Tag: dracula

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The Return of Monsters With A Side of Fries!

Read The 1st Edition of “Monsters With A Side of Fries” here.

You wouldn’t believe it (or would you?) but there’s quite a crossover when it comes to the fandoms of horror movies and fast food toys. Am I saying that statement with no sources to back up my claim? Absolutely. But this is the internet. So what do you expect? 

In all honesty, I’d definitely say there was an era of fast food history where the Halloween season brought out some truly memorable toys. Whether you ate your meal out of a Boo Bucket or inexplicably had a plastic Chicken Mcnugget dressed as Dracula amongst your playthings, there’s a specific age group (and weight class) where Halloween coincides with cherished memories of disposable drive thru junk. 

In a time where any and all nostalgic memories are covered, streamed, shared, and posted, Burger King’s Universal Monster toys from October of 1997 have been covered regularly. And if you’re into this stuff, why wouldn’t you? Besides the toys themselves being incredible in their own right, there’s archived content from placemats to commercials. And coverage stems from personal recollections that can always be a blast to hear. But what if I said (in Yoda’s voice) there is another?  

Enter 1999’s Universal Studios Monsters from Jack In The Box. 

Jack In The Box is an American fast food chain that most people apparently recall but nobody has eaten at. It seems as if Jack In The Box can be categorized as some type of Twilight Zone-esque experience, where the mention of the name brings familiarity yet no specific recollections. The “alien abduction” of fast food chains. 

But Jack In The Box had a kid’s meal called, get this, “Jack’s Kids Meal” that featured these very Universal Studios Monsters. Now, there isn’t much information on these toys. The toys themselves aren’t dated. There’s no commercial to track down. No fond memories or personal recollections logged on social media. In fact, at first glance, you’d think these are simply the 1997 Burger King toys. Which, I assume, most do because look at them. 

I found these toys years back through my limitless eBay wanderings. A whole set of these are pretty expensive (for what they are) and the visual of them being so darn similar to the Burger King toys without the nostalgic coupling rendered them redundant to me. But I found a good deal on them due to a listing error, it’s the Halloween season, and I have an itch to write about pointless trash. I could tell it was the garbage stars aligning in the dumpster sky, my friends. 

The Monsters featured are Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Mummy, and The Phantom of the Opera. Now, they don’t have kooky nicknames like the BK toys (“Down-For-The-Count Dracula”) or come with a cool glow-in-the-dark sticker but when you’re throwing in a plastic monster with my burger and fries, who can really complain? 

Dracula here looks spooky cool with his evil snarl and cloth cape. He has a lever on his back that you press to unleash his “vampire strike” as the directions call it. Personally it looks like he’s flexing, but that’s cool too, because Drac always came off as vain (or is it vein in his case?). Neither have the likeness of Bela Lugosi. But they do look related. Compared to the BK Dracula, I think this Drac stands on his own merits. Yet the coffin is what really brings BK Drac ahead. I would’ve done some sort of “bat-transformation” feature to truly set the Jack in the Box figure apart. 

The Mummy is my favorite of the lot. Modeled after Lon Chaney Jr.’s rendition in 1942’s The Mummy’s Tomb, he comes with his actual tomb that doubles as a neat winding mechanism. You place The Mummy in the tomb, wind him up, and watch as he pushes his way out. Complete with slow shambling action! I was impressed with something as simple as this. A great representation of this classic monster. With no BK counterpart to boot! A true original that stands out.

Frankenstein comes with his ACTION chair (similar to the one in Bride of Frankenstein) in which you press the button on the back and, gasp, his head lights up green! Unfortunately, the light feature on both my Franken-figures no longer work. So enjoy my digital recreational effects. Out of all the toys, Frankie is the most similar to his BK brother. Same colors, scale, and feature. Frankenstein’s articulated limbs make him look awkward whereas the BK figure looks fuller and sturdy. The slab makes more sense to “shock” Frankenstein as that’s where he was brought to life via lightning. As opposed to the chair where he was chained during his imprisonment. Perhaps “breakaway” chains would’ve been a more appropriate action feature? Did I ever imagine the designers of these fast food toys would think someone would be criticizing their work on a desolate blog 24 years later? Forget the burger and fries, that is some food for thought. 

