7/22/56 GORDO COMIC STRIP (JEKYLL & HYDE)

CLICK FOR A CLOSER LOOK

To learn more about Gus Arriola's comic strip Gordo, you can visit Don Markstein's Toonopedia.

STRETCH MONSTER WEEK IS OVER

Since Stretch Monster week will be ending in just a few minutes and as we get ready for just a plain old boring week. I just want to thank everyone for stopping by and checking out all of these crazy posts about my favorite toy, Stretch Monster.

Also, I want to thank Fred, Heather, Kirk, David, Heather, Mark, Tony, Tim, Brandon, Dan, Jason and Mike for helping me with information, photos, artwork, faux items and promotion.

Stay stretchy Stretch Monster fans!!!!!

STRETCH MONSTER’S BOX

Let’s take a look at Stretch Monster’s box. I believe the American Stretch Monster had only two box variations, the 1977 and 1978 box. The major difference is the ‘78 box had a die-cut front.

1977 Box

I WONDER WHO THIS LUCKY KID WAS?

THESE PHOTOS ARE OF THE 1978 BOX

PROOF OF PURCHASE FROM THE 1978 BOX

INSTRUCTIONS

ADDED NOTE FOUND IN THE 1978 BOX

MISTER MOSTRO ITALIAN VERSION

The photos of the 1977 box and Italian box both come from Stretch Armstrong World

FAUX STRETCH MONSTER HALLOWEEN COSTUME

Here’s another thing that would’ve been very cool for all of us Stretch Monster kids to have worn on Halloween.

I found a Polaroid photo of some costumed kid’s that was actually taken in 1978 and used a vintage 1978 Collegeville box for the fake Stretch Monster mask and body suit. The kid wearing the Stretch Monster mask was originally wearing a Frankenstein mask. I’ll post the unaltered photo this October.

STRETCH MONSTER-AID DRINK-MIX PACKET

Another wonderful what if... item and this one comes from the creator of Mr Toast and the blog a sampler of things, my good friend Dan Goodsell.


Boy, this makes me thirsty for some Stretch Monster-Aid Imitation Lemonade. I wonder if it's made from corn syrup?

Thanks for the good work on this one Dan!

STRETCH MONSTER & RICK SPRINGFIELD DYNAMITE COVER

This is another fake magazine cover and this time it was created by Jason, the man behind the new and popular flickr site called Vintage Stickers N Stuff.

I like the fact he picked Rick Springfield to share the cover with Stretch Monster!

Great work Jason and thanks for sending it in.

Also, be sure to check out the WishbookWeb.com a wonderful Christmas catalog site that Jason helps maintain.

MEET STRETCH MONSTER’S JAPANESE COUSIN

The Japanese version of Stretch Monster made by Tsukuda Toys has the same body, but sports a different head sculpt and goes by the name Andro.





This one sold on ebay back in January for $889.

STRETCH MONSTERS DOW CORNING MAGAZINE COVER

Stretch Monster really did make the cover of Material News from Dow Corning on the July/Aug 1977 issue.


I like how the cover looks like a typical late 1970's rock album cover.

Again, this comes from Stretch Armstrong World.

STRETCH MONSTER KID SNAPSHOT #5

This little kid knows what to do with a Stretch Monster!



This image comes from that groovy site called retroCRUSH.

THE STRETCH ARMSTRONG AND STRETCH MONSTER COLORING BOOK

Ok, boys and girls get your 64 Crayola Crayons box with the built-in sharpener because we got Stretch Monster pages to color. Yippee!

For your enjoyment, here is the seldom seen coloring book based on Stretch Armstrong and Stretch Monster. Sorry SA fans, but this is SM’s week, so we’ll only be looking at those pages.

Feel free to print the pages out to color! The funniest ones are when Stretch Monster goes to the circus!

SUPER SUGAR CRISP FANTASY BOX W/ STRETCH MONSTER PREMIUM

I had mentioned in a previous post that Stretch Monster never appeared on a cereal box or had any cereal premiums made in his likeness.

Thanks to Brandon of the wonderful Waffle Whiffer Zone SM has now appeared on a cereal box!


The great thing, is the Universal Monster heads are one of my favorite cereal premiums from childhood and I love the fact that SM is now linked with these very premiums!

Great work, Brandon!

A STRETCH MONSTER DRAWING BY YOURS TRULY

This is my take on the great green beast of rubber. (My apologies to the King of Comics!)

STRETCH MONSTER ENLISTS IN THE ARMY

Looks like Stretch Monster has inspired new technology that will help protect our soldiers.

You can check it out here.

Corn syrup might just save the world!

STRETCH MONSTER KID SNAPSHOT #4

Life is good when you’re kicking back relaxing in the sun with your trusty Stretch Monster by your side.



This photo comes from Stretch Armstrong World.

THE MURDER OF STRETCH MONSTER: A TRUE STORY

DUE TO THE GRAPHIC CONTENT, THIS POST MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUNG READERS OR TOY COLLECTORS WHO MIGHT BE A LITTLE SQUEAMISH.

YEAR: 1978
PLACE: ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - 2ND GRADE CLASSROOM
VICTIM: STRETCH MONSTER
SURVIVED BY: KENNETH (OWNER OF STRETCH MONSTER)
MURDER WEAPON: #2 PENCIL
MURDERER: ?



It was a hot and steamy afternoon close to the end of the school year and Mrs. Knewlman’s 2nd-grade class just finished with Show & Tell. The class of about thirty students was in a jovial mood as they enjoyed seeing all the interesting items brought in by their fellow classmates. 

