Universal Studios Monsters "The Bride of Frankenstein" Elsa Lanchester Action Figure - Sideshow Toys (1999)

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN 2012

HAUNTED TOYBOX

DAY 25 - 6 DAYS TILL HALLOWEEN

Atomic Robots (and Other Toys) 

Review of Sideshow Toys The Bride of Frankenstein Elsa Lanchester Action Figure (1999)

For my first two toy reviews for the Countdown to Halloween, I reviewed Diamond Select Toy's Universal Monsters Select Frankenstein and Universal Monsters Select The Mummy action figures.  For my third review, I'll be reviewing a similar toy from 1999: Sideshow Toy's The Bride of Frankenstein action figure, from the Sideshow toys Universal Action Figure line from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Sideshow Toys Bride of Frankenstein Packaging: Front and Back

Packaging: No Rating

I bought this figure used and loose, so I'm not going to rate the packaging.  I've included photos of the package I've found online.  I don't think the bright yellow and purple color scheme of the packaging really goes with the Universal Monsters very well.  I would have preferred to see something black or gray, with more of a gothic horror, and less of a cartoony feel.

Sideshow Toys Bride of Frankenstein Close Up

Appearance(Sculpt/Paint/Likeness): 4 Robots

Sideshow Toys did a great job of capturing Elsa Lanchester's likeness as the Bride.  The sculpt on her head is fantastic.  The paint job is really good, to, the fine lines of her lips and eyes are rendered flawlessly, and there are some subtle washes of paint on her face that help make her skin come alive (or reanimated, in this case).  One aspect of the paint job that's a little weird, though, was their decision to paint the dimple on her chin pink, this would have looked better as part of the sculpt, or at least painted on smaller and with more subtlety. Here bandaged body is fine, but the sculpt looks a little sloppy in comparison to the excellent sculpt of her head.

Sideshow Toys Bride of Frankenstein Articulation

Articulation/Playability: 4 Robots

The action figure has plenty of articulation, at he shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, hips, waist, and neck.  I think if she had  joints at her ankles, and ball joints at her shoulders so she could have moved her arms in more directions, she would have been about perfect.

Sideshow Toys Bride of Frankenstein Accessories

Accessories: 4 Robots

The Bride of Frankenstein comes with a base she can stand on, which has a plaque and a electrode type thing attached to it.  She also has a removable dress, and a second head, so you can play with her fully bandaged, as she was on the operating table, or in her bridal gown after she has been brought to life.

Sideshow Toys Bride of Frankenstein in Bandages

Cool Factor: 4 Robots

This is a super cool figure, from one of the most classic monster movies of all time.  She looks just like Elsa Lanchester as the Bride of Frankenstein, and looks great paired up with my Sideshow Toys Boris Karloff Frankenstein figure (which I will be reviewing soon).

Sideshow Toys Bride of Frankenstein

Value: 3 Robots

I paid $21.50 for this figure on eBay, including shipping.  Maybe a little high for a loose figure, but in all my previous attempts to buy one of these, I always got outbid in the last few seconds, so I'm satisfied with my purchase.

Final Score: 4 Robots

Rating: 4 Robots (out of 5)

David Bowie  - Be My Wife
                                             

Halloween 1966, Volume 4: Creeps and Spooks

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN 2012

HALLOWEEN 1966

DAY 24 - 7 DAYS TILL HALLOWEEN

THIS POST WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY!  LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD NOW, BEFORE IT IS GONE!

Vampires, witches, demons, ghouls...  these are the creatures of the supernatural!  Clawing their way out of their graves, emerging from the shadows, lurking about in forgotten basements and cellars, taking wing against the backdrop of the midnight moon!   What's that sound?!?!  They're coming to get us!  Here they come!  Here are the... Creeps and Spooks!

