World's Greatest Super Heroes: The Mad Monster Series (Mego / Krege / Lion Rock)

World's Greatest Super Heroes: The Mad Monster Series
Mego / Krege / Lion Rock
1973 - 1980

Happy Halloween (one day early), everyone!

This post has taken us years to compile. It's been so long in the making that we were beginning to think it would never come to light. Mego's World's Greatest Super Heroes: The Mad Monster Series is so incredibly difficult to track down. Boxed and blister carded versions of the figures are so rare, and yet there are so many different variations. You would think at some point it would be easy to get your hands on at least one of the versions. Apparently not so much.

What is it with monster related series that make them so hard to track down? Looking at you, Remco Universal Studios Monsters.

The Mad Monster Series began in 1973 with the release of what has become known as "Solid Box". The four characters released were; The Dreadful Dracula, The Monster Frankenstein, The Horrible Mummy and The Human Werewolf. These would be the only four figures produced, and they would be re-released in multiple packaging styles up until 1980.

The Dreadful Dracula

Mego Solid Box*Mego / Krege Blister Card

During its first run, Mego made a change to the production of both Frankenstein and Dracula. Frankenstein was retooled with blue hair, and Dracula received bright red hair. Though it is unknown for certain why this change was made, many collectors speculate it was due to the original sculpts to closely resembling the characters from Universal Studios. Fearing some form of repercussions the changes were made, and the production continued until resculpted versions were completed. Again, this is all just speculation among the collecting community.

 The Dreadful Dracula

Mego Window Box*Mego / Toys R' Us Exclusive Lion Rock Blister Card

Mego produced the figures at some point between 1974 and 1975 for the first blister carded versions - AKA Krege cards. SS Krege was one of the largest retail organizations which later formed into a little known company that you may have heard of - Kmart Corporation which then evolved into Sears Holding Corporation.

Though many sources profess that the Krege carded versions are one of the more difficult versions to find, we can assure, they are all difficult to find.

The Monster Frankenstein

Mego Solid Box*Mego / Krege Blister Card

Mego briefly re-released the Mad Monsters in window boxes, and like the aforementioned Krege cards, many collectors profess that these are difficult versions to obtain. We regress back to our prior statement on the matter - They're all difficult to find.

The Monster Frankenstein

Mego Window Box*Mego / Toys R' Us Exclusive Lion Rock Blister Card

 The Horrible Mummy

Mego Solid Box*Mego / Krege Blister Card

In 1980, Lion Rock released a second version of the blister cards as Toys R' Us exclusives. Though the figures weren't all that popular during their initial release, they have since become highly sought after by collectors who claim...Yes, you guessed it...These are incredibly hard to find.

We're not making this up. According to Mego Museum, the profess that each one of these sets are difficult to find / complete. Why don't they just say that every single one of them is an almost futile attempt?

 The Horrible Mummy

Mego Window Box*Mego / Toys R' Us Exclusive Lion Rock Blister Card

The Human Werewolf

Mego Solid Box*Mego / Krege Blister Card

If The Mad Monster Series is the challenge you've been looking for, be ready to drop a lot of cash. You're going to spend about $200.00 a piece for the solid box versions, and anywhere from $600.00 to $1,000.00 for each other version. Let's do some quick math here...That's about $8,000.00 on the low end, and about $12,800.00 on the high end.

The Human Werewolf

Mego Window Box*Mego / Toys R' Us Exclusive Lion Rock Blister Card

Now, mind you, that price noted above is just for the figures. If you really want to complete the set, you're going to have to also track down the incredibly rare Mad Monster Castle. That's going to cost you another $600.00 to $700.00.

Mad Monster Castle

For those looking to scratch that nostalgic itch at a fraction of the cost, you may want to consider the 2012 Classic TV Toys versions. These reproduced figures (and the playset) are far more common, and will only set you back around $25.00 to $35.00 for each of them, and about $70.00 for the playset. Yes, we know, it's not the same thing, but it may be your only option if you don't want to take a second mortgage out on your home.

Mego's Mad Monster Series is definitely an amazing set of figures from a time of classic toys. It's just not very obtainable by the majority of people interested in it.

