Countdown to Halloween - Week 4!

Here we go, saving some of the best for last! By the way, having a Halloween party and need even MORE last-minute supplies? We got you covered:

FRIGHT NIGHT (Gemstone, 1999)

This sound-effects disc actually has no front cover art!

FRIGHTMARE HALLOWEEN PARTY HITS (TUTM)

HALLOWEEN PARTY MUSIC (Drew's)

A STORY OF DRACULA THE WOLFMAN AND FRANKENSTEIN (Power Records, 1975)

Oh MAN oh MAN oh MAAAAN! What a gem this one is...firstly, all Power Records stuff is amazing, and usually super-fun, but this one is a psychotronic insane nightmare you won't believe! It's not three stories, but one long one which weaves in everything promised on the cover...well, sort of! All that AND Neal Adams art! If anyone ever asks you what made 70's kids great and shaped our lives, it's because we were given stuff like this, and nobody thought twice about it!

Happy Halloween!

LINK: Countdown to Halloween Week 4!

Countdown to Halloween - Week 3!

 It won't be long now--here is our next to last bundle of goodness for this season:

KIDS' HALLOWEEN PARTY (Twin Sisters)

MONSTER ROCK'N ROLL SHOW (DCC)

This one is amazing, and even more amazingly, I found my excellent copy several years ago in a Goodwill of all things. Who would get rid of this? It has the freaking GREEN SLIME theme on it, for goodness' sake!

THRILLER/CHILLER SOUND EFFECTS (Fun World)

Woah! This is one of those cassette tapes that used to come on a cardboard backing--with no case--in drug stores. Very rare, and....the same on both sides.

LINK: Temporarily Removed To Make Space!

GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS Vintage Newspaper Ads (1956)

 

Here are two local newspaper ads for KING OF THE MONSTERS, both from the same city.  This first one is important because it gives us the date:  September 26, 1956 (and the ad tells us it's the very end of the run for this film).  Below that, an orphaned snippet of an article where you can tell that a guy got in trouble for owning and using a police siren.  You mean going around sounding off and pretending to be a police car is frowned upon?

Next, it's "American Legion Party Night" that teases: 

?A BIG CHANGE?

But the smart people that night were at the Sky Vue (which was a DRIVE-IN, how cool is that?), seeing this movie.  There's good news and bad:  first, the good--two color cartoons are guaranteed!  Takes the edge offa the death and destruction a bit.  Now, the bad--it's a double feature! It's another abominable snowman movie, but.....it's just a Jerry Warren film.  Too bad.

Now, the smaller of the two ads, from the MALCO theatre.  You'll note the snow on the theatre logo; this denoted the theatre was equipped with AIR CONDITIONING, which was used as a draw to pull people away from their television sets.  Good grief though, who would've wanted to miss KING OF THE MONSTERS? I'd have been there a few times a week.

And now to the real head-scratcher.  Take a look at the text added to this piece.  It's a dumpster fire of elbow typing.  We've looked at lots of ad slicks that were already available for this movie, and yet somebody decided to hand type this mess.  It's just baffling!  "A monstrous seat beast" is my favorite part.  

I'd of course watch that movie, too.

Countdown to Halloween - Week 2!

 Week 2 already? Actually, we are running late, but it will all work out.  Here's what is in store today:

Kenyon Hopkins - Nightmare! (1962)

This is a hard record to find, but it was worth the long search, because it's full of delightful dark humor, which then was maybe only found in the early EC Comics and MAD. Don't write it off as merely bachelor pad stuff with a great cover, because it's much more than that!

    Halloween Hits (Rhino) 

Fun, yet short, compilation!

Sounds of Halloween (PC Treasures)

And finally, here's this week's sound effects.  These things are found literally everywhere.  It's amazing how many there must be.

Enjoy, and don't forget that previous weeks' bounties are still available too (until the day that I finally run out of storage space)! 

LINK:  Temporarily Removed To Make Space!

Countdown To Halloween - Week 1 !

Somehow, we haven't run out of stuff yet, and still have enough to do another entire year of weekly packs of Halloween fun! Here is what's included in our first week for 2023:

57 Haunts of Halloween

Famous Ghost Stories! (This is our vintage offering for this lot!)

