D5SFvkYe-IHev2ZxB_&ust=1601885964314000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCLj26LDAmuwCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAO)
Quote from: skully on September 30, 2020, 12:19:17 AMWhile not really being a "monster toy" I also remember waking up on Christmas morning to a set-up Marx Operation Moon Base that my parents bought me along with a Mike Mercury Super car toy.
It was roundabout the 1963 Xmas season that Remco released a Supercar loosely resembling the Mike Mercury piloted Super Car from the popular Gerry Anderson produced TV show:
(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Remco%203_zpscwyqnc7z.jpg)
Here's one complete with the now scarce original Sears Roebuck shipping box:
(http://www.mikemercury.net/2004_1031Supercar10002_op_600x800.jpg)
Within a year or two Remco spiffed up the presentation of its Supercar with a fancier more colourful bubble box:
(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Remco%201_zpsom5snjf5.jpg)
:)
Hey Hep. As usual, great work with showing this!!
One my favorite Monster Toys, from my childhood on to being an adult.
(https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/Milestone/77/589177/H19536-L96081349.jpg)
Quote from: skully on October 04, 2020, 12:47:57 PMHey Hep. As usual, great work with showing this!!
Here's a page from a brochure or department store catalogue advertising the Remco Supercar:
(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Remco%2023_zpsve90xmxk.jpg)
And a commercial:
Remco Supercar (https://youtu.be/fAR01WwMEWE)
8)
Quote from: Hepcat on October 04, 2020, 01:31:58 PM
Here's a page from a brochure or department store catalogue advertising the Remco Supercar:
(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Remco%2023_zpsve90xmxk.jpg)
And a commercial:
Remco Supercar (https://youtu.be/fAR01WwMEWE)
8)
I need this car/toy.
It is indeed a really neat toy. If you look for one, inspect the large wings on the back of the vehicle, even though it's a rather sturdy toy, sometimes stress cracks appear on them close to the body of the car, and make sure both of the "stabilizer" type protrusions on the smaller back wings are not broken off. I think that the toy was actually re-issued later on with the "Land of the Giants" series of items.
Quote from: skully on October 05, 2020, 05:07:39 PMI think that the toy was actually re-issued later on with the "Land of the Giants" series of items.
Yes the Land of the Giants Space Sled Remco released in 1968 bore a striking resemblance to the Remco Super Car we've been discussing:
(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Land%20of%20the%20Giaants_zpsegbrfndz.jpg)
(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Land%20of%20the%20Giants%202_zpsg6bxexyc.jpg)
I'd be grateful if somebody could explain that coincidence to me.
:-\
Hi Hep. Thanks again for great work showing this. Honestly, I don't have a clue as to why Remco would have re-issued this toy associated with Land of the Giants, maybe they were just looking for further profit from a neat toy, or maybe just figured it looked like it belonged to be included with space, sci-fi stuff and everything else associated with TV shows, such as Land of the Giants, and others such as The Invaders, Time Tunnel, etc. of the times. Your last photo actually shows one of those protrusions broken off the small back wing like I was talking about to watch out for.
Glasslite Dracula. Another favorite
(https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTI5NlgxMjAw/z/44cAAOSw9UVfV-N2/$_12.JPG?set_id=880000500F)
Quote from: skully on October 06, 2020, 12:27:31 AMHonestly, I don't have a clue as to why Remco would have re-issued this toy associated with Land of the Giants, maybe they were just looking for further profit from a neat toy....
That would have been precisely it. The Super Car was incredibly innovative in concept and design. Why tie it to just one short-lived TV show? If anything it should have been rereleased again and again perhaps accompanied by a stable of Remco adventure/action figures, e.g. Cosmo Cliff & Mars Mission Omega!
;)
Quote from: marsattacks666 on October 06, 2020, 09:27:49 AM
Glasslite Dracula. Another favorite
(https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTI5NlgxMjAw/z/44cAAOSw9UVfV-N2/$_12.JPG?set_id=880000500F)
I would love one of these on the card but I think I'm priced out now a days.
Ian
Quote from: marsattacks666 on October 06, 2020, 09:27:49 AM
Glasslite Dracula. Another favorite
(https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTI5NlgxMjAw/z/44cAAOSw9UVfV-N2/$_12.JPG?set_id=880000500F)
Strange that they would have been sold in the States with unilingual Spanish text. Where were they marketed, mainly from Texas to California?
???
Not precisely a monster toy, but as a wee lad I also had the Tin Man robot from Wizard of Oz:
http://www.theoldrobots.com/TinMan.html (http://www.theoldrobots.com/TinMan.html)
The first monster toys I remember having were the Hamilton's Invaders. Then I got the Mattel Thingmaker Creepy Crawlers set, so the poor Blue Defenders job got a lot harder. :lol:
Not a monster, but the first S.F. toy I remember having was a blue Robby the Robot, with a corded remote.
David.
Do you still covet and collect Hamilton's Invaders and Mattel Thingmaker/Creepy Crawler items?
???
My first was the Remco Mini Monster Phantom of the Opera. I was 4. I vividly remember my mom letting me get it. It was on an end cap right were you go to checkout at the grocery store of all places. Pretty sure it was on clearance or she wouldn't have let me get it. She only let me get one and I was trying to choose between the Phantom and Wolfman. Chose Phantom. Ironically, I ended up getting them all for my birthday later EXCEPT Wolfman. Not having Wolfman haunted me every year to the point that when I would play with the monsters they would be trying to search for the Wolfman half the time. I say every year because for whatever reason my mom kept the Mini Monsters locked away with the Halloween decorations so I could only play with them for one month of the year (so it was a heck of a treat when I got to). I didn't end up getting Wolfman until I bought him on eBay when I was 28 years old...