Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Little monsters in the mail


Guess what I received in the mail today? A bunch of little monsters! They were printed on trading cards, and some of them were pretty creepy. These cards were my prize for winning "The Dead Hate the Giving" giveaway held by The Midnight Brood. Be sure to check out his spooky movie themed blog here:  http://themidnightbrood.blogspot.com

Here are some photos of the cards I received. You can click on these pictures to see them a lot larger.




Aren't these cards great? They're so vibrant and colorful. They'll probably be going on one of my bulletin boards, along with my other spooky things.

I was excited to win this prize, even though I wasn't familiar with the "Monster in my Pocket" cartoon these were based on. At first I was a little embarrassed to not know about this. I mean, this came out when I was a child. What kind of self-respecting, Halloween obsessed little girl wouldn't know about this? Well, it turns out that only one episode of the cartoon ever aired. So that lifts a little of my guilt. :) You can watch that one and only episode on The Midnight Brood's blog by Clicking Here.

Actually, there's a lot to learn about the "Monster in my Pocket" cartoon, trading cards, and collectable toys. There was a surprising amount of merchandise made, considering that only one episode of the show exists! You can read more about the show and products on the Monster in my Pocket Wikipedia page

You may have noticed in my pictures that not all of the cards feature traditional "monsters". Sure there are Vampire, Zombie, and Bigfoot cards, but the collection also features some creatures you may not have heard of. I decided to share a few monsters I didn't know about before today. Let's see if you're familiar with these:


This giant bird is named "Roc" and lives in Madagascar off the coast of Eastern Africa. I noticed that all of the monsters that were new to me originated from countries outside of the U.S. Maybe if I lived in Africa, I would have heard of this bird. Anyway, he is described as being the size of an airplane! Evidently, this creature eats Elephants...


The Chimera looks like the kind of creature Napoleon Dynamite would think up! Remember the Liger? He is from Greece and stands seven feet tall. The Chimera is part lion, goat, and snake. As if that isn't creepy enough, this creature has breath that is hot enough to melt lead!


This is Kali. She lives in the jungles of India. Kali has four arms, sheds her skin like a snake, and wears a necklace made from human teeth. Eww... She will eat anyone who gets in her way - even her own children!


The last unfamiliar creature is Redcap. This little guy is Scottish and the most evil of the fairies. He hangs out in castles, but sometimes comes out to attack travelers. The back of this card actually says "He's especially fond of redheads and rednecks." Ha!

So did you already know about any of these creatures? I'm sure that the world is full of monster stories I've never heard.

Oh, and there are two more things I want to mention!

1) You'll notice a picture of Halloween candy on the left side of my blog. Clicking on the candy will bring you to my profile on HalloweenForum.com. If you are a member of that site, please send me a friend request. If you don't know about Halloween Forum, it's worth checking out. There are lots of like minded people on there sharing photos from their Halloween parties and home haunts. You'll find ideas and inspiration there. Some of the site members are very advanced with prop construction!

2) I'm working on a blog entry about Ouija Boards. If you happen to own an antique spirit board of any kind, or a homemade one, or a board designed outside of the United States and Canada, please email me a photo of it. I'd like to post a few pictures of unique boards in that post. I think that's going to be an interesting blog entry!


23 comments:

  1. Great cards! I've never heard of 'Monster in my Pocket', either. I like the Ghost card. It looks a little like 'The Scream' paintings by Edvard Munch.