The Haunted House CD

Enjoy and stay tuned, and the month slowly gets spookier.  Also, previous years packs are still available, so search the previous posts for crap-tons more of Halloween fun!

LINK:  Temporarily Removed To Make Space!

Mini Monster Play Case (Remco, 1980)

 

Let's wrap up our look at the Remco Universal Mini Monsters line with the playset that they made, of which the full title is: "Universal City Studio's Mini Monster Play Case" with the subtitle of "No. 879."

You've probably noticed that throughout this line, it's spelled out fully that the monsters belong to "Universal City Studio," as it was then known, rather than just "Universal." If you went there that year and took the famous Studio Tour, you would have had the opportunity to attend a stage show called "Castle Dracula" (this post has a mug from the attraction, which we looked at years ago).  This stage show portrayed all of the monsters hanging out together in Dracula's castle, in an attempt to bring several of the classic monsters together...sort of like what Universal was trying to do with HOUSE OF DRACULA, right as the Golden Age of Horror movies unfortunately came to an end. 

Page from Universal Studio Tour souvenir book

This playset depicts a "monster mansion" instead of Dracula's castle, but the idea was still there that birds of a feather would flock together.

Also, let's expose the dirty secret of this item right here and now:  this is a terrible carrying case, but a super-cool playset.  

With that in mind, here are the features of the playset (by the way, the "Glow-In-The-Dark Features" mentioned on the front are merely a few small stickers that can be added by the owner):

1) Opening door (this feature isn't as cool as you'd think, because it compromises the "carrying case" ability further, as things can fall out.  Also, it really doesn't add much play value...perhaps if it was a better made, plastic door that shut properly.  Also, its weird position created the need for a literal bridge that is included in the punch-out cardstock accessories.

2) Cage (for the Creature From The Black Lagoon).  This is a cardstock grill that encloses a pit in the body of the playset.  Like your dog, the Creature has to get into his crate every night to sleep.

3) Laboratory Table - This is another cardstock item that rotates, with a plastic straw for an axle.  When flipped over, it reveals that it's actually the table for Frankenstein's Monster! Unfortunately, this is accomplished with a rubber band (which over time, deteriorates, no matter what you do).

4) Sarcophagus for The Mummy - Like the Creature's cage, this covers a recessed area  where the Mummy sleeps.

So where do the other three figures go, for transporting? A glaring omission, of course, is a coffin for Dracula, but this still leaves two others.  There is a weird-shaped channel in the floor, which allows necessary room for figures stand (and sit), and you can try to cram them there, but it really doesn't work.

All in all, though, this playset is awesome. It has vintage charm and style in its design, and makes a great display piece.  The materials used are a bit on the cheap side, the argument there being that it was made to be played with, and not saved for decades as a collectible...which is true, of course, but the collector has to be sure of what they are getting, as the plastic-covered cardboard tends to shrink and warp over time, and of course the black molded plastic is rather thin and prone to damage.  And then there are the cardstock accessories. By the way, here are the cards they are punched out of:

The Universal Mini Monsters Line (Remco, 1980)

 

1980 was the center of the Golden Age for four-inch (excuse me; 3 & 3/4") action figures, and in the following three years it would expand even more.  Star Wars dominated (and that word is an  incredible understatement--the sales wrap circles around any feeble, modern numbers) the market, but that year, a tiny action figure line was added by a smaller company with very little fanfare.  It can be argued what the exact title of this line really was:  the figure backing cards call them "Universal Film Monsters" as well as "Universal's Famous Mini Monsters Collection" on the same card.  Their sole playset is labeled as belonging to "Universal City Studio's Mini Monster(s)."  Whatever you call them, you can see that their manufacturer, Remco, was pretty insistent to get the "Mini" into the name.  This was because they had launched another line the year before called "Official Universal Movie Monsters," which were 9-inch figures very similar to what Mego produced (we looked at these in depth earlier this year, which you can read and see here). So why not produce Universal monsters the size of Adventure People or Star Wars figures? As it turns out, it was a great idea!

