Vintage Monster Charms

Hepcat · February 04, 2014, 05:14:36 PM

Quote from: poseablemonster on December 08, 2008, 04:53:20 PMWhen I was a kid, I would root through the alleys and such, collecting bottles to cash in at the corner market so that I could get change for the machines. Some of my favorite toys from childhood came from a vending machine, so collecting these charms and rubber jigglers is a really important part of my collection.

How much was the deposit on the bottles? Were the charms intermixed with gumballs, or were they enclosed in individual canisters in a machine dedicated to the sale of these charms? What coin was required for the charms?

Hepcat · February 04, 2014, 06:57:00 PM

Quote from: raycastile on December 10, 2008, 12:28:58 AMI love dime store junk. In fact, that is what I collect. Junk.... It is the low-end, knock-off rubbish you found at Ben Franklin, Woolworths, dime stores, gift shops, the toy aisle of a grocery store, quick shop (there's a term nobody uses anymore), or the "junk aisle" of a bigger store like Kmart or Target. That is what excited me as a child.... I really loved the junk. So that's what I collect now. Junk.

That's what I say too. If it's not junk, it's not worth collecting. After all, only junk gets pitched thus making it very hard to find after a short period of time.

Hepcat · February 05, 2014, 01:10:26 PM

Quote from: Jscareshock on December 15, 2008, 01:17:11 PMAwesome stuff! The 1960s were a great time for gumball goodies. Every charm was a treasure because they were so detailed back then.

I actually think gumball premiums didn't explode in quantity and quality until the last year or two of the sixties. It was just pennies that I fed into gumball machines until 1965-66 and tacky little anonymous silvery or golden charms were mixed in with the gumballs. I didn't encounter nickel and dime vending machines with more worthwhile premiums in little capsules until I was well into high school. I grew up in what passed for the "inner city" in my town so I was limited to what could be found in old-fashioned supermarkets of manageable size and the Kresge, Woolworth, Zellers and Metropolitan stores downtown. I never got out to the suburbs where the K-Mart, Woolco and mega supermarkets that were springing up may have had a more impressive array of vending machines with tempting premiums.

$:-\$

monsterjoe · February 17, 2014, 08:27:14 PM

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I HAVE A LARGE GUMBALL TOY COLLECTION AND SEVERAL DISPLAY CARDS LIKE THIS ONE.

Hepcat · February 18, 2014, 10:49:30 AM

Well I for one would like to see more of them if they're anything like the one you just posted!

What year do you think the above card was from - 1972 perhaps? Do you often see display cards complete with the five cent charms on Ebay?

Mike Scott · February 18, 2014, 11:26:40 AM

That's an amazing display card!

raycastile · February 18, 2014, 11:40:40 AM

That's a sweet card. I've seen one similar to that, but I think the heads were pencil toppers, and there was a moleman included. Are those heads hard or soft? I like how the poodle is thrown in with the monsters. In case they get hungry?

monsterjoe · February 18, 2014, 05:29:41 PM

Quote from: raycastile on February 18, 2014, 11:40:40 AM
That's a sweet card. I've seen one similar to that, but I think the heads were pencil toppers, and there was a moleman included. Are those heads hard or soft? I like how the poodle is thrown in with the monsters. In case they get hungry?

They are hard plastic and are the smaller pencil toppers....this is the whole card....I have a another card with 10 of the finger puppet size all together..

monsterjoe · February 18, 2014, 05:48:05 PM

Quote from: Hepcat on February 18, 2014, 10:49:30 AM
Well I for one would like to see more of them if they're anything like the one you just posted!

What year do you think the above card was from - 1972 perhaps? Do you often see display cards complete with the five cent charms on Ebay?

Hepcat
the year is almost impossible to determine..The person I aquired this card from and others including loose bagged stuff had been in the vending machine business for 30+ years so through the 60's and early 70's monster stuff was popular and kept available.

LFSPaul · March 14, 2014, 04:13:02 PM

I found a few recently in a box with a Batmobile for $20. Was a good day!

Monster Bob · March 14, 2014, 05:01:45 PM

Quote from: monsterjoe on February 18, 2014, 05:29:41 PM

They are hard plastic and are the smaller pencil toppers....this is the whole card....I have a another card with 10 of the finger puppet size all together..

I have this same card (or very similar). I think it is safe to say, given the 5c price, the characters, the quality of paint, etc. that this card dates to mid 1960s (1964-1967ish).