"With infinite complacence people went to and fro over the earth about their little affairs, serene in the assurance of their dominion over this small spinning fragment of solar driftwood, which by chance or design man has inherited out of the dark mystery of Time and Space. Yet across an immense ethereal gulf, minds that to our minds as ours are to the beasts in the jungle, intellects vast, cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes and slowly and surely drew their plans against us......."

The H.G. Wells science fiction novel "The War Of The Worlds" was brought to the big screen for the first time in 1953.

This 1/48 scale model kit is based on the invading saucer from that film and was produced earlier this year by Pegasus Hobbies. The kit could be purchased either unbuilt for $24.99, or in a completed form for $34.99. I'll be reviewing the completed version.

The completed kit comes packaged in a beautiful cardboard box with a clear window allowing you to see the product inside. The box measures approximately 13" x 11" x 8" and inside the ship rests in a clear vacuform tray and held in place by twisty ties. This fact is the only problem that I have with the entire production. The outer shell of the ship has a beautiful reflective gold chrome plating and the plastic ties had a tendency to scuff the surface. It's slight, but with such a beautiful, shiny outer hull, you really want to preserve the pristine condition as much as possible.

Beneath the ship itself rests a base representing the top of the planet Earth with a "The War Of The Worlds" logo. A curved plastic stand elevates the ship above the planet and makes for a great looking display.

As you can see in the pics above, they also went the extra mile and decorated the interior of the box with burning buildings and rubble. The ship looks great against such a backdrop.

At 1/48th scale, the Martian War Machine is about 10.5" across from wingtip to wingtip. The antenna on the top of the ship can be turned. The tip of the antenna has a clear plastic end. The nose of the ship, the wing tips and 3 circles on the bottom have clear green plastic. You should be able to insert some small lights into these areas to create a great effect. I haven't done so as yet, but I'm not sure why. It looks like it would be pretty easy. If you remove the ship from the stand, there is a screw in the hole where the stand attaches. It appears that all you'd have to do is unscrew it and you'd have easy access to the interior of the kit. I really should look into adding lights to this thing.

Of course, as a model kit, other than the rotating antenna, this doesn't do anything other than look really nice. But it succeeds at that admirably. Perhaps the best thing about it is the price. Between the packaging, the base and the completed kit, you really get a lot of bang for your buck.

Of course, this being Halloween time, although I'm reviewing a collectible based on the movie, I feel like I need to work in the infamous Halloween 1938 radio broadcast by the Mercury Theater somehow. So I'll just say that I'm a big fan of old time radio and if you haven't listened to the show, you owe it to yourself to do so now. It may sound a little dated now, but it's historical significance can't be denied. For you younger readers who may be unfamiliar with it, the show caused a panic as some listeners tuned in late and believed the show to be an actual news report of a martian attack, due to the show's news broadcast format. Enjoy! And remember...

It's only a radio show....

...only a radio show....

...only a radio show....

(If the above embedded player won't play, the mp3 is HERE.)

Easily one of the ten best tree action figures

Add the Inhumanoids to the list of promising yet under-marketed eighties toy properties. Inhumanoids had a leg up, with Hasbro production and even a cartoon tie-in. Alas, the cartoon consisted of an anemic skein of seven-minute clips on Sunday morning animation graveyard Super Sunday. The story was compelling enough: A team of heroic scientist adventurers battles a series of re-animated ancient subterranean monsters with the aid of other ancient subterranean monsters. Sounds good, right? Apparently not to children or parents, circa 1986. The toys were neat, though.

Redlen here is one of the good Inhumanoids. He is a sentient tree-monster, not unlike an Ent. While he apparently assisted the humans, he looks unfriendly, even frightening.

The arms and legs are each minimally articulated.
Redlen’s torso can telescope to make him grow. The mechanism in mine is worn out, and he doesn’t stay up very well.

The sculpt and paint are solid, capturing the feel of a knotty, sinister tree-creature. I love the menacing sneer on his face.

Also of note is the light port from his head to his eyes, which gives them an otherworldly glow.

Redlen also came in a gray colorway.

He’s not exactly packed with fun, but this handsome figure is a nice complement to a monster or Kaiju display.

Both endearing and enduring, the Aurora classic monster model kits refuse to die!

Earlier this year, Revell re-released 4 of the classic monster model kits that were originally produced by Aurora in the 1960s. Unfortunately, the boxes this time around don't feature any really cool artwork, instead defaulting to the new typical photo of the completed model. Still, with the added lightning and image of Frankenstein in the background, it's not completely boring.

