Invasion of the Monster Women: Rubbery weirdo B-movie babes

If you're familiar with the novelty gift company Archie McPhee, you'll know that they have unleashed some pretty special weirdo toys into the world over the years. Looking on their site right now, I see such gems as "Martian Popping Thing," "Skeleton Pirate Finger Puppets," "Remote Control Walking Zombie," and a pretty amazing Bigfoot action figure prominently displayed on their homepage. But one of my all-time favorite Archie McPhee releases is a set called "Invasion of the Monster Women."

IOTMW lunchbox (front & back)

Invasion of the Monster Women consists of six rubbery mini figures depicting female animal-human hybrids based on the types of strange space creatures found in 1950s sci-fi B-movies. They're awesome in a bizarre, kitschy kind of way.

I remember first coming across these at an art supply store in the mid-'90s. They had a tub of 'em and I snatched up one of each variety. Then, as late as into the mid-'00s, I saw them available in the Archie McPhee mail order catalog. There were a few other Invasion of the Monster Women items to go along with the figures, like a metal lunchbox and salt-and-pepper shakers.

The figures are made of a soft rubber reminiscent of vintage jiggler toys and feature painted details over a flesh-colored base. In many cases the paint is pretty poorly applied and the sculpting is kind of shoddy, but considering their bad B-movie vibe, that doesn't detract from their charm at all. If you're a lover of weird toys, they're pretty damn irresistible.

Here's a closer look at each of the monster women:

First we have SARAPEDE, who's obviously half-woman, half-centipede. I'd say she's the creepiest of the bunch. Look at that face--she looks like she's even creeping herself out.

REPTILICA is my personal favorite. There's just something awesome about snake-women, and I think she's got the coolest sculpt.

DRACONIA is a lizard/dragon-lady. That stony glare can send waves of pure, unadulterated fear through legions of plastic army men.

Here we have VAMPIRA. Don't be fooled by the poorly-applied mouth paint that makes her look a bit uncertain. She's ready to come suck your soul.

This is THE SCORPION QUEEN, waiting patiently for the next unlucky earth-man to venture near her lair.

Rounding out the gang of monster women is TARANTUELLA. She's a bit sad because her breasts are attached to her arms, making it quite a challenge to successfully capture men and eat them.


And there you have it--the kitschy, cool, and crazy monster women from outer space. What do you think of 'em? Have you managed to capture any of these rubber beauties yourself?