UNIVERSAL MONSTERS WALLET ORIGINAL ART

Here's a blast from the past! I'm sure any Monster Kid worth his mummy-wrapping will remember these when the were advertised in FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND. Usually printed in color on the back cover was this full-page ad for Universal Pictures Monster Wallets and Wall Plaques. Monsters included were: Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, The Phantom of the Opera, The Wolfman and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The same image was used on both the wallets and the plaques, which were vacuformed in "3-D" with a black border frame and an eyelet to hang them with.

Back page ad from Famous Monsters of Filmland.

Shown below is the original art from this page. Note the Wolfman is pictured with pointy ears, the same as James Bama painted him on the Aurora model kit box art and The Phantom the same way, using the James Cagney image from MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES.

Included in this vintage monster artifact is a transparent cellophane sheet overlay with the lettering, "Universal Pictures Monsters" in white and yellow. Painted on 19" x 22 7/8" illustration board, the image measures 12.75" x 16.75".

This vintage piece of vintage monster art was sold by Heritage Auctions on November 20 for the tidy sum of $16,250.

Art without transparent lettering overlay.

Art with transparent lettering overlay.

ROSAN'S FAMOUS MONSTERS CARDS 1963

Yes, the Rosan Famous Monsters card set is quite a sight to behold. Most of the card front images have been "retouched", and if that kind of work had been done as makeup on a living person, people would have run screaming from them. Many of the images were "enhanced" to exaggerate the horrible aspects. There were a few illustrations and movie posters that were used, too, and even a few images were from makeup contests from the pages of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND.

Posted today are the remaining card fronts and backs from the set.

ROSAN'S FAMOUS MONSTER CARDS 1963

At sometime or another during the development of these cards, Rosan must have struck a deal with Warren or Warren must have struck a deal with Rosan, because, besides the title of the card set, Rosan included advertising from the pages of FM and Monster Kids could order Captain Company monster merchandise right of the cards!

The photos and illos used on the card fronts were mostly from AIP pics. At the time, AIP was very generous in sharing publicity with anyone who'd promote them. After all photos and pressbooks were really cheap advertising for a studio on a tight budget, and nobody squeaked louder than AIP!

Here are the next 20 card fronts of the series and a few more samples of the card backs.