Spooky Surprise Grab Bags

[horrorhunter]

When doing my monster mags blog I was frustrated at not having a few dates and cover artist names, but there is like an encyclopedia of knowledge on that subject, compared to vintage toys!

Yes.

Credits are plastered all over the place in comics/mags on the title page, in the editorials, and in letters pages. We know what stories Jack "King" Kirby drew even if we don't recognize the art style (which most of us always do  ) because Stan "The Man" Lee eted it in bold hype. But toywise we're still unsure who sculpted what in many instances because artists didn't usually get credit for cheap monster toys. We know much more about the Aurora models which are pretty well documented, but most cheap monster toys...forget it.

And some of that stuff we know absolutely nothing about, like those little 1 1/2" MPC Monster knockoffs with the bats and scythes missing. We don't even know what company made them or how they were sold.



If it weren't for those scarce Horror Monsters Grab Bags we wouldn't be aware of Best Plastics Corporation. We would still be laboring under the erroneous assumption they were made by Palmer.

[Monolith]

Yes.



And some of that stuff we know absolutely nothing about, like those little 1 1/2" MPC Monster knockoffs with the bats and scythes missing. We don't even know what company made them or how they were sold.



If it weren't for those scarce Horror Monsters Grab Bags we wouldn't be aware of Best Plastics Corporation. We would still be laboring under the erroneous assumption they were made by Palmer.

That's my photo of some of my MPC's. That little orange Grim Reaper I've had since I was a kid but I don't really remember if I got it in a grab bag or from a vending machine, but it was one of those. I've since got a little lime green witch to go with it, but those are the only two 1 1/2" ones that I have. They're very hard to find and I've sen some that look more opaque. I don't know if the opaque ones are recasts in resin or not.

[Count Zero]

sorry about the bad lighting

i believe that these little guys came in prize bags like this.
now, who made them?

[horrorhunter]

sorry about the bad lighting

i believe that these little guys came in prize bags like this.
now, who made them?

Thanks for posting that, Andrew!

Holy Crapola! I've never seen that bag before! It would be cool if that really is the way these MPC Mini Knockoffs were sold. Do you have any evidence of them being sold that way, or a specific memory of buying them in that bag?

The green MPC Mini Knockoffs are pretty cool as well (even though Skeleton is missing his base). That color green in the slightly translucent "Heritage" plastic is the same as the Best Plastics Corp. dinos that came in my two Horror Monsters Grab Bags. I doubt if Best did these because the sculpts are much better than Best figures. Probably just a coincidence the plastic and color are the same. It's also the same color and type plastic as the Marx 3rd Series Nutty Mads.

[horrorhunter]

sorry about the bad lighting

i believe that these little guys came in prize bags like this.
now, who made them?

I dug up some info on this. It was a company called L.M. Becker. Here's the back of the bag.



There was a magic trick card included in each bag with a couple of toys and a sweet. Here's a pic of 5 of the possible cards.



So now I guess we know the maker (or at least distributor) of the MPC Mini Knockoffs and how they were sold. I feel like I discovered the meaning of life... oh yeah, I already knew that because I saw the Python movie a crapload of times. 

If anybody out in UMA land remembers buying the Spooky Surprise bags as a kid please post! We want every iota of microscopic detail we can get on the history of this stuff! 

[Count Zero]

no problemo michael
these killer images on the back of the bag are tattoos.
i knew becker put out these bags but that still doesn't answer who made these little buggers.
i'll keep digging till i find out.

at first i thought the skeleton was broken... but it's definitely just a factory defect. not enough plastic injected into the mold. all the skeletons i have are like this to some degree. i don't own any of the witches so i can't speak on those... but all the reapers i own have sold bases. everyone i have is green so if anyone is interested in trading... shoot me a pm

[horrorhunter]

no problemo michael
these killer images on the back of the bag are tattoos.
i knew becker put out these bags but that still doesn't answer who made these little buggers.
i'll keep digging till i find out.

at first i thought the skeleton was broken... but it's definitely just a factory defect. not enough plastic injected into the mold. all the skeletons i have are like this to some degree. i don't own any of the witches so i can't speak on those... but all the reapers i own have sold bases. everyone i have is green so if anyone is interested in trading... shoot me a pm

Yeah, Becker had somebody supply them with these little monsters since Becker was a novelty and vending machine company. I dug up a little info on the company. Here's the link: https://www.dandb.com/businessdirectory/l.m.beckerco.inc.-appleton-wi-7016105.html
Evidently they went out of business in 2010 according to some other Googlage.