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  2. I'm sure that "Monsters in my Pocket" were popular in the 1990s in England though I think I remember seeing the little rubber figures in Woolworths in the 2000s. Matchbox made them and I think they were a little bit controversial but not nearly as much as when Matchbox put out the MaxxFX Freddy Krueger toy for 3 year olds. :)

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  3. I use to have alot of the little toys, I'd get them from gumball machines and what not, along with mini-ninjas, and these little miniature robot toys. When the trading cards hit the scene I use to get free packs with my 7-eleven slurpees, I believe that's how the rest of us MIMP fans got them too. For some reason these cards were so important to me as a kid and so hold a lot of value to me now as an "adult." I'm also a huge fan of the Dinosaurs Attack cards as well and have a full deck of it. I didn't grow up getting much of what I wanted, but both my neighbors on either side of me would give me things. One neighbor gave me Goosebump books and the other one Dinosaurs Attack cards. It taught me a lot about the gift of giving! hehe I'm glad you enjoyed the cards, it was a great post and even better pictures!

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  4. Those cards are so cool!!! What a eerily fun prize!
    Anxiously awaiting your post on Ouija Boards.....

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  5. I never heard to this card collection. Congrats on winning.

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  6. Little Gothic Horrors ~ I agree about the Ghost card! "The Scream" was the first thing I thought of when I saw that. I guess the main difference between the two is the Ghost is removing its head...

    Dr. Blood ~ No way did they manufacture Freddy Krueger toys for three year olds! That's insane. Not like a kid that little would even know what that toy was supposed to be. (hopefully) Yeah, I read some things about the Monster in my Pocket characters being controversial. I'm not sure why, except some cultures might have been offended that characters in their myths were portrayed as "monsters". Other than that guess, I'm not sure where the controversy would come in.

    L ~ Oh, I remember the little ninjas in gum machines! There were always some little characters being sold in those. You won't believe this, but years back they were selling "little homies" figures in gum ball machines around here! I haven't seen a gumball machine selling anything but gum for the longest time. Did you keep any of the gumball toys from your childhood?

    Dinosaurs Attack...Hmm, another thing that isn't ringing a bell. I just googled those cards, and wow. Those dinosaurs were surprisingly lethal looking! I kind of can't believe some of the drawings I'm seeing here. This stuff is gruesome! I wonder if kids still collect and trade cards like this?

    It sounds like you had some nice nieghbors! Ah, yes The Goosebumps books. Good times. :) Yes, generousity is an important thing to learn about. It's good for the giver too!

    I'm glad you enjoyed this post! Yeah, I had lots of fun arranging the cards and taking photos of them.

    Jeanne ~ Yes, these were an errily fun prize! It's always fun to not know exactly what you're getting in the mail. :)

    I've already learned a lot in the process of getting the Ouija Board post together. There's quite a bit I didn't know about the "game".

    Adsila ~ Thanks! Yeah, it was all new to me too. Just when I thought I knew about all the spooky kids stuff...

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  7. Those cards are so cool, congrats on winning!

    LOL @ Kali, she just looks gross.

    Ouija boards are freaky, I remember I use to want one so bad when I was 6 or so, I'm glad my parents never gave in. :P

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  8. Real Queen of Horror ~ Thanks! Yeah, I'm loving my new card collection. Haha, Yeah Kali has a few issues. Although a character who is described as "shedding her skin" isn't going to look too hot. :)

    Yeah, Ouija boards open up some possibilities. Whether you think it is a spirit or one of the people controlling the planchette, it always seems like something happens. Everyone who has a Ouija Board seems to have a story to go with it. So it sounds like you've never messed around with one of them yourself?

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  9. Oh my god I used to love Monster in my pocket (is that supposed to sound dirty?) I had the Nintendo game for it, ton's of the little characters (they reminded me of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures), and had some of the comics as well! Also I have a few complete sets of Dinosaurs Attack card series stored away somewhere. Thank you so much for the blast from the past, I always love revisiting these obsessions from my youth!

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  10. Halloweenman ~ Haha, I doubt the name of those cards is supposed to sound dirty, but um yeah...my brain went there too.

    That's cool that you remember this stuff too! So there are at least two of you guys who were into these cards. :) I somehow missed the whole craze, but better late than never to find out about these!

    I'm glad you enjoyed this post. :)

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  11. I feel like I should know of Redcap, since I'm of Scottish heritage, but I don't.
    And the Chimera does look like something Napoleon Dynamite would think up!

