Zombos' Closet

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Famous Monsters Photo Printing Set

There are a few toys from my younger days that I'd love to have again: My Favorite Martian Magic Set is one and, were I to name the single most important toy nearest and dearest to me, it would have to be the Famous Monsters Yankee Photo Printing Set.

I came across these 3 Stooges Photo Printing Set images on eBay a few years ago. I wouldn't mind having this kit, either. The chemicals, mixing trays, and orange bulb you see here are the same for the Famous Monsters Set, only the 10 negatives you get are different, of course.

The process involved placing the negative on a wallet-sized photographic paper, exposing the combination to a strong white light, then popping in the orange bulb to make your own darkroom (my bedroom floor) for developing the photograph using the chemicals and mixing trays. I've no doubt the mixing solutions were highly toxic. Didn't care, still don't. For me, this was probably the best toy offered in the pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland.

I sure got my money's worth.

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Jack Davis Frankenstein Pin-up

I never really liked the Jack Davis Frankenstein pin-up, so I didn't get that promised "100 hours of laughs and thrills." Don't get me wrong, it's a great drawing, but maybe it's that fuzzy vest, annoying me deep down on some Pavlovian level. My mom bought me one of those Carnaby Street Mod vests on a whim. Seriously. She expected me to wear it to school, looking like some Michael Saracin wannabe in it. Maybe that's why I don't like this poster.

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Frankenstein & Dracula Pin-Ups

I believe this is the first advertisement that appeared on the back cover of Famous Monsters of Filmland to promote the Frankenstein Monster and Dracula posters. I dare you to name one FM fan who doesn't regret not hanging on to these posters. Dracula was my favorite. I hung him on my bedroom door. Frankie hung around on the closet door. Both were awesome to behold. Would love to see these reissued, along with the Mummy and the Wolf Man and the Creature From the Black Lagoon. Be great they could keep the price to a dollar a piece, too. Just sayin'. (Scan courtesy of Professor Kinema)

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Battlestar Galactica

The 1980s were all about spaceships, alien races, and adventures among the stars. While I grew up with the television series, the recent reimagining of Battlestar Galactica worked for me, too. But the earlier ship designs are still memorable, and the toys more playable. Especially with a few "space" monsters tossed in.

Before the new Battlestar Galactica kicked in, Richard Hatch lambasted it for how his character, Captain Apollo, would be portrayed, especially since he had been working hard on a revival of the original series himself. His passion did, at least, earn him a meaty role in the new series as Tom Zarek. Shrewd.

 

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Star Wars

I started collecting toys in earnest by the time The Empire Strikes Back hit the theaters. Blame the Star Wars merchandising machine. I'd scour Toys "R" Us every weekend for figures and vehicles, and dreamed of finding more of those red markdown stickers on them.

Then I hit the jackpot. A comic book store I visited for the first time had all the playsets for 5 bucks apiece. Those micro playsets with their diecast figures were my favorites. The guy was happy to finally sell all those playsets gathering dust on his top shelf, I was happy to suddenly find all of them.  Win-win all around.

I miss the exhilaration of those early days before collecting became a business, and you could leisurely walk around Toys "R" Us without some knucklehead grabbing an action figure right out of your hands if you hesitated for a moment, or rudely shoving you out of the way to be first at the racks to find those hard-to-find gems.

Yes, I miss those days. eBay doesn't muster the same thrill-of-the-hunt enjoyment you get tracking your collectible prey in person. 

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Fun Reading

Captain Company not only offered wonderful toys for little ghouls and boys, but it also provided exciting reading for lovers of the fantastic. My introduction to Mandrake the Magician and Buck Rogers came from reading these wonderfully oversized books. Here's where the power of print trumps digital every time. You can still find these books on Amazon.

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Monster Mail Order

Decisions, decisions: skull mugs or the Horrible Melting Man mask? It's hard to decide. But that Werewolf Siren Ring is more practical, especially on full-moon lit nights. The Super Frankenstein Mask covers the entire head, though. Neato!

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Famous Monsters of Filmland wasn't always about monsters. As monsterkids entered the space age in earnest in the 1970s and 1980s, science fiction (or science fantasy, take your pick)  took off for the galaxy from the pages of FM. Purists hated it, but the magazine needed to stay in step with the new interests of hybrid monster-space-age-kids, or it, and Captain Company's sales, would plummet back to earth.

Buck Rogers was a lively, well-concieved show primed for action figures and vehicles, until it went all bizarro with season two. The toys were wonderful to play with, especially Twiki (bidi-bidi-bidi, okay Doc!).

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Monster Wallets and Wall Plaques

It doesn't get much cooler than these Captain Company items. The colors, the poses, the Universal monsters; grownup monsterkids still salivate at the sight of them.

