Elwar Button Mystery

[horrorhunter]

Here's a picture of my big Elwars (again):



All 6 are clearly the more common type. The other five I picked up off eBay a couple of years ago, but that Creature button is the one I got as a kid in the mid '60s. There's nothing hazy about the button, or roughly when I got it. The memory is a little unclear about the exact year and what the packaging looked like, and the exact store it was purchased from, but I'm pretty sure it was on a blister card and it was 39 cents and it was from a store like Kresge or Woolworth. I know it wasn't bought as late as the '70s because I wasn't buying the monster stuff then except for comics and mags (I was into Hot Wheels and other types of toys by that time). It had to have been purchased in the mid '60s, no later than '67, and probably around '65.

I bought my large Elwar Creature button in the mid '60s. Of course it's always possible I could be mistaken but my kidhood memory says mid '60s.

Issue dates are one of the things that confuse me as well.

I'm also puzzled about why many people seem to think they weren't available until the '70s. Could it be that they were re-released in the '70s and it's assumed that it was the first release? 

[horrorhunter]

Here's a link to a Hake's listing for the large Creature button which claims 1965:

https://www.hakes.com/Auction/ItemDetail/71813/THE-CREATURE-FROM-THE-BLACK-LAGOON-UNIVERSAL-FILM-MONSTER-SCARCEST-BUTTON

Several other various Google listings name mid 1960s as the time when the large Elwars were sold.

[Mike Scott]

Where did you guys buy your large Elwar buttons in the '60s? The first ads in Capt. Co. for them was in the early '70s.

There was a '60s version of the large buttons (with different art and no text on the curl), but I've never seen where they were for sale, anywhere.

[horrorhunter]

Where did you guys buy your large Elwar buttons in the '60s? The first ads in Capt. Co. for them was in the early '70s.

There was a '60s version of the large buttons (with different art and no text on the curl), but I've never seen where they were for sale, anywhere.

That's another curious thing about this- there were no Captain Company ads for them that early. You would think that Jim Warren wouldn't pass up a chance to sell them through the mags. For whatever reason it seems they were sold in stores in the '60s but not through Captain Company. I remember buying that Creature button in a retail outlet like Kresge or Woolworth but I don't remember exactly which one. It seems like it was 39 cents and sold in a carded blister pack. Can't say for sure though.

If you Google the large Elwar Monster Buttons and sort through the clutter and confusion there are a number of instances where people list them as being from the mid '60s (like that Hake's link I posted above) or just the '60s in general. Unless a lot of folks are suffering from mass delusion there must be something to the mid '60s origin dates.

[Hepcat]

Could the 7/8" buttons sold in vending machines have possibly pre-dated the full colour 3 1/2" buttons?

[Mike Scott]

It seems like it was 39 cents and sold in a carded blister pack.

I have a b/w photo of a carded large Elwar.

So, does yours have the Elwar c. info on the curl?

[horrorhunter]

I have a b/w photo of a carded large Elwar.

So, does yours have the Elwar c. info on the curl?

Yes, all 6 of mine are "*copyright symbol* Universal Pictures Co., Inc. Printed In USA, MFG by Elwar LTD NYC". No dates are listed.

Please post the pic of the carded large Elwar.

[Mike Scott]

Yes, all 6 of mine are "*copyright symbol* Universal Pictures Co., Inc. Printed In USA, MFG by Elwar LTD NYC".

'60s it is, then! I'll edit my button posts.

[Mike Scott]

Now that I look at that button, it's the earlier prototype button, so that card may also be a prototype ad not the one you remember. Oh Elwar! Will you ever stop vexing us?

[horrorhunter]

Now that I look at that button, it's the earlier prototype button, so that card may also be a prototype ad not the one you remember. Oh Elwar! Will you ever stop vexing us?

Yeah, that card is super cool but it doesn't ring any Monsterkid bells regarding the Creature button I purchased back then. Thanks for posting it!

[horrorhunter]

'60s it is, then! I'll edit my button posts.

Hopefully we'll find some good evidence at some point which would hold up in court. 

To be honest all I've found are several accounts of different people remembering them being for sale in the '60s (including myself). The fact that there are no appropriate Captain Company ads from the '60s just throws more chaotic energy into the hellish abyss that this Elwar Thing has become. 

[Wolfman]

I'm 100% sure I bought these in the mid 60's. By 1970, I had moved on (unfortunately) from the monster stuff. I bought these in either Woolworth's or Kresge's. I don't remember if they were loose or carded however.

JP

[Mike Scott]

I'm 100% sure I bought these in the mid 60's.

Thanks, WM! 

[Hepcat]

So does anyone remember buying the 7/8" variants from a vending machine?



For how much? Were the buttons loose in the vending machine or enclosed in their own individual capsule? For that matter does anyone remember these little buttons being sold anywhere else such as the local convenience store?

[horrorhunter]

So does anyone remember buying the 7/8" variants from a vending machine?



For how much? Were the buttons loose in the vending machine or enclosed in their own individual capsule? For that matter does anyone remember these little buttons being sold anywhere else such as the local convenience store?

I don't remember buying any of the small ones as a kid. I bought my set and the display card from an eBay seller a few years ago.



I can't say for sure but I'd be willing to bet that the ones sold through brick-and-mortar stores only showed up in gumball machines because of the size. Hopefully someone who remembers buying them back then will give us some info.

You would think we would know nearly all of this stuff after accumulating info on UMA for a few years but not so. The more we nail down as fact the more questions seem to crop up. I guess the mystery adds to the fun... sort of.