I've mentioned a few times in the past that I'm not much of a model builder, but with these being the classic monster items, I figured this would be the time I'd have to get them and try building them since I wouldn't' want to mess up a vintage kit.

Building the kit was actually pretty easy, but I didn't spend a whole lot of time filling in every seam line. Basically, I only did that to the area where the arms attached to the shoulders and then I got to painting. Color me impatient, I guess.

I couldn't picture Frankenstein in anything but black pants so I wanted to counter that with a lighter up half so I went with a brown coat and copied the blue shirt from the side of the box. Finishing up with the green of the skin, I think it looks varied enough to be interesting, but not too bright for a monster character.

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with the base so basically I was just slapping some greens on there and seeing what happened. Then I went with a little bit of brown to suggest something of a muddy element to the ground. And if he's walking in mud, well, I figured it should be on his shoes as well.

And of course, I wanted to give the tombstone a bit of a weathered look. It's not perfect, but at least it's not all smooth and brand new looking.

Honestly, the Aurora Frankenstein face is so classic that I think I could have painted it orange and it would still look great. But I chose to stick with the expected green.

Overall, I think I did OK for my first styrene kit and I'm very glad to have this classic kit in my monster display. But I must be honest and admit that I find model kit building to be something of a necessary evil. I like having the finished product and I like being able to say "I did that", but while doing it, I find it anything but relaxing and can't wait to be done with it!

This kit requires both glue and paint to complete, is recommended for ages 12 and up, and stands 10" tall when completed.

Between the kits themselves and the art on the boxes, the original Aurora models are some of the most recognizable, beloved and copied images in the the hobby. You never quite know where you might see them. They can be seen in the background in the Ghoultown video "Mistress Of The Dark" (featuring Elvira). Or even in this old, unauthorized coloring book.

(Those books are also well known monster books from Crestwood and that poster is a classic Jack Davis drawing!)

It's almost Halloween, and while I don't have as many monster toys to review as you might think, I've still got plenty of ephemera. Come on in for a pic heavy look back at a lunchbox from our youth.

I'm sure this probably seems like the weirdest thing to "review", but I think most of us probably had these as kids so consider this more of a trip down memory lane than a review. I had a bunch of different Aladdin lunchboxes when I was little but I can't recall if I ever had this one or not. It's very familiar to me, but I don't remember bringing it to school. Perhaps one of my older brothers had one. But as an adult collector, it's one of the staple pieces of ephemera for the monster fan.

What makes it so great is the amazing artwork that depicts so many different monsters. A friend of mine owns two just to display both sides, something I should probably do eventually myself. It just looks great in a monster display.

Pic swiped from Mad Man Murphy's Mixed Up Monster Museum.

Even all the sides have great artwork and it's awesome to see lesser characters like the Metaluna Mutant and the Mole Man on it. It's been years since I've seen Tarantula (although I used to watch it all the time on 8mm film when I was little) and I don't remember the character shown in the last pic below.

Of course, the main monsters are also represented on the thermos, too.

Frankenstein

The Mummy

The Phantom and Dracula

The Wolf Man

The Gill Man

"The best type of thermos that you can buy."

You may see this lunchbox called rare, but it's really not. The trick is getting one in good condition. I got mine for $85 at the New York Comic Con this past February. Probably could have done better on Ebay but I wanted to be sure I was happy with the condition. Mine's not perfect, but is in really good shape. When I bought it, we had all got a kick out of the fact that you could still catch a faint whiff of old milk in the thermos. Strangely, we all agreed that this was a plus and not a minus. Weird crowd, huh?

Bryan Witt, if you're out there, I've got your lunchbox!

You can't have it back.

Trigore is ugly and weird and charming in his way.

In honor of ugly toy month, I present Trigore!

The Power Lords is a strange property. In 1983, Revell, the ubiquitous model company, threw its hat into the action figure ring with the Power Lords, a fantasy themed series roughly in the vein of Masters of the Universe. Revell enlisted the talents of science fiction illustrator Wayne Barlowe to develop the designs. Barlowe’s designs are some of the strangest ever created for the mass market. The Power lords were creepy, sinewy, organic space aliens, more like nightmares than the muscle-men of the He-Man roster. I remember being disturbed and intrigued by the toys as a child. I was too fixated on the Transformers and G.I. Joe to pay much attention, and the Power Lords were on shelves for about a half an hour, but they were some of the first figures I picked up off of ebay as an adult.