While I've seen the vinyl wallets now and then (especially after the re-issues), I don't recall seeing any of the wall plaques.

Note to Phil Kim and the new Famous Monsters of Filmland: maybe it's time to resurrect the wall plaques. I'd even update them if I were you. Add Freddy, Jason, and Chucky (but for godsakes, not the remake versions!) And add a backlight so they glow in the dark. Just a thought.

 

 

Thanks to Professor Kinema for supplying this back cover ad from Famous Monsters of Filmland #29.

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Our Creepy Cousins

Creepy and Eerie magazines are the epitome of monsterkidism, back in the day. Without Warren Publishing pushing the horror craze in print, we'd be the lesser for it. It's ironic when you think of it, but with all this horror came a more stalwart social awareness through the telling of it, which kids were privy to and adults abhorred.

The first known interracial kiss in mainstream comics (as opposed to underground comix occurred in Warren's Creepy #43 (Jan. 1972), in "The Men Who Called Him Monster" by writer Don McGregor and artist Luis Garcia. McGregor said in 2001 that the kiss was actually due to the artist misunderstanding the line "This is the clincher" in the script. McGregor would later script color comic books' first known interracial kiss, in the "Killraven: Warrior of the Worlds" feature in Amazing Adventures #31 (July 1975).
(from Wikipedia)

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Horrorscope!

I didn't order the 5 foot balloon, though as I think of it, it would have been fun playing The Prisoner and having it chase me down the block, with me screaming "I am not a number, I am a free man!" as I ran. Just look at that kid in the picture; you can imagine he's practically screaming those words before the big weather balloon engulfs him.

But I did get the spankin' monsterkid-cool Horrorscope. The packaging it came in was even more exciting than the viewer. The monster illustrations on it were colorful and brash, daring you to watch. The design was fairly nifty, too, though I recall it being a bit hard to crank.

Of course, I lost it along the journey from dream-filled childhood to reality-numbing adulthood, but when you can say you had a great monsterkid toy--scarce and expensive to find now-- as opposed to not ever having it, well, that's a plus, right?

"What is most unique about the success of the Captain Company was the fact that it survived for so long. While it is understandable how reruns of the films would remain popular it is nothing sort of shocking how such massive volumes of tie in merchandise were still selling well into the late 1970’s. Much of the reason for this was the Captain Company’s unique ads that promoted monster “stuff” as the coolest thing in the world and this kept kids sending off their money orders for these great items. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever and the horror fad faded and interest in tie in merchandise waned to nothingness. But, for a time it was incredibly popular and even more incredibly cool!" (Captain Company and the Lost Era of Magazine Marketing)

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Live Monkey?

Have you always wanted a live monkey? Tough call. For me, I think I rather have those two new monster model kits. Having Godzilla and King Kong staring each other down as they sat on my shelf would probably be more fun than even a barrel of live monkeys.

Fascinating fun for the entire family? Not so sure about that one. Hey Mom, look, I just got a live monkey! Oh, gee, no he's not potty trained. Didn't think about that one. I like the "live delivery guaranteed." Quite a bummer if the little thing didn't make it through shipping. I'm glad they included free instructions on care and feeding. That's important.

I don't know of anyone who bought a live monkey. Do you? It's definitely one of the oddest items offered by Captain Company.

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: The Forgotten Prisoner of Castel-Mare

There's something special about this model kit. Hard to pin down, but maybe it's the skull locked in a never-ending scream, or maybe how the tattered clothes reveal the rat-picked bones underneath. It's shades of The Cask of Amontillado and hints of The Count of Monte Cristo.

Although he was lucky enough to escape...

 

 

Captain Company Monsterkid Memories: Warrior Battle Jacket

I may be wrong, but I don't think this really was "perfect for everywhere wear." You'd have to be pretty spaced out to wear this to school or the disco. Just make it easy on yourself and paste a kick my ass sticker to your butt and save the expense.

Then again, I'd go all Battlestar Galactica for a chance to wear this at a sci fi convention. Geeky chicks dig geeky older guys in space adventure battle jackets, right? Get your whole family to dress up, too. How cool would that be? Beats going all Klingon mug-ugly and anti-social*.

(*Not that there's anything wrong with that so please don't beat me up again, okay? I promise not to joke about your Bat'leth, even though you seriously look silly swinging it like for real. Know what I mean? I never have these problems at horror conventions.)

Captain Company Memories for Monsterkids: Dracula's Dirt

Call it what you like, dirt is dirt. But boy, didn't every Dracula fan want one of these? I wonder who went around the castle digging up the dirt for this "unusual offer."