FREE MONSTERS - Premiums & Give-A-Ways

[Ghost]

Maybe it is Pepsi this is definitely the same art.



But it is also the same as the earlier year's art for the DVD release at Blockbuster Video. Dracula is the same the others far different.



They are the current images for cardboard standees sold.

[aura of foreboding]

Old Universal Monsters cardboard sign from the 1990's. Probably a grocery store promo for Pepsi 12 pack sale displays or something. I scored it secondhand from a comic shop for a pittance, like 5 bucks. No UM actor/character likenesses, from the sad generic monster days but still hanging proudly in my monster room.

This was created for retailers in companion with the Applause monster plush circa 2002.  It should have also had the Applause logo in a circle above Dracula's shoulder.  It may have been cut off, or this could be an alternative version.  Either way, it's definitely from the early 2000s.  There is a seller on eBay stating it is from 1999, but that is inaccurate.  Pepsi Monsters generally have Pepsi products featured prominently in the artwork itself. 

[Ghost]

This was created for retailers in companion with the Applause monster plush circa 2002.  It should have also had the Applause logo in a circle above Dracula's shoulder.  It may have been cut off, or this could be an alternative version.  Either way, it's definitely from the early 2000s.  There is a seller on eBay stating it is from 1999, but that is inaccurate.  Pepsi Monsters generally have Pepsi products featured prominently in the artwork itself.

Curiously the ebay one is a mirror image of Ravenloft's at least the figures are. The words still read correctly in both.



*edit I guess it is not that curious the listing says double sided.

[ravenloft]

I went and peeked under the edge and yes it is double sided. If there is a logo on the other side then that may have influenced which side I hung up in the first place. this side has no markings or wording other than universal monsters.

Interesting I see no evidence that anything was cut off from the edge at all. Possibly could be an alternate version or a very careful cut job. you guys are gonna make me take it off the wall and inspect it aren't you? Sheesh. At least I know what it is from now. Many thanks!

[Monsters For Sale]

Let's see if we can get this thread back on monster-themed freebies.

This sweet little kid's meal trick-or-treat bucket was given out by Hardee's Restaurant for Halloween in 1993. 

The belly of the bucket is 6½" wide x 6½" tall.  The upright bail stands another 3½', bringing the overall height to 10".  The bucket is made of milky-white,  glow-in-the-dark plastic.  It was made by Berry Plastics of Evansville, Indiana.


Here are all sides of the bucket:











I know this may be too cartoony for some of you, but I think the Frankenstein (with electrodes in the proper place) and handsome little Dracula qualify it for inclusion.

Hardee's gave out other versions of these glow-in-the-dark buckets in the 90's.  But I do not own any of those, and the auction pictures I have found so far aren't very good.

[aura of foreboding]

Those are awesome buckets!  Nobody makes anything cool like that anymore.  McD's had Angry Birds on their buckets (and Monster High).  Angry Birds...  Really...

[Haunted hearse]

That bucket is no cornier than the monster cerials, and I have some of that in my collection.

[Scatter]

I love the bucket, especially that is GITD, but I just HATE the safety rules. We never had safety rules in the 60s and 70s. We lived on the EDGE!! 

[Haunted hearse]

There is something creepy, about a vampire who feasts on the living, giving safety instructions to those he might feast upon.

[aura of foreboding]

I love the bucket, especially that is GITD, but I just HATE the safety rules. We never had safety rules in the 60s and 70s. We lived on the EDGE!! 

Blasphemy!  Those dumb safety rules (that became a huge joke as soon as they were thought up -- in the '70s!) are just as much "Halloween" as carving pumpkins. Unfortunately, safety rules aren't touted much anymore and have become part of the nostalgia of a bygone Halloween era.  They've gone by the wayside since everyone is going to those dumb Trunk or Treat things. 

Halloween Safety Educational Film Part 1 (1977, Centron)

[Monsters For Sale]

I was a trick-or-treater in the 1950's.  (I will pause while you all say, "o-o-o-o-h".)  We were given basic safety rules back then. 

Don't wear a mask that obstructs your vision.

Don't wear a costume that hangs down where you are likely to trip over it.

Take extra care crossing streets if you are wearing black.

Of course, back then we often got Saran Wrapped, homemade cookies, popcorn balls, Rice Krispies balls, candied apples, etc.  They were considered the better treats.  Too many people gave away penny candy - they still had penny candies back then - like root beer barrels.

Not that many people seemed concerned with the urban legends about needles in apples, etc.  They were even less likely to have happened than the flaming bag of poop.  You always heard stories from someone who had a cousin who knew a guy that these stories happened to - you never met them or had it happen to you.

And the only reason to start before it was completely dark was because you wanted to maximize trick-or-treating time before porch lights began winking out to announced the end of another Halloween.

[Monsters For Sale]

Hey, lookee!

I found a Pepsi 24-pack carton from their 1991 "Monster Match" promotion.  It features more than one monster and a cool cut-out project.

I've never seen this one before.


The standard Pepsi carton - showing the name of the promotion:




The cut-out mobile:



Note: They dropped Mummy and Creature and replaced them with 2 bats.  I like the inclusion of the bats, but I wish they would have kept all the monsters.

[Mord]

I love the bucket, especially that is GITD, but I just HATE the safety rules. We never had safety rules in the 60s and 70s. We lived on the EDGE!! 

Damn straight!  I used to go trick or treating with a real sliced-off human face for a mask (usually an annoying neighbor kid's). None of that pansy-ass latex or vacu-form for me.

[aura of foreboding]

Hey, lookee!

I found another Pepsi 12-pack carton from their 1991 "Monster Match" promotion.  It features more than one monster and a cool cut-out project.

I've never seen this one before.


The standard Pepsi carton - showing the name of the promotion:




The cut-out mobile:



Note: They dropped Mummy and Creature and replaced them with 2 bats.  I like the inclusion of the bats, but I wish they would have kept all the monsters.

That's because it's not a 12 pack.  It's the 24 pack version.   

[Monsters For Sale]

That's because it's not a 12 pack.  It's the 24 pack version.   

Aah.

I wonder if there were any other 24-pack designs.  I haven't seen any.