To be sure, these figures are an acquired taste. Trigore is an excellent example of the Power Lords aesthetic.

Trigore is both a monster and a spaceship. In the terrible comic book miniseries, whole fleets of Trigores attack our hero, Adam Power, in space.

No pilots or riders are ever shown. Trigore is articulated at his front leg, which swivels a little, and his feet all have wheels.

His pincers are spring-loaded, and will lock open until you press his horn down, in which case they snap shut.

A portion of the creature’s back can be removed to reveal a non-descript hatch. I guess you could imagine this as a cockpit, but none of the figures really fit. Ditto for the “saddle” area.

The figure’s sculpt and finish are exceptional. The brainy skin, the protruding eyes, those creepy organs on the side of his body, all beautiful.

Trigore is ugly and weird and charming in his way. He makes He-Man look like something for children.

"Where are we going? Life, the timeless, mysterious gift, is still evolving. What wonders - or terrors - might evolution hold in store for us in the next ten thousand years? In a million? In six million? Perhaps the answer lies in this old house in this old and misty valley..."
..in this action figure...

Gwyllm Griffiths comes from the episode "The Sixth Finger", from the first season of The Outer Limits, and aired on October 14, 1963. The story concerns a dumb peasant boy who allows himself to be subjected to some evolutionary experiments that basically hurl him thousands of years into his "biological future". In other words, he doesn't actually travel through time himself, but his body undergoes the changes of the species as it advances through the generations, one of those changes being the addition of a sixth finger, for added dexterity. The entire episode is viewable online. Here is part 1:

Gwyllm Griffiths is another one of those figures that I never cared much for until I actually owned it. On the surface, it doesn't look that spectacular. It's just an egghead with an extra finger on each hand and a boring all white costume. But perhaps because of it's almost antiseptic appearance, the figures really stands out from the rest of my monster toys. Perhaps moreso than any other figure I've got, this one just screams "SCI-FI" more than horror.

As you might expect, the head sculpt is once again phenomenal. Even if they weren't set so far back into the skull, I think those eyes would show a depth rarely seen on a toy. There is some real emotion in these eyes, from sadness to arrogance and contemplation.

Unforunately, perhaps because he has just a bald head, the seam lines across the top of the cranium is a bit more noticeable here than it might be on other figures. Still, it's not a huge distraction.

The hands are unremarkable, excepting of course, the addition of the sixth finger on which the episode is named. The costume, a simple white patient's uniform, is well made and features buttons along the right side of the figures torso. These buttons appear to be old fashioned from the outside, but underneath have metal snaps. A pocket is also sewn into the left breast. The pants have no real distinguishing characteristics to speak off and the black shoes are removable. All in all, it seems to be an accurate representation of the character from the episode.

The only accessories included with this figure are two books: "Descent Of Man" by Charles Darwin and "Bach: Preludes For Piano". They are rather large so I don't bother displaying them with the figure, but he can hold them if you so desire.

The packaging matches the other releases from the line. A black and white photo adorns the front cover with pertinent episode information on the inside flap.

Although he's using the "wrong" finger, the image on the back looks rather, uh, dismissive. Who knows.. maybe customs, and hand gestures, have also changed 10,000 years in the future.

"A war between worlds had long been dreaded. Throughout recent history, Man, convinced that life on other planets would be as anxious and belligerent as life on his own, has gravely predicted that some dreadful form of combat would inevitably take place between our world and that of someone else.

And Man was right."

"Nightmare" was an episode of the classic science fiction program "The Outer Limits" and aired during the first season, on December 2, 1963 to be exact. The episode featured a young Martin Sheen as an Earth soldier captured by an advanced race of aliens from the planet Ebon (pronounced with a soft "E", like "Eh Bon") and separated from his fellow soldiers for questioning.

In 2002, Sideshow Collectibles (then still known as Sideshow Toys) released a series of 12" figures to commemorate the classic program. In addition to the Ebonite Interrogator, there were the Zanti Misfits from the episode of the same name, Ikar and Ikar's Soldier from the episode "Keeper Of The Purple Twilight", Gwillm Griffiths from the episode "The Sixth Finger" and The Helosian ("O.B.I.T.") and Andro ("The Man Who Was Never Born"), who were sold together as a set.

