Ghoulies keshi

Ghoulies keshi repros in neon pink and glow-yellow

WHAT: Did you know there was a rubber mini figure produced of one of the creatures from the Ghoulies movies? I had no clue until very recently, when one appeared for sale on eBay and was then discussed on the LittleRubberGuys.com forums. The figure depicts one of the Fish Ghoulies from the films (which you can read about on the Ghoulies wiki...yes, there is actually a Ghoulies wiki). According to the seller of the figure, which was a blue color, the "incredibly hard to find 1&1/2" tall rubber keshigomu figurine from Japan was a premium figure for the classic horror movie Ghoulies that was available only through Japanese video stores." The seller was asking a pretty penny, but thankfully a fellow collector snagged it and was kind enough to let Eric Nilla cast up reproductions in multiple colors and sell them through his store for a much more affordable price. I couldn't resist this little rat-bastard, so I ordered one that arrived in a cool yellow-glow color and liked it so much that I decided to get him a buddy in neon pink. Both colors were a challenge to photograph properly, but as you can see this is an awesome little figure. Thanks to Eric and the buyer of the original for making it available to more collectors!

Two Ghoulies & a Critter

WHEN: It seems the original keshi was released around the time that one of the original Ghoulies movies came out, but I'm not sure of a specific year. Eric's reproductions became available starting in early 2013.

WHERE: According to the eBay listing for the original keshi, it was offered exclusively in Japan as a premium at video stores. As for the reproductions, at the time of writing this they can still be purchased through Eric Nilla's online store.

WHO: Original keshi--N/A; reproductions cast and sold by Eric Nilla.

Neclos Fortress: The good & the evil

Good guys: Samurai, Mercenary, Elf, Amazon, Knight, Berserker, Dwarf, Mage

Bad guys: All eight forms of Neclos

Finding a lot of detailed information about the Japanese Neclos Fortress (aka Necros Fortress) keshi line can be difficult unless you know how to read Japanese, which I definitely can't do. But from what I've been able to gather the general gist of the storyline behind the toys is that an evil sorcerer (Neclos) is trying to take over the world with an army of monsters, and a group of good warriors have banded together to try to stop him.

There are eight different "parts" to this toy line, with each part containing 40 figures. Eight figures in each part are heroic characters you could play as in the line's game element. Parts 1-4 each contained different sculpts of the following eight hero characters: Samurai, Mercenary, Elf, Amazon, Knight, Berserker, Dwarf, and Mage. Parts 5-8 included different hero characters.

Each of the eight parts of the line also included a unique sculpt of Neclos. I'm pretty sure the idea was that when one form of Neclos was defeated he would resurrect in a different form.

The photos above show each of the eight hero characters from parts 1-4 as well as all eight forms of Neclos. Which character would you want to play as? It seems like the knight would be the obvious choice, but I personally might go for the berserker or the dwarf. And which Neclos do you think is coolest? I'm partial to "Super Neclos" (light purple guy in the middle), which was the final Neclos sculpt of the line.

Unidentified: Neon green kaiju

I got this guy recently from a collector buddy in Mexico and don't know much about it other than I think it's a kaiju from Ultraman. It's made of translucent green hard plastic and its tail is removable. The tail is marked "MEX." I'm guessing it was released as a cereal or candy premium or something like that. If anyone has any additional info about its origins, be sure to leave a comment!

Monster in My Pocket: Generation 2

So, I finally got a few Monster in My Pocket second generation figures. It only took about six years. These revamped MIMP figures came out in 2006-2007 from MEG/Corinthian and were released in a few different places, including the U.K., Australia and Brazil (for much more details, check out the informative MIMP G2 post on Minifigures XD). Even though MIMP is one of my all-time favorite toy lines, the fact that these guys weren't available in the U.S. and I wasn't actively collecting when they came out prevented me from getting my hands on any. But now I'm no longer MIMP G2-less thanks to a member over at LittleRubberGuys.com who hooked me up with a few.

The four I've got are (from left to right in the photo above): Siren, Haniver, Leviathan, Harpy. There were around 50 G2 monsters released, so this is just a small sampling.

The first noticeable difference about these when compared to original MIMP figures is that they're painted. I usually prefer mono-color minifigures, but I have to say these look pretty cool with painted details. They're also made of a harder plastic than the originals, although the material is still pretty flexible.

Let's take a look at each of these four 2006 monsters as compared to their early-1990s counterparts:

Haniver: The original 1990 Haniver is a very bizarre-looking creature. I've always liked it, but it's just a total weirdo. It essentially looks like a giant dragon head with a gaping mouth. The 2006 Haniver is painted green and looks a lot more like what how one might more typically consider a sea monster to appear. I like how incredibly evil and pissed off it looks. The original will always hold a special place, but I dig the the newer guy, too.

Siren: The original Siren is basically just a crazy-looking lady in a gown with gravity-defying hair. If I didn't know it was a Siren, I'd probably guess it was supposed to be a Banshee or something. Whoever sculpted the 2006 Siren decided to make her more a lot more babe-licious, I guess to appear more like an alluring sea wench that would actually have the power to steer a ship of sailors to their demise. For this reason I think the newer sculpt has the edge.