Here is a look at all six action figures (using their titles as they are presented on the back of the backing cards):

1) Count Dracula - Right away, you can see the Star Wars influence from the vinyl cape.  HOWEVER, this cape is a different color on the inside (Remco also worked in some textures to their capes), so eat that, Kenner!  There's a lot of Lugosi here without being full-on Lugosi (I don't think that was worked out yet), and the open palms were a very interesting and unusual touch for an action figure.  He has some great details on the torso.  Like Kenner's Imperial Dignitary, this figure commonly suffers from nose dings (it's all that neck-biting that does it). 

2) The Wolfman - Clap for the Wolfman! [Say, isn't Wolfman supposed to be two words (hint: it is on the movie title)? Maybe this is supposed to be Marv Wolfman.]  Anyway, this is one of the most unique figures in the group--at first he's just brown-on-brown, but when you pick him up and really look at him closely, he's awesome.  It was a brave decision to depict him as toe-walking (in fact, if you look closely at the back view, it meant they had to accommodate the figure's peg-holes, giving him a bit of a high-heel look).  I want somebody to tell me that they put this figure in their Cantina playset, because I know somebody did.

3) The Mummy - Another stellar, extraordinary figure, because it's not just a guy in a coat and pants, but sculpted all the way around! This figure has lots of menace, and is just asking for his arms to be outstretched, as he shuffles along towards his victim.  Another cool feature was that Karloff was depicted on the front of the card!

4) The Frankenstein Monster - And speaking of Karloff...Sure, Remco should know enough to not just call him "Frankenstein." (The front of the card cleverly says FRANKENSTEIN in a huge font, and "Monster" in fine print.) There are no duds in this line, but I find this figure completely mediocre.  He's servicable, he's passable, but just doesn't have the oomph, the character in the sculpt that the others have had that we've seen.  He's crucial to the collection, of course, just not my personal favorite.  I think what would've elevated this figure was a possible Bride, or even mad doctor, if a second series had happened.  

5) The Phantom Of The Opera - Most kids' least favorite figure in the line (in the aforementioned 9-inch line, this character was a late add, and was unpopular there too--because of this, he's quite expensive today, so think about the outcomes of your choices, kids!).  It doesn't help this figure any that his arms AND legs are cribbed from the Dracula figure. Like Frankenstein's Monster, he's not terrible (his face is actually quite accurate).  At least Lon Chaney is shown on the backing card.  These are Universal Monsters after all, and not "Ernie's Discount Monsters."

6) The Creature From The Black Lagoon - [see Dave Edmunds song of the same title, which is now playing in my head]  My goodness, this figure is AMAZING! The sculpting is detailed, and completely captures the real thing (yes, I said real thing; we do that here).  In the chronology of Universal Monsters, he's a late-comer, a whippersnapper from the 1950's, but his memorable design earned him a spot in the Monster Hall of Fame.  I would've put him in my Cantina, too.

I mentioned peg-holes above, and it's another design cue that these figures took from Kenner.  However, the Remco ones are actually quite a bit smaller, and you may have some trouble with most stands (unless you sand them down that is).

I don't know how successful the Mini Monsters were for Remco, overall.  Instead of issuing a second series (I would've loved the Bride of Frankenstein, Igor and Victor Frankenstein/Generic Mad Doctor, or even other 50's delights like the Mole People or the Metaluna Mutant [come to think of it, Super7 has made some of these...]).  The following year the entire line was remade as GLOW-IN-THE-DARK figures, which is a very cool feature, but meant that most of the figures look paler in their paint jobs, and just not as good as this first go around. (In fact, they even made a 3.75-inch scale version of The Monsterizer to power up the glow figures!)

But, this has run long, and we haven't even looked at the line's one playset yet! We will get caught up next time!

Jill Elliott - I Was Afraid To Love You (promotional-only 45, New World, 1985)

 NOTE: Link is fixed!

Well, here it is.  The infamous, notorious, extremely rare promotional 45 for GODZILLA 1985 that's...not even in the film.

