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!

Dracula Returns! Again!

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:
The skullerific cover art for "Dracula Returns!"
(Click on images to enlarge)

"Hey, I'm over here, behind this big ol' skull!"

My grandma's house was a few miles from a small bookstore called Bill's on Ingleside Ave in Macon, GA. As a young teen, when visiting her house on the weekend, I would sometimes walk the distance to look for the latest issue of The Monster Times or other cool magazines. After all, they had a better selection than the closer-to-home drugstore where I usually went. One summer, in 1973, I came upon the first in the Dracula Horror Series titled "Dracula Returns," and had read it nearly halfway through on the walk back to her house. It's a wonder I made it without getting run over, but I was pretty good at walking and reading. I still recall exactly where I was in the book at particular points as I walked home, passing under the oaks draped with spanish moss, blowing in the faint breeze.

Most horrifying of all, the flower in his buttonhole seemed fresh! Aaaiiiieeee! I never knew the Count liked wearing a daisy on his suit.

The series was begun as we learn how the telekenetic wheelchair-bound Professor X... uh, I mean, Professor Harmon, is drawn by Dracula's consort/slave (and sometimes black cat) Isis... I mean, Katara, into bringing the Count back to life. The Professor thinks he can control the Prince of Darkness by implanting a sliver of wood next to his heart, and triggering the mechanism with his mind to temporarily kill him should the need arise. He intends to use the vampire as a weapon in the war against crime. Needless to say, you can't keep such a creature on a short leash without getting bitten.

I might point out that close to the same time, Marvel was publishing the first issue of "Tomb Of Dracula," which I bought and still have. The wheelchair-bound protagonist Quincy Harker (depicted to the right) resembled the character of Professor Harmon, at least superficially, but with the publishing dates so close it might have only been a coincidence. However, Harmon wanted to use Dracula, and Harker only wanted to kill him.

"Put your head on my shoulder..." The awkward positioning of Katara makes it look as if her head has been grafted onto Drac's right shoulderblade.

Assisted by Cameron Sanchez, a strong and devoted friend, Harmon unleashes this supernatural force on those seemingly above the laws of man. The shape-shifter Katara helps out, but always with her Master's best interest in mind. Although Harmon considers himself morally above the criminal element he is seeking to expunge, Dracula knows that he in his own way is as blood-thirsty as the vampire he is using, and points that out, to the Professor's unease. Is he any better than the criminals and Dracula, by using such harsh and brutal methods? He is certainly no hero, but the thought doesn't hinder him from continuing to risk using his unwilling ally. And the blood flows copiously as Dracula, unleashed upon various criminal elements, metes out gory justice with slashing fingernails and fangs. They'd have been better off in jail.

The part of Professor Harmon will be played this episode by Boris Karloff.

As a youth I enjoyed the book, detailing Drac's return to "life" in modern times, and the various missions he sends the Count on fulfill his thirst for blood and the Professor's for justice. But Vlad's own agenda and desire for freedom mean that he is always looking for ways to escape the restrictions and feast on the Professor's own blood. Travelling from country to country during their adventures, the unlikely quartet meet with what seems to be a supernatural threat, but only turns out to be someone faking it. Though not always the case, this happens to such an extent that you begin to think that at the end, the bad guys are going to say "and I would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for that meddling wheelchair guy and his vampire!" Then Dracula slaughters them.

"One... two... three! Three million beautiful gold coins! Ah-ah-ah-ah-aaaaah!"

The series was successful enough to generate eight followups, which came out in extremely rapid succession, three of which I was able to find. After that I lost track of them. From what I've seen, after about #5 the artwork started to slide and Drac became more of a cartoon figure. But if I were to run across any at a used bookstore, I would pick them up and read them just for old time's sake. If the series were honest, it would end with Dracula finally turning on Harmon, proving the truth of the saying "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." The revenge on evil, using evil to inflict it, that the Professor engineered would certainly turn on him at last. I doubt that ever happens, though. A continuing series such as this rarely ever concludes and wraps things up, as there might always be another book if the last sold well. The author is not willing to burn his coffins behind him.

Ad from Famous Monsters about the book series...

Kids! Ask your parents for the money to order!

Side note: In the same "vein," we have a novel that was published in 1973 that purports to be "non-fiction," in which a series of letters, journal entries and newspaper clippings tell the story of Dracula's resurrection and subsequent neck-bitings. Although a fun read at the time, the cover art depicts a very anemic-looking, not to mention fey, Count which reinforces the common Lugosi stereotype.

"I vant to suck... your blood! Vhat did you think I vas going to say, you naughty, naughty boy?"

Just to be a completist, below you will find the remaining covers to the rest of the books in the series. These I scavenged from around the web, but the ones above this I scanned in from my own copies.

The complete list:

#1: Dracula Returns (Pinnacle 1973)

#2: The Hand of Dracula (Pinnacle 1973)

#3: Dracula's Brothers (Pinnacle 1973)

#4: Dracula's Gold (Pinnacle 1973)

#5: Drums of Dracula (Pinnacle, 1974)

#6: The Witching of Dracula (Pinnacle, 1974)

#7: Dracula's Lost World (Pinnacle, 1974)

#8: Dracula's Disciple (Pinnacle, 1975)

#9: Challenge to Dracula (Pinnacle, 1975)

Update: Hey, you want to really know more about the Dracula Series, from someone much more erudite than I am? Read the excellent and comprehensive post on it over at the Groovy Age of Horror blogspot! Makes me want to take mine down out of shame.

