More Boxed Lincoln Mail-Away Monsters

[monsterjoe]

I NEVER REALLY CARED FOR THESE DOLLS....FRANKY ALWAYS REMINDED ME OF A GREEN JETHRO BODINE..... $10.000 SEEMS LIKE A LOT...

[raycastile]

may want to check on that ray....this auction has been relisted with both sets again.......

My friend said the deal fell through unexpectedly, much to his disappointment.

[Mord]

 Well I'm glad I'm not the only one. The smiley face Wolfman & trannie Dracula don't do much for me, either.

[raycastile]

Ok, I guess there's something I'm missing here, but why would anyone really want the so-called "victim"? It's just a generic dime store girlie doll. It was probably just thrown in with the monsters arbitrarily.

I have to admit, that's the way I feel about "The Victim." She is not really a Lincoln toy. I do not believe Lincoln International had any intention of marketing her as an "official" part of the series. I have two catalogs that show the first and second series Lincoln monsters with the series number for each, and she is not included (Mr. Rock is). She was a doll, probably made by another company, that a retailer decided to throw in a mailer box to create a package for a Christmas catalog. It would be interesting to own one, as she is part of the Lincoln monsters' history, but I don't feel like she is a bona fide "Lincoln Monster toy." I'd rather have a carded Mr. Rock.

[gracebuster]

I am continually amazed that these crazy things keep popping up. I mean, what are the chances? 40 plus year old mint sealed monster stuff pops up again and again.
The rarity just astounds me.
There is an charm to these knock off monsters for me.

[jollygorilla]

They are cool just not 10g cool. but Id rather have the remco 9 inch figures any day

[Monsters For Sale]

I don't want to start a war or question any one person's personal taste, but I never have understood the popularity of these monster toys.

Why have these attained such a following and demanded such lofty prices?

They look very cheaply designed and made.  I really hate the dark green Frankenstein with electrodes on his temples instead of his neck.  The only thing that would make me buy these would be the opportunity to sell them at a profit to help fund collecting toys that I do like.

Is there something I am unaware of regarding these Lincoln figures?  Is there some really interesting story about their creation that captures collectors' imaginations - something beyond the toys themselves?  Do they have a fascinating history?

Again, I am not knocking the fact that other UMA members love these figures.  Their appeal escapes me.

In fairness, there are other toys that I initially did not care for but wound up collecting and really enjoying - Like Monster Niks.  At first I thought they were incredibly stupid-looking, now I love the Frankenstein Trolls I have.

Educate me, please. 

[Toy Ranch]

Adam, I think it's driven mostly by 8" articulated figure collectors. There are only a few monsters, compared to all of the other Mego super heroes, etc. A lot of people grew up playing with them and they are very special to those people, hence the large Mego collecting community.

AHI had the monster license, and made some pretty cool monster figures. I personally like the Lincoln figures better than the Mego monsters.  jollygorilla says he prefers the Remco figures, which I think of as the worst monster figures ever made. But then I didn't grow up with those, so they have no memories.

But I think mostly they are rare. And if you are in "collect them all" mode, you have to get them.

[poseablemonster]

Yeah, these were dime store toys that kids like me could afford in the 70's.  I loved playing with my AHI monsters.  I think they have really great monster likenesses, and at the time they were everywhere.  Now, they are generally available in the collector's market, but some variations are quite rare and can be very pricey. 
I never had any Lincoln monsters as a kid, but they are some of the first monster figures I sought out when I started collecting.  They have that 70's figure appeal, and the package art adds to it as it gives them a diorama to exist in.  They are some of my all time favorite toys, and pretty scarce these days. 
It's true there is that cross-over with the 8" figure collectors, and some of those guys will spend the money, thus the prices have gone up.   I think it comes down to what era you grew up in.  70's monster kids like me love the 8" figures, and their charm isn't really something I can explain.  You either see it or you don't.

[frankenstein73]

I was the same way, loved my ahi monsters, and I loved megos. 70s kid all the way.  When I first discovered there were lincolns I was thrilled and had to find some. ( mind you i was in my 30s by this time) At first I didnt like them as much as my mego monsters or my ahi I thought they were kinda funny looking. But after I finally found my set and saw them in my hands they instantly became my favorite. The  mummy  to me is the coolest of the 4. There is just something to them that makes them special, like poseablemonster said you either see it or you dont.  Coolest part is The hands are aurora wolfman hands! And to release a set with a victim is genius, if I woulda known that existed as a kid it would have been mine and she would have been mutilated beyond recognition the first day.

I really wish I could afford the set with the victim,    id open it up the second I got it. (And keep the box of course)
Don't care what its worth sealed, if you cant see them and enjoy it, why own it. Heck id be afraid there were welcome back cotter figures in there if I didnt!

[Mord]

 I don't think the so-called "victim" is even the same scale as the monsters. She's definitely not dressed from the same era. I didn't grow up with the AHI's but I totally get their desirability. I would love to have a mint set (hell, I'll settle for a battle-damaged set). But I'm with Adam on the Lincolns, I just do see getting them for anything but a big profit.

[gracebuster]

I always have felt that these Lincoln Monsters filled a weird void as a collector. When I discovered them I was excited because i had never seen them as a kid and wanted to know more about them.

Funny how we all see them in a different way. My thought was that they all looked like regular people dressing up as monsters as opposed to actually looking like monsters. Maybe that's just the actor in me but that has been my take on them all along.

As a child mego versus Ahi. Had em both but the AHI was just the best of the best.

[raycastile]

Some people don't like musicals. Some people love Jerry Lewis. Some people hate anchovies. Some love watching tennis. A lot of folks believe any adult who collects toys must be crazy or stupid. To each his own.

[raycastile]

Funny how we all see them in a different way. My thought was that they all looked like regular people dressing up as monsters as opposed to actually looking like monsters. Maybe that's just the actor in me but that has been my take on them all along.

I think you have just articulated something that I have instinctively felt since childhood, but could never put my finger on. I had Lincolns and AHIs as a kid. I loved them both. But the Lincolns always seemed more "Halloween" to me. There was something otherwordly and strange about them, something creepy, maybe even dangerous. Like a creepy uncle who acts vaguely inappropriately around kids. The children know something is not quite right, but they don't know exactly what. Lincolns are the creepy uncle of 1970s monster toys.

[Toy Ranch]

I didn't have the Lincolns when I was a kid, never even saw them, but I really love them now. The Frankenstein is probably the least of the bunch to me, but there is a Hunchback figure, etc.

Personally the appeal of vintage monster toys is not that they be "screen accurate".  I don't like the cutesy monsters of today. I prefer the creepy monsters of yesterday. The Lincolns walk an interesting line between cutesy and creepy. They are almost unintentionally cutesy and that makes them even more creepy.

By the time the AHI and other 8" figures came out, I was growing out of playing with toys. When I was a kid I played with GI Joe and Captain Action a LOT, and they were 12" figures. One year I asked Santa to make monsters the size of GI Joe, and I got a Dr Evil. That wasn't what I meant, although Dr Evil was cool in his own right. It wasn't until YEARS later, in the 90's that 12" monsters became available.