The main tracklist is:

• Christine Pilzer - Dracula
• The Ventures - Vampcamp
• Vic Mizzy - The Ghost & Mr. Chicken
• The Detergents - Igor's Cellar
• The Munsters - At the Munsters
• Vic Mizzy - The Addams Family
• Patterson's People - Shake Hands With the Devil
• The Chants R&B - I'm Your Witchdoctor
• Syndicate of Sound - The Witch
• Them - I Put a Spell on You
• Donovan - Season of the Witch
• The Walker Brothers - In My Room
• Danny Hutton - Monster Shindig
• The Seeds - Evil Hoodoo
• The Last Word - Sleepy Hollow
• Milton the Monster Show Theme Song
• The Turtles - Grim Reaper of Love
• The Yardbirds - Ever Since the World Began

In addition to the main tracks, this music mix also contains 1966 audio clips from Dracula: Prince of Darkness, The Witches, The Addams Family, Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles, Kill Baby Kill, and Our Man Flint.

The songs At the Munsters and The Addams Family are actually from 1964, but both of those shows were still on the air in 1966, so I decided to include them anyway.

THIS POST WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY!  LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD NOW, BEFORE IT IS GONE! 



DOWNLOAD LINK

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN 2012

HALLOWEEN 1966

DAY 23 - 8 DAYS TILL HALLOWEEN

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) - Movie review plus screencaps

HALLOWEEN TRICK OR TREAT!  
As a special trick for the Halloween Countdown, I've inserted several FALSE screencaps into this review, that are not actually from The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.  As you read this review, see if you can figure out which screencaps are real, and which are the Halloween Tricks!

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

I just watched Don Knotts play an aspiring newspaper reporter, who has to spend the night in a haunted house, and finds himself entangled in a murder mystery, in this 1966 horror comedy from Universal.  You, know, I didn't have particularly high hopes for this movie, but I was hoping for something better than what I got.  This "horror comedy" really isn't funny or scary.  I didn't laugh once.  All the jokes were really stale, and they tended to repeat them over and over, as if they would somehow get funnier the second, third, fourth, or fifth time around. 

Don Knotts Makes a Face

The haunted house sequences were not especially scary, but they were kind of fun, in a Disney's Haunted Mansion sort of way.  But those sequences were far too brief, probably taking up no more than twenty minute or so of the film's 1 hour and 30 minute running time.  The rest of the sequences were just set around the town, as Don Knott's performed his usual schtick with the various townspeople.  Now, don't get me wrong, Don Knotts is a funny guy, but there's nothing in this film that we haven't seen him already do on the Andy Griffith Show, or any of his other movies or shows, and he usually does it with a lot more spark than we see him do it here.

The Haunted Organ

This film does have a few minor points in it's favor.  As I mentioned, the haunted house sequences were fun.  And, the film has a really neat score by Vic Mizzy, who also composed the theme songs for the Addams Family and Green Acres, among others.   I also enjoyed the spooky fonts used in the opening credits.  But, you know when you have to talk about the fonts used in a movie, that you're really scraping the bottom of the barrel looking for something to praise.  I really can't recommend this film to anyone, unless maybe you're a die-hard fan of horror-comedies, but, even then, there are a ton of other movies you would probably want to watch first.

Rating: 1 Robot (out of 5)

Those Ghosts Don't Stand a Chance!

More screencaps after the jump...

Saturn 3 (1980)

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN 2012

HORROR IN SPACE

DAY 22 - 9 DAYS TILL HALLOWEEN

Saturn 3 (1980) Movie review plus screencaps:

Saturn 3

Saturn 3 is not a good movie.   In fact, I found it frequently boring.  But there are still enough strange and interesting aspects of the movie that I can partially recommend it, especially to fans of bad, grade-b sci-fi or horror films.

The Decontamination Chamber

The most notable aspect of the film is the cast.  Saturn 3 stars Kirk Douglas, Harvey Keitel and Farah Fawcett, and it's hard to imagine a more mismatched trio then these three.  Farah Fawcett's "acting" technique in this film seems to be composed entirely of staring into space and looking confused.  Harvey Keitel is the best actor of the group, playing someone who appears to very calm and controlled on the outside, but inside is seething with paranoia and anger.  It's probably a very good performance, although it's kind of hard to tell, as the producers of the film made the bizarre choice to overdub his voice with that of a British actor.  Maybe that could have slipped by in 1980, when Keitel was not yet a star, but to a modern audience familiar with the actor, it just seems completely distracting and out of place.

