As you might think based on the name, this tarot deck is packed with all the
big names in Universal Monsters.
Here's the card back design, guidebook, and the coffin (box) the
cards rest in. The box design is a nice touch. Not something they had to do
but it adds a lot to the set.
The art on the cards is fang-tastic! It's like a modern take on classic
horror comics from the 50s/60s. There's a particular brand of comic it's
reminding me of but the name just is not coming to me.
The classic tarot suits have been replaced: Wands are Candles,
Cups are Crypts, Swords are Claws, and Pentacles are Castles. The guidebook
has a few suggested layout spreads with themed names like Van Helsing's
Cross and The Wolf's Moon.
Speaking of the guidebook, my hat is off to author Casey Gilly.
Most guidebooks give a standard vanilla explanation of the card meanings.
Gilly went way above and beyond with her descriptions, tying each into the
image on the card further solidifying the theming.
Whether or not you're into tarot, this is an excellent piece for any Universal Monster fan for the art alone.
Be sure to check out all the Countdown bloggers by clicking the link
below.
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!"
Be sure to check out all the Countdown bloggers by clicking the link
below.
In last year's lottery post, I lamented that in the 10+ years that I'd
been doing the Countdown, my state has never had licensed lottery tickets.
Well, this year...we hit the jackpot with Universal Monsters!
Starting off with the eternal enemies: vampire vs werewolf. In case you were
wondering, I am 100% Team Werewolf.
They did a great job with the graphics on these. While they're essential all
the same under the surface, each one has icons unique to the monster.
I got lucky with the Bride! She's the only one I hit anything on out of this
lot.
Ten bucks, is ten bucks!
And I saved the best (my favorites) for last.
Do you have any fun Halloween themed lottery tickets in your state?
I started an open Flickr album for people to post their state lottery tickets. If you have any,
please feel free to add them to the album. Or if you send me
pictures/scans I'd be happy to post them.
Be sure to check out the complete list of Countdown bloggers by clicking
below.
Have we got a treat in the stacks for you today! If you're a monster kid
of a certain age, this will probably be a nostalgia trip. Even if you haven't
seen this particular book before, you likely checked one out just like it from
your local library.
I originally got this from the now defunct Retrospace.
Monster lovers, this Scholastic book has got you covered! The first 28 pages
talk about Lon Chaney, Universal Monsters, and even Blacula and Young
Frankenstein!
The next 33 pages give instructions for recreating your own monster make ups.
The last section has a short stage play and some special effect tricks.
To check out this book, click your library card below!
Click below to visit the main Countdown site to see all the participating
blogs.
Well, this may be a record setting Recap month! It could be the fewest
number of movies and also a month with no horror movies. I did watch an 8
hour horror series, but no movies. Crazy!
Series
Bad Batch (2021, Disney+) I've been watching it every week but haven't mentioned it yet as I
was waiting to have an opinion on the whole season. It did feel a little
like The Mandalorian as the crew was doing odd jobs and running into
characters from other shows. But I trust Filoni knows what he's doing and I'm really
into exploring the Rise of the Empire time period.
Gilmore Girls (S4, Netflix)
Still solid and entertaining. Sean Gunn should have at least been nominated
for some kind of best supporting weirdo award.
Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021, Netflix) I didn't know much about this other than it was a horror series but
that's enough to get me to jump in! It really feels like it could have been
a season of the anthology series Channel Zero, which I loved. You're not
really sure where this is going at any given moment and there's just this
weirdness to it that makes it memorable. The ending was a little
anti-climactic but that final ep had a scene that had me squirming in my
seat. No easy feat!
Did you know there was a Creature from the Black Lagoon Musical?!
I didn't either until recently, thanks to the YouTube channel
Expedition Theme Park.
If you're a theme park fan, the channel is definitely worth checking out!
Last week, he put up a video about the history of Universal Studios Hollywood Creature
Musical which, being a big Creature fan, blew my mind because I wasn't even
aware of it. The fact that it only ran for 2 months in 2009 probably has something to do with that.
If you want to see the musical spoiler-free, skip this history lesson for
now.
