MPC Monsters Appreciation Thread

[horrorhunter]

Interesting that the executioner is the one figure without a head you can remove and swap.

MPC was a bit sloppy that way. I have a Pop-Top Vampire in one of my unopened 2-packs that is missing his noggin. 

[spastik4plastik]

You are as well aware of the MPC Pop-Tops which are significantly taller than the Palmers, are you not?

of course, but it is plainly obvious i was referring to the  mpc weird monsters like the ones pictured in my post, which you do realize are smaller than palmers.

[Hepcat]

Yes, that part was obvious indeed. But do you have any pictures of your Pop-Tops as well?

[spastik4plastik]

i dont collect pop tops, i never really liked the way they look. dont collect palmer flats either for the same reason.

[Hepcat]

I like the way the MPC Weird Monsters were also given away as premiums with Frito Corn Chips.

[Wicked Lester]

I like the way the MPC Weird Monsters were also given away as premiums with Frito Corn Chips.

I remember that. I was 5 or 6 and got a dark green mummy. Having recently seen that episode of Jonny Quest Curse of Anubis I had to play that out with my army guys.

[horrorhunter]

I like the way the MPC Weird Monsters were also given away as premiums with Frito Corn Chips.

I bet Bob Burns got a kick outta that "Mad Mummy" back in the day. He might have bought some Fritos and got a monster premium named after his own character. 

[horrorhunter]

I finally found a nearly complete King Kong Jungle Playset (MPC, 1967) and won the eBay auction for it. I added a couple of pieces from my playset stash and now it's only missing the red antelope figurehead for the canoe and the instruction sheet. I may never find either of those but I'm pleased to finally get a nice example of this rare playset. The box is much nicer than any I've seen, the others having been in really rough shape when present at all.







I received one of these for Christmas when I was eight in 1967. I remember getting lots of Captain Action stuff that Christmas including the Silver Streak car and a bunch of GI Joe stuff as well, but I probably got as much fun out of the King Kong set as any of those more expensive toys. I remember the Sears "Wishbook" ad for the King Kong playset burning it's imprint into my eight year old brain. It was only $3.97! Imagine what an undamaged sealed example would sell for now.

The King Kong Jungle Set was created in response to the popular Saturday morning King Kong cartoon which began in 1966 and re-ran all the way into 1969. It was produced by Rankin/Bass and featured Toei animation and character designs by the great Jack Davis. It was actually the first cartoon to feature Japanese animation for an American show. Other Japanese cartoons were made for Japan and imported. The cartoon was so popular it also spawned the Toho & Rankin/Bass co-production movie King Kong Escapes (1967). I saw that flick last night and it's still a lot of fun. I also still have my original copy of America's Best TV Comics (ABC, 1967), a one shot squarebound 25 cent giant which contains stories of all the ABC Saturday Morning cartoons. I liked the whole comic but I mainly bought it for the King Kong story.

That King Kong cartoon was always one of my favorites and it's good to finally get my playset back. Weird, though...that box and 8" King Kong figure sure seemed a lot bigger back then. 



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_Kong_Show

In-depth article about The King Kong Show (1966):
http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2008/12/20/king-kong-cartoon-series-guide/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DBAtL9wSss#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gyi-XXlbTBo#ws

[Mord]

 Congrats on the Kong playset. That is one impressive piece!

[horrorhunter]

Congrats on the Kong playset. That is one impressive piece!

Thanks, pal.

I've been stalking eBay for one for awhile now. The main things I was looking for were a nice box, a nice Kong figure, and all 4 painted characters from the show. The seller I bought this one from had lousy pictures but that worked to my advantage because I knew what to look for, and I asked her some questions she never posted on the auction. It even had the 3 kettle poles and canoe and 2 paddles. Those Tarzan figures that were thrown in are probably worth close to what I paid for the whole thing. I got very lucky. 

[Hepcat]

I finally found a nearly complete King Kong Jungle Playset (MPC, 1967) and won the eBay auction for it. I added a couple of pieces from my playset stash and now it's only missing the red antelope figurehead for the canoe and the instruction sheet. I may never find either of those but I'm pleased to finally get a nice example of this rare playset. The box is much nicer than any I've seen, the others having been in really rough shape when present at all.

I received one of these for Christmas when I was eight in 1967.

Yay, victory! I'm glad for you!

[horrorhunter]

Yay, victory! I'm glad for you!

Thanks, Hepcat. 

It was the last playset I was actively seeking. Space is becoming a problem now so I'm really backing off on large items. I'm mostly working on smaller things like a few trading cards, comics, and monster mags at this point.

I don't think there are many people here now who are into Marx/MPC/Remco style playsets.

[frankenstein73]

I Still have some cavemen and mountains I threw together for a display, and the boxed castle set with mpc glow monsters. I had a couple other mpc sets but, dinosaurs, cowboys, Flintstones, etc.. had to sell them 10 years ago due to my divorce. They are all cool in my book, but I don't really miss them due to space, I would be hard pressed to find a spot to display them.

[horrorhunter]

Playsets are definite space eaters just boxed up, and they really gobble the space to display. I have that card table in the pic above to display them on but I can only do one at a time. If I move stuff around I can temporarily use the tops of my monster mag boxes for some display room. I've started making pics of them set up so I can refer to the pics without having to set it up again unless I just want to. If I want to show the set to someone else I just show them the pics on my computer.

[Hepcat]

I don't think there are many people here now who are into Marx/MPC/Remco style playsets.

Ignore those philistines and persevere! I didn't have any of the Marx playsets as a kid nor did any of my best buddies, but nonetheless I now think they're super cool.

Playsets are definite space eaters just boxed up, and they really gobble the space to display. I have that card table in the pic above to display them on but I can only do one at a time. If I move stuff around I can temporarily use the tops of my monster mag boxes for some display room. I've started making pics of them set up so I can refer to the pics without having to set it up again unless I just want to. If I want to show the set to someone else I just show them the pics on my computer.

Good thinking! Hopefully you post the pictures in the appropriate thread(s) here as well.