Originally, I didn't care too much for the box art for these figures, but over time I'm come to like it a lot. It's simple, but really evokes the feel of the show. The front lid opens and a ton of information about the episode (a synopsis, production notes, cast and crew) is printed on the inside front cover. Across from that, the figure is visible throw a plastic window as it rests in it's tray.

As with most of these types of figures, a fully poseable generic doll body is used along with character specific designs for the head, hands, costume and accessories. I can't say enough about the sculpt of the head of this one. It is PERFECT. This guy looks like he stepped right out of your TV screen and onto your shelf. Even the paint applications on the head perfectly highlight the ridges of the creatures skull without being distracting or overstated.

The hands are also well done and are molded specifically to hold the characters included accessories. The interrogation wand fits snugly in the left hand while the right hand can hold the mind control device.

The costume is simply but effective. A plastic collar circles the neck and a black outfit, highlighted with light purple, covers the rest of the body. The wings of the are large and exaggerated, running literally from the ankles to the wrists, but are an effectively spooky addition.

If the figures fails anywhere, it's because the stand (included) cannot really wrap around the figures waist without compressing those wings against the body. The back of the costume can be unbuttoned so that you can insert the metal clamp around the waist under the costume, but you have to really pull it down a bit farther than it goes naturally to do it. Still, I think it's the best way to display it and if it stretches out the costume too much over time....well, so be it.

I really like this figure and am glad it never really shot up in price. I got mine for about $10-$15 on Ebay not long ago, along with the Gwyllm Griffiths (review forthcoming). I would highly recommend these to any monster or sci-fi fan.

The Ebonite Interrogator was limited to 5,000 pieces.

For better or worse, my Kong crusade continues...

Here's one that I picked up about a year ago and in fact, I accidentally outbid a friend of mine to get it. This Kong definitely originates in Mexico, no controversy here unlike the jumbo sized bank, and is 100% good old fashioned blow molded polyethylene. That's the good. The bad? Well, it's pretty dang ugly.

The one thing that I like about this toy as opposed to many other Kong toys is that it actually included a figure of Kong's affection, in this case, it looks like the "Dwan" character from the 1976 version of King Kong. It makes sense since this toy is most likely from the '70s anyway.

Or it could be just a generic damsel in distress. Either way, it's a nice inclusion. The figure can actually sit on the shoulder of Kong (so much for the "in distress" part, she looks to be having a grand old time...) via a peg that juts out from her leg and goes into the neck of Kong. Unfortunately, mine is broken off, but it can still balance on there ok.

Of course, if you prefer to have put the "in distress" back into the phrase, you can actually balance it pretty well in the hand of Kong, too. This is my preferred method of display, since the image of Kong holding the girl is so iconic.

This toy is about 9.5" tall and only the arms move up and down.

Before getting mine, I had seen these on Ebay before (and even once on Yahoo Japan), but I had never noticed that there was a different version until recently. Here's one that is fatter with paint applications to the face and feet. Notice also that the right arm of Kong and the left arm of "Dwan" have more pronounced bends to them.

Needless to say, this is just for die-hard Kong fans (check!) and fans of blow molded toys (check!) only.

Love at first sight!

Usually that phrase is spoken with people in mind, but sometimes it happens with toys, too.

You see it and immediately you know. "This is a toy that I MUST have."

The Frankencycle was one such toy for me. From the moment I laid eyes on it in at Plaid Stallions, I knew it was just a matter of time. Well, a couple months ago that time finally came when I scored one that had never even been removed from the box.

I will try to write more about this toy further along in the review but for now, a simple recap of what this thing is should be enough to firmly establish why it is awesome. So here goes:

Frankenstein... in blue jeans and leather jacket.... riding a chopper... with a skull on the handle bars...with glow in the dark engine and exhaust...and a tombstone for a seat back.

I know that that is phenomenal but before you run to Ebay to try to find one, let me tell you more about it. This toy was produced by Ideal in 1978 and the general thinking is that it was made to cash in on the Evel Knievel craze of the '70s. Ideal had a similar toy of Evel Knievel and may have wanted to get as much bang for their buck as they could, in terms of utilizing the idea. Two additional toys were made, Dracula ("Dragucycle") and a generic Grim Reaper ("Bone Shaker").

In addition to esoteric stylings and a glow in the dark feature, the toys includes a wind-up feature to make the bikes actually ride! Each toy includes a haunted house type base that the bike is placed into. You wind up a handle on the back of it and when you stop, the bike is sent rolling across the floor. If you do it just right, it will also pop a wheelie!