Over recent years, it's become more widely known by fans that there was a plan to bring the 1984 GOJIRA (or THE RETURN OF GODZILLA if you like) to the U.S. as a "wacky parody" and make it "funny."  Thank goodness none of this came to fruition, and lots of people say that Raymond Burr had more than a little to do with stopping this from happening.  He was certainly someone who understood the importance of Godzilla and what the character stood for.  

Anyway, you'd be unable to convince me that the song on this record wasn't at the very least an outgrowth of that plan.  Just look at the label:  "the love theme from the motion picture GODZILLA 1985." It's also telling that it wasn't used as--at the very least--part of the end credits music, like Toho did with their Star Sisters track.

In the end, since the song existed, it was decided to use it in a music video of film clips, and distribute it as a promo 45.  Judging from myriad YouTube comments, the video played on MTV a couple of times, on an Elvira special, and on the beloved Night Flight...and then disappeared.  No word on whether any radio stations actually played the record. There is more than one upload of the video to YouTube if you are so inclined.

If you're familiar with the term "low-hanging fruit," then you understand why it's not even worth making fun of the song itself (it's so bad, it's bad).  Instead, here are some fun facts:

*7-inch, 45 rpm promotional-only single, made and distributed by New World Pictures

*Stereo; 2 minutes 35 seconds

*Same version on both sides (whereas in the old days, you'd get one mono and one stereo version)

*Starts and ends with some added cheesy, looped Godzilla roars...the ending ones are weird and slurred, and reminds me of how they changed Toho roars for early Ultraman monsters.  It's worth pointing out that there are versions of the promotional video on YouTube that have "clean" versions of the song, with no roars at all.

Finally, here is my direct rip of the song from the record itself, in both mp3 and lossless, in all its glory:

Jill Elliott - I Was Afraid To Love You

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS Giant Ad Mat (1969)

 

It's unfortunate that it's been so long between posts, but we at The Sphinx are hard at work on the next editions--and last volume--of our GODZILA GUIDES, in which we attempt to cover all vintage American Godzilla items...which may be a test of sanity.

Anyway, today we look at an unusual "ad mat" or set of ad slicks for DESTROY ALL MONSTERS. This particular one measures 23 by 35 inches! That's nearly as big as a movie poster.  It's one-sided, and as you can see in the photo above, it's really two sets, because no matter how you turn it, one is always upside down.  

At least we can look at the two halves, separately.  Here is a list of what's included (handy for setting up your newspaper page layouts):

Here are the two halves of the ads:

Hard to photograph, impossible to scan, but great stuff! Stay tuned for some big things coming up...we are of course still doing our annual Countdown to Spooky Month, which will start soon (somehow there is still more we haven't shared yet)!

"Manda mangles London"?

GODZILLA vs. THE COSMIC MONSTER: WNYW TV (December 1987)

 

It's the weekend, and you are home by yourself.  Why? Because your parents have gone shopping for the whole day, and they refuse to drag you along anymore because they can't abide your adolescent, contrarian attitude, and are much happier without you....which took them long enough to figure out.  

So anyway, it's time to get your favorite drink mix and make a whole pitcher.  It's time to find a full bag of chips--one that nobody's gotten into yet--and take both downstairs to the TV, to camp out in front of it for the WHOLE DAY.  A glorious entire day of vintage television.

Between the syndicated sitcoms and cartoons comes the afternoon movie! What's on today?

What the--!? JACKPOT! AWESOME!!!

What we have here is a videotape of an original broadcast from the month of December, 1987, from WNYW, channel 5, New York, with the original commercials! May God bless whoever recorded it, because it has survived for us to enjoy today.

As if the movie isn't enough, the ads are amazing.  As you would expect, December meant Christmas ads, so there are some beauties, such as the following:

The NES was down to 80 bucks that  Christmas!

And of course, everything here is VHS quality.  There is a tiny imperfection at the very beginning, where a few frames were lost, so you will have about one second of blue screen when the film starts, due to the very, very start of the tape getting chewed up.  The taper missed some of the original Cinema Shares logo as the film was beginning (which was something that happened back in the VCR days; trying to quickly find a tape, slap it in, and get recording as fast as possible), so I was able to completely restore the correct Cinema Shares logo from YouTube (thanks to the always-awesome H-Man's channel) seamlessly.  

