Vintage Mask Ads

[Sir Masksalot]

A careful search through this forum produced no posts
specifically on this topic. WTF?



Yet if someone were to publish a book on the subject,
I'd snap it up plus extra copies to archive and gift.
Wouldn't you?



It must've been those Captain Company ad pages which
instilled in me this life-long fascination with mail
order monster masks. Take for example 1965's infamous
"sweater ad" for Don Post's Universal Horrors >



Sixty years later, a similarly formatted ad now appears
in a magazine available at newsstands this very season >



I only had/have three of the characters depicted in
that ad, the original DPS versions >







Let's all fill up this thread with mask ads and/or mail order tales.
I'll have more to contribute myself in days to come.

[Mike Scott]

That 1st one was always my favorite! 

[Sir Masksalot]

Monsterkids came to know Verne Langdon's ZOMBIE  mask via
full-page ads in Warren magazines of the early 1970s. I was able
to score a copy from that original production run >



Thirty years later, Mr Langdon resurrected his ZOMBIE  mask
through RetroRubber as a certified limited edition ... of thirty.



You can bet I got a copy. Its colors are more true to that original '70s ad >



Mr Langdon, in his irreverence and cynicism, was once quoted as saying:

"Thank God for these masks. Look how many of you got a life from them."

Haha, that should be his Thanksgiving greeting for the season!

[horrorhunter]

Monsterkids came to know Verne Langdon's ZOMBIE  mask via
full-page ads in Warren magazines of the early 1970s. I was able
to score a copy from that original production run >



Thirty years later, Mr Langdon resurrected his ZOMBIE  mask
through RetroRubber as a certified limited edition ... of thirty.



You can bet I got a copy. Its colors are more true to that original '70s ad >



Mr Langdon, in his irreverence and cynicism, was once quoted as saying:

"Thank God for these masks. Look how many of you got a life from them."

Haha, that should be his Thanksgiving greeting for the season!

Still have mine, still displayed on my Sideshow Frankenstein Pozer.



Verne's Zombie Mask also spiced up the cover of the Creepy 1972 Annual.

[Sir Masksalot]

The holiday shopping season is officially upon us so you'd
better get used to seeing advertisements everywhere!



^ This one stopped me dead in my tracks when it first appeared.
I had/have just over half of the characters depicted but if
compelled to name my absolute favorites today, they'd include ...

The 900 line DEMON >



The 1980 WIZARD >



... and Bob Short's MUMMY 5,000 B.C.
That's my vintage copy on the cover of 2016's Don Post Calendar >



Which are your favorites?

[Sir Masksalot]

Don Post's 800 line allowed us to masquerade as Universal Monsters at
a fourth of what the "Calendar" masks were priced. They also provided
a more economical way to start a mask collection. My favorite of the
series was The Phantom. As a pre-teen kid, it was the first DPS
mask I ever owned >



There was a Dracula  and Ygor  in that premiere 800 line but both
were discontinued within a year >



Most of the original molds survived into modern times and castings were
made available as collectors' editions >



The original Wolfman  mold remains lost with just enough vintage
copies in private collections to keep us covetous >



As to the others on this Captain Company ad page, does anyone here
own a "Mystery Man" mask? Someone at the CHFB posted about it once:

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/monsterkidclassichorrorforum/mystery-man-mask-famous-monsters-captain-co-t85567.html

Of course Uncle Creepy  and Cousin Eerie  are like family to us monster kids.
I never had either 800 line version, preferring the "Custom Super" models instead >

[Mike Scott]

. . . does anyone here own a "Mystery Man" mask?

Did that come with a whip and some handcuffs? 

[Monster Mafia]

LOL. These were discontinued after the switch to barrels.

[FRANKENSTEIN455]

Wow...Great photographs Sir. My favorite Don Post advertisements all in one place. Thank you! My brother Jim recently sent me this photo from a Halloween Party held by Frank Zappa in 1968.  It featured a cool picture of the Don Post classics with members of Zappa's all-girl band the G-T-Os (Girls Together Outrageously).

[FRANKENSTEIN455]

A couple of pictures of my latest addition. He's a tribute to the Don Post Studios Vern Langdon Zombie mask. He was sculpted by talented artist Justin Mabry. Charlie Brown seems to be enjoying the company of his new friend.

[Josh]

There was a Dracula  and Ygor  in that premiere 800 line but both
were discontinued within a year >

So, the 800 line Lugosi masks were actually produced for a short time? I'd always heard they never made to production.

[Sir Masksalot]

So, the 800 line Lugosi masks were actually produced for a short time?

I had to figure that there must've been some window of availability, however brief,
between the 800 line's debut and the filing of Lugosi's legal action.

[FRANKENSTEIN455]

The 800 line is so cool. I sure wish that I'd collected those masks.  I do remember seeing them at many costume shops in the 1970's.  Mr. Hyde is one of my favorites in the series. 

[Sir Masksalot]

The 800 line is so cool.

^ While we're still on the subject, here's a "Captain Company" ad from
the early 1970s. The portraits are all reproduced from DPS catalogs
of that period except for Mr Hyde  and TOR  which are older.
Although actively collecting masks back then, I only had four of
the characters depicted >









I've been through multiples of TOR  and still own a couple today,
including a vintage original >



Those two skull masks are worth a lot on the collecting market now.
If only I'd known then ...

[FRANKENSTEIN455]

Thanks Sir - Those are very cool shots.  It's funny after all these years - I still do not have a copy of the Tor mask. I definitely need to rectify that fact. I also remember seeing the wide Frankenstein as a kid. They had one at a joke shop called "The Funny Farm" on Devon Ave in Chicago.

At the time in the mid 1970's... I was torn between the the Don Post wide Frank and a bluish Frankenstein with real hair by Zagone Studios.  I ended up getting the Zagone mask. He was around fifteen bucks. He was a prize possession of mine for many years.

My dad was not up to getting me my dream Don Post Karloff Frankenstein which they also had at the Funny Farm. It was not an easy task back then getting him to pull out his wallet.

This photo was taken the day that I got the Zagone mask in 1974. We were visiting my Uncle John who lived in the City of Chicago.  My dad is wearing the mask.