Of course, that's reason enough to buy this but did I mention that it glows in the dark?

(Thanks to Sanjeev for the glow pics!)

So, this is the greatest toy in the history of toys, right?

Well, not so fast.

I mentioned before that my specimen of the toy had never come out of the box until I bought it. And I'm guessing you probably noticed how the front wheel was messed up, right? Well, it seems that many specimens of these toys have melted wheels. It was always thought to have something to do with the rubber on the tire reacting with the plastic of the wheel, but as you can see, mine didn't even have the rubber included! And it melted anyway!

So, now one school of thought is that it may be a result of using cheap plastics during the oil crisis of the '70s. Who knows, for sure, but either way, you're rolling the dice when you buy these things.

Having been aware of this problem when I bought the toy, I was prepared to be disappointed when I opened the box (even though I was expecting to either get one with a rubber tire and melted wheel OR one with no rubber and un-melted wheel; NOT one with no rubber AND melted wheel!).

But the problems did not end there. The haunted house/base is supposed to have stickers on it, but the sticker sheet was not in the box! This probably annoyed me more than anything else. The house is cool, but it looks pretty bland when it's just all solid green.

The last problem that I encountered has to do with the hands. Now, the Frankenstein figure is simply made of rubber and the hands have a hole in them so that you can place them around the handlebars of the bike. On my specimen at least, those holes are not big enough to allow the bars to fit! So now, the figure just rests on the bike and doesn't actually hold on like he should.

It was recommended to me to try to just force them on since the rubber should be pliable but I am afraid that pushing too hard with actually break off the handle-bars and I don't want to risk ruining this any further. At least one collector told me that his specimen fit just fine though, so again, it seems like there's some inconsistency there.

So, as much as I love this toy, I was pretty disappointed the day I got it. But I gotta tell you, even with all the flaws that I outlined, I still don't regret buying it for a second. The idea is so silly and reeks so much of the 1970s that I just can't bring myself to not like it. Regardless of this specimens problems, I still have every intention of getting the two companion pieces at some point down the line. (Boneshaker in particular is one Grim Reaper I look forward to seeing show up at my door, but it's the rarest of the three, I think.)

One of the stranger things about these guys is that inside the box, they do not come packaged in a bag. They don't come packaged resting in styrofoam. There is a cardboard insert, but it doesn't really hold anything in place. Instead, there's just that and brown paper shoved in there. I don't think I've ever seen a less professionally packaged toy. Maybe that has something to do with the wheel problem. I don't know. The only other thing in the box is the instruction sheet.

(PS- Sorry for those crummy pics. My camera stinks to begin with and has been dying (and in fact, has died) on me. I should be getting a new on in the next couple of weeks..)

Familiarity breeds love.....

So another slow day, so another silly review. Now I'm sure most of you will see this thing and either laugh or throw up in your mouth. And at one time, I was right there with you. This is another one that I used to make fun of my friend for buying when I was first being exposed to toy collecting. He'd be dropping about $20-25 each on various colorways of this toy and I thought he was dumb. Now they sell for about $50-75 and there's a bunch I need to get.

This is 13" tall, made in Mexico out of cheap blow molded polyethylene and has only two points of articulation (the shoulders). The body is a pretty close approximation of the Gill-Man, but the face seems to be based more on the design from The Creature Walks Among Us. Overall, the look is rather silly, but charming in a crude way.

They look particularly good when grouped together.

(Pic from Madman Murphy's Mixed Up Monster Museum)

But believe me when I tell you, this is actually a pretty popular toy among monster and Creature collectors. It sort of makes sense, in a way. In general, it seems the average monster collectors is older than robot collectors and grew up on cheap toys. And Creature collectors will buy most anything related to the character. I'm not sure what my excuse is, though..

I'm not sure exactly how many different colorways were made of this toy and there is some disagreement about when it was made. Some think it was made in the 1960s, some think the '70s and some think they may still be cranking them out even today. They show up on Ebay fairly regularly. A couple of times a seller even listed ones with bags and header cards, but the general thinking was that the header was fake, just a photocopy from a Mexican lobby card. I can't confirm that one way or another.

Bagged specimen seen on Ebay

So, in conclusion, I certainly don't expect any of our readers to fall in love with this right away and run out to buy one. But maybe over time it's goofiness will grow on you like it did me. In the meantime, consider the point of this review to once again say simply...."this exists".