There was a big to do when the show opened. Julia Adams (Kay in the original movie) was there to help celebrate. Here's a short clip from the musical's press day of the Creature's arrival.
The show is only about 30 minutes if you want to check it out.
It's definitely...um...something to see.
Even if you don't make it through the whole thing, I recommend forwarding through to catch a swimming scene and the big finale, a couple of things they definitely deserve some credit for doing.
Hey everyone! Hope you had a great winter holiday celebration of your choosing. Thought I'd squeeze in one more post for the year/decade to show off share some select goodies I got for Christmas.
There was a good amount of Star Wars stuff under the tree this year!
To start things off, here's a pair of Mandalorian shirts. They're both really great and I love the one on the left because the style is definitely inspired by Topps trading cards.
If you are ever in Seattle with a few hours to spare, you should...no, need...to visit the Museum of Pop Culture. You can thank me later. Plus, it's right next to the Space Needle.
That is the actual building, it's not covered in giant tarps blowing in the wind. It used to be called the Explore Music Project and they do still have a couple of music exhibits. I don't know if/when they change the exhibits in the museum but right now they're featuring horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and indie video games. And that's not even everything!
I'm having a hard time trying to figure out where to start so I'm just going to take you through as I went with my photos.
Wow, remember when 2017 seemed like the far future? Damn, I'm getting old.
Anyway, hope everyone had a great holiday season with friends and family. This is the annual somewhat-braggy post showing off some of my holiday gifts.
First up, some Strange things...
Those calendars may look like they've come to bargain with Dormammu, but they actually have different art inside. Also, one of them came with the set of buttons on the left. I didn't even think to look for playing cards when the movie came out. I"ll probably feature them some day when I get the comic based cards. Another thing I didn't know about was the Walmart exclusive Funko Pop "spell casting" Strange figure. Pretty cool!
From other dimensions to other galaxies! The Falcon speaker was a total surprise, which is good. While wish lists help the holiday shoppers, they kind of take away the surprise for the giftee. The ESB Topps book is fantastic. I got the Star Wars one last year. It showcases all the original trading cards from ESB, front and back. The dust cover is made from a waxy paper, just like the card packs.
The magazines were also a nice surprise. I've seen them on stands but couldn't bring my self to spend the hefty cost for them. The People one comes with a pull out and assemble VR viewer to pop your phone into. If you already have a VR viewer, go to the app store and grab Life VR. It's got a brief video where you're an X-Wing pilot. It's not a game, you can only look around but it's a fun experience. The app also has you standing in the middle of a 360 degree view of the Rogue One Jedha set where they're filming the tank ambush. You can also watch them in non-VR so you can still have the 360 experience on your device.
I was so thrilled to get all three of these! I was very sad when I found out Gravity Falls was coming to an end. Ever since the show started I was hoping we'd get a replica of the journal and here it is! It's done like the 'actual' book. It looks like someone wrote and drew in it. There's also a section that Dipper has put in his own notes.
Flipping through the Labyrinth book is amazing. So many behind the scenes photos! There's quite a few smaller pages inserted throughout the book that make it look like someone put them in there featuring drawings or script pages.
I'm almost done with Dr. Strange already. It's on par with other similar DK books. It doesn't get too in depth on anything but it does cover a good amount of his history.
New cars! I have an Ecto-1 from a previous release but I'm going to keep this one carded. A few other random Halloween rides including a Rigor Motor I don't have. On the right is a Treasure Hunt from the new Fright Cars series. I have been looking for this one for a good month or so. Very happy to finally get one...but do I open it?
Finally, a couple of neato things Mrs Dex got for me at a holiday craft fair that are right up my alley. A Creature light switch and a sparkly Labyrinth ornament.
Did you get anything killer that made your holiday season?
Let me know!
Before we get rolling, I want to thank the people that participated in the Tron Run/r giveaway.
All three of them.
The post got close to 200 views and only 3 people signed up.
The winner, Samuel, is from a far off land that is 11 hours ahead of me!
I hope he enjoys his time on the Grid.
Now back to your regularly scheduled post...
No, that's not a typo in the title!
