C.R.A.P. Files 003

Opened another box of C.R.A.P. or “Collectibles Retained and Packed” tucked away in the garage and this one contained some real goodies.

First out of the box was Series One and Series Two of Todd McFarlane’s Monster Playsets.

These sets were produced in the mid 90’s and featured highly detailed action figures and set pieces creating a unique scene with a huge twist of originality.

These toys would be great references pieces when building a room for a haunted house or a display because they are way cool.

Set one included the Hunchback, Werewolf, Frankenstein and Dracula.

Series two consisted of The Sea Creature, The Mummy, The Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Frankenstein.

What’s really cool is that you can combine the Frankenstein sets from both series into one totally kick ass Mad Lab Monster set.

The only set I have opened was Dr. Frankenstein Series Two because toys deserve to be played with and not sealed inside a plastic box.

If you haven’t checked out McFarlane toys be sure to do so because they are a cut above the rest and did I mention that they are way cool?

Monster Books from Crestwood House

Here is yet another cool find from our Salvation Army Thrift Store in Midland, MI. The cool find is a set of six “movie monster” books from Crestwood House out of Mankato, Minnesota. The books were produced and designed by Baker Street Productions, LTD., and after a quick Google search I discovered at least 15 more titles in the series.

The books I found are The Mole People, Bride of Frankenstein, Tarantula, Ghost of Frankenstein, The Raven and Werewolf of London, all copyrighted 1985 by MCA PUBLISHING, a Division of MCA Inc.

The books originally came from our local library which makes me wonder if kids don’t groove on picture books of black & white films made in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s?

The books are loaded with movie stills and the text is a well written summary of film. Good stuff and a great find for anyone that loves Halloween, horror and cinema.

Morning Friends

I would guess that 99 percent of you recognize the images on the boxes above.

These three guys are unsung American heroes, working everyday to provide a tasty breakfast for children as well as fostering an ongoing love of monster icons.

I present you with General Mill’s monster-themed cereals; Count Chocula, Franken Berry and Boo Berry.

Did you know there were two other fruit flavored cereals in the lineup that are no longer available?

Yup.

Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy used to be part of the gang but have been retired.

Growing up we weren’t privileged to much sweetened cereal so it wasn’t until several years ago I first tasted the sugary goodness of The Count and his friends. I won’t comment on the taste but I do so love the artwork and the characters.

Here’s some more info from the folks at Wikopedia:

“In 1971, the first two cereals in the line were introduced, the still-available Count Chocula and (strawberry flavored) Franken Berry. Boo Berry was released two years later, in 1973, and Fruit Brute appeared a year after that, in 1974. Fruit Brute was discontinued by 1983 and replaced in 1987 by Fruity Yummy Mummy, which also had a short life and was discontinued in 1993[citation needed]. Boo Berry and Franken Berry are sometimes mistakenly thought to be discontinued as well. In reality, their distribution is just much lower and more sporadic than that of the flagship cereal Count Chocula. The best time of the year to find Boo Berry and Franken Berry is around Halloween[citation needed].

Target and Wal-Mart are among the stores that have been known to carry these more scarce cereals during October in time for Halloween. They can be found year-round in the Midwest at Wal-Mart Supercenters and on Amazon.com, and in the Southeast in many stores.

In addition, they have been spotted year-round in some Wal-Mart Supercenters in the East[citation needed].

Somewhat unusual for retired advertising characters, Fruity Yummy Mummy and Fruit Brute continue to be seen on the occasional piece of official merchandise: in recent years, both a resin model kit, and a bobblehead doll have been sold in their images[citation needed].

The commercials for the cereals were memorable as it was usually a battle of the monsters when they would tout their own cereals, but would jump in sheer fright when anything interrupted their attempted one-upmanship of one another.”

Much more information regarding these cereals can be found via google but for now I thought it would be nice to give a shout out to these morning friends because when you consider everything going on in the world today, what could be better than starting your day with some Halloween themed friends?

Hop Diggity Frog!

Hop Diggity Dog it looks like I made some frogs, actually five different frogs made from recycled materials and papier mache. Check out the tutorial for lots of pics and instructions!

Dad's Monster Book

In 2005 I was given a very special present from my oldest son for Father’s Day. The gift was a 12”x9” spiral bound sketch diary filled with 30 different drawings of monsters and mayhem.

The book was appropriately titled “Dad’s Monster Book.”

It is so very easy to dismiss a child’s piece of artwork but if you stop for a moment and take a close look you will discover so many wonderful ideas that our adult brains couldn’t even start to conceive. A child’s interpretation of the world is fascinating and very telling. Not sure I want to know what “Dad’s Monster Book” says about my son or me for that matter.

Drawing monsters is nothing new to my boys, since they could first hold a crayon I’ve been deluged with drawings of skeletons, bats and graveyards.

Am I proud?

Hell yes!