Weird-Ohs Items!

[Tim Nolan]

I just finished this one a few weeks back.  I'm a surfer from way back, and I have all of the Silly Surfer kits waiting to be done hopefully in the near future.  I love Woody Wagons too so this one had to come first.

[Hepcat]

I did this guy a few years back....  Wade A. Minut

That glossy lavender pink colour for Wade A. Minut is boss cool!

[Hepcat]

Sadly most of the pictures of the Weird-Oh binders released by SPP in 1964 that were once posted on this board have now either disappeared or been somewhat obscured by Photobucket.

A picture we still have though is of the Davey binder that Monolith has had since he was a kid in the sixties:



Plus here's an even more colourful SPP Freddy Flameout binder:

[RPM]

Here is my SPP Weird-Ohs binder, front, rear and side. I previously posted these images years ago but was lost in the Photo Bucket massacre.

[Hepcat]

Yay! Yours is fabulous, probably the coolest one of them all.

[RPM]

Here is a page from an SPP catalog featuring the Weird-Ohs binders.

[marsattacks666]

Here is a page from an SPP catalog featuring the Weird-Ohs binders.

Awesome

[Hepcat]

Here is a page from an SPP catalog featuring the Weird-Ohs binders.

Interesting how all five of those SPP Weird-Oh binders are different in design with your yellow one being the most unique of them all!

[Hepcat]

I just finished this one a few weeks back.  I'm a surfer from way back, and I have all of the Silly Surfer kits waiting to be done hopefully in the near future.  I love Woody Wagons too so this one had to come first.

I can tell that you like woody wagons because I can see the effort you put into getting the wood panelling just right. And I'm constantly amazed by the colour effects you create for the cars. You somehow managed to achieve what I'd describe as a pearlescent lime green candy colour for this kit.



I'm looking forward to seeing the others when you get them built!

[RPM]

Two Hawk Weird-Ohs hobby shop store promo posters. Drag Hag is from a recent auction and Huey's Hut Rod is from my collection.

[Hepcat]

Hey, those are rad! I never even knew they existed.



I take it that you have a pretty good collection of Weird-Ohs related items. Do you have a group picture? Or can you simply provide us with a list of what you have?

[RPM]

I only have a few Weird-Ohs kits, a Hawk  catalog, the promo poster and notebook binder I recently posted. I maintain  auction photos from related
pieces I find interesting.

[Hepcat]

And Dick Smith's monster makeup book sold through FM has instructions to make yourself up as a Weird-Oh--it even made the cover.

Here's a shot of the magazine that Warren published in 1965:

[Hepcat]

If I have the chronology right, the Weird-ohs were first, and became so popular that Marx created the Nutty Mads.......right? 

I was under the impression Ed Roth kicked the whole monster hot rod thing off and the Weird Oh's soon followed. Am i wrong??

Hey Gasport, I hadn't really given it much thought. The cool stuff that jump-started the 60's monster stuff, in my memory, were the Aurora monster kits, the Rat Fink Roth kits, the Weird-oh models and figures, and the Nutty Mads, also the lesser known MPC Uglies...................Not exactly sure what the order of appearance was.

Oh, absolutely Bud! As far as monster craze items go, all roads lead back to the Aurora factory...I was just trying to hone in specifically on the monster hot rod phase of the chain. I remember it all beginning with Rat Fink.

You are correct. The Weird-Ohs were Hawk's response to the Revell's "Big Daddy" Roth line of fink kits.

Aw!  Then the chronology would be ....Big Daddy Finks, Hawk Weird-ohs, Marx Nutty Mads. Got it!

With respect to the chronology of the model kits and Nutty Mads, it was as follows:

1961

Aurora: Frankenstein

1962

Aurora: Dracula, Wolfman
Revell: Outlaw

1963

Aurora: Mummy,  Creature, Phantom of the Opera
Revell: Tweedy Pie, Beatnik Bandit, Mysterion, Road Agent, Mr. Gasser, Mother's Worry, Drag Nut, Rat Fink
Hawk: most Weird-Ohs
Marx: Nutty Mads Series 1 & 2(?)

1964

Aurora: Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde, King Kong, Godzilla, Frankenstein's Flivver, Dracula's Dragster, Gigantic Frankenstein
Revell: Brother Rat Fink, Surfink, Angel Fink, Superfink
Hawk: Killer McBash, Wade A. Minut, Sling Rave Curvette, first four Silly Surfers
Marx: Nutty Mads Series 3, Weird-Ohs(?)

1965

Aurora: Wolfman's Wagon, Mummy's Chariot, Witch, Bride of Frankenstein
Revell: Surfite, Scuz-Fink, Fink Eliminator, Robbin Hood Fink, Boss-Fink
Hawk: Riding Tandem Silly Surfer, Frantics
Monogram: Fred Flypoggers by Mouse

1966

Aurora: Forgotten Prisoner of Castel-Maré, King Kong's Thronester, Godzilla's Go-Kart

I'm not entirely certain which year each series of Marx Nutty Mads was released which is why I left the (?) beside the entries.

Otherwise I've tried my best to list each company's kits in the order of their release. But it was definitely Revell's success with the "Big Daddy" Roth fink kits that inspired Bill Campbell and prompted the release of the Hawk Weird-Ohs. Revell was already releasing Roth fink kits before the Hawk Weird-Ohs started to hit store shelves.

[Hepcat]

After carefully looking over the info that's printed on the side of the boxes of my Hawk Weird-Ohs, Silly Surfers and Frantics and some of the promo posters, I can confidently say that Hawk issued these model kits in discrete groups:

1963

530-100 Digger
531-100 Davey
532-100 Daddy

533-100 Freddy Flameout
534-100 Leaky Boat Louie
535-100 Francis the Foul

536-100 Drag Hag
537-100 Endsville Eddy
538-100 Huey's Hut Rod

1964

539-100 Killer McBash

636-50 Wade A. Minut
637-50 Sling Rave Curvette

540-100 Woodie on a Surfari
541-100 Hot Dogger Hangin' Ten
542-100 Beach Bunny Catchin' Rays
543-100 Hodad Makin' the Scene

1965

544-100 Hot Dogger and Surf Bunny Riding Tandem

547-100 Bopped Out Steel Pluckers
548-100 Frantic Banana
549-100 Totally Fab
550-100 Frantic Cats

The second section of the serial number denotes the suggested list price, i.e. 100=$1.00.

Interesting too that the Killer McBash Weird-Oh was issued subsequent to the others and by itself. Clearly Hawk wanted to capitalize on the burgeoning interest in pro football at the time. It's still surprising though that Hawk didn't issue a baseball player Weird-Oh anyway, and maybe even a hockey player.



Incidentally, I've now come to believe that this thread is the single best and most comprehensive info source dealing with the Hawk Weird-Ohs and related kits on the internet.