Countdown to Halloween - Almost Time...

For the real Countdown to begin, until then....some Universal Goodness

Halloween Countdown - Lego Monsters

I have no idea what it is about these things that sucks me in so much, but I know I love these little plastic things.
The first Lego Monsters showed up in the Lego Studio line with such great boxed sets as;

Scary Laboratory

Original Lego Frankenstein Monster

Gent

Lady

Mad Scientist

And;

Vampire's Crypt

Original Lego Vampire

Hunchback

and;

Werewolf Ambush

Original Lego Werewolf

Lady w/ legs

Curse of the Pharaoh

Mummy

The Lego Studio line ended...but then came the Mini Fig releases which included

But what if you wanted a better Mummy then that? Well..they are build-able figures

Or if like me, you're a fan of the Creature from the Black Lagoon...

hmmmmmmmmmm...just gives one ideas don't it....

Countdown to Halloween - Monster Mash MUGEN

MUGEN for people that haven't heard of it, is a program that allows for the creation and play of 2D fighting games similar to Street Fighter, Eternal Champions and Dark Stalkers. People can create any fighter as long as the animated sprites exist (plus alot of coding, but I digress). I've seen fights between He-Man and Lion-O, Superman and Hulk, Goku and Batman...but this....well watch...

and this

That my fellow monster fans is Monster Mash for MUGEN. A fighting game featuring ten combatants including

Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Werewolf, the Mummy, the Golem, The Mad Scientist, the Creature, A Horde of Zombies, the Headless Horseman and the Phantom. Some really cool things here such as the Zombies are a group of fighters acting as one unit, the Mad Scientist turns into a giant bug to fight, on his death the Werewolf turns human and those cool looking backgrounds.

Countdown to Halloween - Vampire Droid

It's things like this that make me want a Droid..... nahhh, maybe just a cooler mascot for my iPhone. But here is the Vampire Droid limited edition figure.

- Monsterfink

Countdown to Halloween - My Mani-Yaks

In the 1960's, at the height of the "Monster Kid" craze a series of Iron On transfers based on the Universal Monsters were produced under the title of  Mani-Yacks. The series included Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, the Mummy, the Creature, the Wolfman and the Phantom.

Being a Monster Kid born in the wrong decade I have a great love for these designs, enough to make my own based on B Movie Monsters from some of my favorite movies.

For those interested, they are for sale as either pre-printed shirts here or as iron-on transfers here 

Halloween Countdown - Invaders from Space! No...not those invaders

With Halloween approaching my mind drifts to an invasion from the stars, where evil aliens set their sights on our beloved blue planet and attempt to take it as their own.

What?

Oh, no...not that invasion ....and no not that invasion either. Those were both invasions from Mars, no I'm talking about that time when that distant other planet decided it was best that ....

URANUS STRIKES

Produced in 1987 by marketing graphic artist Bob Ting, Uranus Strikes was one of the first independently produced card sets on the market before the trading cards and card sets market fell apart in the 90's. The set was hand painted over the course of three years by Bob and printed up to be sold as full sets through the trading card collector publication The Wrapper and then as cases of packaged cards with coupons redeemable for prizes such a metal Uranus badge, T-shirt, 3-D poster, 8"x10" print of the box art, and unfolded wrapper and a ceramic bank. 

Created as a parody of Mars Attacks, Uranus Strikes featured inept aliens that look like four armed purple horse/fish men with brain like manes.  Like their Martian counterparts the aliens employ flying saucers, death rays and giant insects as their weapons of mass destruction. It just seems like the poor things have incredibly bad luck from accidentally shooting the moon with their planet killer device to poor choices in victims to being naturally attractive to lightning. The cards featured rather unusual guest star cameos from the likes of Mickey Mouse (#10), Boris and Natasha (#14), Norman Rockwell (#29), James Bond (#24), Sgt Billko (#20) and Bruce the Shark from Jaws (#12), In the end the human race defeats the alien invaders but at the cost of creating a new, more dangerous menace. Alas I do not own a full set, but do have numerous cards to trade if anyone is interested, drop a comment and let me know what you have and are looking for.

Countdown to Halloween - Target Safari

Finally got to Target today, the Halloween section isn't completely set up yet but I did manage to scope out some items and snap some pics with my trust iPhone.

First thing we have are tin coffins with sour candy bones inside them in either Sour Citrus or Sour Charry flavors. If these taste like the ones in the tins last year, buy them for the art on the outside and throw the candy away. EECHHH!

Then we have these cool Punch Cauldrons. These are small plastic Witch's Cauldrons that come with powder to create a bubbling witches brew punch in either Fruit Punch or Orange flavor. I may have to pick one of these up for my daughter's birthday party.

The next few items had my attention because my wife is a baker and cake decorator so I'm always looking for unusual cake of cupcake related items such as this Creepy Creatures Cupcake Kit,

The Ghost and Goblins Brownie Kit,

And these spider silicone backing cups and spider metal cupcake stands. I have been ordered to acquire the stands by my wife.

They were putting out some cool looking glasses with attached straws with Ghost and Pumpkin designs that my daughter told me she wanted, 15 times, that I will be going back for but today I think we'll see what Wal-Mart has to offer.



- Monsterfink