Early Invisible Man Merchandise

[YoungestMonsterKid]

I was thinking of the 2005 movie, but yeah, anything after 1933.

How bout just after the first film? Ever heard of Son of Kong (1933)?

[Mike Scott]

How bout just after the first film? Ever heard of Son of Kong (1933)?

I like SOK, if only for the animation!

[YoungestMonsterKid]

I like SOK, if only for the animation!

I liked it for one very different reason. Because I grew up with King Kong. I first saw it when I was in preschool and it left a huge impression on me. It would only be this year when I would see Son of Kong and well... it felt so good to see Carl Denham, the Skipper, and the rest again. I loved it up until the parts that included claymation. Then it was enjoyable, but not King Kong.

[Allhallowsday]

How bout just after the first film? Ever heard of Son of Kong (1933)?

Mike did write 1933, and SOK is more cute than ferocious...

[YoungestMonsterKid]

Mike did write 1933, and SOK is more cute than ferocious...

Son of Kong was 1933. Mike wrote every movie after 1933. See the confliction?

[Mike Scott]

Son of Kong was 1933. Mike wrote every movie after 1933.

I intended SOK to be included. No KONG fan should be without it!

[YoungestMonsterKid]

I intended SOK to be included. No KONG fan should be without it!

I never said any Kong fan should be without it. I said that Kong was wussified in it is all.

[Haunted hearse]

I never said any Kong fan should be without it. I said that Kong was wussified in it is all.

Kong wasn't wussified, because he wasn't in it.

[YoungestMonsterKid]

Kong wasn't wussified, because he wasn't in it.

He was in it in the same way that Dracula was in Dracula's Daughter. If that makes any sense.

[Haunted hearse]

He was in it in the same way that Dracula was in Dracula's Daughter. If that makes any sense.

Well, Carl talks about how bad he feels for what he did to Kong, and is dealing with consequences for the damages that Kong did. You also have a younger primate with the son, and his not being as hostile has to do with not having to have spent years of life and death battles. I like the idea they decided to do a different film, over a thinly disguised remake.

[YoungestMonsterKid]

Well, Carl talks about how bad he feels for what he did to Kong, and is dealing with consequences for the damages that Kong did. You also have a younger primate with the son, and his not being as hostile has to do with not having to have spent years of life and death battles. I like the idea they decided to do a different film, over a thinly disguised remake.

Again, I don't dislike it. It just does wussify Kong. The creators said they didn't have enough money to make a serious film (especially when you follow Kong Kong) so they settled for a slightly silly one.

[carbon]

Am I the only one who thought he looked super cool in his get up?

No, you're not the only one — I found Mr. Invis as captivating as the other Universal monsters, so it was a bit perplexing why more I.M. merch wasn't available...

Is there even any? Seriously, no models, masks, toys... was he even considered a Universal Monster in the 50's through 80's?
Just a questions. If anyone has any ideas as to why there was little to no merch or if they have any pictures of actual merchandise to share of him here would be the place.

If the merch was confined to the '50s through the '80s, there was an Invisible Man mask available in the early '60s, but it didn't sell well. (No, this isn't a lead-in for a joke about nobody buying the mask because they couldn't see it.) And in 1981 Esco Products released their Invisible Man resin statue, which can be seen in some detail here:

http://www.collectiondx.com/toy_review/esco/invisible_man

Rather than masks or statues, in many ways it seems that the Invisible Man would have been better-suited for such items as the Jaymar monster jigsaw puzzles or maybe one of the monster board games, where the right imagery — perhaps showing him unwrapping a portion of his head in his lab (a bit less than was unwrapped on the mag cover Mike posted) — would have been quite striking. (There actually was an Invisible Man board game released by Bell Toys in 1959, based on a 1958 UK TV series.)



Famous Monsters of Filmland could have possibly helped spur some I.M. merch interest if they'd featured him on one of their covers; just imagine what Basil Gogos could have done with him. And Universal didn't give him as big a push as they could have. They released their first Frankenstein sequel four years after their initial Frank offering, but waited seven years before releasing an Invisible Man sequel. This alone didn't likely contribute to the character's comparative lack of rank among other Universal monsters, though, since it took Universal eight years to release a second Mummy movie and the delay obviously didn't seem to hamper the Mummy's merch marketability in later years. Universal did of course eventually release five Invisible Man films — along with one Invisible Woman film — and six Mummy films. But Frankenstein again got top priority, appearing in eight of their films.

Despite the lack of Invisible Man merchandise it remains a great film with a fascinating central character. Hard to go wrong with H.G. Wells characters.

[darkmonkeygod]

Wow Carbon, I did not know about that board game, very cool to see! Thank you.

[YoungestMonsterKid]

Universal didn't give him as big a push as they could have. They released their first Frankenstein sequel four years after their initial Frank offering, but waited seven years before releasing an Invisible Man sequel. This alone didn't likely contribute to the character's comparative lack of rank among other Universal monsters, though, since it took Universal eight years to release a second Mummy movie and the delay obviously didn't seem to hamper the Mummy's merch marketability in later years. Universal did of course eventually release five Invisible Man films — along with one Invisible Woman film — and six Mummy films. But Frankenstein again got top priority, appearing in eight of their films.

I also saw this oldish film Porky Pig cartoon that came out before The Invisible Man Returns (clearly). In it the studio is being haunted by a Phantom and the question Frankenstein about it. Then Porky Pig comes at in the most racist attire possible and discovers that the Phantom is actually the Invisible Man who is pissed he never got a sequel.
Serious, this was a Looney Tunes cartoon

[Monsters For Sale]

I also saw this oldish film Porky Pig cartoon that came out before The Invisible Man Returns (clearly). In it the studio is being haunted by a Phantom and the question Frankenstein about it. Then Porky Pig comes at in the most racist attire possible and discovers that the Phantom is actually the Invisible Man who is pissed he never got a sequel.
Serious, this was a Looney Tunes cartoon

Funny, Porky Pig is Warner Bros., a Universal competitor.