Hamilton's Invaders appreciation thread!

jimm · December 14, 2014, 02:20:16 PM

These are great!

Hepcat · December 16, 2014, 09:33:31 PM

Here are pictures of Freddie Poe's Hamilton's Invaders playset that he asked me to post:

Here's hoping that Horrible Hamilton and Spooky Spider clean house!

horrorhunter · December 16, 2014, 09:51:39 PM

Wow, those are great! He's got a Torpedo Tank! Good on you, Freddie.

freddie poe · December 16, 2014, 10:30:42 PM

Fangs alot for the posting Hep Cat! i have the gun & bombs not pictured also the helmet. if i only had my boxed sets back!! i have an extra tank as pictured but need jeep!

Hepcat · December 17, 2014, 05:04:20 PM

What you need even more badly than the Jeep is more allies for Horrible Hamilton! You need a Brutal Beetle, the yellow fellow in the picture below:

Plus you need some of the little guys in the picture as well. Here's a better shot of them:

freddie poe · December 17, 2014, 06:39:49 PM

Oh You r so right my brother! i need the jeep, another yellow spyder and the smaller roller blade fiends! and more blue defenders of the book shelf! and ... and ...and and! lol

Hepcat · December 17, 2014, 07:09:23 PM

Ahhhhh, but the yellow fellow in the picture with the little ones isn't Spooky Spider. The yellow fellow is Brutal Beetle a.k.a. Gruesome Beetle, and he was also available in green some of the time. Here's a picture of Spooky Spider on the left and a green Brutal Beetle/Gruesome Beetle:

freddie poe · December 18, 2014, 01:26:09 PM

Wow! i thought i had them all as a kid but i dont remember that green one! are you sure that wasn't only issued in Canada or overseas? or perhaps it came with another Remco sci-fi set?

horrorhunter · December 18, 2014, 03:21:37 PM

Quote from: freddie poe on December 18, 2014, 01:26:09 PM
Wow! i thought i had them all as a kid but i dont remember that green one! are you sure that wasn't only issued in Canada or overseas? or perhaps it came with another Remco sci-fi set?

The Hamilton Beetle was sold in the HI playsets as well as with some of the later Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea Playsets. I don't think the Beetle was as common as the Hamilton Spider.

The small Hamilton Bugs were also sold in the VTTBOTS playsets.

Hepcat · December 18, 2014, 04:54:35 PM

Quote from: freddie poe on December 18, 2014, 01:26:09 PMWow! i thought i had them all as a kid but i dont remember that green one! are you sure that wasn't only issued in Canada or overseas? or perhaps it came with another Remco sci-fi set?

The distinguishing characteristic of the Beetle is not the green colour though since evidently it was produced in yellow as well. While they're both the same size, the back of the Beetle is what differentiates it from the Spider. Their backs and legs are very different.

Mord · December 19, 2014, 12:26:00 AM

Now that I look closely, I had a couple of those motorized insects as a kid (I clearly remember the pull-string mechanism). My parents gave them to me while I was recuperating from some kind of surgery. Had a whole lotta fun with those.

Krel · December 19, 2014, 10:29:33 PM

I had the Hamilton's Invaders monsters and a few of their vehicles as a kid. They were great and also were good monsters for my MPC copper-colored spacemen and my Mattel Fighting Men. I also had the HI Grenade Pistol, which was used as a LASER pistol in "Cyborg 2087", and in "The Terrornauts".

I found this board because of the Hamilton's Invaders line, I was/am curious about the name. Who was it named for? Back Then toy companies usually tried to work their name into the line somewhere, see Matte's Zero M line. Was it named for the designer? I can't find any background information on line, or anyone who knows any details.

I wonder who owns the rights to the toy lines from defunct toy companies? The HI line would probably do a lot better now, than it did back in the 60s. It would certainly have made a better movie than most made from a toy line.

David.

Hepcat · December 19, 2014, 11:27:59 PM

Indeed! I've always wondered about the name as well. It's a strange one for a monster bug set. Some interplanetary/interstellar name would make more sense but I can't think of a really good one right now.

horrorhunter · December 20, 2014, 02:01:24 AM

I never heard the origin of the name "Hamilton's Invaders". Maybe Remco was just looking for alliteration to go with "Horrible" (as in "Horrible Hamilton") and pulled it out of the ether. $:-\$