Strange Change model kit ad

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:

The "Strange Change" model kit ads
(Click on images to view full size.)

I've been having a blast going through my collection bookcases lately, mining them for material to post on my blogs, here on Sweet Skulls and Monster Memories. Usually, the only time I would get into them very much was when I was packing them up for a move. That was a killer; if you look at them in this picture, you might never guess that they would fill up ten banana boxes each. That's 30 heavy boxes total. I hope I never have to move them again, but that's hoping for too much, I suppose. Otherwise, I only reached into them occasionally as I was looking for something to read on a bathroom visit that threatened to be of extended length. Under such circumstances, you grab what you can off the top of a stack and hoof it!

Now, though, I am seeing things I haven't seen in years, re-discovering items I had forgotten I had. In many cases it's like seeing a friend you haven't come across in years.

Anyway, these ads for the "Strange Change" model kits from the early 70's were something I had forgotten about completely. It must have been well over 30 years since I saw these ads and thought about them! Or course, I never owned one of the kits; if you've read this blog much you know I kept my collecting to things like books, magazines and comics that could fit flat in a drawer, for easy hiding and quick packing. But that didn't keep me from reading and wishing!

"Ah, excuse me, do you have any toilet paper over there? Hello?"

The Vampire was the one I wanted most; I mean, changing from a "living" vampire to a skeleton, and back, how incredibly cool was that? I thought it was the coolest idea in the whole line of hobby kits put out in the MPC line, including the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean kits. It was like a scene from a Hammer Dracula movie!

"Goodbye, I'm off to the age of dinosau....Aaaiieee!"

I always thought it was "strange" that the time machine had the monsters appear inside the craft, but I guess they were taking dramatic license, and assumed that we kids would figure it out that it wasn't merely a fatal design flaw by a careless inventor.

"Close it, close it! Gosh, this is my private time, Mom!"

The Mummy was kind of neat, but he only got a little distressed and dishevelled in his change, not that big a difference. I think the Wolfman would have been a better candidate for a dramatic change. But what would they have put him in? A dog kennel?

If they wanted a truly strange change, they could have made one where Frankenstein's monster changes into the Bride! But that would have been a little ahead of it's time.

Of course, the ultimate would have been to make one with Vampirella; where she changes between slightly dressed and completely undressed! Ah, one can dream...

Don't forget to visit my other blog: Monster Memories!

Skeletal Pirates

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:

The Pirates of the Caribbean Skeleton art

(Image source)

The cool skeleton pirate artwork by Anne Stokes pictured above nicely kicks off this post on the Disney "Pirates of the Caribbean" hobby kit ads. I was going through some of my old comics the other day when I ran across this 4-page ad for the launch of the then-new hobby kits based on Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean," which wasn't even a movie at the time. I scanned them in a high resolution so you can enjoy the details.

(Click for large versions)

Although the actual "zap" action sound was more like a faint "click," we won't fault the marketers. The skeletons were pretty cool.

Before video games, the "whoosh" and "zap" were pretty exciting for kids of the day.

Although I never owned one of the Pirates kits (I was content just to have the Forgotten Prisoner), I always thought they were neat and liked the ads. They weren't ones that you quickly skipped over to finish the rest of the comic story... no, these were worthy of being read and each detail soaked in. This particular comic I remember reading when I was sick once. I had opened my small suitcase where I stored all my comics, and spread them out all around me on the bed. Then I read all day, and being sick wasn't so bad. I still wish I had the suitcase, just for the memories associated with it. I can still hear the particular "clunks" that the lock clasps made as I popped them open, and the scent of the old paper within as the top went up. I do have the comics, though, and nothing takes me back to being a kid faster than taking them out of the bookcase now and going through them again.

Here's a picture of one built that I found on an eBay page...


"Avast, ye scoundral! Leggo me leg bone a'fore I makes a suitcase outta ye."

The Famous Monsters ad so many kids were familiar with.

And below are some box art images for your enjoyment. The artwork was really the best part about the whole thing, and I think it would be neat to have these enlarged and framed on my wall... if said wall wasn't already taken up with my framed Halloween LP covers. The last two were apparently added later after the success of the first five.

For some reason, "Fate of the Mutineers" was my favorite by a small margin, and if I had bought one it would have most likely been it. The idea of one trying to help another out of the quicksand, only to yank his arm bones off, appealed to my twisted sense of humor.

