One small error in the video. You discussed the make up master Lon Chaney as Lon Chaney Jr. Lon Chaney Jr. was the Wolfman while his father Lon Chaney was the innovator of horror make up effects with the groundbreaking Phantom of the Opera
Interesting sidenote: Lon Chaney Jr actually did learn some make-up effects, presumably from his father, but never got a chance to use them for a film due to the cosmeticians' union. Check out the behind-the-scenes shots of the caveman makeup he created for his role in 'One Million B.C.' (it's much better than the design the filmmakers ended up going with)!
@@EdsRetroGeekOut You did a great job and were spot on with much of your info...of which you’d have to be a serious Monster Kid of the era to know....so I wouldn’t sweat it. We collectors and monster kids love our details.... I just found out this past weekend that Bela Lugosi had a connection to Coronado Calif and he’s a popular name in that somewhat exclusive part of San Diego (actually..It’s an Island connected to downtown San Diego via the Coronado Bridge) after living here my whole life. I do know his family takes action to secure any rights associated with his likeness as it relates to Universal Monsters Dracula...which I think is the reason that AHi had to have their Dracula figure/Packaging separate from the other classic Monsters. Thank You for all the hard work and I for one really enjoyed this video, and you’re probably the only one who pronounces “Frankenstein’s” monster correctly, I know I don’t say it right 😉
@@EdsRetroGeekOut Bit of a long shot, but do you have a citable source for the psychologist consultation you mentioned that Aurora undertook? (I'm doing some broader research into this). Many thanks :)
Where most youtubers would cover maybe 3 popular toy lines over 20 minutes and call it a day, you sir have gone above and beyond with this deep dive into horror history. Keep up the good work
A very popular hobby among millennial kids (at least here in Mexico) was to paint the Cinema Creatures figures with acrylic paint. I did several versions of each myself, and been itching to do some more lately...
I am glad that you added Monster Force to this list, Universal should of used Monster Force as The Base for The Dark Universe being how they wanted to put their monsters together.
That would have been a cool premise but they split all the monsters up in good and evil and that’s weird to me, monster squad remake would have been great tough 😅 just a bit more serious
I really enjoyed your post. I covered a lot of material and was very informative. I have been a monster kid since I saw one of the Universal Mummy films with my Dad in our basement in the late 1950's. This was a nice walk down memory lane for me. Thanks again for a excellent presentation.
Another great video sir! Always fun, entertaining & educational! Here's another fun fact: the Marx monster molds were purchased by a company in the late 80s early 90s Uncle Milton. They even kept the Marx indent on the bottom & made them glow in the dark! There were 6 of them: Wolfman, Mummy, Frankenstein, Hunchback, Phantom of the Opera & Creature from the Black Lagoon. (I still have a case box somewhere.) Not much action, but awesome for the glow! Thanks for all of your hard work here Ed!
I shoot a lot in the SFX make up industry and being around monster fans I get to see so many collections. I still think the Motorized Monster Maker was one of the coolest toys ever
When around 8 I found a box full of stuff from my dad's childhood, and inside there were the boxes of the first line aurora model monsters in amazing shape, the creature, Frankenstein's and Dracula. I think the shock was too much for me because it shaped me emotional and professionally. Great stuff just shared this.
This was actually a really good mini-documentary on the classic horror movie monster toys. I never personally watched any of the classic universal horror films because I'm more of a slasher film fan but I respect their importance in popular culture and their relevance in the overall horror movie genre. The toys never really had any appeal to me because I remember growing up I literally had no interest in collecting horror related toys and it also didn't help that I was deathly afraid of horror films from the age of 11 to my middle teen years.
You also had mummies alive! During the 90s that played on the spooky thing. Not to mention the creepy swamp thing toys along with those toxic crusaders. Love the video Ed!
Back in the mid to late 80s I collected two comic series' called Gespenster Geschichten and Geistergeschichten - both translate to ghost stories - books with short, a few pages long horror stories that more often than not were a bit silly but a fun read on the way to school.
ok... I just f*king love your work here, with one script so simple but so true. I always end up again feeling atracted to the classic monster, no matter how many creepy pastas they make, or how many creatures like slenderman they do, the classics are always gone be there for me.
YESSSS! Great topic! Loved the Real Ghostbusters Monsters Line and I’ve been hooked ever since. I’m about to do a vid over Mcfarlane’s Monster Playsets. They are pretty dope!
