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It's that time of year again! ITS FALL.
Except I live in California so it's more like this:
Observe our seasonal cycle here:
Hey, I don't make the rules, Mother Nature does. To spite us, fairly I might add.
Anyway, enough of that, let's talk some Dinosaur Dracula Fun Packs, eh?
Eerie August!
Let's start with DD's end of summer feast for the spooky with the August fun pack. I know starting Halloween so early is a sin for some, but hey, they already got Christmas stuff in some places, and I need to soak up all the spooky before fall is out in November. And remember that the days after Thanksgiving aren't considered fall anymore, its Christmas. I don't make the rules, except that I do here.
Besides, Old Obon was in August so I count that as part of the festivities of spooky. I say, since there aren't many if any big holidays in August, we just embrace it as Pre Halloween Eve, since September is Halloween Eve for us spooky souls.
Let's talk Treats first. My one and only, my beloved Nerds rope. Since having to change my diet intensely this year, I know I have to ration my candy consumption but during the most sugar filled holiday of them all? Blasphemy ;.;
In any case, I did enjoy this as a farewell to stuffing my face with candy at the end of the month. And it was delicious. If you're into Nerds, it's just as good as the Nerds clusters, and these ones had the Halloween colors.
The lil pink wiggly skeleton is a friend, like the kind you get in vending machines. Akin to slime toys, this might be the same kinda sticky hands material and he's been sitting on my desk all this time and still is stretchy. He's prolly getting dusty though so I dunno how pristine he'll stay. I love these kinda toys, and being hot pink really feels nice and festive XD.
Also check out this swag, shiny treat bag! Definitely made to be high-vis during the dark trick or treating nights, this mylar behemoth is shiny enough to encourage calls from Roswell NM about another UFO. For real, this bag is SHINY. Shinier than Dural's ass from Virtua Fighter. Shinier than Cybil's pants from Silent Hill 1.
You get the idea. If someone hits you carrying this at night, its likely cuz you blinded them 3 miles down the road.
I love it. The combo of orange, pink-purple and yellow give it a playful kids vibe.
Here's a great sample from the pack: a storyboook with vinyl for Gremlins. I haven't yet listened to it but its SUPER COOL to have. If you remember the Teddy Ruxpin story book tapes from the beforetimes of the 1980s. How old is Dio? Old enough to have played Odell Lake as a kid in computer class on Apple II Es. SO of course I'd remember Teddy Ruxpin, but these Gremlin records are totally new to me and they're in excellent condition. I'll have to report back on this one I received, but from what I'm guessing (no I haven't even read the book XD), Gizmo commits GTA and goes on an Amazing Race against Stripe for a $5000 price.
I don't know but his lil car is actually pretty cool.
No, I've never seen the original movie, can you tell??
These were given out at Hardee's (Carl's Jr outside of the west) but also sold in retail because they were so damn swag, according to the DD newsletter. And man, take me back to the time of super premium fast food giveaways. The Wendy's Krabby Patty promo could learn a thing or three.
Another tops pick in the box were these adorable and super premium replicas of signage for these spooky themed frozen treats, the Good Humor Ghoulie bar, the Slimer pop, the Blue Ghost pop (more on that in the next funpack) and Vampire's Secret pop. The latter I'd never seen but holy hell, I wanna try. According to their website, they were black cherry on the outside, with a cherry syrup inside, presumably to simulate sweet, sweet blood. The site is rather coy on their "disappearance", but if there's a treat I'd love to have a chance to try, it's this one.
Also check out this adorable frozen sticker on the slip cover. Thanks, Matt, I love it. :3 I definitely have had the Slimer bar and the Blue Ghost before so that takes me waaaaayyyy back.
Dinosaurs Attacks cards are also included along with this single Frankenstein card (XD I love it). The Mars Attacks and Dinosaurs Attack lines always creeped me out because I'm a widdle ickle baby XD, but the gory, violent cards certainly leave a huge impression, even after all these years. While the movie didn't quite capture the raw and also darkly humorous vibe of the cards, I can't say Mars Attacks doesn't also leave an impression with that packed cast and fun special effects. Dunno if I'd wanna see a DA movie myself, but I'm sure that there's a small but devoted group of people who'd love it. I mean MA did inspire the more iconic UFO endings of Silent Hills 1-3. XD
The poster bears my absolute favorite McDonald's pumpkin pail, and a sticker with good ol' Dracula on it. On a tangent, I recently watched the original Dracula with Bela Lugosi and holy hell, I get it. The acting he did with his eyes alone were chilling and haunting. I totally get how his look and Christopher Lee's really codified what Dracula and vampires look like. Gotta say it was magical, even after all these years.
Anyway, enough of my yapping, love the sticker, love the poster, and I LOVE the essay, which is a list of 50 things to love about Halloween, which is wholesome, interesting, and iconic. I share a lot of his points, and love some of his unique ones like "the meditative process of deep-diving on ebay for spooky collectables" or believing the holiday is named for his cat instead of the other way around (and can we say how AMAZING it is to have a cute orange cat named Halloween in the first place? I love Halloween the cat). But man, the halloween throw blankets? I'm THERE. Gimme gimme.
The drawing challenge is to make a spooky popsicle, so I just might try to make that for my drawtober this year.
