By
Dave
If
you don’t know, Creepy
Co.
is an online retailer that specializes in nostalgia. They produce
t-shirts, pins, and all manner of licensed collectibles that pay
tribute to the franchises and art styles of decades past.
Last
year Creepy Co. celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of My Pet
Monster – a plush representative of the golden age of 80s
gross-out/monster toys – with a collection of apparel, soon to be
followed by a vinyl designer toy.
At
least, that’s what I thought.
While
I wasn’t going to pay sixty bucks for their standard – admittedly
beautiful – figure, apparently I was willing to pay a
lot more
for a glow-in-the-dark version. With less actual paint.
Amidst
a slew of frustrating announcements from various toy companies for
New York Comic Con Exclusives, Creepy Co. released pictures of this
GITD Monster and I went nuts. I loved it. And knew that, in all
likelihood, I would never own it. The $75 at-con price tag was bad
enough, but to get one on the secondary market after the show would
raise that price astronomically.
They’re
currently selling for well over two hundred dollars.
As
NYCC was getting underway, I posted a pic of the figure with the
request that anyone I know that might be at NYCC grab one for me. I
didn’t expect much because social media is generally useless unless
you want to get angry about stupid things. But once again Instagram
proved itself to be the best of the worst – a user going by
@meistershake messaged me from
the Creepy Co. booth
asking if I wanted him to grab one.
I’ve
been following this guy for a long time and had a pretty good feeling
that he was trustworthy, so I PayPal’d the money and started
counting the days until my new Pet showed up.
Side
Note: @meistershake does lots of great toy pictures – humor and
otherwise. Go check him out. Also, he charged me MSRP for the toy
plus shipping and nothing more. Solid.
FIRST
GLANCE
The
figure is much larger than I expected. I knew it was around 6”, but
it’s much bulkier than, say, a Marvel Legends figure. As soon as I
had it out of the box I felt a lot better about how much I spent on
it.
Well,
a little
better.
To
me, this version is much more striking and visually exciting then the
standard paint job, despite the reduction in paint apps and even
before considering the fact that it glows in the dark.
PACKAGING
The
Monster comes in a large, neat-looking box. I’m a little surprised
it isn’t a window box, especially considering that the figure is
packed in a plastic clamshell, but I like it better like this. The
graphics look great and the subdued colors combined with the garish
logo are eye-catching.
Stickers on the front note the edition size, exclusivity, and the glow-in-the-dark feature.
The
back of the box outlines the concept behind the figure, which
honestly gets a little over-explainy. If they hadn’t pointed it out
I never would have thought about the smooth texture of the sculpt or
the lack of chains. Now I’m wondering if corners were cut. I also
don’t get the “Neo Kaiju” reference. While My Pet Monster
certainly is a “strange beast”, it is decidedly American and
doesn’t fit the modern kaiju idea of being massive. I’ve never
once in my life related this guy to Godzilla, Gamera, Rodan, or any
other famous giant monsters.
I
AM SO NITPICKY TODAY.
Anyway,
the box looks great.
The
figure inside is sealed in a thick, sturdy clamshell that is easy to
open.
LOOKS
This
figure is a thick, heavy vinyl. It’s not going to warp and sag with
time.
The
proportions are wonderful. The wild head – originally designed by
James Groman – was the overwhelming centerpiece of the original
plush toy and this figure is no different. It captures the profile of
the plush, but blown up to a larger percentage of the toy. Even
without the bright, striking paint it would be the first thing you
see.
Everything
on this figure has a certain geometry and symmetry that define it as
an homage rather than an update – it’s all clean lines and smooth
shapes that balance each other. Except, of course, for that
recognizable mole on Monster’s nose.
The
paint apps are tight and clean with no overspray or dripping; as it
should be on a pricey collector toy. The colors are thick and bright,
the kind of paint that looks solid enough to be the molded plastic.
Monster’s
arms have the signature orange cuffs with broken chain links dangling
down. They’re thick and simple, without the sculpted detail of the
original. Some sculpted fur adorns each hand, with painted
fingernails at the end of each finger. Again, these are clean shapes
without the cracked, jagged appearance of the plush.
The
torso evokes the corduroy-like texture of the original’s stomach,
with some sculpted fur around it.
The
feet are huge and sturdy – this guy won’t have trouble standing.
The sculpted fur around the tops of his feet looks great and the
painted toenails match the fingers.
FUN
This
is a toy, but it also isn’t really a toy. You’ll notice the
absence of the usual “Accessories” section. The “Fun” section
isn’t going to be much to speak of, either.
My
Pet Monster is articulated with swivel joints at the neck, shoulders,
and wrists, which is honestly two more joints than I expected. This
still doesn’t allow for a whole lot of dynamic posing, but I didn’t
buy this figure to go to battle with my Figuarts
Harley Quinn.
I bought it to stand on my monster shelf and look awesome. And it
does that quite well – whether the lights are on or off.
The
glow feature is outstanding:
Glow-in-the-dark
toys can be hit-or-miss. I’ve got some supposedly GITD figures from
Funko that really should have just been called “Translucent Sickly
Color That Does Not Glow Even A Little”. This Monster glows
brightly and looks great.
OVERALL
The
base price for this version of My Pet Monster was $74.99, which is,
quite frankly, outrageous. Feel free to call me a dum-dum or a big
mark or whatever in the comments for spending that much (plus
shipping). I’m still on the fence as to whether or not it was
really
worth it, but I’m definitely happy to have this guy hanging around.
I
can’t even tell you whether or not you’re the right customer for
this, but if you’re on the fence about the regular version and have
been wondering about the quality, go for it. It’s great. And you
don’t want to be kicking yourself – or paying secondary market
prices – when they sell out.
As
for this variant, if you need it, may God have mercy on your soul.
4
out of 5
If
you enjoy 80s toys, monsters, or Needless Things, you might
enjoy SupportPhantom.com.
Huge thanks to our killer
Patrons Zack, Gary, Lucas, and Beau!
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