Vacuform Topstones

[Wicked Lester]

What about just making or buy shadow boxes for them. You can see them fine and never have to touch them again. I'm thinking about doing that with my Ben Cooper/Collegeville masks. We all know that over time the strings just decay.

[raycastile]

I don't like shadow boxes.  I like masks on stands.  I could experiment with lining them with very thin plastic, then filling them with foam.  That would create a custom form-fitting stand, but the foam would not come in contact with the mask and adhere to the plastic.  The mask would be removable.  But they might slide right off that, defeating the purpose.

[raycastile]

Picked up a couple more plastic Topstones late last year and haven't gotten around to posting them here until now.

A few months ago, I showed you the vacuum formed plastic versions of the Cyclops, Gorilla and Caveman.  This is the Male Vampire:





Here is every known version of the character:


In the above photo, you have a modern pull on the far left (from Andy Williams' collection), followed by the vintage vacuform mask, a vintage latex version from the 60s, and a 70s latex copy with rooted hair.  The 60s latex mask with painted hair is the "classic" version seen in old photos and offered in Famous Monsters.




Now here are some other plastic Topstones.  Unlike the four I've shown previously, these are not the iconic characters from the FM ads.


First we have an interesting trio that appear to have been marketed in the same era as the FM-style masks.  They are big, like the ones based on the FM characters, and they are made of similar plastic.








The three masks above are marked "A Keith Ward Creation."  Interestingly, the plastic FM characters do not have Keith Ward markings, even though they are cast directly from the Keith Ward sculpts.


These next three have Topstone Rubber Co. marks, but not Keith Ward.



They are a little smaller than the previous masks and the plastic has a different texture.  I believe they are from a different era.


Finally, we have two masks based on Topstone characters, but only one has a Topstone makers mark.



The mask on the left is obviously based on the Creepbeat, but it has no markings.  I don't know what company made that mask.  The mask on the right, which seems to be the same beatnik character as the one in the previous group of three, does have a Topstone tag attached inside.  These appear to be 70s masks.

[frankenstein73]

Your collection is captivating Ray! I love those three keith Ward masks, especially the evil mustache man! Nice!

[RedKing]

Awesome! I love seeing these old masks Ray!

[Gasport]

ALWAYS look forward to your Topstone posts, Ray...wonderful info and the pics are total eye candy! Thanks for sharing your collection and insight with us.

[RICKH]

I love the old witch/hag.  It looks like something from the cover of a 50's horror comic.

[gracebuster]

These are all so great!

Ray, a fabulous collection.

[Sean]

Love the devil, Ray!  BTW, have you decided what to do with the foam-filling idea?

[Unknown Primate]

Definitely owned the Vampire, 3rd from the left - always reminded me of a combination of a vampire, Phantom & Franky!

[raycastile]

Love the devil, Ray!  BTW, have you decided what to do with the foam-filling idea?

No, nothing I can do now anyway.  Can't foam anything until the temperature warms up in April or May.  I'll make a decision then.

In addition to the nice Caveman pictured in this thread, I have a beat up, cracked Caveman.  I will probably experiment on him, then decide whether to foam the rest.  I do suspect that, in the eyes of most interested collectors, foaming these would "destroy" their value.

[raycastile]

Definitely owned the Vampire, 3rd from the left - always reminded me of a combination of a vampire, Phantom & Franky!

I wonder who gave it the name "Male Vampire."  I see that it is called that in a Topstone catalog, but I wonder if it was originally introduced with that name.  It has no fangs.  It looks as much like a zombie or Frankenstein creature as it does a vampire.

[Sean]

No, nothing I can do now anyway.  Can't foam anything until the temperature warms up in April or May.  I'll make a decision then.

In addition to the nice Caveman pictured in this thread, I have a beat up, cracked Caveman.  I will probably experiment on him, then decide whether to foam the rest.  I do suspect that, in the eyes of most interested collectors, foaming these would "destroy" their value.

Good luck with your decision, Ray.  Whatever it is, I hope your're fine with it.  This one is vexing you, I can tell.  I've been there before.  You just toss it back and forth... back and forth.  Then you execute your plan and don't look back-----IF you're lucky.   Good luck, bro. 

[marsattacks666]

 Super cool pics of masks.

[The Mighty Bongo]

Awesome masks Ray !
But please be carefull foaming them.
I foamed a vacuformed liner for a Cesar vinyl mask , and it split like crazy.
I used smooth-on Foam-it, so perhops a different foam might work better.
Good luck !