My favorite monster toy line (and the only on this theme I own) is the Monster in my Pocket. They were released in the early 90's by Matchbox. Here in Brazil they were released by Panini. I still love these rubbery monochromatic guys!
Sideshow's "Silver Screen Edition" 8" figure of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster from 2000 is the perfect representation of my favourite Universal monster! Entertaining as always - thank you!
There was a line of teddy bears in the Uk in the 80s called Werebears which were basically teddy bear werewolves which were pretty fun. In America they were released as Beasty Bears with unique color schemes for the US and Canada.
@@EdsRetroGeekOut I have a signed CftBL action figure. It's signed by Ricou Browing who did all the underwater scenes. He was a professional swimmer and he wasn't allowed to use an oxygen tank at all! So sometimes he'd be down there for 2 or 3 minutes without breathing. Pretty insane stuff!
Great video, exactly what I was looking for!! We are in the middle of a Monster Toy resurgence actually, what with Super 7's amazing offerings, and LEGO dipping their toes in with a Brick Headz Frankenstein!!!
Favorite is creature from the black lagoon and best toy of his to me is from the monster force cartoon show that you mentioned in the video. Wish that Monster Squad the movie would of had toys made because that creature was one of my favorite on screen versions.
My favorite classic monster would probably be a tie between Dracula (vampires in general) and the Wolfman. I really liked the way they were reimagined for the Monster Force line of toys.
Great video! Sad that The Monster Squad didn't get a mention. I saw that movie when I was WAY too young and it gave me night terrors for years. But any movie with Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite as a werewolf can't be all bad!
I always loved Frankenstein's monster growing up, and the Real Ghostbusters Frankenstein toy was my favorite to play with. That figure may not be the best Frankenstein toy, but it has a lot of nostalgia for me.
The "Screaming Heroes" was a silly concept, but I did like the toys of the Universal Monsters that the Ghostbusters toyline made as well. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-i3tr_WEo5x4.html
I had the creature from the black lagoon back in the late 60s or maybe it was the early 70s . It was small about 6 inches tall and set on a pedestal shaped like a rock. Also it glowed in the dark. Wicked cool.
I've always been partial to Werewolves even though there aren't that many good Werewolf movies out there. American Werewolf in London, Howling and Dog Soldiers are all great though.
12:13 I'm so glad you mentioned the TMNT monster figures, if anything that shows that the 90's was the last time that the Universal Monsters had a strong presence in pop culture and for better or for worse, kinda took away the scare factor from many of them due to Universal putting then literally everywhere (anyone remember the Pinball machine where they form a rock band? Or them selling Doritos and sodas in supermarkets?) And only a few of them manage to remain relevant such as Brendan Fraser The Mummy trilogy, which I believe should had been the film series where Universal should had launched its Dark Universe instead of now being way too late.
This is an absolutely AMAZING episode. Very informative and comprehensive. Great work as always. I would like to point out a flub near the beginning: Lon Chaney, not Lon Chaney Jr, was The Phantom of the Opera - as well as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Jon Chaney Jr would make his claim to fame as The Wolfman. He also would portray Alucard, The Mummy (in sequels to the Boris Karloff classic), as well as The Frankenstein Monster.
Great video Ed! I can’t imagine the time it took to put together. That’s a lot of information! Very entertaining! My favorite is the Alien ! I liked the Freddie Kruger knockoff that looks like he stole Where’s Waldos shirt! Lol
Aww man I was hoping you'd give a shout out to The Monster Squad from the 80's while talking about toys in that era. "Wolfman's got nards!" still rings in my ears to this day. Anyhow, good stuff Ed. Another Spooktacular toy history video. I've noticed that Mego has released a few recent classic horror monsters in an 8 inch line. They actually look pretty good. I've seen the Wolfman and Dracula. I picked up a Nosferatu figure from a local discount store. I'd like to get some of the others.
I'm also excited that Storm Collectibles is doing Darkstalkers toys. When I first saw a monster fighting game from Capcom in arcades I was hooked. They took those classic monsters and made some awesome characters out of them.
Forgotten Prisoner was my first ,then Wolfman ,Gillman ,Frank,then Mummy.Man ,buildin & painting ,was the best.Displayed w/ Posters of the films along with some masks, was my bedroom look!
