Greetings and salivations all you bulbous boils and ghastly ghouls!
I want to “Hell-come” you back for another chapter of useless horror information that no one knows better than this grave robber right here! It is starting to cook outside in the Texas heat, so I’ve taken to going inside and online for a little entertainment. Once again like a Bigfoot hunter, I have been searching for the mythical, the strange, and the all elusive horror collectibles that the old innerweb has to offer for sale. So sit back, grab your favorite cool drink, and sink like the Titanic into this week’s lesson of horror collectibles.
As always, Horror Writers and Renfield Rasputin are not associated with the sellers of the featured items and do not retain any interest or profit from the sale of such. Unfortunately…
Antique William Fuld “Talking” Wooden Ouija Board
The concept of Ouija boards goes all the way back to the 1890s when it was developed as a parlor game by a businessman who thought to market it since supernatural gatherings such as séances were all the rage at the time. William Fuld, an employee of the company that first patented the board, is credited for the mass production of the commonly used board that we know of today. He coined the term “Ouija” from a combination of the French and German word for “yes”. He later high jacked the patent, changed the story of the history, claimed he invented the board, and retained the profits. He spent the rest of his days suing for copyright infringements. The joke was on him, when his heirs sold off the board’s trademark to Parker Brothers in 1966, when mass production started and later to toy maker, Hasbro, the maker of the board that you can buy today in Wal-Mart. (Sigh.) There is not a real way of determining whether a board is an actual William Fuld. While many religious groups have protested the manufacturing of the board over the world, it still remains a popular selling toy today. The price for a pre-Parker Brothers board varies on condition.
Tales from the Crypt Comic #46 EC Comics
Between Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, and the Haunt of Fear, plus the variety of small publishers that were contributing to childhood “delinquency” in the 1950’s, these are the culprits that lead to the Comic Code of 1954. Passed by councils in Houston (I’m scratching my head right now since this is my hometown) but ruled unconstitutional by councils in L.A. (again scratching my head at that one). The code didn’t allow the words “horror” or “terror”. It also said there is to be no vampires, werewolves, corpses, anything that could be understood as sexual perversion, or anywhere that bad would triumph over evil (Seriously? Did anyone tell Disney about this?) This lead to publishers printing their publications in a larger size format and passing them off as “magazines” (Ah! Loophole! Duh-duh-duuuhhhhnnn!) The code went south in 2001 as led by Marvel, then DC 10 years later, and finally Archie comics just recently (Probably just so Jughead could finally catch a glimpse at Veronica’s boobs in the Riverdale girl’s locker room.) With iconic cover art and stories hosted by the puns-a-plenty Ghoulunatics, the “Crypt Keeper” (a more living version than HBO’s), “The Old Witch”, and “The Vault-Keeper” (each shared hosting duties to their sister titles). Many of the stories were made into the HBO production television series. The series was short lived due to the code but revived again as re-releases in the 90’s. #46 is the last issue to be released. Expect to pay top dollar for any of the original issues despite their condition.
Boglins “Bog O Bones” Halloween Edition Puppet
Oh my Goth! Oh, how I always wanted a Boglin (and still do as I don’t have one yet.) These were latex creature puppet from Mattel that were released in 1987. Due to the popularity of creature films at the time such as Gremlins and Ghoulies, these puppets sold rather well. The child would insert their hand under the tail and control the life-like eyes and mouth. There were three different styles to choose from and you could learn about your little boglin as their taxonomy was written on the back of their “crate”. I have to admit that I’ve never actually seen a Halloween version, only heard of them. Just as the hairy Boglins, ones that came in a toilet container of slime, the weeping pustule Boglins, they are scarce today! Boglins saw a re-release twenty years later but didn’t sell as well. The “creature” fad had left kids and they had moved on to something stupid like transforming enourmous robots or stupid wads of Fur believed to repeat your phrases so something very uncool like that. I know that it is a little odd that a grown man wants to insert his hand up a latex creature’s ass, so don’t judge me! Boglins in good shape complete with their crate will go for about $40.
Frankenstein Cookie Jar Limited edition.
Yeah…I own one; and a Wolfman one as well! Had to throw that in there just to impress all the dead chicks! This jar was released in 1997 to prepare for 65th the anniversary of Universal Monsters. There was a Dracula, the Mummy (hardest to find), Wolfman, and the Frankenstein one. Each piece was limited to only 1000 pieces. Treasure Craft was a huge company for collectible cookie jars since they had the rights to make such characters as Dennis the Menace, Mickey Mouse, and Kermit the Frog. I’m sorry, I’m trying to figure out how to tie in a Cookie Monster joke here. Cookie…Monster,…as in horror? Get it? See what I did right there? Nevermind, I’ve got nothing. I’ll be standing over there if anyone needs me. Due to such a limited production, each piece can fetch $90 easily.
Well, that is all for this week. Check back with me next week when I go dumpster diving through someone’s casket and critique their cheap costume jewelry, fake mink stows, and faux velvet lining.
Until you call on the dark,
Renfield Rasputin
Renfield Rasputin can’t think of a clever joke this week…So, there’s that.
Follow Renfield on Twitter at @renfieldrasputi (since his whole name doesn’t fit) and watch him drag the horror-writers.net Facebook page into ground since some genius thought it was a good idea for him to run it.