Mono Minis of the Day: 2/6/15 to 2/21/15

Here are the latest batches of Mono Minis of the Day--as posted daily on the Little Weirdos Instagram, Twitter and Flickr.

The lineup in the photo is as follows, from left to right, top to bottom:

1. Alien from Space War figure set
2. Gill Face Creature from Diener Space Creatures
3. Griffin from Monster in My Pocket
4. Pugnacious from OMFG
5. Creature from plastic dino-monsters set
6. Kikimora from Russian Fairy Tales figure set
7. A monster from Geddes mini monster erasers
8. Alien from parachute aliens vending toy set
9. Crater Chris from Garbage Pail Kids Cheap Toys
10. Cool from Mini Boglins
11. Gravity Guppy from Crashlings
12. Wizard from Neclos Fortress
13. Orc from HeroQuest
14. Unidentified creature from Panzer World Galient keshi
15. Vampire from Vampires figure set
16. Hunchback from Monster in My Pocket

Monster in My Pocket: Series 2

I recently did a post highlighting the third series of Monster in My Pocket, and now I'm about to dive into Series 2. I guess I'm working backward.

The second set of MIMP was a major source of frustration to me as a kid. I was massively into Series 1 and collected everything I could get my hands on related to the line, so you can imagine how pumped I was to see mention of an imminent Series 2 in MIMP comic books and ads. My eight-year-old self was pretty much drooling over the prospect of more awesome rubber monsters to add to my collection. But then Series 2 was never released in my area, and of course there was no going online to buy stuff in those days.

I did manage to get a few of the figures through a mail-away promotion back then, but that was it until years later when I got online and found there were actually fellow MIMP geeks in the world, and did some trading with them to assemble a set of all the Series 2 sculpts. It was kind of like a small victory to me to finally have these all of these elusive (to me, at least) figures.

I don't think Series 2 is quite as popular as Series 1, probably because there aren't as many sculpts or different colors to collect. And it isn't as sought after as Series 3, since it's much more easily obtained than those. That said, Series 2 is a fantastic and very collectible set of figures.

I'm going to review some of the most popular sculpts from the set, but first let's go over a few basics:

• Series 2 was released in 1992 in at least the UK and the US. They seem to be more common in the UK, perhaps due to the fact that MIMP was a bigger seller in that part of the world, so they probably had a wider distribution there
• It consists of 24 monsters, including sculpt numbers 49 through 72 of the series. See here for a list of all the monsters as well as the pamphlet description for each
• Monster point values ranged from 10-30
• All 24 sculpts came in four neon colors (green, pink, blue, orange), with six sculpts also being released in glow-in-the-dark versions (Ancient Gorgon, Ectoplasmic Phantom, Elbow Witch, Bloody Bones, Dryad, Undine)
• As with Series 1, this set was released in multiple formats, including complete 24-packs, 12-packs and 4-packs
• In the UK, the figure of the Hindu deity Ganesha was recalled because of protests (go figure that people would take issue with a deity being called a monster...). Herne the Hunter figures were also pulled out of 24-packs for an unclear reason, and these two figures were replaced with Ghost and Cerberus from Series 1 produced in Series 2 pink and green colors
• In the US, certain Series 2 figures were available through a SpaghettiOs mail-away promotion. Four sets of three figures were offered (SET A: Dragon, Ganesha, Undine, SET B: Ymir, Herne the Hunter, Gargoyle, SET C: Loch Ness Monster, Tarasque, Sebek, SET D: Dryad, Scorpion Man, Bishop Fish). This promotion is believed to have been the only way to get Ganesha in the orange color

Now, let's take a look at some of the monsters that generally seem to be some of the most well-liked from the set (or that stand out to me, at least):

Troll resin figure by John Tatarelli Jr.

I recently became acquainted with artist John Tatarelli Jr. on Facebook, and I am glad I did. John is a sculptor who created the handsome fellow you see staring at you above, his Troll figure, as well as other excellent horror and fantasy-themed pieces. He kindly offered to send me a Troll, and I have to say, it was love at first sight!

There's so many things that are awesome about this piece. The sculpt is just so fun, creepy and expressive. The exaggerated features and proportions remind me of classic weirdo toys like Nutty Mads. From its giant ears and nose to its pointed hair tufts on the back of its head to its toes sticking out at the bottom, the figure just oozes personality. It really has a great vintage feel to me, which I love.

The figure is cast in solid resin and is about 3" tall, which makes it a really nice display piece. Not too big, but not too small to show off its details on a shelf. The Troll sits on top of a circular base, which really gives the figure the feel of a mini statue.

The Trolls in all their pastel glory (photo from John's Instagram)

I'm also a big fan of the colors John chose to use for these. You've got to love a bizarre, grotesque monster cast in pastels. It sort of makes them look like big, fruit-flavored troll marshmallows. I got a pinkish-purple one, but there's a bunch of other colors available, including green, blue, orange, yellow and more.

At the time of writing this, there are plenty of Trolls available in John's online store, with each standard color piece going for $12 and special colored pieces (such as glow-in-the-dark and striped) going for $15.

John also has some of his other work available in the store, done in a similar style, including CHUD and a "Blind Dead" hooded skull!

You can see more and keep up with John's work on Instagram and Facebook.

Mono Minis of the Day: 1/21/15 to 2/5/15

Here are the latest batches of Mono Minis of the Day--as posted daily on the Little Weirdos Instagram, Twitter and Flickr.

The lineup in the photo is as follows, from left to right, top to bottom:

1. Hydra from Neclos Fortress    
2. Kamen Rider Accel from Kamen Rider mini figure set
3. MUSCLE/kinkeshi vending bootleg
4. A monster from Cromy Club Monster in My Pocket original sculpts
5. Skeleton warrior from skeletons vs. pirates set
6. A monster from Geddes mini monster erasers
7. An alien from set of suction robot-aliens
8. Uknown character from Villgust keshi set
9. A warrior from Warriors of the Galaxy
10. Manticore from Monster in My Pocket (Peru version)
11. Clark Shark from Garbage Pail Kids Minikins
12. Crackers the Parrot from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sidekick figures
13. Jump-Shot Rot from SLUG Zombies
14. Chaos Warrior from HeroQuest
15. #13 from MUSCLE
16. Zoids bootleg vending figure