The Wolfman was my favorite (and most feared) monster as a kiddo. Even though his action feature was redundant of Dracula’s (both “spring” out of “boxes”) I adored the BK figure and played with him for years. The Jack In The Box Wolfman is much larger in size and has an electronic howling feature! Gently moving his arms down brings his head back as he viciously howls at the full moon. Being 24 years old, my Wolfman seems to have lost his voice…but the novelty is not lost on me! The nostalgia appreciates the BK Wolfman but the Jack In The Box figure wins the overall wolf-war (warwolf?). 

The Phantom of the Opera inclusion in this line is interesting to say the least. Generally speaking, he’s not the “go-to” when rattling off classic movie monsters. Especially when thinking of monsters to “toy-it-tize” and put in kids meals. That makes the toy unique in its own right. Upon inspecting it, I was wondering just what the heck this thing truly was as it sticks out the most amongst the other monstrous offerings. It’s a flippin’ harmonica. After the initial thought of “randomness” hit me, I hummed into it and appreciated the creativity. The Phantom has musical roots and the toy features him playing his iconic organ. My appreciation all came together over the course of about 9 seconds. I’m sure the six kids that had this annoyed their parents significantly. Besides, it’s not everyday you can say you blew The Phantom of the Opera.

The Creature From The Black Lagoon is one the best designed monsters in cinema history! That makes him perfect for toys. Even though the Jack In The Box Gillman is a pretty awkward toy it’s still the Gillman afterall. You may think he’s looking to give you double high fives after scoring an awesome three pointer in monster-ball (similar to basketball but obviously more monster based rules), I assumed they went for the famous publicity still of ‘Ol Creech from back in 1954. This Gillman is similar to his BK brother in that they’re both water squirters. Self explanatory for a water based monster, right? Well Jack in The Box Gillman has, like, a little water pump method? He doesn’t hold water…he needs to be fully submerged…then you pull his waist down revealing a long tube…push it back up and he squirts water out his mouth…but you can’t take him out of the water. He doesn’t work nearly as well as his BK counterpart (which functions more like a squirt gun because duh) but any Creature merch is appreciated..especially in 1999. Personally, to set this Gillman apart, I would’ve gone with a windup “swimming” feature when you place him in water. 

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Pros: 

  • Some great action features! While Frankenstein is redundant (but still fun), Wolfman actually howled, The Phantom is an actual harmonica (wut), The Mummy waddles out of his tomb, Dracula does a Hulk Hogan pose. A cool figure with your fast food is one thing, but having a neat feature along with it is just pickles on the burger. 
  • Variety of Characters! With 6 monsters to collect, casuals to die hard monster kids could find something to like in all of them. And I always thought the Burger King line could’ve used a Mummy. 
  • Good Lookin’ Ghouls! All the toys look like their monsters with colorful plastic and paint applications. The fact that you can see Karloff in Frankenstein or can tell the Mummy is Chaney’s Karis says a lot considering these are given away free in a hot greasy paper bag. 

Cons: 

  • The Creature From The Black Lagoon drowns! He’s not as cool looking as his BK relative. And, as is, he’s awkward and his “water squirter” feature falls flat. Making him the weakest of the lot. And it doesn’t take much to beat a Phantom harmonica for pete’s sake. 
  • They’re all different scales! The Wolfman towers over everyone while Frankenstein is the smallest. Dracula looks like he can hug the Mummy’s Tomb. The obvious fact of being the Universal Monsters makes them a set, sure, but when displayed together they all look like an odd hodge podge. Whereas the Burger King figures look like a series. 

Conclusion: Overall, the Universal Studio Monsters Jack In The Box toys are fun and unique in their own right. They’re a good representation of the resurgence and popularity the Universal Monsters gained in the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Although these monsters are cursed with the fact that they were outshined 2 years earlier at a much more prominent nationwide fast food chain. If these toys were precursors to the Burger King promotion, I’d say they’d be remembered more fondly (or remembered at all). But, instead, they serve as a forgotten sequel that simply wasn’t as good as the original. 

Why Didn’t They Do That?: An Invisible Man figure that changes color under warm/cold water. Like, him in his red robe and bandages but then he turns “Invisible” (blue/clear) under warm water. Come on now. 

