Rankin & Bass are world famous for their heartwarming classic Christmas specials, but they also tried their hand at making 2 Halloween specials; "Mad Monster Party" (a similar stop motion style as Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer) & "Mad Mad Mad Monsters" (a traditional animated feature like Frosty The Snowman). Similar to the Christmas specials based on popular Children's songs, these specials seemed to be loosely based on the Halloween anthem, "The Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers, and feature many of the same characters.
Although these seemed to fade into obscurity after their initial release,
"Mad Monster Party" has had a bit of a resurgence after its release on DVD and has since developed a cult following, whereas
"Mad Mad Mad Monsters" saw its debut release on DVD earlier this year.
Despite its new-found popularity, there is not much in the way of merchandise as there is for Rudolph & Frosty. So, I was excited to run across 2 sets of figures made by Funko, Series 1 featuring Werewolf, Frankenstein, Zombie Bellhop & Dracula, and Series 2 featuring Francesca, Mr. Hyde, Skeleton Band & Yetch. Unfortunately there was a very small limited number of these sets made and they have since sold out. It's a bummer, but my hope is that more people will show interest and either these figures will be re-released or new figures will be available in the future. I thought they were worth sharing just the same!
~Mad Monster Party Figures Series 1~
~Mad Monster Party Figures Series 2~
I guess my biggest question is, where is the figure of Baron Von Frankenstein, i.e. Uncle Boris? The closest I could find was this cold cast resin statue that is also no longer available. Doesn't appear to be related to the set either, but pretty awesome!
~Mad Monster Party Uncle Boris Statue~
For anyone who is truly interested in purchasing a set, the good news is that there are a few Series 2 sets available on
Amazon. Perhaps you'll have luck finding the rest on
Ebay!
