FREE MONSTERS - Premiums & Give-A-Ways

[Universal_Adam]

Here are the Pepsi 12-Pack Carton cutout panels for 1992's Monster Bash promotion:

There are full sized poster versions of these too.  I've got them all except for Frankenstein's monster and I've been hunting for it for over a year.  It's become my holy grail.   As goofy and corny as these are, I love the art.

[Monster Bob]

It surprises me for as much as the "party monster"-type stuff is accepted, that the Aurora Monsters on hot rods are so 'universal'-ly hated. I am not criticizing either, BTW.

[Haunted hearse]

It surprises me for as much as the "party monster"-type stuff is accepted, that the Aurora Monsters on hot rods are so 'universal'-ly hated. I am not criticizing either, BTW.

I have no problem with either.  In all honesty, both have done a better job putting classic monsters in the public eye, then any film Universal Studios has relesed in the last 20 years.

[aura of foreboding]

I have no problem with either.  In all honesty, both have done a better job putting classic monsters in the public eye, then any film Universal Studios has relesed in the last 20 years.

Or any of Universal's promotions in the past ten years!  The Monsters have virtually disappeared.  IMO, we need Universal to use the Pepsi machine to do some cross-promotion with the films or Halloween Horror Nights.  Bring back the classics, I say, and do it in a big way!   The Monsters never really went "out of style" with the general public until Universal stopped promoting them after 1999.  Let's bring them back, shall we?  Oh yes... with a new style guide.  Thanks. 

[Mord]

 Not crazy about the frat-boy monsters. I would rather have obscurity with dignity.

[McDougals House of Horror]

Not crazy about the frat-boy monsters. I would rather have obscurity with dignity.

I totally agree -- can you imagine what Karloff, Lugosi and Chaney would think? Yikes, their worst nightmares come true!

[aura of foreboding]

Not crazy about the frat-boy monsters. I would rather have obscurity with dignity.

Party Monsters were only around for one year.  For the most part, Pepsi has done great things with our fiendish friends.  And obscurity is not a good thing when it comes to getting more toys...   

[Monsters For Sale]

Party Monsters were only around for one year.  For the most part, Pepsi has done great things with our fiendish friends.  And obscurity is not a good thing when it comes to getting more toys...   

Well... Two years.  Plus one year of the very highly stylized monsters.

But I think we owe Pepsi a lot for keeping the monsters out front year after year for so long.  It's a hell of a lot more than Universal has been willing to do - even at Halloween.

Now if Universal would help by approving actor specific images and no more of the generic garbage that they have been pushing on the public.

________________________________________________

Still waiting on more FREE Monsters.  How about all the cereal monsters: Count Chocula, Frankenberry, etc. 

I know there must be a couple of collectors out there.  Share some pictures.

[aura of foreboding]

Well... Two years.  Plus one year of the very highly stylized monsters.

One year, though, also included the regular images of the monsters on promotions in addition to the party theme. 

[Monsters For Sale]

One year, though, also included the regular images of the monsters on promotions in addition to the party theme.

The years on these things are confusing - at least for me.

[aura of foreboding]

The years on these things are confusing - at least for me.

Just be thankful.  The Pepsi years are easier to pinpoint than the Mars years.   

[Monsters For Sale]

Hostess does chocolate cupcakes with orange icing every Halloween.  One Halloween they put out this interesting cupcake pack.





On the back they included a free cut-out mask.





End Panel.





The Other End.





Note that these were not issued contemporary with the show.  The latest legible date is 1992 - nearly 30 years after the show aired.  Could these have been issued when the DVD's came out?

[aura of foreboding]

No.  These were from the 1990s.  If you recall, that was a time when classic programming was still valued by a number of Americans.  Nick at Nite was at its height.  All of the classic stars were coming back to TV in new programs...  Good times. 

[Monsters For Sale]

Here is another cut-out mask.  This was included as a centerfold in Archie's Madhouse #14.


The comic cover:





The mask enlarged and cleaned up a little:





I don't have the comic handy so I don't know the year on this one.

[Haunted hearse]

Do the Minions from "Despicable me" count as monsters?  Has anybody noticed the plastic minions figures in cerials like "Honeynut Cheerios"?  Reminds me of the good old days, when more cerials included toys in the box.