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Classic Movie Monster (Imperial)

Classic Movie Monster
Imperial
1986

Since their inception, Universal has willingly been the gigolo for their trademarked monsters. These classic characters have been on everything from posters to coloring books to toy to <insert genre of collectible here, and keep going>. Rest assured, if you're a fan, there's something out there for you to collect.

While Imperial's venture into the realm of Classic Movie Monsters isn't the best iteration of toys to be found, they are certainly some of the more budget friendly ones to this day. Unlike the Remco line which will set you back not only a ton of money, but a lot of time and patience to obtain, Imperial's are relatively in abundance, and sell for as little as $10.00 a piece. Granted that's more than double of their original price of $3.99, but fairly on par with the cost of figures these days.

Imperial produced only four characters; Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy and Wolfman. The first thing you might notice with these is their unnaturally large hands. Yikes! Is that where the majority of the plastic went into these products? HUGE!

Still, there's something about these that we really love; The cardbacks work so well with the figures inside to give them a real appeal to the eye. They pop, if you know what we mean. It would be difficult to walk past these hanging on a store peg, and at least not glance at them. Their vibrant colors draw you in for at good look (at the very least).

The downer to these is that the back of the cards don't share in the amazing design of the fronts. Rather than make the backs leap out at you like the fronts, Imperial went with a bland black and white "drawn" look. They get points for the classic Meco type artwork for the available figures in the line, but at the end of the day it's rather bland, and leaves you wanting to quickly flip it back over to the figure side.

Beyond that there's not much more to say about this line. It has its appeal for being a Universal Monsters property, and of course you can't go wrong with a a well put together bendable figure - Which Imperial certainly does. This certainly wasn't their first outing in the realm of bendable toys, and it shows that they know what they're doing when it comes to producing a line of toys. In other words, there's quality (and care) there.

This is not one of the more well known toy lines to be produced based on Universal's monsters. This factor may contribute to its (relatively speaking) low prices on secondary markets. They're certainly a conversation piece, and fans of these iconic characters should definitely consider adding them to their collection.

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Monster Playsets Series 1 and 2 (McFarlane Toys)

Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy - These are all characters who shaped the world of fictional horror as we know it. They've been the source of scares since the dawn of the first horror title, and to this day are fan favorites in all their classic and current iterations.

There are those who view scary movies, specifically gory ones as a representation of societies decay. This theory bears scrutiny as even the earliest societies have been documented for their stories on "monsters". Horror films have also been scientifically proven to stimulate the brain, producing endorphins based on the excitement that terror brings, which in turn reduces stress.


McFarlane Toys gave an iconic node to the greatest of the greatest classic monsters starting in 1997 with their Monster Playsets line.

Unlike the majority of figures coming down the production line of McFarlane Toys, the Monster Playsets were simplistic in nature. While they represented the iconic characters well, they didn't necessarily contain the attention to detail that fans had come to expect from the company - At least not in the figures. However, the background pieces and accessories were incredibly detailed - Right down to severed legs.

This is all made acceptable in that the figures were never designed to look like any specific portrayal of the characters as seen in the past. Rather, they were homage’s to the characters as seen from a fans perspective who just so happened to have the licensing and ability to mass produce said nod.

The yellow cardboard backer of the first series left little to desire in the first series of figures, so it was a welcome change for the revamped brown back for the 1998 second series.

The update to the bubble section itself was also a much needed, much appreciated change. In the first series, pieces seemed crammed inside with the majority of them overlapping each other. The new packaging design allowed for all the pieces to be spread out so that people could see everything inside.

In total the series one and two had eight playsets produced. They are as follows;

SERIES 1

Dracula Playset
Frankenstein Playset
Hunchback Playset
Werewolf Playset

SERIES 2

Dr. Frankenstein Playset
The Mummy Playset
The Phantom of the Opera Playset
The Sea Creature Playset

For fans of classic horror, these are an excellent conversation piece in their collections. It's not often that we see figures based loosely on a concept, as opposed to specifically related subject matters. This was a great idea, and a fresh take on the action figure market. It's a shame that so few companies take risks like this today by producing sets such as these. Though in the here today, gone tomorrow market we see these days, it's no surprise that the majority don't.

We'll take a look at the remaining series in the Monsters line at some point, so stay tuned for a continuation of this post coming down the pike at some point.

Join us next time when we take a look at Vampirella!

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