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- Favorite Pinball Machine
- Jurassic Park
I wish Sleepy and Tilt were around at times like this to poke fun at this one and maybe share some remembrances. Ah, well.
Anyway, what immediately piqued me about this toy is that it DIDN'T use a variant of Boris Karloff's face for the monster. Seems to me that's almost unheard of it when it comes to this kind of gadget. I'd say he almost looks more like an elven version of Tor Johnson, if anything. Remember that guy?
Based on that, I thought the toy was something from the 60's, at first. In fact, looking at the price tag and stylings, it's probably more of a 70's - 80's thing. Which again begs the question -- "why go with Tor Elvenstone rather than the more easily-recognisable public domain image of Karloff?"
In terms of how the toy works, it seems there's a lightbulb inside the head that comes on after the pants mechanically drop. I'm guessing the inside of the skull is painted a darker shade of red than the lighter green painted on the outer surface, turning Frankie's head pink when the bulb is lit. Possibly the bulb itself is painted pinkish - reddish, but in terms of manufacturing costs and keeping parts simple, I'm guessing it's more likely that the former thing is the 'secret' of how this toy works.
Anyway, what immediately piqued me about this toy is that it DIDN'T use a variant of Boris Karloff's face for the monster. Seems to me that's almost unheard of it when it comes to this kind of gadget. I'd say he almost looks more like an elven version of Tor Johnson, if anything. Remember that guy?
Based on that, I thought the toy was something from the 60's, at first. In fact, looking at the price tag and stylings, it's probably more of a 70's - 80's thing. Which again begs the question -- "why go with Tor Elvenstone rather than the more easily-recognisable public domain image of Karloff?"
In terms of how the toy works, it seems there's a lightbulb inside the head that comes on after the pants mechanically drop. I'm guessing the inside of the skull is painted a darker shade of red than the lighter green painted on the outer surface, turning Frankie's head pink when the bulb is lit. Possibly the bulb itself is painted pinkish - reddish, but in terms of manufacturing costs and keeping parts simple, I'm guessing it's more likely that the former thing is the 'secret' of how this toy works.