1974 Skull Cup Ad

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:

Famous Monsters Skull Cup Ad
(Click for high rez!)

"Drinking from this cup with impress your friends and get you girlfriends!"

"A big four and half inches tall!" Hey, I wouldn't brag about that if I were you.

The ads in the pages of Famous Monsters were part of the fun of the magazine for us Monster Kids. Although in my case I never could order anything, just reading them was enough. And oddly, they're even more fun to read now, for the nostalgia they evoke.

By now we've generally seen and probably own on DVD most of the films in the articles. The pictures and articles no longer represent a glimpse of unknown adventures we long to see. But the ads still have the bit of mystery about them because most are for items we never acquired.

The enjoyment of the ads now also stem from the text copy. Tell me you didn't grin just a little as you read the ad above! "Horribly frightening!" "You'll scare the death out of friends and family!" Good stuff... and back then, we believed it.

I'm sure that someone has already posted this ad somewhere on a blog... these old FM ads are popular. But I went through my FM issue #107, May of 1974, and I enjoyed re-reading not only the mag but remembering the time I bought it. I enjoyed scanning it in, formatting it, and posting it. If for nothing but all that, it was worth it! Others will be forthcoming, as well as some from other publications of the same general time period. Hope you enjoy them too. In fact, here's one now... for a 12-inch replica of the horror within. Perfect to look at as you raise your skull cup to it in a toast.

What really attracted the kids to this was the "Free Anatomy Chart" included. Hopes of finally seeing a naked female were dashed when they realised it was a skeleton anatomy.

Below is a photo I found online of the actual cup from a Flickr page of a fan who has a lot of the Don Post masks. Check out his page for a lot of cool pics of the actual products the ads were hawking.

Image source


An earlier version of the ad when it was cheaper. Use your imagination for the ominous-sounding "anything else" it makes taste better!

Monster-Size Skeletons

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:
"Real" Monster-Size Skeletons


"Dream on, my small sucker friend! I'm just the first of life's many educational disappointments."

Of course we all remember the above ad for the "monster size skeleton" in our comic books and magazines. The copy for it was sneakily deceptive from the start: 5 feet tall is not "monster-sized," unless you consider your grandmother to be a monster. Most recall the ubiquitous ad with a sense of unfulfilled longing; but for those that sent off for it, aching disillusionment. Like many things we desire in this life, Mr. Bones was best left to the imagination and wishful thinking. But just because this monster-sized skeleton was a ripoff, doesn't mean that they don't exist. Yes, Virginia, there is a giant skeleton... several, in fact; for below we have photographic proof. And we all know that can't be faked!

A vitim of hit-and-run, the poor pedestrian expired waiting for the ambulance. The rubber-necking passersby just gawked, snickering at his obvious boner.

True to the old adage, he fell hard. Left where he died, the city was simply built around the ancient giant.

About the skeleton:

Created by the late Gino De Dominicis (who died at the young age of 51 in 1998)some of the photos here were taken when it was being displayed in the Pallazo Reale in Milan in 2007.

The only thing that gives this skeleton away as being
a fake is the long nose bone. What was up with that?

"Do you see anything on the bottom of my foot? Cause it feels like I have a bunion."

It is speculated that the giant was killed when he stabbed
himself in the chest during a particularly savage sneeze.

As the crowd began to gather, an onlooker sadly
declared "T'was Beauty what killed the Beast."


It's a lesser-known bit of history that the village folk all ate for a month on the leftovers.


Unfortunately for Gulliver, the Lilliputions took no chances.

Lest you think our beaked friend is unique to the world, there exists a giant skeleton making the rounds that is considerably more active.

"Iiiiiiiii'm a gonna gitcha! Iiiiiiii'm a gonna gitcha! Gitcha-gitcha-gitcha-gitcha!"

"Bite me, Big Bird boy! I don't have a beak bone... and I actually can fly!"

About the skeleton:
Visitors study 'Habibi,' a giant, polystyrene and resin human skeleton creation by Algerian-born French artist Adel Abdessemed, at the Regional Contemporary Art Collection in Reims, February 24, 2004. 'Habibi,' translating as 'Darling,' 'Dear' or 'Beloved,' measures 17 meters long, is presented like a giant dinosaur fossil, floating outstretched above the floor.

"Don't make a sound, children... if we don't move it can't see us."

His one dream was to be in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but he
just couldn't seem to get the bouyancy and height he needed to join the other balloons.

Although confined to captivity, he lived for the times
when he scared the pants off the new night watchmen.

Eating candy skulls; spending the night in the cemetery with candles and food; giant skeletons at the fairs; yes, Mexico knows how to celebrate the Day of the Dead!

Somehow the pink seems to take a little of the edge off the spookiness.


"FOOLISH MORTALS! FLEE BEFORE MY WRATH...
FOR BEHOLD: GOMM-TUU THE UNLIKELY LIVES AGAIN!

"Just gimme a minute, gotta rest my bones."