Keitel is a Creepster

Kirk Douglas seems content a ham it up at every turn, as if he took acting lessons by watching a marathon of Looney Tunes.   But when he's not acting goofy, he seems to be trying to prove he is still a virile macho man, even in his old age.  There is gratuitous jump-roping scene, which seems to be in there for no other reason than to say, "Look at me, I'm an old man and I can still jump rope!"  He also has several nude scenes that show off his physique, including a psychotronic nude wrestling match with Harvey Keitel.  Honestly, if there had to be nude scenes in this film, I would have preferred them to star Farah Fawcett, and not a man old enough to be her grandfather.  And, I would think that would be the more commercial choice as well.  My best guess is that Douglas had "something to prove," and forced these scenes into the film.  It does make the movie very weird and memorable, though, I'll give it that.

Kirk Douglas: Master Thespian

In the film Kirk Douglas plays a very old man, and Farah Fawcett plays a very young woman, who live together in romantic bliss on an isolated research station on one of Saturn's moons.  Farah Fawcett's character grew up in space and has never been to Earth, and is apparently so naive that she doesn't realize that her sexual relationship with some old grandpappy is kind of creepy.  It kind of reminds me of the young girls that are raised on fundamentalist Mormon polygamist compounds (note: all of my knowledge of "fundamentalist Mormon polygamist compounds" has been gained by watching episodes of "Big Love," and thus may not be entirely accurate).  I'm sure that was not the filmmakers intent, as they seem to go to great lengths to show how healthy and normal the pair are.  Still, there is a voice in the back of my head that's just not buying it.

Time For Your Wifely Duties, Mother

Kirk and Farah's peaceful life is interrupted by the addition of a third resident of their station, played by Harvey Keitel.  Keitel is supposedly a roboticist, there to build them a robot to aid in their research.  What our happy couple don't know, however, is that Keitel is actually a crazy creepo, who murdered the real roboticist and took his place.  There is a scene early on the film where Harvey meets Farah's cute pet puppy dog for the first time, and proceeds to pick the dog up and examine the dog's butthole on camera.  It's a helpful reminder that he is still a weirdo, in case the audience forgot that they watched him kill a dude a few minutes earlier.  Farah, as usual, reacts to this by looking a little confused.  A part of me wonders if she was even acting in this film.  I can easily picture a scenario where they just stuck her on a set with Harvey Keitel and Kirk Douglas acting like weirdos, and just filmed the baffled expressions that would naturally occur on her face.

Harvey Keitel Inspects a Dog's Anus

The fun twist in this film is that the roboticists program robots by importing their own brain patterns into the machines, and thus must be carefully selected to make sure they are psychologically fit.  But since Harvey Keitel is a crazy coo-coo puff, the robot he makes turns into a crazed killing machine that wants to have robot sex with Farah Fawcett.  It's basically a variation on the "abnormal brain" scenario from Frankenstein.

Kirk Douglas Wrestles in the Nude with Harvey Keitel

Fair warning to anyone who is reading this, though: this review probably makes the film seem a lot better than it really is.  Aside from some cool looking art direction on the sets, and the handful of really crazy moments I have written about, this film was for the most part very boring.  I'm enjoying it  much more now, thinking back on all of it's weirdness, than I did when I was actually watching it.  So don't blame me for any damage to your brain that you may receive if you decide to watch it for yourself.

What Everyone Involved With This Film Must Have Been Taking

Rating: 2 Robots (out of 5)

 More screencaps after the jump!...

Countdown to Halloween: Week 3

 COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN 2012

THE HAUNTED TOYBOX

DAY 21 - 10 DAYS TILL HALLOWEEN

Today marks the end of week 3 of my Countdown to Halloween.  I've got a ton of new readers to this blog this month.  In fact, so far October 2012 has more than double the number of pageviews of any other month I've had this blog, and we've still got more than a week to go!  Thanks a lot to everyone reading this stuff, I hope you're enjoying it.

For this post, I'm going to recap what I posted this week, and then I'm going to embed some fun YouTube video clips related to the stuff I've been posting this month.  Then I'm going to follow that up with a free feature film from the Internet Archive; the super cheesy grade z horror comedy, "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla."