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It seems nostalgia lined history has nearly forgotten these monstrous morsels of promotional plastic. Images online are mostly pulled from previous online auctions with a good smattering of images being of the Burger King toys instead. With the Jack In The Box monsters looking so similar and being distributed through a burger joint in the 1990s, I could see these being a subject of the Mandela Effect rippling throughout the mattering of myself and maybe, like, two other people. 

On top of that, Jack in the Box released a second series of Universal Studios Monster toys in 2002! Information on those are even more scarce…with no promotional material or even a full set to be found for purchase anywhere at the time of this article. Not to mention the monster mixup when you’re researching the year, series, or figures themselves. It becomes quite literally a monster mash of misinformation. Regardless, there’s a specific cozy type of feeling when it comes to the Universal Monsters during the Halloween season. And perhaps, one particular evening,  when the fog is thick and the moon is bright and full…I’ll venture across some 20 year old monster toys with the damp salty smell of french fries baked right into the plastic. And I’ll write about them for far too long all to add another tombstone in my cavalcade of comic culture.  

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The Horrifying Hatted Head of My Horror Host

It’s surprising upon putting pencil to paper that I realized I never had drawn Chicago’s very own creature feature host: Svengoolie prior.

Svengoolie, like many young Chicagoans before me, introduced generations to classic (and not-so-classic) horror and reeled many into the art of the late night “Creature Feature”. Taking over the titular role in the late 1970s from Jerry G. Bishop, Svengoolie was more than just a horror host. Every Saturday night in the 1990s I parked myself in front of the television and watched Sven’s alter ego (Rich Koz) host Stooge-a-Palooza followed by Svengoolie.

His wacky humor was always comforting when showing a more scary feature but also synced up with the more campy silly movies. He was a bonding agent between my mom and myself as well, as she often recalled soaking up classic monsters via Bishop’s Svengoolie in the late 60’s and 70’s.

For me, Svengoolie always was. As natural as the sunset or rain. And he’s been a local legend in Chicago’s history. If you knew Svengoolie, you were from here. It’s been over a decade since he’s gone national, but he hasn’t lost his luster. I’m glad we aren’t selfish when it comes to Sven, as the horror host is an endangered species. I’ve recently wondered what will happen when Rich Koz retires. Which he’s hinted at numerous times recently. I truly hope someone worthy in his eyes picks up the mantle, as I’d despise the American tradition of the late night Creature Feature tumbling to its death like King Kong.

So I put pencil to paper (as well as ink and color) to create my take on a Svengoolie piece. I combined several of my older “pen and ink” monster pieces into his hat. I put this together as an 18×24 canvas piece and shipped it, along with a short heartfelt note, to Svengoolie’s production studio with the hopes of him simply seeing it.

I’ll keep an eye out if it ends up featured in someway on his weekly show; and I’ll update this post if it indeed does.

UPDATE (10/02): IT INDEED DID.

This aired on October 1st’s episode featuring “Trilogy of Terror” starring Karen Black.

Pretty awesome way to kick off the Halloween season. When it comes to my art, I like bringing things full circle. Sitting in front of a television on Saturday nights watching this man present horror films that shaped my interests as a child, and then seeing something like this…paying respect in my own way and for it be be acknowledged on the show I grew up watching? That’s what it’s all about. Bucket list checked off. I can die happy now.

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Monsters With A Side of Fries

In October of 1997, fast food chain Burger King featured four Universal Monsters as kids’ meal toys. Universal Studios was in the process of reviving their catalog of classic horror films by remastering them for various official VHS releases. These fast food toys, amongst other various promotions, were Universal’s way of introducing the classic monsters to younger audiences as well as rejuvenating interest within the pop culture psyche. 

But I’m not here to talk about that really . 

I’m here to explain why a grown man decided to write about 25 year old fast food toys for the sheer fun of it. When writing, I often make humorous attempts to explain as to why I am what I am, taking (not so) subtle jabs at my interests and hobbies. They come off almost apologetic to the reader. I might do that because I realize my topic is a niche that mostly everybody couldn’t care less about. I might know that because I’ve literally seen energy drain from one’s face while I’m speaking to them about said topic. 

But you’re here. And you’re reading this. And I appreciate that. 

