As I look around the cave for items to feature this month, I can’t think of anything that would be more appropriate for today than Frankenstein. There are only a few Universal Monsters items in my collection, but that’s only because finding vintage items in the wild is nearly impossible. When a figure is so iconic, the collector base is massive, and finding a good deal is not easy. When the little old lady running the antique shop can tell you who a character is by sight, you can bet that it’s going to cost you.
I was lucky to get this Marx battery operated Frankenstein tin toy a few years back from a collector of 50’s and 60’s toys. He wanted the toys from his own memories and was happy to trade me this and a few other items for a King Zor (I miss that toy) and some Lionel trains. This particular Frankenstein is a beater and the former owner was a tinkerer who had fixed it up a bit, for better or worse. You’ll notice one of the hands is actually a doll hand that has been painted green. Frankenstein has been Frankensteined!
It’s pretty remarkable how lifelike the head sculpt is for a toy that was produced in 1964. The soft rubber allowed for plenty of detail, in stark contrast to the rest of the toy. These Frankenstein figures rank pretty high on the list for Universal Monster collectors, and a pristine example sold with its original box at Morphy’s for $1,500.00 several years ago.
Here’s a video that shows how the figure moves (this is a much nicer example than mine!):
A much more affordable Marx figure is this guy…
The 6″ line of Marx figures includes Marvel super heroes, army men, vikings, cowboys and indians, and of course the amazing Universal Monsters figures. Unfortunately, finding these figures without missing fingers or chew marks is no easy task. Dogs must have really loved these things back in the 60’s.
There’s a good chance that the sixth day of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge will include another famous monster, so be sure to check back in tomorrow!
That’s a pretty great likeness of Karloff!