The Haunted Toybox
So far this month I've had a new theme every week.  This week's theme was "The Haunted Toybox."

The week began with a double whammy of Boris Karloff toys.  On Monday, I reviewed Diamond Select's Frankenstein action figure, and then on Tuesday I followed that up with a review of Diamond Select's The Mummy action figure.

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I had a three part series of "Frankentoys" posts, where I counted down the top 10 vintage Frankenstein toy of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.
Part One / Part Two / Part Three

Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy, and Naked Mego Batman

Remco Mini Monsters

AHI's Official World Famous Super Monsters

Halloween 1966
As usual for my Countdown to Halloween, on Wednesday, I broke from the week's theme to post the latest installment of my "Halloween 1966" music compilation.  This week's compilation was entitled "Weird Things," and dealt with dangerous animals, and primitive, animal-like people.

Weird Things

Next Week on Misfit Robot Daydream
I used up all of my posts I had written ahead of time about a week ago, and this week I've been getting these posts published by the skin of my teeth.  So, honestly, I'm not sure what's coming up next week yet, as I haven't started writing it.  I've managed to post every day in October, so far, though, and I intend to keep that up.  I'll probably start up on the second half of my "Horror in Space" posts, this time moving on from the 1950s and '60s, into the 1970s and '80s.  But I'm going to have to go an a massive movie viewing marathon over the next few days to do that, so we'll see how that works out.

And Now, For Our Feature Presentation
I couldn't find any good videos for the toys I blogged about this week, so instead I'm going to feature some trailers and clips from my "Halloween 1966" music compilations.

Then I'm going to follow that up with a cheap-o grade z horror comedy, "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla," starring Bela Lugosi, of course, whose career was in obvious decline at this point.  Also starring a pair of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin impersonators.  I'm guessing that maybe the producers thought they might fool some people into thinking this movie actually starred Martin & Lewis?  I'm not sure, but this movie is fairly infamous, and was one I always read about as a kid in the old days before DVDs and the internet.  Now that I can actually see it, I'm not sure I'm better off.  :)

The Navy Vs. The Night Monsters

The Undertaker and His Pals


Space Ghost


The Death Curse of Tartu


Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla

Frankentoys: The Top 10 Frankenstein Games and Toys of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, Part Three

  

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN 2012

HAUNTED TOYBOX

DAY 20 - 11 DAYS TILL HALLOWEEN

Wow!  We've finally made it!  Are you ready for the final three entries in Frankentoys: The Top 10 Frankenstein Games and Toys of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s?  Feel the burn!

Click here for part one.
Click here for part two.

The Mad Monsters!  Note: the figures in the photo are of the reissued figures from Classic TV Toys, not the original figures from Mego.

3.  Mego Mad Monsters
Several entries in this list have been of "Mego-style" monster dolls, and now it's time we get to the original line of toys by Mego themselves.  While the Marx Toys Cinema Creatures may have been the original line of monster action figures, they were all solid pieces of plastic, really more like plastic statues than what we think of as action figures today.  Originally issued in 1973, Mego's Mad Monsters was the first line of fully poseable monster action figures with moving body parts.  These are the toys that were later imitated by companies like Lincoln International, AHI, and others.

The line-up consisted of four figures: "The Monster Frankenstein,"  "The Dreadful Dracula,"  "The Human Wolfman," and "The Horrible Mummy."  While clearly inspired by the Universal Monsters, these were not officially licensed products, so they don't look exactly like their movie counterparts.  Instead, Mego went with a somewhat friendlier and cartoonier take on the monsters, while still trying to keep their monstrous appeal.  Mego also produced the "Mad Monster Castle,"  a fun vinyl castle playset for the monsters that featured a drawbridge, an operating table, and some neat mad scientist laboratory artwork.  These dolls were interchangeable with the other dolls that Mego produced, so if you wanted to have Robin Hood team up with Mr. Spock to fight Dracula, or dress up Frankenstein in a Superman costume, you could!

The Mad Monsters and the Mad Monster Castle are still available, in reissues from Classic TV Toys, click here to check them out.

To learn more about the Mad Monsters and other Mego toys, check out the Mego Museum at http://www.megomuseum.com/.

