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Monster Toys

The early to mid-1960's saw a craze for monsters among American children, as strong as the mania for spies, British rockers, cowboys, or any other pop-culture fad of that era. It all began when the old, classic monster movies were syndicated to television starting in 1957; by the first few years of the 60's, millions of kids were hooked on the black-and-white horrors, and parents were comfortable enough to let them have their fun. This was the first time that kids could enjoy the Universal monsters in their own homes - prior to this, the movies had only been shown in theaters, in original runs and re-releases. But once kids got a load of Lugosi, Karloff, and the other ghoulish actors, they immediately adopted them as their own - as well as the newer (to them) crop of monsters appearing at the same time onscreen, such as the Creature From The Black Lagoon.

So Frankenstein, the Wolfman, Dracula, the Mummy, and others became as popular as rock stars. James Warren saw the trend coming fairly early on - and almost certainly helped nurture it - with his Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, which gave young monster-lovers a monthly forum to exchange information about their favorites, as well as to read articles and look at photos introducing them to horrors yet undreamt of.

As the 60's wore on, all sorts of different monster-themed merchandise became available to kids. The plastic model kits from Aurora were a big hit, but there were dozens of other items available to attract kids' pocket money also. We're locating the Monster Toys sub-category squarely here in the 1960's section, because this was when children's love for these freakish beings was at its peak.

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Figures Ben Cooper Scary Monsters Frankenstein Mini Monsterizer OWFSM Bend 'Ems Frankenstein Remco Creature Games Boris Karloff's Monster Game Wolfman Mystery Game Halloween Costumes Ben Cooper Frankenstein Ben Cooper Mummy Puzzles Jaymar Dracula Jaymar Frankenstein Jaymar Mummy Jaymar Wolfman Records Famous Monsters Speak Story of Dracula, the Wolfman, and Frankenstein View-Master Frankenstein* Monster Gift Pak

Aurora Model Kits Addams Family Haunted House Bride of Frankenstein Creature from the Black Lagoon Customizing Monster Kit 1 Customizing Monster Kit 2 Dracula Dracula's Dragster Dr. Deadly Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde Forgotten Prisoner of Castel-Mare Frankenstein Frankenstein's Flivver Ghidrah Giant Insect Gigantic Frankenstein Godzilla Godzilla's Go Cart Gruesome Goodies Hanging Cage Hunchback of Notre Dame King Kong King Kong's Thronester Mummy Mummy's Chariot the Munsters Pain Parlor the Pendulum Phantom of the Opera Rodan Vampirella the Victim the Witch Wolfman Wolf Man's Wagon

Other Items 1966 Monster Calendar Castle Dracula Funhouse Colorforms Coppersmith Monsters Enlarg-A-Graph Monster Set by Emenee* Famous Monsters Plastic Casting Kits Formex 7 Casting Set Frankenstein Mechanical Monster by Marx Glo-Monsters Herman Munster Hand Puppet Horrorscope Movie Viewer Kooky Spookys Little Creepies' Haunted House playset Mad Mad Mad Scientist Laboratory Marx Remote Control Frankenstein Monster Drinking Glasses Monster Feet Monster Lab Monsters at Home Creature Monsters at Home Dracula Monsters at Home Mummy Ooze It Pixie Horrosscope Palmer Monsters Soakies Tricky Walker Frankenstein Universal Movie Monsters lunchbox* Wind-Up Super Monsters Mini-Walkers