Monster Toys

In 1980, Mattel released the first wave of figures based on the Filmation Animated series "Flash Gordon", ( You can read my review of the DVD here) The line was very accurate to the source material, despite the figure bodies being short. It's body style was used earlier on the Battle Star Galactica line and like that line, the second wave of figures (Vultan, Captain Arak etc) is much tougher to find.

Mattel seemed very apt to producing Monster toys based on unique concepts, the Krusher could reshape himself after getting smashed. Gre-Gpry was a large vampire bat that you could see the blood flow through, this was very similiar a concept to Mattel's earlier Pulsar, so they got some real mileage out of it.

Boxed Krusher courtesy of Charlie Balicki.

Sucker was another interesting concept, a rubber monster that would stick to walls, Mattel started releasing color variations to keep him on the shelves. I love how he's described as a "critter".

These boxed Suckerman dolls in red and green are from my own collection for a change.

Though technically not a Monster, Mattel's Slime was a really popular item in the late seventies, Mattel kept reissuing Slime with a new gimmick every year. This year it's Slime with eyeballs, previously they had added worms. Mattel retired Slime for a couple of years then brought it back for the Masters of the Universe.

Creepy Crawler Thingmakers were first popular for Mattel in the 60's, they had a brief resurgance in the late seventies. What a rip off the Girls version is, I'm sure a lot of girls wanted the Creepy version but got stuck making pretty flowers.

Back to the Mattel 1980 Catalog Index