Gre-Gory thge Vampire bat of childhood disapointment!
Fooling around through the 1980 JC Penney Catalog I came upon the Tri-fecta of evil, the three toys I wanted more than anything but never recieved.
They are, in order, Mattel’s Godzilla from the Shogun Warriors line, Rodan also from said line and the third and possibly worst of them all Gre-Gory.
There is probably nothing I wouldn’t have done to get these three, there would have been blood on the playground people…..
Godzilla was the only one of them I ever saw at retail, my friend had one so there are some fond memories, it’s Gre-Gory and in particular the ad below that I remember best. 
One day while perusing a comic (probably Marvel’s Star Wars) I saw this ad and went directly to Woolco armed with Grandma, they didn’t have it. Mattel Canada never carried the thing.. After 20 years of toy collecting, I’ve never even seen one of these things up close.
Gre-Gory, you represent torment.
Today I own that Godzilla and Rodan but it’s sort of hollow, my main childhood memory is wanting them, not playing with them. I let my son fool around with my Shogun Warriors now because he has a lot of fun with them.
On an unrelated note, I found this incredible early eighties toy store commercial on you tube, I had heard of this store from collectors before, looks like it was awesome, they probably carried Gre-Gory………
I wanted that bat!
I had the bat…but my baby brother chewed off the detached fingers and the feet. All of my Star Wars action figures met the same end.
I found Gre-Gory at an antique shop years ago. I like him, and am proud to have him.
I owned Godzilla and Rodan back in 1980 and played with them for a year or so until the hormones kicked in and I started chasing girls…the Toho monsters went into the closet until I dug them out a couple of years later and gave them to a neighbor kid (like a freaking idiot).
I do remember the Gre-Gory ad from that same Penney’s catalog, but for whatever reason I never got him (my Mom actually worked at JC Penney at the time and got an awesome discount). I think I ended up getting Remco’s Universal Monsters dolls that year (glow in the dark with the gripping arms).
I actually saw a Gre-Gory on e-bay a month or so ago, but he was a defective model (the blood pump didn’t work, or some such thing).
Thanks for bringing back the memories,
H.
had the bat-wasnt that cool-all it did was pump blood thru the window-didnt get a lot of play value out of it…
Never had Gre-Gory, but I had Godzilla – shot my brother in the eye with the launching fist – and I had the Shogun Warrior that had the missile fingers and sword.
I guess I was lucky enough to own a Gre-Gory. Problem was once I got it, I didn’t really know what to do with it. I mean, you couldn’t really use it with any other playsets, so it was just kind of this novelty thing that wore off really fast.
I am actually looking for a gre-gory bat….for a friend who is a collector. If you know of anyone that still has one and is willing to sell it….let me know! THANKS
-Kim
I had Gre-gory when I was a little girl and I must tell you—It was everything you probably imagined and then some. I had so much fun with this thing— I used to hang it in my older sister’s closet— My grandmother’s pantry— From the light in my mother’s car— In the shower— There was nothing I wouldn’t do to scare the ever living daylights out of every person I knew. And it always worked— NO ONE was safe from Gre-gory. If you ever come across an extra one (after you’ve found one for yourself) give me a shout. I’d love to get another one and send it to my sister…lol
I had Godzilla first, then Rodan, then Gre-Gory. Gre-Gory was my only childhood toy I took back to the store due to lameness. Based on the package I had been leering at for weeks I had imagined an awesome battle in the sky vs. Rodan, whilst Godzilla flailed about uselessly below… waiting to exact his vengeance on the victor.
What I got was the lameness of Pulsar embedded in a big rubber bat.
WOW this article hit a bit too close to home with me. I wanted Gre-Gory the bat in the absolute worst way possible. Unfortunately my mom would not allow me to own one as she feared the blood would leak out and I am not sure here why this would end the world..I never got one I am in my early thirties and have decided I must have a Gre-Gory bat its that one thing I just wanted and seemed so hopeless that I would never have it. I have let alot of things go that I will never have in life. A Ferrari, money, supermodel girl friend. BUT I will have my Gre-gory bat!! OH yes I will!
Wow! This is really strange! I have just started collecting my childhood toy favorites, I just purchased the showgun godzilla, the shogun rodan, the gre-gory bat and the original gre-gory bat ad taken from a comic book, I just googled gre-gory bat to see if I could find one that still pumps blood or find out how to fix it, and I come across this page showing an ad for the shogun godzilla, rodan, gre-gory bat and the same vintage comic book ad! And here is where it gets really crazy, I scrolled down further and wached the youtube video, And it is a old commercial for mr biggs toyland on moody street, waltham MA. I grew up 2 blocks from there, I used to go there all the time to buy micronauts, aurora monster models, the 1979 18inch alien figure, space dragon, guyking, and of course they always had a pile of wrapped grab bags right in front of the store as you walked in. The store was great except the owner was really mean, he would always yell at you not to touch anything unless you were going to buy it, and that lady in the commercial used to walk around with a cain, she had some sort of physical problem with one side of her body, she would follow you around and watch you like a hawk to make sure you didn't steal. I always felt uncomfortable in their. Anyway, they went out of buissiness several years ago, I remember they had a huge going out of buissiness sale, I bought the planet of the apes treehouse playset that day. I wish I hung on to that one. Thanks for the memories, way to much to be just a coinsidence, I feel like this posting was meant for me. Made my day! Thanks!
Fear no more, thanks for your purchase, Gre~gory it's on the way to you!
Love the site!