Questions...Shock Monster, Artwork, FM...

[BlackLagoon]

Awhile back I remember looking up FM online just to see what the deal was..this was about a year ago, before I was here. While looking in the "shop" area they had a T-Shirt that had a few charecters on them. The 1st was the "Shock Monster" then I think it was "Ape" and some generic forms of Universal monsters.

I have seen that artwork somewhere..perhaps in ads for masks? It was very distinct and colorfull. Does anyone know who that artist might be?

And who was the Shock Monster? I have seen his mask posted here on the forum and it looks real cool but does he have any back story? Am I missing a movie, comic or magazine he was in?

Any idea..aside from ebay where I can get that shirt...I checked FM online the whole layout is different, they didnt have the shirt anyway. Also I'm not sure who I would be giving my money to yet. If it's anyone who gave Forry a hard time then I'll skip it...and I'll leave that right there...drama for a different thread.

[Toy Ranch]

The Shock Monster was a mask made by Topstone and sold through Famous Monsters.  He was also used in various FM graphics and there was an FM t-shirt in the early - mid 60's with him on it.  There's no movie tie-in or anything, but the image was used over and over so that now it's an iconic image of monster fans.

As far s a color artwork, I dunno.  It was always black and white in the mag.  Someone probably colorized it.

[raycastile]

This is an authentic color image of the Shock Monster, taken from the 1960 Topstone company catalog.

[raycastile]

The Shock Monster and other Topstone characters, as far as we know, were created by Keith Ward (1906-2000).  He was a successful commercial illustrator in the 1950s, best known for two cows: Elsie the Borden cow and Elmer, the Elmer's Glue cow.  He also created the Texaco Dalmatian puppies and illustrated the book "The Black Stallion."  Topstone apparently hired him to design characters for their masks in the mid-1950s.  Whether he personally created each character or farmed it out to someone working under him is not known.  It is also unclear whether he was involved in creating the three dimensional sculptures used to make the mask molds, or whether another sculptor created them based on Ward's illustrations.  Like all of Topstone's 50s/60s/70s monsters, Shock Monster was an original character.  He was not based on any film or book.  He does bear a resemblance to the monster in "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein," but that film was made in 1957.  I believe the earliest known appearance of the Shock Monster mask was 1955, though I could be mistaken.  I have read that the mask definitely predates the Teenage Frankenstein film.

[Mike Scott]

best known for two cows: Elsie the Borden cow and Elmer, the Elmer's Glue cow.

The glue also being a Borden product.

When did Topstone go out of business? Is that artwork in the public domain? Ray Ferry claims to own it. I think it's just part of his "every image that ever appeared in an issue of FM belongs to me" thing.

[raycastile]

According to a business site, Paper Magic acquired "substantially all of the assets and the business of Topstone and Illusive Concepts" on June 6, 1995.

I don't think Ray Ferry has any claim on any Topstone images.  They were designed by Keith Ward for Topstone, which used them in ads and catalogs.  I doubt Topstone itself designed the FM ads.  Someone at FM probably pasted them together using sales material from Topstone.  But the character images originated at Topstone.  If anyone has a claim to the character designs, it would be Paper Magic.

[Wich2]

Folks, there's also this very nice recent 3-D tribute:

[poseablemonster]

WOW!  Who made a Shock Monster figure?

[Wich2]

Andy, that was an early product of Cast-A-Way Toys -

http://www.castawaytoys.com/

- don't think it's in production any more...?

-Craig

[raycastile]

Andy, that was an early product of Cast-A-Way Toys -

http://www.castawaytoys.com/

- don't think it's in production any more...?

-Craig

Do you own one of those?  Is the head hard or soft?  I thought about buying one, but it looked a little too "homemade" for my taste.  If the head was soft like a real Mego figure, I'd be more interested.

[BlackLagoon]

That is an AWESOME figure..thanks for sharing!!! Time to hunt!!

[Mike Scott]

I don't think Ray Ferry has any claim on any Topstone images. 

Of course not, but try tellin' him that! Maybe since he lost the FM TM he won't still make that claim? He used to sell all kinds of stuff with those mask images on them.

[Wich2]

'Welcome, BL.

Ray, Cast-A-Way's early figs. had resin noggins; the current ones (on their sites) are rotocast.

(No love for resin - even if the job's well done?)

-Craig

[raycastile]

If it's a one-of-a-kind custom figure or a model kit, resin is ok.  But if it's marketed more like an actual toy series, then I want an actual toy.

[The Creeper]

That is one cool figure!