K is for Kinder's Kooky Karacters!

And . . . so to the missing post, I'd had the first two figures in the 'Halloween 2022' folder for a year or so, but when I started to collate all the other kwik-Kinder posts we've had in the last month or two, I renamed it and moved it to the Kinder section (2032), so it's been sitting five lines below the Halloween section (2033) in the Picasa index for the whole time I couldn't find it . . . sometimes I'm so dumb I'm a danger to myself; I don't care if I'm a danger to others, that's their lookout!

The left-hand pumpkin-head is by Zeta Espacial Sa., circa-2006, while the right-hand figure is a plug-together from Kinder, also 1980's (ran for a while) which came in various colours some of which the Germans get very excited about, but only if they know what they're looking for, they can all still be 99p on evilBay, or less as part of a mixed lot!

These I think were late 1980's or 1990's, and when I say "think", I mean I don't care! I've got the book back here to give chapter and verse, as I did the other night (to make a point), but really, if you need the code, estimated value and date, go find a Kinder site, there are dozens of very good ones.

Anyway, around that time there were two or three of these 'styrene sets of 'solids', which are of Ghosts doing everyday things, sometimes with a twist; painting one side of a wall from the other, sometimes not; reading a book?

While these are more recent, but include the same ghost trope with other characters, including a 'devil dog' chasing . . . . not sure, his own Ghost, a Ghostly rat? It's not clear! Likewise; "What's in the bag, sinister guy; kittens to drown"? And why is there a Werewolf in a bright-yellow flasher-mac? Very odd - is some of this Kinder shite!

Close-ups of the previous set, five of six and what is it . . .  a rabbit Ghost? All the pale bits - Ghosts, chased animal and sack are glow-in-the-dark, and I think the Werewolf has a cam-wheel connected to his working jaw? Some of these were shot a while ago and I didn't take many notes!

Not so Halloween'y, but it's a little Devil, the joke is he's stepping on the angel's scales to trick him into thinking he's overweight, but as he (the Putti)'s floating on clouds he should weight nothing! The set was of various mean-spirited actions by similar Imps!

These were the 2000's I think and again there may have been more than one set of Vampirellis, a very Italian-sounding title, because they are ultimately an Italian product.

These are odd; they are modern'ish 12/15 years back, maybe less? They are sealed Ghosts in a glasslike clear plastic, before they are sealed a very small 3 or 4mm's dice is placed in the cavity, so you can learn gambling!

Except it's quite hard to read the dice, and they sort of look like they are Ghosts of specific things, while also being pretty abstract designs, and the 'Championgho*st' graphic is given a medieval banner twist.

Another one from the MPG years (current), and also rather whacky stuff, almost channeling the daft plastic model-kits of Aurora, Revell and Pyro's 'Ed Roth'-esque and grotesque horror/surf-culture, back in the day, but very small!

It seems to me however, that while there's always something interesting around (Barbie and Superhero figures in recent years), the whole concept has lost something since MPG took over the management of the - now web-linked - toys? I guess trends, tastes and fashions move on!

I haven't even looked these up, recent additions; I think the one on the left is Kinder, but the one on the right may not be? I really don't care; it'll all come out in the wash, and while accuracy at that level will be needed on the A-Z Blogs, it's not so necessary here where narrative nonsense is fine!

Anyway, that's the [fun] horror stuff I've got for now, it's a few hours later than I said it was about to be in an eMail about three, four (?) hours ago, but i had to go out, then the cat puked - very Halloween! Something else tomorrow, and cheers to Brain, Chris and Theo for the other stuff earlier today. Happy Halloween!

100 is for Monsters . . . Not . . . quite!

With any luck I'll have this up before midnight and we're back where we started, with SCS Direct, this time it's the Horror set, now listed as Horror Set I on the back of the Fantasy box, but still Monsters on the toob.

Having the same contents and carrier as the one which confused me back in 20218 on Shaun's site, but not the same as the ones Peter Evans sent me the same year, missing here are all the zombies bar the one eating an arm! Although between the two I don't think I'm missing any now, but there must have been a Zombie mix at some point?

So a briefer visit than this morning's as we are reprising a previous post - with the packaging as the 'new information' - and Shaun's already there! This time you're getting around seven-boxes equivalent of Airfix for the money, but the contents are a lot shakeir than this morning's with little consistency and another short-count!

I've highlighted the more obvious anomalies in red, the only real pain is the spider; only two and neither of them in light grey, one gets the feeling there should be four? The gravestone also gets an odd mix, while with the Mummy and the man-bat, it's just overload!

It was the 'Mothma' (for Godzilla to play with!) and everything on the bottom row we didn't see last time, although - obviously - apart from the spider, I now have all of them in both colours. Comments last time apply equally here but the moth is not very good, I mean they are all a bit cartoony-harmless, but the moth is too cuddly by half!

From the backs/undersides, really I'm a bit pissed-off with the spider situation and will have words on my Amazon feedback! There's more too it! So, that's Halloween; coming-in over-budget but on time!

MPC is for Many Pestilent Creatures!

Bit of a box-ticker, but - like the Cherilea Chinese the other day - a nice set, while also perfect for Halloween!

MPC's 60mm horror figure set, I think I have all of them, and seem to remember reading that some of these are 'late' colours and some 'early', which - as they all came together from serious collectors - must make mine an intermediate sample!

