Box of Monsters - Hall of Heads

Why do I love this particular line of masks so much? Affordability? Availability? Authenticity? Something else that begins with A? For whatever reason, I'm thoroughly smitten with the Don Post "Retro" mask line, and if ya wanna see an old ad that features six of the original masks, scroll down!

1980 the way I remember it: This classic-monster fan's livelihood was all but dead. The Aurora monsters were long gone. The cast of Chiller Theater was looking more like the cast of Saturday Night Fever. At least there was good old Famous Monsters, right? Sort of. The magazine was still around, but the Star Wars craze was in full swing, stirring up a tsunami of bad sci-fi, and the hallowed pages of my beloved FM were choking on it. Not even Captain Company was immune... the pages were saturated with every conceivable Star Wars item money could buy, as well as a fantastic selection of anything non-monster-related! Times had changed.

Fast-forward to the present. While home for the holidays, Web Master Jimmy (that's me) stumbled upon a 1980 issue of FM that was hiding in a box in a closet. I decided to flip through it even though I knew it would only remind me of that terrible dry spell. But there, hiding in the back pages, flanked on all sides by Moonraker posters and "Keep On Truckin" stickers, was this ad for Don Post masks! The monsters' last stand! I remembered it as being the last toe-hold I had on what I held dear, and I figured I'd share it with you now, considering Don Post has re-issued no less than six of these very masks!

Almost nothing is as retro as those lovable Rat Fink/Weirdos type characters that so many of us grew up with! Ah... so timely, and what an instantly recognizable genre! Now, check out KLUTCH FURST, part of Death Studios line-up! Crazy, Daddy-o! Think we should warn him his face might freeze like that?

Gotta' love Rob Zombie, that's all there is to it! Not only is he a big, big monster fan just like me and you, but he's totally living out his monster dreams with his music, a movie, and his own line of masks.

Licensed characters? Bah! Who needs 'em when you've got DROP JAW, one of the many deliciously deviant denizens of Dynamic Design International's line-up? Heavily influenced by such childhood institutions as the various Warren publications and Disney's Haunted Mansion, Darren Perks is bringing the fun back into mask collecting with his uniquely designed and intensely original headpieces. Remember when a spooky ghoul mask was just a spooky ghoul mask? Web Master Jimmy does. Update! Web Master Jimmy has the mask pictured right, and it is one quality product!

It's party time for serious collectors, who should bop on over to Harry Inman's Dark Studios and check out the very limited edition offerings, featuring everything from Outer Limits aliens, to B. Garret Theta-esque corpses, to the TAR-MAN (from the excellent Return of the Living Dead movie). Ok, I'm going to be totally honest with you all here... Outer Limits be damned! I love that Tar-Man mask!

Not sure who makes it, but check out this super-creepy FACEHUGGER mask! I've seen it on several sites retailing for around 80 bucks, and man, there sure is something disturbing about it! It's not just a facehugger "prop" like we're used to seeing, but rather an actual mask with the alien sculpted onto some unfortunate gourd. Love it! To me, it perfectly recaptures something the whole ALIEN series lost in the mainstream. So there. :P

Being offered as "1950s Drive-In Alien", or something like that, we all know that this is really a mask of those lovable SAUCERMEN from that fun movie with the midgets! I can't tell you why it's purple instead of green... but hey! It's from that fun movie with the midgets, dude! How could you not want one? Got kids? Heh heh.

There's a limited edition (50 made) SILVER SHAMROCK PUMPKIN mask available now from the Halloween Mask Association (or HMA), which is kewl news to Web Master Jimmy, since he's always believed he was the only person in the world who loved Halloween 3!

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