My pal Morbius Kromwell sent me a link to this too cool Creature from the Black Lagoon soap. So of course I wasted no time hoping on over and ordering it!
He "stands" about 4" tall and is a great addition to my small Creature collection. And when I say small collection, I mean that the collection itself contains few items and most of those items are not large.
It's one of the few things I have that not a lot of people would have and I like collectibles like that. Although I do have to wonder just how long decorative soap will last sealed in plastic.
The seller has a shop on Etsy called Sick Soaps and if you're a pop culture fan, you should definitely swing by and check out her stuff!
There's Haunted Mansion soaps...
Star Wars soaps...
horror soaps...
and more including Doctor Who and some Halloween appropriate coffins, skulls, and ouija boards. They're all really cool and would make good gifts for those hard to shop for people.
Hey folks, we're keeping the Monthly Movie Recap going in 2016. If you saw anything you think is worth seeing, let me know in the comments. This will probably be the only post this week because I write on the weekends and just got LEGO: Avengers so that's where
my time is going!
As always, clicking on a movie link will take you to Amazon where you can order it (or anything else) and drop a few coins in the coffers.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
A little late to the party on this one but damn what a ride! What it might lack in deep characters or intriguing plot it more than makes up for in hi-octane action and a beautifully shot, post apocalyptic setting. I'd love a sequel but where do you go from here?
Cool: Pretty much non-stop action; the post apocalyptic world I wanted in the originals. Lame: The Raimi-esque camera speed up during fight scenes Rating: 8/10
Branded (2012, Netflix)
Recently for some reason I was trying to recall the movie I saw the trailer for that looked like a They Live rehash. Then I found this on Netflix and started watching it. I didn't think I had the right movie for quite some time. The beginning is completely different from what I was expecting!
Cool: There's some great social commentary in here about advertising Lame: The creatures look too cartoony to take them seriously Rating: 6/10
Regular Show: The Movie (2015)
I wasn't sure if they'd be able to pull off making a normally 15 minute show into a full length movie, but they do with the same amount of crazy and feels that will hit you "right there". If you haven't seen the show, this isn't the best place to start but if you're a fan, this is a must see!
Rating: 8/10
Minions (2015)
I've been warming up to the Minions with each successive movie and a starring vehicle is exactly what they need at this point. Even though they mostly speak gibberish, they can definitely carry a movie on their own.
Cool: Minions through the ages. The super-villain convention. The end tying it to the previous movies. Lame: Something about he antagonist, Scarlet Overkill, I just didn't really like.
Rating: 8/10
Creature Feature: 60 Years of the Gill-Man (2015)
I stumbled on this by someone posting about it on Facebook. It's only available from TCM online. This doc looks at how the Creature came to be with short bits on every movie. A good part of it is dedicated to conventions, the fans, and a couple of Creature super collectors.
Cool: You get to see a ton of Creature collectibles. The extras include an episode of the Abbott & Costello show where the first introduce the Creature. Lame: I ponied up for the BluRay but the source doesn't look HD.
Rating: 8/10, a must for monster fans!
Machete Kills (2013)
I love these grindhouse movies because they know exactly what they are and don't try to be anything more than crazy, over the top fun. For the first 2/3 of the movie, Machete goes Bond and by the end it's full-on sci-fi!
Cool: I like the movie but the final third where it starts to go sci-fi is awesome! The trailer for Machete Kills Again...In Space has me really wanting that movie made! Lame: I know the FX are done cheaply on purpose but sometimes it's not helping the movie some times.
Rating: 7/10
LEGO DC Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom! (2015)
And the award for longest title goes to...
Another fun LEGO super hero outing! Definitely better than the Bizarro League. I think parents and kids will both enjoy it, especially if the parents are fans of the Super Friends.
Cool: Black Manta! And the Legion of Doom, even the HQ! Great voice cast including Mark Hamill voicing The Trickster and Tony Todd as Darkseid. Lame: Ok, I know Aquaman gets the short end of the super stick but why put Black Manta in here without him?
