The School Bag mystery, solved...

[Monster Bob]

It is positively a vintage and authentic piece. Absolutely no doubt about it.

I doubt you've seen that Beatles bag. It is, according to the Beatles site, extremely rare. There are literally hundreds, even thousands of Beatles items out there. In just SSP products alone, there are dozens of variations. The SSP Beatles wallets and binders came in like 8-10 color variations alone!

[lappys22]

I can finally sleep! Thank you.

[Toy Ranch]

What did the bags your friend made look like, then?

Sounds like the seller was dead-on right about everything except James Bama.

[fmofmpls]

Interesting investigative work Bob. That Beatles bag makes a strong case for the monster bag and its legitimacy. If this entire saga hadn't left such a sour taste in my mouth, I'd be much more excited. However, I'm scarred from ever wanting to see or even own one of these bags. I know .. get over it Terry. And I will. Sounds like this one's "in the bag."

[fmofmpls]

He was understandably upset about the bag discussion, but as I told him, nobody had ever seen this thing before, and fan/fantasy items run rampant in the collecting community, so it was challenged, but not to take it personally.

There were many parts of this entire debacle which were easily taken personally and out of context. Thanks Bob for pointing this fact out to Mark. All is forgiven at my end. And I hope at his end as well.  

And with that having been said ....  

* WARNING - let's continue to use this thread to discuss the bag itself and nothing more! The mods will remove any post that isn't directly related to the item. We will NOT be discussing the auction or the seller. Thank you for your cooperation.

[1975]

Kudos on your win and on your fantastic detective skills. Being a life long optimist, it's wonderful to see this be legit.

[MDG]

I'm just amazed that there are still new things to find out there

[visible]

Sweet closure!

[fmofmpls]

Bob, I'm still curious about the 90s company promotion theory. At what point was this deemed untrue? I thought you had solid information regarding this theory from a respected source? Just curious.

[Monster Bob]

Don't know that it is untrue, but this sure ain't it. I distributed copies of the SSP art to several people in the late 1980s (which then got redistributed). I have never seen this Halloween bag, only going by word of mouth. It may well have been a fabric sack for all I know. I did have a licensed Frankenstein, Creature, and Dracula Halloween sack twenty-ish years ago (long since sold), but it was completely different art. Not even close. Someone reportedly put the SSP  art on the binders also (like a piece of paper slid in a clear plastic front- not a "manufactured" or printed item, but I've never seen one of those either. Had I known it was going to happen, I wouldn't have given it out.

This Monster bag is 100% old and sixties era and built like a brick 'chithouse. I had a plain blue and white bag similar but different to this (no strap, with a clasp that turned-this one snaps) in about 1967. They haven't produced bags like this since the 1960s-too much labor in construction and material, I suppose. It would be a $50 bag nowadays. The SSP monster bag's art was manufacted exactly as Richard pointed out with the wallets- they put down a layer of white, then the color layers (R-Y-B) so the colors would be vivid and "pop" off the white. The art was definately applied before the bag was assembled, as the art goes right to the sewn-on vinyl trim, almost under in a couple of spots. The thread has darkened and yellowed with age- see pic. It would be impossible to put this art on in this technique on an already assembled bag. The picture is also made up of "dots" and made in layers, just like the wallets (whatever that technique is called). I can't make it any clearer than this pic-
After almost 50 years with this stuff, I can tell you 110% certainty it is absolutely real and authentic. And the hardware and assembly is absolutely identical to the Canada SSP Beatles School Bag, which has been known about for over 20 years-it is in the old collector books. I'm sticking with the Niagra Falls thing, too.

[fmofmpls]

I can tell you 110% certainty it is absolutely real and authentic.

Oh, I believe you alright. Thanks for the clarification and for the pics. Mystery solved. 

[darkmonkeygod]

As always Bob, thanks for doing the research and sharing the info. This is the kind of stuff I thrive on.

On a possibly related note, do you have any definitive info about the 3 monster binders that were produced in the '60s? I ask in relation to this post as I sometimes see the binders refered to as SPP - which I don't believe they could be due not just the art but the style of manufacture. We monster kids often refer to them as Hasbro (Hassenfeld Brothers at the time), due to the art from the 1963/64 Oil Painting By Number Sets being used on them, yet school supplies were not offered via wholesale in Hassenfeld toy catalogues. The company did produce pencil boxes and the like at one time, but I've never seen other character items that would fit in as an assortment - the way the Beatles and Monster bags do. Have you - or anyone else - ever seen other items or old vendor catalogues that shore up Hassenfeld Brothers producing the Dracula, Frankenstein and Wolf Man binders?

[Hepcat]

Someone reportedly put the SSP  art on the binders also (like a piece of paper slid in a clear plastic front- not a "manufactured" or printed item, but I've never seen one of those either.

The SSP monster bag's art was manufacted exactly as Richard pointed out with the wallets- they put down a layer of white, then the color layers (R-Y-B) so the colors would be vivid and "pop" off the white.

Do you mean the SPP art?

[Hepcat]

And that's what we came up with. I have since talked with the bag's seller on the phone (who turned out to be a man named Mark) and he is a good guy. Ironically, he has some Aurora kits in his collection- which was his interest in the bag when he got it. He was understandably upset about the bag discussion, but as I told him, nobody had ever seen this thing before, and fan/fantasy items run rampant in the collecting community, so it was challenged, but not to take it personally.

Was this fellow "Mark" a UMA member?

Have any other SPP monster school bags surfaced since?



Incidentally, here is the original thread:

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=9652.0

[Hepcat]

On a possibly related note, do you have any definitive info about the 3 monster binders that were produced in the '60s? I ask in relation to this post as I sometimes see the binders refered to as SPP - which I don't believe they could be due not just the art but the style of manufacture. We monster kids often refer to them as Hasbro (Hassenfeld Brothers at the time), due to the art from the 1963/64 Oil Painting By Number Sets being used on them, yet school supplies were not offered via wholesale in Hassenfeld toy catalogues. The company did produce pencil boxes and the like at one time, but I've never seen other character items that would fit in as an assortment - the way the Beatles and Monster bags do. Have you - or anyone else - ever seen other items or old vendor catalogues that shore up Hassenfeld Brothers producing the Dracula, Frankenstein and Wolf Man binders?

As a courtesy to newer members, we now know that the binders depicting the Universal monster artwork that was also used for the Hasbro Mystery Games and Paint & Pencil by Number sets were neither produced nor marketed by SPP:



SPP made many binders including Weird-Ohs and Beatles binders but not the three binders pictured above.