I have a natural propensity towards the weird and the unusual.
Always have, as far back as I can remember.
The fact that my grandparents were magicians and were married
on Halloween may have had something to do with it.
And I was named after my grandmother as well.
Man, I miss them.
I have always had a love of classic horror monsters like The Wolfman, The Mummy,
I have always had a love of classic horror monsters like The Wolfman, The Mummy,
and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Not so much Dracula for some reason.
Too human, maybe? To prim and proper? I can't stand Lestat, sparkly Edward,
or Bill Compton-type vampires. Lame.
To give photographic proof of my love of classic Universal monsters,
here's some of my cool schtuff.
I do find a sweetness, or a sadness even, within these types of monsters.
Tragically misunderstood, and innocent victims of their own environment.
This was a toy from Burger King '97.
When you squeeze his diaphragm while underwater, it sucks up the water.
Then, when you squeeze it again, it squirts the water out of his mouth.
This guy is from Jack in the Box, but no year is printed on it.
He has uneven wheels underneath, and when you wind him up he
walks kinda wonky. Slowly.
I'm pretty sure I have a Dracula with a red coffin
and a blue wooden coffin for this guy somewhere...
As my love of monsters has grown, so has my ability to afford nicer toys.
Nothing super spectacular or pricey, but for a collector on a budget
these are much nicer than the stuff I had as a kid.
these are much nicer than the stuff I had as a kid.
I got this handsome mister last year for myself for my birthday.
I love how stylized he is. The sculpt is quite nice and detailed, too.
Very nice paint job.
Nice articulation of the hands.
The outfit is all cloth except for the pants.
Overall, very cool.
I was totally looking forward to the release of The Creature in this line.
I figured with the way Frankenstein's Monster turned out, this one would be
bad ass. Hmmm. Maybe I was wrong.....
He looks kinda constipated.
Nice sculpt on the body. The waist turns, as does the chest.
Nice articulation of the ankles/feet.
The face is kinda lame. Not stylized or unique enough for my taste.
The Mummy figure has just been released, but I want to see a close up
of it before I order him. I'm diggin' the pictures I've seen of it so far.
I'll save the piece de resistance for tomorrow's post.
Don't wanna over do it.
Here's my art project for today.
It's a corrugated cardboard base wall hanging.
Back when I was on the Rick St. Dennis design team
he was thoughtful enough to draw an image for each of the
design team members. This one was for me. It's a 'Glo-Bug'.
Ever since he drew it, I have had this idea of putting it under a cloche
for safe keeping. Finally, that has come to fruition.
I die cut the TH bell jar/cloche using black cardstock for the base and
clear packaging (acetate) for the jar part. I used TH Distress paint in bronze,
for the base and after drying it with a heat gun, I painted it with
Rock Candy crackle paint.
I even managed to get some modeling paste and stenciling
on this thing. Used some Silks glazes in black and iridescent copper
for some sparkle and shine.
After adding the metal corner pieces and the spider web die cut,
I adhered the 'Creepy' banner sticker as my title.
This is adorable!! Momma is pleased with herself.
It's going to hang (somewhere) in my craftroom.
Thanks so much for stopping by today.
I'm almost sure it was your visit that has made me feel better.
See ya tomorrow with my newest Universal Monsters collectible,
and another Halloween art project for the 31 Days of Halloween and
