Castle Dracula Fun House Colorforms Set (1976)

 I stumbled on this Colorforms set while browsing Pinterest and thought it'd make for a fun post. I'm guessing that a lot of people don't know it exists unless they had it. I wasn't quite yet in my monster phase when this released in 1976 so I don't think it would have appealed to me.

 

 

And I certainly wasn't aware of the Universal Monsters at this time so the variety of characters would have been lost on me. 

 

 Here's the inhabitants of the castle. In red we've got the Phantom and a gorilla wearing pajama pants for some reason. Pink has the Woflman and Frankenstein's Monster. Green has the Creature who looks like he has a swimsuit on (I guess pantless monsters weren't allowed?) and Drac. White has the Mummy and a terrified guest. Yellow features another guest and a silly looking spider. Finally orange has some props including the Phantom's organ and a pay phone dripping with blood that says Room Service.

 

I thought it was a fun thing they did splitting some characters into top and bottom halves to give you a little more room to come up with your own ideas. 

 

 

 

The background has three floors with different scenes. The top is Frankenstein's lab complete with slab and random electricity gadgets. If you look close at the control panel, there's a pie baking in it! Second floor has a sarcophagus and a mysterious trail of green liquid that goes behind the bookcase (more on that below). The basement houses Drac's coffin and hints of a couple other monsters. Even the boiler has a face and feet! 

 

You may have noticed some areas have a little tab next to them...  

 

I didn't find this next bit out until I started searching for more info and photos. The backdrop sits on this board and the little tabs allow you to open parts of the background to see what's behind them. You can put the Mummy and Dracula in their resting places and have the Creature taking a bath.

 

Universal Monsters, secret doors, and a little weird humor make this a really fun set. I checked eBay and could only find one recently sold set that was complete. It went for $80 which for a monster toy that's almost 50 years old, seems like a good deal to me!

 

 

I found this catalog page at Mel Birnkrant's site which has articles on all sorts of toys, including his huge Mickey Mouse collection. He's got a whole section devoted to Coloforms covering 1971-1986 from when he worked on the toy line! If you were a kid during this time frame, it's sure to trigger some nostalgia. If you're reading this Mel, this 70s kid says "Thank you!"

 

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