Remco Mini Monsters and Mini Monster Playset!  Not Pictured: Mini Monsters Monsterizer

2. Remco Mini Monsters
For most of the 1970s, the action figure aisles of the toy store were dominated by Mego-style dolls in the 8 inch or larger range.  But, by the end of the decade, that all changed with the massive success of Kenner's 3 and 3/4 inch Star Wars action figures.  Out were the big doll figures with removable cloth outfits, and in were smaller, all plastic figures, along with their vehicles and playsets.  Remco and their parent company AHI had already issued two lines of Mego-style, officially licensed Universal Monsters figures.  In 1981, they responded to the changing times by coming out with a new line of plastic monster action figures in the 3 and 3/4 inch scale, dubbed "Mini Monsters."

The line-up of characters was the same as Remco's 9 inch monsters: Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, the Mummy, the Wolfman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Phantom of the Opera.  The figures were first introduced in regular versions, and then later in glow-in-the-dark versions.  There was also a Mini Monsters scaled "Monsterizer" operating table, like the 9 inch line had.  Remco also produced a Mini Monster Playset, designed to look like a creepy dungeon with a sarcophagus, operating table, and mad scientist lab equipment.

This is a really fun group of figures, with great likenesses to the characters and actors from the movies.  While there's a lot of competition in the larger figures, these one have this size all to themselves.  But even if there were other figures in this scale from other companies, I think these ones would still come out on top.

Marx Toys Frankenstein Robot!

1. Marx Toys Battery Operated, Remote Control Frankenstein Robot
The Marx Toys Battery Operated, Remote Control Frankenstein Robot: With it's vinyl head and hands, tin body, and remote control robot action, it's like a bunch of different toys, "Frankensteined" together!  Get it?  "Frankensteined?"  Oh, you did get it?  Okay, umm, sorry about that.

But seriously folks, this toy is like a triple threat, appealing to collectors of tin toys, robots, and, of course, Frankenstein.  The robot actions include walking and grasping objects.  Plus, it appeared on an episode of the Munsters, where Herman mistakenly thinks that Lilly was pregnant, and that this toy is actually his new son!  With a pedigree like that, you'd expect this toy to be highly sought after by collectors, and you'd be right.  In fact, this might be the single most collectable Frankenstein toy of them all.   Depending on the condition, and whether it is loose, or in the box, you can expect to pay anywhere from $400 to $4000 for one of these!  That's pretty much out of my price range... but who knows, maybe I'll stumble onto one cheap at a thrift store or yard sale one day!  Sure, that's not very likely, but don't ask me to give up my dreams.





Closing Thoughts
Welp, that does it.  I hope you enjoyed my list of Frankenstein toys.  Here are some fun sites you can check out online if you want to learn more about vintage toys:

The Mego Museum
You can read about Mego's Mad Monsters, and all of the other cool toys Mego made that ruled the toy aisles in the '70s.

Plaid Stallions
This great site is chock full of vintage toys from the '70s and '80s

The Gallery of Monster Toys
A great site to learn about monster toys from the 1960's through the 1990s.

Ebay
So you can search for all the toys of yesteryear I mentioned in this list, and then wail in despair as you see how much they will cost to buy today.

Oh, and if you think there is some great Frankenstein toy or game that I overlooked, feel free to chime in in the comments!

Thanks for reading!
Your pal,
Joshua the Atomic Robot

Frankentoys: The Top 10 Frankenstein Games and Toys of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, Part Two

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN 2012

HAUNTED TOYBOX

DAY 19 - 12 DAYS TILL HALLOWEEN

I hope your ready for another plastic-molded dose of creepy, Frankensteiny ghoulishness, becuase it's time for part two of...

Frankentoys: The Top 10 Frankenstein Games and Toys of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s!

 For part one, click here.