Where did you get the Spooky Surprise bag, Andrew? Just curious if you got it recently or bought it when you were a kid. Pretty cool stuff there, dude. Those things must be scarce as hens teeth...I had never even heard of them until you posted that pic. Do you know what they sold for new in the '60s? (I assume these came out sometime in the '60s like the Horror Monsters Grab Bags by Best Plastics and I also assume they sold for a nickel like the Grab Bags, but you know what they say about assuming...).

Yeah, it looks like the green Skeleton was short molded. That must have been common back in the day. I must have gotten very lucky to score that little blue Skeleton with the full base. You know, the bases on these are weird too. They have the little holes like the MPC Unbreakable Weird Monsters they were copied after but the holes don't serve a purpose like the MPC base holes (to attach to other toys like the Haunted Hulk). I guess Becker or the actual manufacturer did it to save plastic.

[horrorhunter]

I'm going to compile all of our available info on the Spooky Surprise grab bags in this thread instead of letting it pile up in unrelated threads and be difficult to locate later. Anyone who has any further info or discussion of them please add to this thread. 

Here's some info from Todd Riley, an eBay seller I just purchased a grab bag and card from and requested info from:

"Spooky Surprise - They originally sold for 5 cents a pack. I believe they are from the 60's. That company was based in Wisconsin but I believe they sold nationally but were a fairly small company so all of their things are hard to find. They did a variety of series over the years - not just monsters. Some of the subjects are: goofy sports, funny animals, elephant jokes, secret agents, and space. I think there might be 2 other monster sets. These have monster wrappers and monster themed cards (both series are basically crude art with monster jokes). Not much is known about the company or how they distributed their product. So each series could have only been sold once (which is what I think). I really have no idea about the toys. They seem pretty random. I would guess they were buying bulk gumball trinkets and putting them in their packs. I got these from a partially opened box complete with the toys that came in them. The monster toys in the lot were: skeleton, death character, witch, and a little Frankenstein like character (which was a bit lame). The skeleton you got was the last monster toy I had except for the Franky. (all the other toys were little dogs, chickens, and other random items) The box is really cool (and not for sale)."

Here's a pic of the box:

[horrorhunter]

Here are eBay pics from the auction I won:



That green Skeleton is REALLY short-molded. Glad I have a nice blue one.

And the back:



There was a magic trick card included in each bag in addition to a couple of toys and a sweet. Here's a pic of 5 of the possible cards. I have #23 coming with my grab bag.

[horrorhunter]

Here's another pic Todd Riley sent me. It's a selection of toys included in the Spooky Surprise grab bags.



I have a little Frankenstein charm very similar to the one in the picture but the one I have isn't quite so crudely sculpted and it has a little loop on one shoulder.

[Hepcat]

I'm going to compile all of our available info on the Spooky Surprise grab bags in this thread instead of letting it pile up in unrelated threads and be difficult to locate later.

I was just going to suggest precisely that to Mike Scott so that Spooky Surprise posts don't add to the confusion in the Elwar button thread!

[horrorhunter]

I was just going to suggest precisely that to Mike Scott so that Spooky Surprise posts don't add to the confusion in the Elwar button thread!

Yes, it's easy for things to get muddled in these here parts! 

I also plan to start a thread on the Horror Monsters Grab Bags when I finally finish my collection of Best Plastics dinos, or at least within a reasonable amount of time before it slips into that place where forgotten ideas and lost socks go. I'm going to post a pic of my complete Best Plastics collection including both Horror Monsters Grab Bags w/contents but I have to secure the Best Ankylosaurus and Smilodon first. Elusive little buggers! 

[Wich2]

Thanks for this, HH!

Ref'fing another thread THIS is the  kind of thing that started me on the Monsterkid road, as a real KID! Long before I ever even saw the Uni classics.

By the way -

- the green figs are obviously shrunken-down MPC monsters, yes? Did they do them all?

-Craig

[horrorhunter]

Thanks for this, HH!

Ref'fing another thread THIS is the  kind of thing that started me on the Monsterkid road, as a real KID! Long before I ever even saw the Uni classics.

By the way -

- the green figs are obviously shrunken-down MPC monsters, yes? Did they do them all?

-Craig

You're welcome, Craig. 

As far as we know they only did the Witch, Skeleton, and Creature Of Doom in the 1 1/2" size. They don't have the bats or scythe. They were sold in the Spooky Surprise grab bags by L.M. Becker & Co. but we still don't know who actually made the figures since Becker was primarily a vending company and probably bought vending trinkets in bulk to sell through various avenues.

Here's the pic of my MPC shelf (again...I'm wearin' this thing out  ):



Anywho, my three are behind the Monster Head Rings beside the Haunted Hulk. Enlarge the pic, they're kinda small in that Monsterkid clutter.

[Mike Scott]

I moved all the "Spooky Surprise" posts over here from the "Elwar" thread. Might be a little confusing for someone coming along later.