So, with this article, I’d like to go on the record as to deduce why these cheap molded pieces of plastic mean so much to me. And I’ve chosen Burger King’s Universal Monsters Toys because they might just be my favorite toys of all time. Yet it’s not just because of glow-in-the dark paint or a plastic coffin, as cool as those are, it’s the time and place they put you in. So grab some fries, join me, and let’s make sense of this together… 

Down for the Count Dracula. Bolts and Volts Frankenstein. Wolf Man Cellar Dweller. The Creature Scaly Squirter. These are their actual names because God Bless America. 

I couldn’t tell you when I decided Halloween was my favorite holiday. It was kinda like the hiccups. It just happens. Growing up, Burger King was my favorite fast food restaurant. From the fries, burgers, and chicken tenders…I always felt Burger King just did it better than the golden arches. Though the ultimate deciding factor within my little universe was what toys were being offered. I may have a hankering for a Happy Meal, but who wants another stinkin’ Hot Wheel when BK has The Universal Monsters?! Then these toys meant hours of fun playtime adventures…but today they function as tiny personal plastic time machines. 

When I see these Universal Monsters they bring me right back to the passenger seat of my mom’s Buick Skylark. It’s a chilly midwest evening sometime in October. We’re sitting in the Burger King drive thru waiting for our order. At this point in time, this was sort of our new tradition. There was a small notepad in the glove compartment. Scrawled within were home addresses within a reasonable driving distance. The addresses consisted of wildly decorated homes for the Halloween season. Not just some plastic tombstones and cobwebs. This was some truly theatrical stuff. Strobe lights. Fog machines. 6 foot monster dummies. Entire spooky scenes! Serious business. It began with a couple homes casually stumbled upon through The Great Pumpkin’s glory. Sometimes my mom would catch a segment on the local news and she’d quickly jot down the address. And in just a couple years the list grew to a solid nine or so residences. 

Come Friday or Saturday evening in the midst of October she would nonchalantly ask if I wanted to “go look at houses”. She didn’t have to ask. This was one of my favorite things to do all year. I rarely trick or treated. There were no parties I’d attend. I was too afraid of Haunted Houses. When it came to Halloween, I realized I was an observer. I loved to take in others enjoying the holiday in their own festive ways. It’s probably why the smell of rubber bats and skeletons shame any essential oils when it comes to obtaining relaxation.  

We’d hop in the car and I’d immediately rifle through her compact nylon case of cassettes. Shuffling past Van Halen and The Fugees to find the tape with one of those cheap cardboard slipcases. A Halloween album purchased at the counter of a drug store for a bargain because all the songs were mediocre covers. You know the one. Yet, for this tradition, it was as important as the car keys. With some rewinding and the beginning of an off-brand Monster Mash fading in, we disappeared into the eerily quiet Autumn evening.  

Which brings us back to that Burger King drive thru. Waiting for our order. Chicken tendies Kids Meal. That smell of fresh hot french fries entering the car. The bag slightly fogging up my side of the window. I eagerly pull out the familiar toy bag. The warm plastic has the faint texture of oil and grains of salt. I gush over my newly acquired Count Dracula. My mom’s more interested in stealing some of my fries. A bootleg  “Purple People Eater” cover plays softly through the car speakers. At this point, the Universal Monsters were not “new” to me by any stretch of the imagination. At this age I was strictly banned from watching horror movies, yet the Universal classics were fair game. My mom told me tales of her preteen indulgences in the “Late Night Creature Feature”. Therefore, she deemed the antics of Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney tame by “modern” standards and acceptable for a young chap such as myself. And, with that, these ghouls and their respective midnight movies became a shared interest, a bond if you will, between child and parent. Especially during the Halloween season. 