Spooky September!
September doesn't disappoint with its offering either. There were a few choice pieces I was looking forward to and I wasn't disappointed. Everything was pretty jam packed, and it definitely gives one a few things to do on a crispy fall night.
I haven't say down with the Wednesday show yet (I'm so backed up on shows to catch up on @_@), but if there's a branded special edition cereal, I'm gonna eat it. It was pretty tasty, with cookies and creme cereal and marbits. I love marshmallow cereal, so it was a nice treat. The cool Frankie stickers were a great addition to the sticker book too; they glow in the dark a little and are vintage from my ancient epoch of the 1980s (though theyre a couple years younger than me at the ripe year of 1985).
This was a real treat, a brochure and coupon for admission to Spooky World! It was in Massachusetts, and housed some pretty cool exhibits, like a haunted hayride, live performances, and animated sets with actors and animatronics. This is from 1994, and the cool performances and demonstrations looked to be absolutely wild. Dunno if I would have the balls to have visited way back then (likely not XD), and I dunno if I could even do it now, as you all know my history with haunted houses and the like. Sadly, this location looks closed? Or at least replaced by a different company at Nightmare New England, which does pretty comparable events.
There's something really nostalic about these kinds of places. The closest analogue to a whole park themed around Halloween was Dell'Osso Family Farm out near where my mom lives and it still holds events for Halloween and even Christmas. They had a huge cornmaze that would change every year and tons of pumpkins to pick from as well as tons of activities. It really is like a mini theme park and its only gotten bigger over the years. At Christmas, it even has a huge snowhill to sled down.
But Spooky World definitely was for a stronger fan of horror, at least from what I can see. I really wish I could go back in time to check this place out back then. More than just a haunted house, it had tons of themed attractions for any kind of horror fan, and I think those are pretty cool.
Ok, but the fact that they also had Nestle sponsor it and the Toxic Avenger cracks me the hell up. Like thinking of that scene in the movie and then pairing it up with a Crunch bar makes it 50 times more hilarious. XD
If you've never seen the movie, I guess now is the time. Don't say I sent you tho.
Speaking of The Toxic Avenger, one of the premium pieces in the pack is this cassette tape for the soundtrack from the always high quality Terror Vision, who have provided tapes from other horror movies in previous funpacks. My faves were Monster Squad and Unsolved Mysteries cuz if that opening theme doesn't give you the time travelling nostalgia of late nights, I can't be friends with you.
The tape is a satisfying and amusing lime, slime green and the quality is pretty damn good. You can't not admire the quality that goes into their releases, from the colors of the cassettes and vinyl to the packaging and sound quality. You gotta browse Terror Vision just for the trips down horror lanes and enjoy and reminisce about past movies.
Also, seems like they're working on opening a museum! Which is super cool, so visit their website for more details.
Matt rounded out the Toxie vibes with a pack of Panini collectable sticker cards for a big collectable sticker book. I have a couple from previous funpacks of different series, like Ninja Turtles. I don't remember watching the show as a kid, but the Husband definitely does. Then again, he also has fond memories of the Robocop cartoon too.
ROBO WANTS OREOS. Sorry.
Now onto my FAVORITE part of the funpack: the Blue Ghost wax melts from the always amazing House of Wax Melts. I cannot recommend this place if you love candles, but want a smaller, bite sized experience without the threat of fires breaking out. Wax melters are pretty cheap and they last much longer than you would expect. This tasty scent is based on the old blue raspberry ghost popsicle from the ice cream truck. It is DIVINE if you're a 90s kid and swam in blue raspberry flavored things. Which of course is me. I can enjoy the tart scent without worrying about spiking my blood sugar to the mile high club. You can get yours here, but also peruse the site for more scents. I love Dream No More, Crystal Lake Part 2, and Cara Mia. I'm currently enjoying a blue ghost as I write this article right now and it's so nice. It's like a slice of summer and Halloween all rolled into one.
The mini poster has an ad for Freddy's glove, for all you aspiring dream demons, and a replica of a vintage Macca's Halloween ad. The essay is on the halcyon days most of you may not know about, which was the magical age of video rental stores. When all you had to go on for choosing a movie are the recent movies (and by recent, I mean like half a year ago, a couple months ago at best) you might've seen last season, or the enticing and sometimes deceptive covers of the tapes and dvds on the long shelves. Ahhhh the hours I spent in my locals, and the Blockbusters....I've seen some amazing old films in the local places. Some crazy Filipino comedies I didn't understand a word of but always watched with my mom and grandmother, crazy thrillers I probably was too young to watch, even finding a Vietnamese horror movie with my Husband, then my boyfriend, and watching a different vibe than what I was used to in J-horror and Thai horror. Streaming services don't quite have the same selection, or even the same libraries, and it seems like its harder to find hidden gems like you could back then. But hey. That's what niche, tiny sites are for, I guess huh? XD
The drawing challenge was to make the blue ghost as a character from Toxic Avenger but I dunno if I have it in me to do that XD A little too gooey for my tastes. But we'll see.
And that's August and September's funpacks all unpacked! Hopefully I'll get October's soon! Can't wait to see what it has in store for me. :3
--Dio (10/19/24)
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