Leviathan: The original '90s Leviathan is one of my favorite MIMP sculpts. I like how it's a classic, old-world depiction of a sea monster. For the 2006 version, they decided to get crazy. It was sculpted as a beached whale of a monster--a blubbery pile of wretchedness. It even has green pimples all over its body. My favorite part about it is that it strangely looks like it's striking a pin-up pose...sexy! Despite its weirdness (or maybe because of it), I like this figure.

Harpy: As with Haniver, the original MIMP Harpy sculpt is pretty odd. It's not necessarily what you would think of from reading about a Harpy in Greek mythology. Instead of looking like a bird-woman, it looks like a snake thing with a huge, angry witch's head and wings . The 2006 Harpy seems to be a more accurate depiction, featuring a bird-like lower body and woman's upper body and head. The paint details are pretty cool-looking on this one; I like the purple detail.

I like these things and hope to be able to add to my MIMP G2 collection in the future. For anyone else with some of these, what do you think of them?

Beastly blues

Mini figure lines in this photo: Panzer World Galient, Villgust, Diener Space Creatures, Gorewad Monsters, MUSCLE/Kinnikuman bootleg, TMNT companion figure, Necros Fortress, Diener Mythology Creatures, vending machine bootleg kaiju, Musclemania, Mini Boglins, Monster in My Pocket, Freakies, Dragons N Monsters

Heavy Metal L-Gaim bootleg figures

What: I got these robots from toy vending machines as a kid back in the early '90s, but I had no clue what they were bootlegs of until I became a regular over at the LittleRubberGuys forums a couple years ago. These figures show up in the toy identification threads on the forum very often, and it turns out they're bootleg keshi of a Japanese anime series called Heavy Metal L-Gaim. I haven't seen the anime, but I will say these are nice, hefty mini figures that would hold their own in any micro robot battle. They're made of a firm-but-flexible plastic, and although I believe I only ever had orange and brown ones, I've seen photos of different sculpts and colors beyond the ones listed above. Check out this LRG thread for more.

When: The ones pictured above came from the early 1990s, but it's possible L-Gaim bootlegs were available before or after that as well.

Where: I remember getting these bootlegs out of toy vending machines at my local Toys R Us back then, which would always be full of monster and robot little rubber guys. I remember the display card in one of the machines said "Creatures From the Stars."

Who: N/A

Have you met the amazing Moon Goon People?

In addition to the usual mini figure suspects like Monster in My Pocket and M.U.S.C.L.E., I've always had a weakness for really obscure, extra weird little rubber crap. The Moon Goon People, pictured to the right, are probably as shining of an example of obscure, weird rubber crap as any I've encountered.

I first saw these things on a couple people's Flickr pages (including a member named Astronit's, who has a bunch of really cool retro space toys in his collection), and immediately said, "Want!!" Then I recently saw a carded set up for grabs on eBay and knew resistance was futile. There is so much awesome going on here. First, the over-the-top, campy packaging that begins by asking us the very important question mark-less question, "Have You Met The Amazing Moon Goon People." To that I respond, "Yes I have, thanks for asking!" Then the package lets us know that these freaky dudes glow in the dark (I checked, and they still do), and that "they come direct from the moon." Good to know.

I'm not sure exactly when these are from because all that's on the package is what you see on the front, including "Japan" in small type on the bottom right. From the looks of the artwork and the general wacky space creature vibe of the toys, though, I'd guess they were produced sometime in the 1960s.

As for the three figures themselves, they're not your typical "little green men" alien toys. They're more along the lines of gruesome blob-like monsters, similar to Topps' Rubber Uglies toys of the '60s. I like this about them. All three are made of white glow in the dark rubber (or possibly soft plastic; I've kept them sealed so I'm not sure), with minor red and green paint applications. Here's a close-up look at them:

On the left we have a tentacled squid-like creature. The other two Moon Goons I'm not even sure how to begin to describe, beyond something like "bulbous cranium things." They are awesomely bizarre. It definitely took some imagination to come up with these designs. Apparently the credit should go to artist Edd Cartier, as the figures are based on illustrations Cartier did for a series called "The Interstellar Zoo" that was part of a 1951 science fiction anthology titled Travelers of Space. Check out this link for more on that. Pretty cool, huh?

If anyone has any additional information about the Moon Goon People, including exactly when and where they were sold, please let me know!

White Castle glow monster premiums

At around 4" tall these aren't really "mini figures," but like the Wendy's Weird Writers I thought they were worthy of a post anyway. They are three Universal monster figures--The Mummy, Wolfman and Frankenstein's Monster--that were offered as prizes in kid's meals at Wendy's fast food restaurants in 1992. Aside from a touch of paint on their faces they're monochromatic, and are made of a firm-yet-flexible soft plastic. They are actually hollow inside and each can be pulled apart a the waist into two pieces, so I'm not sure if the intention was to be able to mix-and-match monsters or what. I've always liked these guys and remember using them as Halloween decorations around the house as a kid. Unfortunately these are the only three monsters in the set (I always thought a blue glow Dracula would have been a natural fourth).