Pod Stallions 48: Frankensteins!

We weren't gonna not do an October show, so we saved until the 31st because HALLOWEEN!

Episode 48 is a celebration of our favourite monster and we discuss his highs (which involve Karloff and Lee) and his lows (which involve Deniro and Jackman) along the way we kibitz about different incarnations, TV versions and as always, TOYS! TOYS! TOYS!

It's a ghoulishly good time with one of our favourite subjects.

  Download the Show Here

Listen here

Show Links:

• Frankenstein Island is on YouTube, we demand you watch it.
• This is the 1997 "House of Frankenstein" TV movie Brian mentioned.
• The Trailer for Frankenstein Unbound

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1986 Ben Cooper Costume Catalog

It wouldn't be Halloween without at least one costume catalog on PlaidStallions and I'm thrilled to be showcasing this rarity from 1986.

It's pretty hard to find an 80s property that isn't represented here, I mean seriously this thing is chock full of cartoon and toy characters.



Check out the 1986 Ben Cooper Catalog here!

More Halloween at PlaidStallions

   

AHI Dracula on the card

I had a nice contribution by a fellow named Bob last night of this Azrak Hamway Dracula on the card. I actually didn't have this version in the AHI Monsters gallery so it was a welcome addition.

Dracula was sold in the AHI Official World Famous Super Monsters wave but in a way that distinguished him from the other monsters. The other monsters aren't mention on the card, nor are the monsters, just a huge portrait of Dracula.

Dracula didn't get a jiggler or a water pistol and his Bend N Flex figure looked more like Christopher Lee to be honest.

It's largely assumed this was due to ongoing litigation between Lugosi's estate and Universal Studios.

Most licensed 70s Dracula stuff is somewhat generic, the AHI Dracula is really no different


One of the more puzzling items is the presence of Bela on the card art. 

I'm assuming that use of his likeness on packaging was somewhat undefined at the time because his does appear on packaging, trading cards and other items but never in figure form.

Visit our AHI Monsters Gallery for more information

Gre-Gory: Big Bad Vampire Bat by Mattel

It finally happened, I got my hands on a Gre-Gory. After posting my disappointment ten years ago (ulp!) I found a good deal on one and decided to take the plunge.

More photos after the jump and my observations as I have never seen or held one of these in my life.

New Video: Tomland Famous Monster of Legend

Very happy to showcase my latest video collaboration with Jason Lenzi, this month we tackle one of my passions, Monster action figures in the most appropriate month to do so.

The Tomland Famous Monsters of Legend are one of the rarest sets of monster toys in the world and in this volume we try to give you the basics on a unique line of action figures.

See the video here and don't forget to subscribe to see our upcoming vintage toy short films.

Thanks for watching, Happy Halloween.

It's a Trap!

I honestly don't remember anything about this era as it was my last Halloween, while Star Wars had been my go-to costume from 1978-1981, this year was my last Halloween and  I think I went as Sid Vicious. 

Monster Squad Dracula Costumes

No better time than Halloween than to discuss costumes and my love of the 1976 Monster Squad Television series.

Collegeville had the license to the series and while they didn't make a Frank Costume, they sure went to town with Dracula.

Below are all the variations I've found thus far of his store bought costumes. Above is the standard kid version and the one most commonly found.

It's refreshing to see a suit like this and not just a picture of the character.



This is an "Adult" cape and mask set. It's a bit threadbare but I guess if in a pinch, an adult would wear this.





And this is my latest find, the Monster Squad Poncho and mask combo. Collegeville sold this right up until 1979, two years after the show left the air waves.

Want more Monster Squad goodies, check out our gallery. If you have something I don't, PLEASE contact me!

Monogram launches Movieland Monsters from the crypt

1983 saw the Aurora monster models rise again when Monogram brought six of them back for the first time since Aurora folded. I remember being pretty excited to see them again and they would return every decade after that.

You can't keep a good monster down.

Ben Cooper Frankenstein Wiggler

I never ran into a Frankenstein, I didn't like and this past summer at Mego Meet I found one that I didn't have.


I AND I love him! he's got a magical "Dracula Vs Frankenstein" quality about it. There's something so special about a generic Frankenstein.
 

Friend Good! I think it's funny that he's specifically called a "Wiggler", it just didn't catch on.

Halloween Department 1980

THIS is my happy place today.

All those wonderful costumes on display are from the 1980 Ben Cooper catalog BTW.

Topstone. Not Just another pretty face

Let's kick off Halloween talking about Topstone shall we? 

Topstone started marking masks in the 1950s, I mainly know them for their famous character art. this Wolfman was offered in comic books my entire childhood.

The company closed it's doors in the 1990s and Topstone masks are now highly collectible among passionate collectors.

I still remember how a bin of those smelled, I hope I never forget it.

Plaid Stallions in Famous Monsters of Filmland!

I am honoured to have been a part of this October's issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland. I was tapped by Editor David Wiener to write a piece about Saturday Morning and I had a true blast working on it.

If you're a reader of this blog, this piece will speak to you as will the interviews with Martin Landau, Lee Majors and Richard Benjamin.

If that weren't enough, Pod Stallions,  the podcast that i co-host with Jason Lenzi is the featured show of the month! Yay!

If you can't find a copy at your local book store, check it out at Captain Company where you can get a Six Million Dollar Man variant cover.

Put Captain America to Work For You!

I can't think of anything that I adore more right now than this image from Marvel licensing. Also, I'm 90% that's Johnathan Frakes under there.

Next week we go all Halloween on you all, have a nice weekend everyone!

High-Risers

With that much waist band, I'm gonna guess these  started out as some sort of dare.

Today is all about Star Trek Towels!

So this morning I had a wonderful email containing photos of my pal Corey's amazing collection of vintage Star Trek towels.

I'll be honest, I rarely thought of towels as a collectible (ok, I own like three) but now these are all I can think about.

The rest of this breathtaking collection can be found after the jump:

Kenner Raiders of the Lost Ark Announcment

It's pretty weird to see Kenner announce something as big as this with such a crummy ad but I'm guessing they had no time to craft a decent ad.

Below is the first notice to the trade showing the figures:

Bachelor Man!

"The Adventures of Bachelorman" was supposed to be the third segment in the "Shazam Isis Hour" when CBS pulled the plug.

All known copies of the series, which involved a man who had the amazing power of Macrame,  were set fire to then shot into space, where they were again set fire to.

Review: Comic Book Fever by George Khoury

I own a lot of books by George Khoury, in fact this isn't even the first book by him that I've reviewed on this blog and I don't read much, so that's pretty special.

The reason I own so many, is that George and I seem to like a lot of the same things. His latest opus is no exception, in fact, I believethe average reader of this blog should know about this, so join me after the jump for further exploration of this neat book.

Multiple Toymakers Planet of the Apes Playsets

Next to the wonderful toys by Mego, these Multiple toys Planet of the Apes sets are by far my favourites. I just recently scored one of my grails:

For many ages I've been after this set, the combination of army men with apes totally reminds me of "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" (easily my favourite Apes movie as a kid. Lucky for me, the stars lined up for me this summer.

It would behoove me to rip off the (very tight!) shrink wrap but I honestly want to hit a sandbox people. Have a great weekend!

Want more Multiple Toys? Check out the 1976 Multiple TOys Catalog for Apes, Kung Fu and Batman!

More Planet of the Apes Merchandise

The Fonz AM Radio

This may be the spiffiest Fonzie toy ever made and if I'm not mistaken, it's in scale with the Mego doll!

The Lady McGuire Collection

That's four bucks a look! As an added bonus that blouse was also my kitchen wallpaper in '76.