I actually found the 1964 Aurora Gigantic Frankenstein in the original box for $5 a couple of years ago. I was surprised how much it went for when I got back home 😳
Being a Monster Kid from Back in the day, (1972 to now) I gotta say, favorite Monster is Godzilla, and have tons of it, but I have many things of all Monsters that I've collected over my 54 years will have to do a Collection video some day...
I love the Burger King kids meals toys! I recently found my Creature from the black lagoon toy a few days ago! After some cleaning up on him he still spits out water like new!
I had both the entire Remco 3.75" Universal Monsters, and the larger Imperial line, minus the Mummy. I recently picked up Remco Frankenstein, and I spotted Dracula at my favorite toy vendor yesterday, and planning to head back to grab him. I've also been picking up the McDonald's homage to that line, which are about as faithful as could be without being straight knock offs (though it hugs that line very closely, and anyone could be forgiven for mistakenly thinking they were the very toys they played with several decades ago). I actually have to praise all three of these lines each for being phenominal at what they are, and the has to doubly go for the fast food Remco knock offs because they are actual quality figures, and if you're going to knock off, knock off the best. The Imperial really got the detail down on three of the four, but Remco's original had my heart because it was in my cherished Star Wars scale, with the cool glow in the dark feature, and gave me the most interplay. Boy did I want figures of Jason and Freddy in the 80's and early 90's, and Casey Jones was not the most satisfying substitute for Jason, but he was the best I had. If only I had a time machine, and could get my dad and my younger self started on customizing action figures, I can't even begin to imagine what would have come from it, considering some of the amazing things he built from cardboard, glue and plaster. I just had no idea what was possible, so I played with what I had and daydreamed about figures that could be. Now I am developing the skills to make what I want myself, but I'm also living in a time when just about anything I dream about is available and within reach, not a wild safari or panning for gold, but a few clicks lets me fill my digital cart with not only the Remco figures from my childhood, but also the ReAction additions like the Bride of Frankenstein that got skipped over. It is an amazing time to look back, and even without spending money to collect what we had, we can still click on some awesome retrospective videos, dive deep into what we had, what we missed, the history and what made them great and share the appreciation with others online.
Excellent horror themed toy video love this stuff! I was once in Iowa and went to The American Pickers store and on a tall shelf behind the cash register they had some of those Aurora universal monster models I asked how much they wanted for them, but cashier told me “not for sale” as they belonged to the Skinny Picker from his childhood 😒
Awesome video Ed i grew up with the universal monsters i had the smaller remco figures! Man i wish i still had my creature figure. My favorite was creature for sure with the invisible man a close second.
@@EdsRetroGeekOut Ive seen a few of them theyve gotten pretty expensive, i told my monster buddies to check out your video you did a killer job on the monster toys
For me nothing beats the Aurora models with their glow in the dark parts, I had the full set, I enjoyed putting them together and painstakingly painting them, sadly long-since gone from my possession. My favourite "monster" is the Creature from the Black Lagoon, surely someone will remake that film, one day?!
the universal monsters are my favourite movies, great upload, i have a neca Frankenstein, its classic looking but its not a classic figure, if i wasn't poor i would have all these classic monster figures, especially gre-gory it reminds of the bat decepticon whos name has slipped my mind, anyway what a awesome upload to wake up 2, cant wait for the next 1
The new Super 7 classic monster figs are pretty good, and Mego just put out an Igor figure from Young Frankenstein!! I almost 💩'd my pants. I think the Remco figs and haunted house playset are my faves.
I can't pick a favorite. I love The Invisible Man, Frankenstein('s monster), and the Gill Man. I actually got to meet Ricou Browning a couple years ago. He signed my Creature from the Black Lagoon Funko Pop.
Oh my gosh. I’m soo happy u featured universal monsters. I’m mainly a Star Wars collector. But i have a thing to collect universal monsters in different toy lines. Like tmnt, ghost busters, etc. I want them all 🤣 I just recently acquired that Burger King universal monsters set🥰
My favorite Universal Monsters are the Wolf Man and the Phantom of the Opera. And what upsets me is that the Phantom doesn't get that much attention compared to the other monsters.
Wow, you totally missed the ALIEN lines, GODZILLA, PREDATOR, and current GREMLINS figures. But you really did a good job with the history of monster toys !