Official World Famous Super Monsters!  Not Pictured: The Creature from the Black Lagoon

6.  AHI's Official World Famous Super Monsters
These are the third group of Mego-style monster dolls on this list: AHI's Official World Famous Super Monsters.  AHI were probably number two behind Mego for these type of figures in the '70s, and these figures are of a much higher quality than the Lincoln International Monsters from earlier on this list.  AHI also managed to outbid Mego for the Universal Monster license with these toys, so they are all "official" depictions of the monsters from the movies, not off-model generic ones.  This didn't stop AHI from imitating Mego, though, as their "Offical World Famous Super Monsters" logo is a pretty shameless rip-off of Mego's "World's Greatest Superheroes" logo.  I guess they were hoping to confuse the two lines in the minds of kids, so that some of Mego's success would rub off on them.  They also ripped of the artwork from the Aurora model kits for the artwork on the back of their cards.  All of which, of course, adds to the fun.

Being officially licensed products, the likenesses of the sculpts are pretty good.  This is especially true of their Frankenstein figure, which looks more like Boris Karloff than any of the other Mego-style Frankenstein dolls of this era.  Other characters in the line were The Mummy, Count Dracula, Wolfman, and Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Aurora Monster Model Kits featured amazing monster artwork by artist James Bama

5.  Aurora Monster Model Kits
Aurora Monster Model Kits are perhaps the most well loved and influential of all the monster toys.  Thanks to television reruns in the late '50s and early '60s, as well as the popularity of the magazine "Famous Monsters of Filmland," the classic Universal Monster movies were being exposed to a whole new generation of fans, and monsters in general were becoming more and more ubiquitous in pop culture.  In 1961, the Aurora Plastics Company decided to cash in on this trend in by offering a model kit of Frankenstien's Monster, and it was a "monstrous" success.  This kit was soon followed by a dozen more kits featuring characters like Dracula, the Wolf-Man, The Bride of Frankenstein, Godzilla, and more.
 
Aurora models are probably the most "classic" of all the monster toys, and it seems like most of the monster toys that came afterward drew inspiration from them, many of them openly aping the looks of the models, or copying the artwork on the boxes.  The Aurora model kits were issued and reissued in various forms throughout the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, and reproductions of many of the kits are still available today.

Marx Toys Cinema Creatures

4.  Marx Toys Cinema Creatures
The Marx Toys Cinema Creatures were the monster toys that practically every boy in the sixties played with, as they were cheap, durable, and a lot of fun. They were the first ever line of Universal Monster action figures. They were like the little green army men many of us had as kids, but oversized, and in the shape of various monsters.  Even though they only came in two colors, blue and orange, the sculpts were fantastic, and they look great.  Over the years these toys have been bootlegged and reissued in other colors, including glow-in-the dark versions.  While these may seem simplistic to modern eyes, these were fantastically exciting toys in the 1960's.

In addition to Frankenstein's Monster, Marx also made figures of the creature from the Black Lagoon, Wolf-Man, the Mummy, Dracula, the Phantom of the Opera, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.


Tune in tomorrow for the earth-shattering conclusion of...
Frankentoys: The Top 10 Frankenstein Games and Toys of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s ...if you dare!   Boo-wah-hah-hah-hah!  Again, that was my EVIL laugh.

Frankentoys: The Top 10 Frankenstein Games and Toys of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, Part One

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN 2012

HAUNTED TOYBOX

DAY 18 - 13 DAYS TILL HALLOWEEN

Alright!  Buckle your seat belts, kiddies, because we're about to take a wild ride down Frankenstein road, and it's a twisty one on the side of a creepy mountain!  Boo-wah-hah-hah-ha!!  That was my evil laugh, by the way.

Today I'm treating you to the first part of my top 10 list of vintage Frankenstein toys from the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.  These are all toys that were inspired by or feature Frankenstien's Monster, either individually or as part of a line of toys that Frankenstein was a part of.  Numbers 10 through 7 will be featured today, then come back tomorrow and the next day, when I'll be finishing up with parts 6 through 1.

Lincoln International Monsters Box Art

10.  Lincoln International Monsters
The Lincoln International Monsters are the first of several Mego-style "doll" action figures on this list.  Mego-style dolls (after the Mego toy company, which is famous for these types of figures) are kind of like Barbie dolls for boys, they wear cloth outfits that you can take off, or swap outfits between different characters.  This would probably seem weird to people from younger generations, but if you played with action figures in the 1960s and 1970s, like the original G.I. Joe, The Six Million Dollar Man, or Mego's World's Greatest Superheroes, these are what they were like.

