Sunday, October 12, 2014

1960s Monster Colorforms

Classic movie monsters were all the rage in the 1960s, thanks in large part to the showing of Universal's 1930s-40s horror films on television.

At the height of the monster craze, the Colorforms line of playsets, which feature removable vinyl pieces and cardboard backdrop scenes, came out with this fabulous item, the "Glow in the Dark Create a Monster Cartoon Kit."


Inside the colorful box are a playboard, two sheets of vinyl character pieces, and an instruction booklet.



The playboard is a cartoony scene of a mad scientist's laboratory, complete with electrical equipment, beakers and vials, and a slab for the Monster:


The instruction booklet offers suggestions on setting the scene, and advice for parents on the wholesomeness of the activity set. Colorforms can teach children such skills as finger dexterity, sense of spatial relationships, and size matching, according to the booklet. I expect children could have cared less about those things, and were largely interested in the glow in the dark features.


My set, purchased last year from the collection of a comic book artist, had never been opened, but that is no longer the case. How could anyone resist playing with this fabulous toy?!


Click here to see another vintage Colorforms monster-themed set, the Castle Dracula Fun House, and here for an Addams Family set.

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