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:

Invasion of the Monster Women

All six monster women hangin' out

My personal favorite, serpent babe

What: A set of six soft rubber half-woman, half-animal monsters that bring to mind retro sci-fi B movies. There's a serpent woman, lizard woman, spider woman, centipede woman, bat woman and scorpion woman, all with painted details.

When: Mid-1990s-2000s

Where: I bought my set (sold individually) at an art shop in the mid/late 90s but saw them still available into the '00s through Archie McPhee's catalog.

Who: Produced by Accoutrements Inc.