The Lincoln International Monsters guys are kind of the cheapest and cheesiest looking ones of the bunch, basically generic knock-offs of the toys being made by better companies like Mego.  The artwork on their packages is really goofy, it almost looks like it was painted by a little kid.  On the original boxed version of Frankenstein's Monster, his name was misspelled as "Frankensten."  Lincoln International did not have the rights to use the actual likenesses of the Universal Monsters, so all of their characters are off-model just enough so they could avoid being sued.  The low-quality goofiness of these figures actually increases the appeal that these toys have for me.  I really think these figures are a lot of fun.

These line of toys featured the monsters "Wolfman," "Count Dracula," "Hunchback of Notre Dame," "Phantom of the Opera," "Mummy," and of course, our main man, "Frankenstein."  And, no, I'm not leaving off the word "the" from the beginnings of the Mummy, the Wolfman, etc...  Apparently Lincoln International was not a fan of that word, and did not include it at the beginning of any of their monster's names.

For more info about Lincoln International Monsters, check out lincolnmonsters.com.

Frankenstein Mystery Game - Box Art and Playing Cards

9.  Hasbro's Frankenstein Mystery Game
The Frankenstein Mystery Game is part of a series of Universal Monster Mystery Games that Hasbro released in the 1960s.  The other characters who received their own games were Dracula, The Wolf-Man, The Mummy, The Phantom of the Opera, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. 

The game play was fairly simplistic.  Players spin a spinner and move their game pieces around the board to various locations in a spooky town, such as The Cemetery, The Haunted House, The Tower, and The Lab, collecting cards with townspeople on them as you go.  If you collect the card with Frankenstein on it, you then try to make it to the lab to win the game, while avoiding being "challenged" by another player who suspects you of having the Frankenstein card.

The appeal of this game, and the other games in this series, isn't really the game play, it's the awesome monster artwork, combined with the spooky locations like the cemetery and the morgue.  I think if I had this game as a kid, all the scary scenarios I would think up in my head as I played it would help make this game into a spooky good time.

Monster Lab Toy and Box

8.  Ideal's Monster Lab
This is a hellaciously cool looking game.  Against the backdrop of a big crazy looking Mad Scientist lab, a weird, helmeted monster, clearly inspired by Frankenstien's Creation, moves back and forth between two players.  The two players must take turns twisting a knob on their control to direct the monster away from them.  If the player fails to direct the monster away, the monster's helmet falls off, revealing his hideous green skull face, and the player loses the game! 

This game looks really cool, but was supposedly not much fun to play.  The knob twisting didn't seem to do much, it seemed more of an act of chance than one of skill over who would win or lose the game.  Consequently, kids didn't like playing with it, and Ideal quickly ceased production on it.  Of course, these days, that scarcity makes it all the more valuable, and for a modern collector, who is probably going to display it, not play with it, it's great look overcomes what it lacks in game play.  Good luck on finding one for your toy collection, though, as these things now go for thousands of dollars at auction.

Remco 9 Inch Monsters and Monsterizer

7. Remco 9 Inch Monsters
AHI had already produced an officially licensed line of Mego-style Universal Monster figures in the '70s, and they returned to that with their subsidiary company Remco in 1980, with this new line of deluxe, 9 inch monster figures.  The figures all have nice sculpts, and look closer to their movie counterparts then the "unofficial" monster figures from other toy companies.  Under their outfits, the toys had odd looking accordion style arms that would contract to "crush" their victims.  The figures also had glow-in-the-dark hands and faces. 

A neat accesory was sold alongside these figures: The Monsterizer.  The Monsterizer was a Doctor Frankenstein style lab table upon which the monster figure could be placed upon.  The Monsterizer lit up and made weird noises.  In addition to just looking neat, the light would serve to "charge up" the glow-in the-dark features of the figures.

Besides Frankenstein's Monster, other characters that appeared in this line were, Dracula, The Mummy, The Wolfman, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Phantom of the Opera.


Come back tomorrow for part two of Frankentoys: The Top 10 Frankenstein Games and Toys of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s!