Below are some images of the Pirates models and toy figures available now. Much nicer, and better. But, they don't have the memories that the original kits do!

(Image Source)

And to wrap this post up in the same manner as it was begun, here is a superlative skull and crossbones by Anne Stokes. I will be featuring her incredible artwork in a post soon!

Remembering the Forgotten Prisoner

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:
Aurora's Forgotton Prisoner of Castel-mare

"He’s the last remaining prisoner from years gone by. Long since passed, and now all that remains are his bones as proof to his existence. His crimes have long been forgotten. His sentence fulfilled. However, this unfortunate prisoner was lost in the system, and now his bones are the only remains that hang from the dreaded shackles of his prison cell. Until now."

Oh, man... this brings my younger days back so clearly I can actually smell the model glue and paint. And the giddy, light-headed feeling I had while working on it in 1974 had very little to do with the fumes. Even today, taking out my little Prisoner model invokes such a strong sense of nostalgia that it almost hurts. Among the relics of my youth, only a few survive, and I'm grateful this one did. I had stored it away in a box of collected goodies in my grandmother's guest bedroom closet. Since her house was my one refuge from the strain of a controlling and intolerent stepfather, I kept the things I treasured there, for I had seen more than one item go into the flames of the trash barrel simply because my having them irritated him.

He was an ex-Army sargent, a hunter and construction worker with a sixth-grade education; while I was a bookwormish monster-loving kid who had an artistic bent. Needless to say we clashed, and I always came out on the losing end, being a pacifistic kid who loved nothing more than finding a quiet place to read my comic books. Unfortunately, that also irritated him. That's why my weekend stays at Grandma's house, a haven of love, freedom and normalcy, loom so large in my good memories. Stress-free afternoons reading my newest Monster Times or Castle of Frankenstein, putting together a model, and evenings watching the good stuff on TV: "Kung Fu," "Planet of the Apes," Night Stalker," and the Saturday Night Movie.

The Skeleton in my closet

Over a decade after I built my Forgotten Prisoner model, I re-discovered it in that box in the closet when I went to bring the things I had stored there into my own home. It was in several pieces, but easily fixed and lovingly touched up (except for a missing foot). It was funny, for he had become forgotten for awhile, but he was relocated, restored and placed in a collection bookcase for safe-keeping. Now he comes out yearly and joins the Halloween decorations on the mantle.

It's ironic that the one model that is most remembered by Monster Kids is the one called The Forgotten Prisoner. My lonely friend, you are not forgotten. You are fondly remembered and loved. I think I related to you a lot.

As much as it means to me, you won't find a picture of my own Prisoner on this page; my efforts are painting him were amaturish next to these awesome examples and not worthy to be compared. But you will see some great interpretations of the Prisoner paint job, all of which are terrific. Enjoy!

http://www.lowbudgetrecords.com/models/prisoner.htm

http://gobedelighted.blogspot.com/2007/09/talk-like-pirate-day.html

http://www.monstersinmotion.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/11444




http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=171006

The two images above come from a great FP page: http://www.tylisaari.com/models/fp/forgotten.htm

http://www.horror-wood.com/skeleton.htm

http://www.bobbysmonstermodels.com/prisoner.html

http://www.monstersontheshelf.com/id59.html

http://www.majormattmason.net/stevendemarco/prisoner.htm


http://www.markatherton4.com/prisoner.html

http://plmodels3.tripod.com/mindiola2.htm

http://museum.theclubhouse1.net/submissions/scottterry1.htm

http://home.earthlink.net/~steven_demarco/id12.html

http://www.professorplastik.com/monster_site/proscenium/kits/prisoner_kit/prisoner_kit.htm

http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l118/S_Coffey/?action=view&current=IMG_0129.jpg

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/showphoto.php/photo/27515/cat/500/ppuser/15338

A new larger version is available! Wow, but for the price I would possess this...

http://www.monstersinmotion.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/663

Here's a Youtube video of "a" forgotton prisoner that's pretty funny. Not a re-creation of our beloved bones, but in the same spirit.

I plan on making a life-sized re-creation of the Forgotten Prisoner for a Halloween display this coming October. I'll post images if my plans come to fruition!