    Halloween Forum looks like a fun place!
    I'm going to join, and will definitely send you a friend request after I do.
    I LOVE all your photos on there btw!

    One of my Facebook friends made an Emily The Strange Ouija board.
    I'll see if I can get her permission to send you a photo of it, cause it'd make an awesome addition to your post.
    Which I'm excited to see! Ouija boards have always intrigued me, but I've never owned one.
    Think I'm too chicken to use one, but yet I'm not afraid of snakes...
    Well, I wasn't till I read your recent post! lol. Glad I don't live in Africa!

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  12. Holly ~ Well, I was wondering if Redcap was made up for this card set. I just googled Redcap, and it turns out he's actually a part of Scottish lore! If you google images with the terms "Redcap Scotland" you'll see all sorts of creepy little goblins.

    Thanks for checking out my Halloween Forum page! :) I'm glad you liked the photos I have up. I'll have to add a few more. Yeah, definitely let me know once you have a profile there.

    I would love to see an Emily the Strange Ouija board! I agree that it would make an awesome addition to the blog entry. Yes, please check with her! It's amazing to me that so few of my blog buddies have had a Ouija board. Well, I still look forward to any kind of discussion the Ouija post starts! Haha, yeah everyone should be afraid of that snake. :) I'm glad they don't live in the U.S.

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  13. Hey Justine,
    I just joined Halloween Forum and sent you a friend request! :)

    And my friend said feel free to use the photo of her board!
    Emily the Strange Ouija Bored by Vanessa Piscopo

    Also, random question, do you have pierced ears?

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  14. Holly ~ That's wonderful! :) I'll be sure to check in to Halloween Forum and accept your request! I know you'll enjoy it there.

    Awesome, I can't wait to check out that board! Thanks for contributing to that post. :)

    Haha, Well, I think I might know why you're asking me that...and yes, I do have pierced ears.

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  15. Thanks for the add back! :)

    No problem! Did the photo work?

    Yeah, I may have given it away, heh.

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  16. I don't know if you've ever read anything by Greg Iles, but I would recommend his book Mortal Fear. There is a character in it named Kali, and it goes into a deep explanation of her name, her history, etc.

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  17. I'm not familiar with Greg Iles, but I'll look him up! Thanks for passing that along. I need something to read aside from true crime and how-to books. :) So you're familiar with Kali? She was new to me!

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  18. Nice blog! Your content is engaging and love your paper-li plug in. Where do I get one?

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  19. Hey Brian! Thank you. :) Yeah, I love Peanut Gnome's online newspaper! Sometimes my tweets/blog posts are included, so I'm a little biased...

    Getting the plug in for his paper is super easy. Just click on the widget on the side of my blog. You will be brought to his paper-li page. Then click on the Embed button. It should be on the upper right side of the page. I'm assuming you meant you wanted the plug-in for his paper and not one you created?

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  20. I remember the toys from when I was a kid. I also recall the Konami video game, which I've since played online. There's a toy company in Britain that is working on bringing Monster in My Pocket back with a series of new, and more detailed, figures.

    I do remember the cartoon show as well. I could have swore it ran longer than on episode. Then again, everything was epic when we were kids.

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  21. Johnny Zombie ~ Hey there! Thanks for following my blog. :) I'm not familiar with the Konami video game, although I'm starting to think I missed a lot of things!

    Ha, yeah everything is more epic as a kid. It is hard to believe that only one episode of this was made. Especially since there's so much merchandise out there! Since new figures are being manufactured, I wonder if there will also be a new re-worked cartoon series?

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  22. These cards are great! I remember Monster In My Pocket toys!!! My brother had a whole bunch of them =)

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  23. Yeah, they are pretty cool! Did you collect Monster in my Pocket stuff too? I'm guessing that your brother has the colorful little action figures I saw online.

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