And, once again, we were off. Rubber to road. Sustenance in hand. A budget rendition of “Ghostbusters” to bob our heads to. Our destinations were the collective creepy creative concoctions only Halloween and its faithful followers could bring. I eagerly munched a chicken tender, feeling grateful for my mother’s navigation of the uneven pothole ridden streets. When pulling up to a home, I took in the gory ghoulish glory peeking out of my passenger window. Sometimes, if feeling courageous, I would roll it down to get a better look. But too deathly afraid to leave the safety of the car and approach the spooky scenes. Graveyards looking as if they were ripped straight from the “Thriller” music video. Lifelike vampires, witches, and werewolves appeared so real I was afraid they’d lunge straight for my throat! Yet, despite all that creepy coolness, the memories that stuck with me most were the drives between the scenes. When we’d wrap up seeing a house and I’d rewind a cassette track. Fantasize in my head about a monster coming to life and chasing us from the yard…making for our narrow escape. Our short conversations pointing out our favorite home so far. Ideas of what we’d do if we had the yard (or money) to showcase our devotion to Halloween for everyone to see. The quiet moments where I’d gaze out my window into the seemingly endless night. Getting lost in fantasy that perhaps a monster, much like the plastic one I gripped, was roaming the dark mysterious roads. The comfort of being with my mom. The sound of fallen leaves crunching below me. The common sight of jack o’lanterns smiling back at me. And knowing, nah, believing that anything could happen during the Halloween season. To know full well that magic doesn’t exist, but to feel like I experienced some form of it. 

With patented childlike persistence (and annoyance to my mom and grandmother that comes with it), I managed to collect Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman (two in fact! Wolfmen?). The Creature was the one to elude me, yet I did manage to “battle” a friend’s Creech during an indoor recess. Back when we’d sneak in small toys to fidget with throughout the school day. A physical reminder of the fun and freedom the “outside world” granted us from within the dull monotonous Chicago public school system. Besides action features, the Monsters came with glow-in-the-dark stickers that proudly adorned a few school folders for the remainder of the 1997 school year. But, like everything, time faded those stickers. The Universal Monster figures became buried by newly acquired plastic playthings. And, while certainly not forgotten, I lacked the foresight as a child to value the meaning behind them. Afterall how could I be nostalgic for the “good ‘ol days” when I was currently in them? 

The “Halloween House Hunting” tradition was soon to follow. Spookless joyrides led to crossing off addresses within our trusty notepad. The car crawling in front of a dark house and checking if we had the right address became more common than any plastic skeleton or latex limb. We’d reason with each other that perhaps they moved…or maybe someone passed away. Until the season came where we decided to stop altogether. Another victim to the hands of time. But with no styrofoam tombstone to commemorate its existence. 

I told you earlier I don’t know when I decided Halloween was my favorite holiday. But, at least, you get an idea of why it is. Yet there’s something that,ultimately, depresses me when writing about it. It could be the simple realization that not only are these days far gone, but the people and places are as well. And, as I get older, the memory becomes more and more muddled. Details become lost or substituted to the point where it nearly becomes fabrication. It could also be a disappointment, I have for myself, that my personal cherished memories stem from cheap molded plastic rather than the people who surrounded me. The truth that a compilation video of old commercials moves me more than a family photo album. But, at the same time, these little aspects of capitalism are triggers for more meaningful memories. An answer as to why one of my favorite pastimes is digging around a plastic toy bin at any comic convention or flea market. I don’t think there’s been an instance of toy scrounging where I haven’t bored my wife with a story or my best friend and I exchange childhood memories like NBA POGS. I guess it’s just how I’m wired. 

I’ve recently revisited some of the homes I recalled on those spooky special fall nights. I’d foolishly approach them believing that, just maybe, they’ll look just as they used to be. But all the optimism didn’t change the fact that they currently sit shrouded in shadow. Not even a jack o’lantern present to grin back at me. As for the Burger King Universal Monsters figures, I own them because of course I do. They’re not the originals I had as a kid. I managed to pick up a full bagged set about 10 years back. And I can’t recall whom I was with, but I’m sure I talked the poor soul’s ear off about them….just like I’m doing to you. I rarely get Burger King these days on account of all the Burger King I ate collecting Pokemon and Universal Monster toys. But, sometimes, when I’m yearning to have diarrhea I’ll pull through the drive thru. And everytime that familiar smell of fresh french fries invades my car I’d get that feeling again. That’s Halloween. Let’s pop in that cassette. Let’s go look at houses. Let’s feel that magic that only belongs to me. 

And just like everything mentioned, we’ll all eventually succumb to the time. And these cheap molded pieces of plastic may not be immortal like Count Dracula, but they’ll seem like it…to me at least. So, for now, I’m sharing with you these simple silly monster figures. They’re keys. And they’ll always unlock this very memory. No matter how faded it eventually becomes.

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Comment below and let me know about your special item and why it means so much to you…