The time was thirty minutes after one o’clock and the third recess bell sounded. All of Mrs. Knewlman’s 2nd-grade class filed outside for the last recess of the day. It was a typical normal recess.

At precisely forty-five minutes after one o’clock, the children finished third recess and entered into Mrs. Knewlman’s 2nd-grade class. A gasp, a shout, and loud crying were heard through the classroom as Kenneth was the first on the scene to notice that his Stretch Monster was stabbed in the chest with a #2 pencil. Red syrupy blood oozed from the monster’s chest and pooled onto Kenneth’s desk. All the children looked on in utter shock and horror.

Reports from some of the classmates said that Kenneth was the last presenter for Show & Tell and he gave a proud presentation to the class about Stretch Monster. Afterward, he left Stretch Monster on his desk and was outside during the full duration of third recess. Mrs. Knewlman interviewed each student to find out who might have committed this gruesome crime.

Mrs. Knewlman removed the murder weapon and bandaged Stretch Monster with two large band-aids across his chest.

All the students were instructed to take their seats and sit quietly until the murderer confessed. She also handed Kenneth a box of tissue as he was distraught.

For the next hour until forty-five minutes after two o’clock, not one student had come forward to confess the crime. Mrs. Knewlman announced that no one would be able to leave their desk to catch the school bus until someone confessed.

Finally, at fifty minutes after two o’clock, the murderer raised their hand and confessed to this horrific crime. The little murderer was actually a little murderess. A girl by the name of Misty had stabbed Stretch Monster. Her reason was a mixed bag. She first said she just wanted to see what was inside of Stretch Monster. That was followed by some tearful waterworks and the full truth. She confessed that she was jealous of Kenneth’s Stretch Monster and wanted one for herself. Earlier in the day, she asked Kenneth if she could have the toy. Kenneth vehemently told her, "No way, Jose."

During third recess, she asked to go inside and use the restroom. She skipped the restroom and instead purchased a five-cent official NFL football pencil out of the pencil machine. She sharpened the pencil to a fine point and then carried out her act of murder.

She was apprehended and was served a swift punishment with a paddle to the heinie and was sentenced to miss all recesses the next day while writing sentences on the blackboard.

The Stretch Monster murder case was closed and another school day in Mrs. Knewlman's 2nd-grade class was over.

Kenneth moved onto other toys and continued to bring items for Show & Tell. He became very popular after bringing a small plastic trash can filled with green ooze called Slime.

Misty's crime career continued as she stole a stack of Star Wars cards and beheaded a baby doll later in the school year.

This is a true story and I was there to witness it.

All names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Well...Stretch Monster’s name wasn’t changed, but everyone else's name involved was changed.

1977 TIME MAGAZINE - MONSTER TOYS: ARE THEY HEALTHY FOR OUR CHILDREN?

Since Stretch Monster never made the cover of any main stream magazines, I decided to make one up. At first I was going to put him on Famous Monsters, but I passed since that’s kind of an obvious choice and plus he never was part of Filmland. So I wondered what would've landed him on a cover of a magazine that normally didn't feature toys or monsters? Oh yes, a news magazine that would have made some type of social comment about children's toys. I decided Time magazine was the perfect choice.

Sorry I wasn’t ambitious enough to right up a faux article.

KENNER VS. MEGO

In 1981, Kenner sued Mego over Mego's own line of stretching figures, called the Elastic Heroes. You can read all about it here.

G.I. JOE VS. THE STRETCH MONSTER

Check out this 1970's Super8 stop-motion film starring Stretch Monster and some G.I. Joes.



This was uploaded by davsav1.

STRETCH MONSTER KID SNAPSHOT #3

This is such a peaceful Christmas photo with a nicely decorated tree surrounded by dollies, a toy doctor’s kit, a Mickey Mouse Club playset, and a STRETCH MONSTER! RARR ARRGHH!!


Oops, sorry about that. I kind of got carried away. The Stretch Monster in this vintage photo from 1978 has a name and his name is Spencer and he belonged to a girl named Heather. (Not to be confused with the Heather from Stretch Monster Kid Snapshot #1.)

You can read all about Spencer on Heather’s blog, The Valedictorian of Bottom Feeders.

STRETCH MONSTER CEREAL?

As a collector of old cereal stuff I just had to squeeze in something this week related to cereal.

Unfortunately there was never any Stretch Monster Crunch cereal or for that matter not even a mini-Stretch Monster free in every box type of premium. The closest thing I could tie a connection between Stretch Monster and cereal is this old Cheerios box.

I refer to this 1978 box as the 2-Sided Star Wars Poster & Kenner Refund Box.


Naturally, General Mills offered many Star Wars premiums in their many brands of cereal since Kenner Toys, then owned by the Big G, was producing all the Star Wars toys.

Inside the box attached to one of the Star Wars posters was a refund sheet that listed and pictured some of Kenner’s toys.

Unfortunately only the Stretch Octopus Ollie and Olivia are shown, but at least Stretch Armstrong and our hero Stretch Monster are mentioned. Thus the very small cereal + SM connection!

All you had to do was cut the proof of purchase from the toy package and mail it in for a refund.

I loved the 2 Sided Star Wars posters and this one used to hang in my bedroom when I was a kid.

As you can see I only colored Vader’s lightsaber. I’m sure I was too anxious to hang it on the wall and decided to forget about coloring. Hey, I had plenty of coloring books to color and I didn’t have any works of art with a Star Destroyer hanging on my wall.

Ok, I think I’ll get my box of crayons out and finish it 29 years later.