Funstuf Frankenstein 1978-79

I bought this one from the flea market. It did not come with the box or the labortory table, just Frankenstein. His head and arms glowed in the dark. I do not recall what ever happened to him.

Funstuf Dracula 1979

So, when I was growing up, things were so much different. There were all sorts of stores back then that were borderline thrift stores. Some were called 5 & 10 stores, meaning you could get stuff for 5 cents or 10 cents in certain areas of the store, some called them clearance items. I remember the neighbor across the street opened one in the old store beside his house. It was called the 5 & 10 store, it looked like a collection of junk pulled from their house next door.

But it was a neat because we would wrangle up change, all the neighborhood kids and run across the street to see what treasures we could find. I remember collecting a few rare odds and ends. The first one was a Dracula figure, it was missing in his cape, his face and hand would glow in the dark. I lost it out until many years later, my father was cleaning up under the house and discovered it buried in the dirt. One or two things could have happened to it, a friend threw it under there or one of our many dogs did it. But it was a great treasure to see again.

I did research on it and came up with the company name and year it was made. The company was called Funstuf and the year it came out was 1979. Mine was missing the cape and coffin when I bought it and it was only dime.

This is the original Dracula with the actual box when it was new, this is not a picture from the one I own.

The Six Million Dollar Man Vs The Bionic Woman (The Toys)

The Six Million Dollar Man Vs The Bionic Woman

The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI (which was usually referred to as the Office of Scientific Intelligence, the Office of Scientific Investigation or the Office of Strategic Intelligence  It aired on the ABC network as a regular series from 1974 to 1978, following three television movies aired in 1973. The title role of Steve Austin was played by Lee Majors, who subsequently became a pop culture icon of the 1970s. A spin-off of the show was produced, The Bionic Woman, as well as several television movies featuring both eponymous characters.

Jaime Sommers played by Lindsay Wagner became "The Bionic Woman", Jaime was critically injured in a skydiving accident and, at Steve's request due to his love for her, was equipped with bionic implants similar to his own (with the exception of his bionic eye, as Jaime was equipped with a bionic ear instead). Unfortunately, Jaime's body rejected her new bionics which ultimately lead to her death.

I watched both of these shows. There was even action figures of both of these characters. I remember not buying them new but from a flea market. I even owned the Bigfoot character, from "The Secret of Bigfoot" episodes. I barely recall the bigfoot character from the show but I do recall owning the figure.

Mini Monsters

As I look back on my massive toy collection, I am surprised by the number of toys I had and didn’t have growing up.  But another favorite of mine was the “Mini Monsters” collection with the play case. I have loved doing this research seeking toys from the seventies era because it has reconnected me to some of my most prized toys growing up.

I have forgotten about so many of these, it’s just nice to flashback and view these all over again. This was one toy that I played with constantly and I remember Dracula was the only one I had left out of that collection as I grew older.

Monster Machine

Here is another toy that I did not own but one of my friends owned, "Monster Machine". I remember making one or two of these monsters back in the day. Once again, I do not recall why I didn’t own this one either; it was right up my alley. But at least I had a friend that had one to play with at the time.

The “Monster Machine”roto-cast toy by Gabriel .You would fill the mold with the instant plaster, and clamp it into the roto-cast machine then crank until it sets. This gives a hollow plaster head that can be turned into a bank with the addition of a slot. Five molds include Frankenstein's Monster, Bigfoot, Hornagor, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Galaxogg this was from 1977.

Mighty Mo Cannon

One toy that was very interesting was the “Mighty Mo Cannon”; this was purchased from a flea market. It was used and it only had one canon ball with it. I do not recall it how the cannon operated but I do remember how much fun it was to shoot that cannon ball from it. I searched every garage sale and flea market for other cannon balls but never found any more.

This cannon was from 1963 and it measured 27" long.  It needed no batteries. It featured a breech loading & spring action remote control firing.  To operate you had to open the breech door, remove cartridge and place cannon ball on rod, push down with plunger. Load the cartridge into breech (there is a tab that matches the slot), Close the door. Cannon is ready to fire by remote control or manually.  The spring action remote is held on by two screws, one on each side, if that is broken the cannon can still be fired by pressing the button. Cannon can also be elevated or lowered in different positions.