If you had to ask me what my favorite things are, I’d probably tell you dinosaurs, and other prehistoric animals first. Yet almost equally, I also adore werewolves, wolf men, and any flavor of lycanthrope. There’s many different cultural tales of men that could shapeshift into wolves or wolf like creatures (if not other animals), rather willingly or forced from a curse, spell, disease, etc.
Bulette (‘Patchisaurs’)
4.3 (3 votes)
Most monster toys are, naturally, inspired by or represent creatures from established fiction or folklore. But every now and again that relationship gets turned on its head. Take the bulette, for example, one of the rare cases where a random toy has inspired a fictional creature.
The birth of ‘Patchisaurs’
If you grew up in the 1970s and 80s you almost certainly encountered the ubiquitous range of simple plastic monster toys now known informally as patchisaurs.
Mothra (Larva) (Movie Monster Series by Bandai)
Yeti (Mythical Realms by Safari Ltd.)
3.3 (4 votes)
First and foremost, thanks to Happy Hen Toys for this review sample.:)
The yeti (Abomanixhomo messneri) is a very large and elusive ape that dwells in the Himalayan mountain range. Adults are usually around 7-8 feet tall and 500 lbs in weight, but there are unconfirmed reports of 15 foot tall specimens that are capable of killing full grown yaks simply by seizing them by the horns and tearing their heads off.
Godzilla (Model Kit on Card, ReAction Figures by Super7)
4.5 (4 votes)
One day, while feeling defeated in my search for new Mattel dinosaurs at Target, I decided to peruse the adult collectables section. Being a dinosaur and animal collector first and foremost, I rarely leave this section with anything but also being a sci-fi and horror nerd, I still like to see what they’ve got.
Treebeard (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by Toy Biz)
5 (6 votes)
While I’ve never read any of the Lord of the Rings novels (and honestly have no real interest of ever changing that), I’m very fond of the film trilogy by Peter Jackson. My favourite out of the three is The Two Towers, and one reason is because of the character Treebeard.
Basilisk (Fantasy World by Papo)
4.6 (12 votes)
The basilisk is famously known as the “king of serpents,” a venomous creature so lethal that simply looking into its cold eyes brings upon death. According to Pliny the Elder’s Natural History, written in 79 AD, “When it hisses, all the other serpents fly from it: and it does not advance its body, like the others, by a succession of folds, but moves along upright and erect upon the middle.
Chupacabra (Spirit Halloween)
4.4 (7 votes)
The chupacabra (Spanish for “goat sucker”) is a cryptid whose origins can be traced back to1995, when in Puerto Rico livestock began turning up dead, drained of blood, and possessing puncture wounds. Eyewitnesses described a bipedal creature, with large red eyes, spines running down the back, hairless skin, and standing 3-4’ (0.9 to 1.2 m) tall.
Flying Alien Queen (Aliens by Kenner)
3.7 (7 votes)
The Kenner Aliens line really came into its own beginning with Series 2. Whereas the xenomorphs in the first wave were relatively conservative in design, the later ones were all over the place, and all in a good way. There was the Killer Crab Alien, the Mantis Alien, the Rhino Alien, and the Snake Alien among others.
Roswell Alien (Alien Series by Shadowbox Collectibles)
2.8 (6 votes)
Even if you don’t follow ufology and alien coverups, you’ve no doubt heard about the Roswell incident, one of the most famous conspiracy theories of all time. It has been referenced countless times in media, including in The X-files, Independence Day, Star Trek, and The Simpsons, and it has made the city of Roswell, New Mexico a holy land of sorts for ufologists, to the point that Roswell now supports a robust tourism industry based on ufology.
Monsters by Innovative Kids Groovy Tubes
4.8 (9 votes)
The full set of figures found in the Monsters book and box set. Eclectic does not begin to describe it.
(Editor note: This is the final of the three Monster Toy Blog-relevant book/toy sets. Unlike the Magical Creatures and Mythical Beasts sets, I never covered this one on the FaunaFigures blog, but I’ll use the same general format) Here I am with the last Groovy Tubes set from Innovative Kids that focused on monsters, myths and fantasy (there was a Knights one…not sure if that would fit but I don’t have it).
Alien Queen (Aliens by Kenner)
4.5 (8 votes)
Aliens, the 1986 sequel to 1979’s Alien, is one of the greatest sci-fi horror films of all time and one of my all-time favourites. I’d much rather watch it than any other instalment in the franchise. And one of the best parts of that movie is the Queen alien, or xenomorph if you wish to use the official term.