Rating: 7/10
*Star Wars The Force Awakens (2015)
Third viewing! If you've only seen it once and you're not sure how you feel about it, see it again. It's easier to digest when you've already taken it all in already.
Back in the heyday of monster movies and novelty songs, Len Maxwell released A Merry Monster Christmas in 1964. The comedy skits and songs might sound a bit corny, but I think the mix of classic monsters with the holiday season is pretty much perfect.
I absolutely love Igor on this album. There's just something about the way he exclaims "Master! Master!" that I find hilarious.
The album was remastered and release on CD in 2005, but judging from the Amazon reviews, they changed some of the material. As a Creepmas gift to you, I present it in it's original form.
Man, it's amazing the things you find when you start moving coffins around in the crypt!
While the 70s might be more remembered as a scifi/space decade, it was also the tail end of the Golden Age of the Classic Monsters. In 1973, Topps released a sequel to their popular You'll Die Laughing illustrated monster trading cards called Creature Feature.
Because they kept the same card backs from the first series, it's also known as the 2nd series of You'll Die Laughing. To add to the confusion, in 1980 Topps released another set called Creature Feature!
5 cents for a wax pack of nothing but monsters! I'd say "Ah, the good ol' days." but during these days, I wasn't even old enough to walk to the corner store on my own, never mind be into these groovy ghoulies.
This 128 card set has movie monsters with witty captions on the front...
and grade school jokes on the back.
Another peculiar thing about this set: all of the non-monster actor faces were replaced with shots of Topps employees! Strange but true!
The most recent host for the SummerSwap box is one of my the people that inspired me to start blogging: Mr. Shawn Robare who runs the awesome Branded in the 80s.
The box has now traveled around 7500 miles!
Shawn did a post about one of the cool things he pulled out of the Swap Box, the MASK-inspired Laserpunks. You can check that post out here.
He also sent along a few photos of Drac around Bel Air.
It was a sunny day around town, and Shawn just happened to have a pair of Drac-sized sunglasses he could lend.
Drac sampling the local cuisine.
Drac at the local armory, which reminded him of home.
That's a wrap for this update!
The remaining stops for the box are on the East coast, but it's heading West next....
The Swap Box made it's most recent stop in Terre Haute having travelled around 6900 miles! This stop was hosted by Morbius Kromwell. He's a fellow Halloween fiend and occasionally posts some fantastic mixes over on Gravecast.com. Here's some of the ghoulish goodies Morbius swapped in.
Morbius took Drac out and about for a few days.
Here's some of the highlights of his travel journal.
Day 1
Drac was a day late in arriving and was pretty tired from the trip. He met a couple of friends of mine and they seemed to hit it off.
My home town was the birthplace of the coke bottle. I offered Drac some special edition bottles but he told me he never drinks…Coca Cola. Maybe he is a Pepsi person.
I was a little embarrassed.
A photo with Drac
and my wife and I in our casual wear.
He said it made him feel
“Velcome.”
Drac liked my Halloween
themed Truck but couldn’t drive it without a license. He thought it
was “Wary nice.” It was a bit sunny out and the SPF 1,000,000
didn’t help much so he spent most of the day inside.
Day 2
How nice that “Take
a Vampire to Work Day” in our town was a dark and stormy day. You
couldn’t have asked for anything better. He thought that the
fact that my office is in Stalker Hall was “most appropriate.”
Drac pointing out an error I made in my Drupal programming. He said he is very familiar
with webs and gave me a nice story about spiders. He said a former
employee was quite the expert on the subject. Wow, he will chew your
ear off if you let him.
Day 3
Drac was a little
bored the next day. He wanted to listen to some music. He asked about
a band called Children of the Night but I didn’t have any of their
stuff. He also had some issues with the ear buds.
We found some better headphones
and he was happy listening to music.
He loved my Halloween sound
effects collection.
All in all, it was
a nice visit. Drac really loves watching old horror movies. He
especially loved Tim Burton’s Ed Wood. I guess he is quite the fan
of Martin Landau. Thanks for letting me invite you into my home,
Count. You are always welcome to drop in whenever you like. I hope
the next person to get the Drac Pack finds his visit as delightful.
