Horrors 'n' Heroes

Two of the "Horrors": Minotaur and Orthrus

WHAT: An obscure line that was released in the U.K. only, Horrors 'n' Heroes consists of 16 monochromatic figures based on characters from Greek mythology. As the name implies, half of the figures depict monsters (the "Horrors") while the other half depict gods and other humanoid beings (the "Heroes").

The figures were released in "Lucky Bags," blind bags marketed toward kids that contained small toys and candy. Specifically, Horrors 'n' Heroes came in monster-themed "Horror Surprise" Lucky Bags. The 16 figures included the following:

• The Horrors: Orthrus, Gorgon/Medusa, Echidne, Lernean Hydra, Minotaur, Scylla, Boreas, Chimaera 
• The Heroes: Cronos, Zeus, Atlas, Pluto, Poseidon, Jason, Cyclopes (not sure why he was wasn't included among the Horrors), Heracles

Have a look at them all below via scans of the Horrors 'n' Heroes pamphlet generously provided by TwoHeadedBoy.

The figures are made of hard plastic and are about 2"-2.5" tall. Their color scheme consists of mainly (if not completely) cool, somewhat metallic colors, including silver, dark blue, light blue, purple, and brown.

These are very nicely sculpted and attractive toys, and I love the fact that the creators included more obscure mythological creatures such as Echidne and Orthrus. They'd no doubt appeal to almost anyone interested in Monster in My Pocket or other, more well-known monster or mythology-themed toy lines. Unfortunately, they don't show up too often.

For more on Horrors 'n' Heroes, check out these links:
MinifiguresXD HNH post
The Cobwebbed Room HNH post


WHEN: I haven't been able to find exact year dates, but it seems Horrors 'n' Heroes figures were available in the mid-1990s.


WHERE: Available in the U.K. via "Horror Surprise" Lucky Bags.


WHO: Released by Mr. Lucky Bags Ltd.

Russ monster finger puppets

If you grew up in the late-1980s or 1990s, chances are you had some toys produced by Russ, or at least saw them regularly at the store. Russ was a brand of Russ Berrie and Company, which made a variety of small toys--among other items--that were sold at gift stores, pharmacies, candy stores and other outlets. Their products were often based around specific holidays (for example, Christmas stocking and Easter basket stuffers). In my opinion, the coolest toys Russ released were their monster finger puppets, which could be found most frequently in the first half of the '90s.

Russ sold a lot of these things during that time. There were glow in the dark ones, versions meant to sit on top of pencils, and "two-faced" ones, which had a different expression on their front and back sides. All of them are made of soft rubber and feature some painted details.

Some of these finger puppets were also offered as pack-in giveaways with Babybel cheese. I can still remember going through the little nets filled with cheese wheels at the grocery store, looking for the coolest monsters.

Below is a look at various types of Russ finger monsters. Do you remember any of these? Do/did you have any yourself?

Mono Minis of the Day: 2/3/14 to 2/18/14

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. Creature from Terrible Monster / Monsters & Goblins
2. Harpy from Monster in My Pocket 
3. Unknown character from Villgust keshi
4. Parachute alien vending figure
5. Jawsman from Kinnikuman keshi 
6. Grumble from Freakies
7. Dark Emperor from Neclos Fortress
8. Nasty Nick from Garbage Pail Kids MiniKins
9. Roc from Monster in My Pocket
10. Macho Mangler from SLUG Zombies
11. Tricky Monster from Lucky Yuckies
12. Orthrus from Horrors N Heroes
13. Sheldon Sabre from Mystical Warriors of the Ring
14. Orc from True Legends Mythical Warriors playset
15. He-Man from Masters of the Universe bootleg vending figures
16. Bombshell from Transformers Decoys

Box full of weirdos

...

To me, there's nothing that looks much cooler than a bunch of brightly-colored mini toys all mixed together. When I found this really nice, crystal-clear rectangular plastic container at the store the other day, I thought it'd make for a great way to display a bunch of random mono mini figures together. So I gathered an assortment of random little weirdos, tossed them all in the container, and wound up with something that has made my shelf look a lot cooler. Take a look at my "box full of weirdos" in the slideshow above.

Has anyone else done something similar to display pieces in your collections? I'd love to see pics!

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:

It came from the vending machine: Parachute alien mini figures

Here are some more super obscure denizens of the land of the little weirdos. These guys show up in lots of mini figures occasionally, and people tend to have no clue what they are. In fact, I've seen more than a few collectors ask about their origins.

I'm not sure if they were ever given a specific name, but what I do know is that they came out of vending machines. I got all of mine pictured here out of a single vending machine at a Phar-Mor around 1994-1995 (if only I was able to retain information about the important things in life as well as I can remember where and when I found little plastic monsters, ha...). I've also seen at least one person say they got some at an arcade.

All of mine came with plastic parachutes attached so you could throw them up in the air and watch them float down. As a kid I always found the parachute thingies pretty useless and annoying, so I cut them off nearly all of my figures. With the loops above their heads that held the parachutes, you could also use them as charms.

As far as I know, there were five different sculpts as pictured above. If anyone has seen any others, please let me know. They are made of a couple different kinds of soft plastic (for some reason some are more rubbery than others), and I've seen them in many different colors, including: yellow, orange, dark purple, light purple, dark pink, light pink, blue, green, and white.

Some of the designs of these are pretty wonderfully bizarre, like the bearded frog-crab guy in the middle and the vaguely female thing with gigantic ears and no neck. The alien pictured above in white seems to be at least somewhat based on Lenny from Gremlins.

Below are some additional photos showing each of the sculpts closer up, including one with the parachute still attached.

Do you have any of these figures? Do you remember ever seeing them out in the wild?

Mono Minis of the Day: 1/18/14 to 2/2/14

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. Kayin Kungaa from Mystical Warriors of the Ring
2. King the 100t from Kinnikuman keshi (reproduction)
3. Griffin/dragon from Dragons N Monsters
4. Robot from Diener Space Raiders
5. Skeleton warrior from fantasy playset
6. Robot vending machine bootleg keshi
7. Kendaman from MUSCLE 
8. Minotaur from Horrors N Heroes
9. Ymir from Monster in My Pocket
10. Zombie/ghoul from Vampires
11. Queen Kinniku from Kinnikuman keshi
12. Simaneki from Neclos Fortress
13. Unknown pirate mini figure
14. Mario from Nintendo keshi
15. Leaky Lindsay from Garbage Pail Kids MiniKins
16. Crok from Mini Boglins