Not only is this a huge treat, but it's kind of like a working time machine.  I do realize they still technically show movies on TV today...but it's not the same.  Not the same at all! Enjoy!

LINK:  GODZILLA vs THE COSMIC MONSTER (WNYW 1987)

P.S. - The Toys R Us ad just about choked me up.

Turns out, Geoffrey is one of the very first people
you meet in heaven, who knew?

Godzilla White Castle Promotional Toys (Strottman International, Inc., 1990)

Here's a little-known footnote in the annals of Godzilla history.  In 1990, there was actually a Godzilla kids' meal promotion.  These days we would think there had to be a new movie, animated show, video game, or something to promote, but this promotion just was.  Even stranger, the promotion was at White Castle.

For anyone who doesn't know, White Castle is the very first fast food hamburger chain in the US, beating McDonald's by many years (in fact, when the McDonald brothers were starting their business, they sent employees to White Castle to learn how they did things).  They are famous for small-sized burgers that can be eaten by the plateful.  The problem is, White Castle is regional.  Even today, they have hundreds of restaurants, but are only in 13 states.

The promotion was called GODZILLA DEVOURS CASTLE MEAL, "Castle Meal" being the name of their kids' meal.  As everybody knows, the most important thing about the kids' meal is the toy, and there were four Godzilla toys to choose from, with a new one each week.  The toys were produced by a company called Strottman International, Inc.

WEEK ONE: Inflatable Godzilla

This was a Godzilla that was constructed like a pool toy.  Imperial of course had issued the famous 6-foot inflatable in 1985 (and would issue several other sizes in 1992), but this is the only other inflatable Godzilla I can think of, and as far as I know, the only other inflatable kids' meal/Happy Meal toy I've ever seen. (It just seems like this sort of thing would be fraught with liabilities today.)

Also, I imagine it was expensive to produce, especially for its intended purpose.  It's also the kind of toy that you give a kid to play with...for a very short time.  Sort of like a balloon (today nobody gives kids balloons; see comment about liability), it's just destined to pop.

WEEK TWO:  GODZILLA SPINNER

Let's be honest and just call this a "throwing star," and get it over with.  This is one of those toys that looks super-awesome but doesn't always work the way it's supposed to (there are suction cups all around the edges).  It's definitely one of the most appealing toys in the group, the kind of thing that would be on the header card for a gumball machine, and I'd put rolls of quarters in, trying to win it. It just looks so cool.

WEEK THREE: GODZILLA FLYER

The Godzilla flyer is a 6-inch mini-frisbee.  It bears a relief of the same Godzilla portrait that can be found on the throwing st--I mean, spinner.  Interestingly, this and the spinner are the only places in this promotion where you can see the now-classic GODZILLA logo, you know the one.  The one that started in 1977 for everything that said KING OF THE MONSTERS, such as the Marvel comic:

I just thought that was interesting, as everywhere else in the promotion, there are just various fonts used.

WEEK FOUR: GODZILLA WATER SQUIRTER

This may be the most famous toy of the group.  It would be hard for me to pick a favorite, though.  I don't love the sculpt here, but it is really the only full, figural representation of the four.  The inflatable was a brave inclusion, but I think this one would better stand up to being played with.  

Also, this toy included paperwork.  You would expect one side of the little flyer to be instructions on how to draw up water into the toy, but nope.  It's just informative:

32-OUNCE PLASTIC CUPS

One other collectible included in this line were four different plastic cups.  It's easy to miss the fact that there was actually a different one each week, especially since the cups look very much alike at first glance.  Here is a photo from ACTION FIGURE NEWS #5 (Winter 1992) that shows all four together:

There are also various store displays from this promotion that exist.  All in all, the White Castle Godzilla promotion of 1990 is like a wrinkle in time (I've heard that phrase before somewhere).  It seems like something from an alternate, better universe.  I mean, who didn't always want classic Godzilla Happy Meals? And it actually happened!