The Only Monster Playset

[Toy Ranch]

Marx made many playsets through the 50's, 60's, and into the 70's.  They had little figures, buildings, accessories, etc.  The first ones came in cardboard boxes, and later in metal or vinyl cases.  Some of them were really spectacular, like the Ben Hur set or the Blue and Gray Civil War set.  The sculpts were amazing and the ingenuity that went into some of them was over the top.  Today playsets enjoy a popular spot in the hearts of many toy collectors and the more desirable sets, figures, and accessories command high prices.

Marx proposed a Monster Mansion playset, but it never got off the ground.  The prototype for it sits today in the Marx Museum.  They used a castle, some accessories from other sets, and MPC monster figures for the prototype.  If it had gone into production, it would have been very different, and Marx would have sculpted figures of their own, or even reduced the 6" figures.  Anyway, it never happened, and monsters were one of the few popular kid icons of the day that never had a playset from Marx.  MPC gave us the Pop Top Horrors and the smaller size monsters.  They even made a pseudo playset with the Haunted Hulk ship, but that was as far as it went...  and the Marx stuff was so far out in front of MPC it was just no contest.

Anyway, sometime in the late 70's or early 80's, MPC did put out a full playset with monsters in it.  It's not a monster playset exactly, but they are an important element in it.  It's called Dragon Crest.  I've been trying to land a Dragon Crest set for a while, and finally did.  The photos are the ones from the auction on eBay.  They were so good and thorough I didn't think I could improve on them.









As you can see, the monsters won.  All the knighs are dead, except a few of the ones on horseback.  Most monsters are not all that fast.



Thin cardboard base, this is the cheapest made playset I've ever seen.



Even still, it's pretty cool.  Dragon Crest, the only monster playset.

[raycastile]

That is awesome.  I'm glad the monsters won.  They are just defending their castle, after all.  Isn't interesting that the castle belongs to the monsters and the humans are the ones trying to storm it?  Kind of a subversive playset.  I like it.

[poseablemonster]

I was watching this one, too.  Neat playset and an interesting bit of monster toy history.

[Toy Ranch]

The glow monsters in this set are a little different from my other glow monsters.



The Dragon Crest glow monster is on the left in the picture.

[CinemBill]

Cool find...

[gracebuster]

Very impressive!

Never knew it existed.

[Roback]

I have seen that set before and if money grew on trees I would definitely start collecting select Marx playsets, this one in particular. It's a shame that Monster playsets are so few. I appreciate you taking the time to share this with us.

[raycastile]

It pops up on ebay now and then, but I never tried very hard to get one because I just didn't know what to make of it.  Bobby's photos definitely make it seem much more desirable.  Instead of a D&D set that happens to include some monsters, it does seem like a bona fide "monster playset."  Next time one pops up, I think I will be bidding!

[Toy Ranch]

It's really pretty interesting conceptually and I've done a little poking around trying to find reference to a medieval monster movie or tale.  Obviously Vlad Tepes was alive in the 15th century and that places him toward the end of the Middle Ages, but all of the Dracula tales, Mummy, Wolf Man, etc. etc. take place in the 19th century or later.  There are some relatively obscure books and stories set in the medieval period, but with the popularity of Beowulf movies (several in the past decade based on that), King Arthur Lord of the Rings, etc a good medieval monster movie with armored knights battling werewolves and vampires and such could be incredibly cool.  Probably wouldn't be....  but could be.

[Wich2]

"Vlad Tepes was alive in the 15th century"

Well, you can always push that date back by ascribing to the theory that Count Dracula was originally Judas from Kerioth.

Best,
-Craig W.

[raycastile]

I think they were all Prof. Moriarty, or perhaps the Master.  Or maybe J.R. Ewing.

"Vlad Tepes was alive in the 15th century"

Well, you can always push that date back by ascribing to the theory that Count Dracula was originally Judas from Kerioth.

Best,
-Craig W.

[fmofmpls]

Cool playset! Never knew it existed. Thanks for schooling us on monster playset history Bobby. You learn something new here every day. I want one too BTW.

[frankenstein73]

Toy Ranch I have wanted this ever since i saw this post! I finally Got one! i noticed the knight and horse figure colors are different in my set. and mine had 2 full sets of monsters. Plus my playmat is different. On my box front says colors and items may vary. I have i small red ladder but am missing the two tall brown ones, do you know if these are easy to find? were they used with other sets?
heres mine.

[jimm]

Cool, sort of an Army of Darkness vibe to it!

[marsattacks666]

Cool, sort of an Army of Darkness vibe to it!

Good call, for sure.