The set references various tropes of popular culture as applied to horror, gothic sensibilities or the occult and from top left to bottom-right in either image are;

Count Dracula/Vampire type

Dr Frankenstein's Monster/Lurch type

Wolf-Man/Werewolf (with bat's ears?)

Mummy/Zombie

Death/The Grim Reaper

Living Dead/Skeleton (with pet bat)

Psycho/Night-stalker/Ripper/Serial-killer type (the one I don't like!)

Witch (with drunken pet bat!)

Pretty standard MPC base marks and hole, really just here to make the post!

Now this is nice; obviously around 120mm, and made in a sort of . . . well . . . foamed polystyrene? But not expanded, soft packaging type stuff, it's more like the recycled mixed polymers you get turned into beams for residential-street name-plates or park bench struts? Anyway - it's tough and hard wearing, a bit cartoony but really a nice sculpt of a Count Dracula type vampire about to pounce.

I just can't remember where it came from; I think it was a purchase, but it may have come from someone, so apologies if I'm not crediting you? And no markings of any kind, so a branding/origin still sought for this fine chap.

 

He's the Charbens 4-and-1/2-inch range, they did several and a Batman & Robin

Y is for Yet 'Ee is or Yet 'Ee isn't . . . a Yeti?

I had this chap marked up as a knock-off Chewie from the War of Stars, but, he doesn't have a cross belt liberally adorned with quick-release para-buckles!

Also, he has 'cartoon' hands with three chubby fingers, so I wonder if he may be from a set of something related to kids-TV like Scoobie-Doo or Tin Tin? Is he a Yeti, a Wookie or Mr. James the school-teacher, hoping not to be unmasked by some pesky kids in a hippyfied camper-van?

Posed with a few other hairy lycan types, namely Tim Mee late production Galaxy Laser Team's oh-no-no-no-absolutely-not-no-never-a-wookie . . . err 'Wookie' and MPC's bat-eared wool-uff-man!

Posed with Applause's Luke (hair's wrong for Luke, is it the other one? Dirk Buzzlight? Dick Lightly?), he is still not tall enough (the furry one) so he remains a mystery, but someone must have him pegged?!

Now known to be from the board game 'Bigfoot' from Waddinton's and Milton Bradley/MB Games, and the later 1980's version, not the 1977 version which also has a Bigfoot model still to be added to the collection! He's had two bars removed which would enable him to slot into the game apparatus and kick rocks at the cartoonish running player-figures which i also have somewhere

A is for All Hallows' Eve - Mystery Monsters

So, these are a mystery and a treat, they are a treat because they were in the August lot  form Peter Evans, and while he was probably thinking of catching Rack Toy Month, they had to be held-over 'till today! But they are also a mystery because they seem to be part of a much larger selection which different importers/jobbers or other clients are picking 'selections' from?

The best way for me to explain is for you to first check-out this post from 'Fantasy Soldiers' Shaun on the SCS Direct set, then look at last year's contribution from Brian Berke, and as we go through the sample from Peter you'll see both similarities, identicalities (which should be a word!) and differences between all three 'lots', although the Greenbrier/SCDT ones are probably knock-offs?

The whole lot; as they arrived, I wondered if the extra small-zombie (bottom right) was deliberate or accidental, as the pair take the sample-count to 21 one feels the extra may have been picked-up by the packing machinery and flicked into 'my' bag as an extra, but he's small enough to be included to make the two 'equal' to a whole one.

Either possibility has merit, but once you see how different this set is from Shaun's, you suspect it may not be complete (there was no packaging) or that it is a whole set of Zombies with some monsters thrown in? There are no pale-grey versions either.

Plain zombie types, there is an element of cartoonishness shared with the set from Terranova last year, and as they are zombies, you could lose a lot of the 'fun-look', with paint - lots of blood methinks!

The sausages for a farm-fresh breakfast I promised two days ago, except we both know it isn't a string of sausages, don't we . . . euuwwe! These four are all doing stuff, although in the case of the first it's just wearing an axe as a hat! The other three are eating body-parts - nice!

Common cinema/popular-culture tropes again with - from the left; a mummy, vampire/Count Dracula, werewolf/Wolf Man type and another vision of Dr Frankenstein's monster.

More mythological are an Indo-Asian looking cyclopean, a devil/Satan bat-type and an itty-bitty baby Godzilla, although given it was a man in a rubber-suit and all the scale was 'in the studio set' it's actually an accurate man-in-a-Godzilla-suite sculpt! Missing from the SCS tub on Shaun's Blog is the Aquaman/Marine-boy/Man-fish/Sea Monster type.

Also missing from that set are the gravestones and giant insects.

This mummy is in a hurry, and here he's compared to one we'll be looking at later today courtesy of Brian, for all intents and purposes they are 'classic' 54mm, unpainted toy figures and happily carrying Airfix or Marx's torch into the 21st century.

Back to zombies and a couple of humans; again the humans are quite comical in their hysteria but this is where you notice the similarities with last year's figures from Brian, although the previous lot had the rack-toy flash not seen on these, the sculpting, plastic colour, large bases and grave-stones seem to tie them into the other two SCS sets as well as this mixed sample.

The duplicate/question-mark pose and a figure which - due to the cartoonish 'Mad Magazine' facial features of all of them - could be a fearful human or over-active zombie? Or, a sort of 'Carrie' figure; chasing after the mummy!

Cheers Peter, lovin'em!