October 25, 2007

PATHETIC PUFFY MONSTER STICKERS

Last month Jay at Monsterama posted about a set of "Three Dimensional" monster stickers he had as a kid...

In the comments he said "Anyone else out there have a different set of these? If so, Ribs and I want to know what the monsters names were!" and I knew this was a challenge worthy of my super clutter-keeping powers. So ignoring all professional and family obligations, I decided to tear apart my closet, garage, and toy room. And I found nothing. BUT then it occurred to me to check yet another closet and yes, YES there they were! H Ahah a haha!!

Completely unrelated: have you ever squandered precious life over anything horrifically ridiculous?

Well, I own exactly three stickers that weren't included on his set. So Jay, please brace yourself because here come the ingenious monster names you asked about. In just seconds the raging curiosity that has eaten away at you for decades will be instantly and completely placated. Prepare to get BLOWN AWAY!

First up, we have—THE MUMMY!

But you knew about that one because it was on your header card. Ok, ok, fair enough. Then let me introduce you to a little lady that I like to call—WICKED WITCH!


And lastly it is my pleasure to unveil this devious fellow, goes by the name of—DRACULA!

Or maybe it's DraANla, I can't really read it.

You are very welcome my fellow blogger! And I am the winner of the universe for finding these!
Just for grins, here are my versions of the other two...


Note the shape of the 'sticker backs' they are on. I did not cut these out; this is exactly how they came. I'm thinking an Asian hand holding a pair of scissors made those cuts back in the 70s.

Anyway. These are obviously atrocities. To quote Enid from Ghost World they are so bad they've gone past good and back to bad again. Even as a child I found the art purely hate-able. Nostalgia and their monster-ness are the only aspects that redeem them for me now. I remember getting I-Oneman out of a gumball machine when I was a kid and I felt uneasy by the sight of it. I also remember getting a kick out of seeing the rest of this mysterious series. (I've accidentally owned other sets of these in the past.) And FYI, the ones I pictured are actually smaller versions than my first vending machine one and the ones on Jay's card.

These are exactly the kind of thing that get trapped in a culture's subconscious. Few people know where they've seen them before or where they came from, but these images will be rattling around in our skulls until we die. I don't even remember where I got my set (and I certainly didn't remember where I stored it) but I wouldn't be surprised if somehow I produced it straight out of my own mind.

UPDATE: Here are a couple more images via current ebay auctions...



(The mix of traditional and made-up monsters is pretty interesting)

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had a two sticker set that included the Dranla and I Oneman stickers. That I Oneman sticker really kinda creeped me out. Not because it was scary looking but because I wondered what kind of deranged sticker "designer" really didn't know the word cyclops? I knew it and I was only 5 then! Anyway, I still have them unused almost 30 years later they were that precious to me. haha

Todd Franklin said...

Aw, I have fond memories of these puffy stickers! Back during a School Halloween carnival, each kid was handed one of these stickers. They were also giving away a complete set as a door prize and I won a set. Remember the Frankenstein one? Grabm survived until I moved out of the house as he was stuck right above the light switch glowing faithfully every night.

I did a quick ebay search and nothing in the current auctions, but you can see three unused sheets in the completed auction #120171599478.

MDG14450 said...

I found two different sets of six with header cards at a discount store in Fla in the early 80s. Since then, I've seen them loose, in a smaller size, with the erratic cutting at a couple of different toy stores.

Anonymous said...

Here's a whole box of them...
http://cgi.ebay.com/288-Vintage-Halloween-Monster-Luminous-Stickers-DIY_W0QQitemZ180173080475QQihZ008QQcategoryZ34008QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Anonymous said...

there was also a KinkKong,Frankenstein, Wolfman, and a Skull that were part of this set.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I had the dranula and the skull! I might still have them, I'd have to look!
Everyone knows of these stickers... whoever made these must be rich!

Kirk D. said...

robbie- ha ha! very good. The designer was either brilliant or a lunatic someone who spoke English as a second language.

todd- these actually seem perfect for kiddie halloween carnival prizes. Thanks for the auction I added the photo.

mdg- I hope you still have them. if you do you must protect them... with your life!

thanks anonymous, I added the photo from the auction.

anonymous 2- your words have proven quite true!

anonymous 3- ha! I would love to know the story on these. It's obvious they were in print for many years. I'm sure the creator had no idea how widespread these would become.

After all of this I hate to admit that they are starting to grow on me. After all these years of bitterness.

Anonymous said...

I've seen a Wally Wood drawing of the three-eyed beast... dunno if he actually designed it, though.

Kirk D. said...

Thanks for the tidbit Jeffrey, I'd like to see that.

Chad Kerychuk said...

Wow. I so remember these now! They were fun and I stuck them on many binders, doors, walls, etc.

Jeff Sovich said...

Holy smokes! This is one of those things that's been rattling around in my head for 40 years!! I finally figured out the right set of search terms to put into Google to retrieve images of these crazy stickers and verify that I haven't been imagining them all this time! I never had a full set, but I recall seeing some of the other designs in the series, and my sister may have had one. The only one in the series I ever had was "Nikker", which was completely bewildering to me. I've tried and tried over the years to make some sense of that name, but I finally found this image of an alternate version of these stickers (with slightly better artwork) that shows the same character, except it's name is "Mutant"!:
https://i.etsystatic.com/17641406/r/il/466ab2/3403286122/il_794xN.3403286122_eg9u.jpg

Does "Nikker" translate to "Mutant" in some unknown language? Does "Nikker" refer to the "Nixie" a shape-shifting water spirit of Dutch folklore?:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixie_(folklore)

Anyway, glad to find out that I'm not the only one for whom this was an enigmatic childhood memory!

Kirk D. said...

Those are some great theories!
I'm glad that this was such a floodgate of memories for you!