Dino Drac’s Countdown to Xmas!
Welcome to Dino Drac’s Countdown to Christmas! This feature will be updated daily (or close to daily) through December 25th, with some kind of holiday-related thingamajig. You never know what might turn up!
This one’s really for the old schoolers who prefer blogs to algorithmic timelines full of ads for dicey hair products. I won’t be plugging it often off-site. If this is up your alley, remember to check back often! (And visit After Dark and the Xmas Jukebox, too!)
11/22: Consumers Catalog Page! (1991)
‘Tis the season for old department store catalogs! From the Sears Wish Book to JCPenney’s equally-thick slabs, they’ve been a part of my holiday tradition for as long as I’ve been alive.
As a child, some of my favorite Christmassy catalogs came from Consumers Distributing, a high-concept chain that worked more like a restaurant than, say, a Target. You’d go in, fill out order forms, and then wait twenty minutes for someone to tell you that nothing you wanted was in stock. But that’s neither here nor there. Their catalogs were fantastic.
This page from their 1991 catalog seemed particularly share-worthy. I haven’t mentioned Bucky O’Hare often, but I collected the hell out of those action figures, in part because they were scaled to seamlessly mingle with all of my Ninja Turtles.
Swamp Thing was another big one… not so much out of any special reverence for the character, but because Kay-Bee Toys almost always had the toys on clearance. Often enough, getting two figures from something you kinda liked was better than getting one from something you loved.
And wait, what’s that? OOZERS?! Well, I’ll be! That means this catalog was actually from Canada, where Consumers had a much bigger presence. The Oozers collection was never available in the States, and the figures now fetch insanely high prices. (You may remember one turning up during the Mausoleum of Madness.)
This won’t be the last time a Christmas catalog turns up here, so if you’re into that sort of thing, hang tight. For now, I hope this helped you remember the era when circling toys in 500-page retail tomes was our quickest avenue to pure bliss.
11/21: Rice Krispies Merry Treats! (1970s)
This magazine ad from the ‘70s just makes me happy, and I hope it does the same for you. It might not, of course, given that I posted it on Facebook earlier, and it performed so badly that I quietly deleted it. That’s why it’s good to have my own site, where I’m free to be Martha Stewart without shame.
Doing Christmassy stuff with Rice Krispies Treats is still a thing today, even if some of these ideas are uniquely ‘70s. I’m particularly drawn to that weird nest filled with an obscene amount of green pudding. It looks like something out of Troll 2.
I appreciate how they didn’t get too pro-looking with the decorative touches. I feel like I could actually make these, you know? Hell, I bet I could do an even better job frosting that duck wing. Tbh, most people could.
11/20: McD’s Reindeer Ornaments! (1985)
McDonald’s ran many great holiday promos in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and while most have been covered to death in the online nostalgia circuit, I feel like nobody ever talks about these adorable reindeer!
Back in 1985, you could get a plush reindeer ornament based on Santa Claus: The Movie, free with a book of McDonald’s gift certificates. That was the chain’s usual “catch” with their various plushie ornaments, which were really too good to shove in Happy Meal boxes… but totally worth the expense if McD’s got you to blow money on coupons that most people never redeemed, anyway.
Nobody should be surprised by this team-up, since Santa Claus: The Movie featured some of the most egregious McD’s product placement this side of Mac & Me. Hell, this wasn’t even their only promotion tied to the film. McDonald’s also did a traditional Happy Meal, with little storybooks as the prizes.
The reindeer ornaments are ridiculously cute, and on the collectors’ market, they’re no more expensive than what you’d pay for a similar doll made in 2025. (Faint praise, I know.) And it’s not like you have to be some big fan of the movie to want one. They’re just reindeer! Nobody’s gonna tie them to Dudley Moore if you don’t tell them! Read More…
Dino Drac’s November Funpack is here!
Okay TURKEYS (complimentary), I’m ready to show ya Dino Drac’s November Funpack!
The November box is one of the most popular Funpacks every year, in part thanks to a longstanding tradition that I’m happy to report is continuing in 2025!
But, there’s a catch. This one is mostly for existing subscribers only. Subscriptions are maxed out, and I have VERY few spares left to offer on an individual basis. They’re $25 each, shipped. If you’re not a subscriber but still want this box, send me an email (dinosaurdracula @ gmail) and if I have any left, I’ll let you know! (UPDATE: Sold out!)
Now, let’s dive in and see what you’re getting! Read More…
Purple Stuff: Eight Dastardly Devils!
With moments to spare, The Purple Stuff Podcast’s big Halloween show is here! Guys, you better brace yourselves, because we’re taking you straight to HADES.
For our full-length October show, we’re tacking EIGHT DASTARDLY DEVILS from all walks of pop culture! Movies, cartoons, weird decorations, video games and more!
If you think you can guess our picks, think again, because somehow, a show with this topic includes references to Care Bears and My Little Pony. It’s a jumbo-sized 90-minute celebration of evil, and brothers, it’s hotter than Hell.
Click here to listen to this month’s show!
…which you can also find on Spotify, Apple, and wherever else you listen to podcasts!
As a reminder, The Purple Stuff Podcast is also on Patreon, where you can grab an exclusive bonus show every month. The library is growing all the time, and when you join, you get instant access to our back catalog of dozens and dozens of bonus episodes… including our most recent, where we reviewed the 1988 Unsolved Mysteries Halloween special! Read More…
The Mausoleum of Madness, Part II!
Welcome to Dinosaur Dracula’s MAUSOLEUM OF MADNESS, PART II! Every day through Halloween, check back for another vintage creepy collectible – everything from deep cut toys to ancient store displays to at least one totally insane costume. Probably ten cereal boxes, too.
I won’t be plugging this on social media much, so you’ll have to remember to visit on your own. Maybe stick an orange Post-It on the fridge. (Yes, it must be orange.)
PS, if you missed last year’s Mausoleum of Madness, it’s over here.
#69: Telco Sheet Ghost! (1980s)
Well, here’s the last Telco Motionette that will be featured in this year’s Mausoleum of Madness. A bittersweet moment!
The 24” Sheet Ghost is one I’d been after for a long while. One of the earliest Motionettes, he rarely pops up nowadays. While standing at the same two-foot height as most of the others, the size of the sheet makes him seem enormous. His advanced age is betrayed by the fact that he sounds like a dying HP printer when he moves.
Mr. Ghost was a fitting final grab before the season closed, as while there are other Motionettes that I desperately want, this was the only one I had a reasonable shot at finding. Pretty wild that I managed to snag all of my favorite Telco monsters in a single season, excluding a few that are basically that arena’s version of Legendary Pokemon.
This Telco thing has been a wild ride. It’s been a long time since I collected anything this hard. Actually, it’s been a long time since I really even identified as a collector of anything specific. Three months of constant searches, winding drives and wallet checks was its own kind of nostalgia!
#68: The Almighty Bonesy! (1991)
Some of you will look at this and just see an ordinary grim reaper, but, well… IYKYK.
Actually, this is Bonesy, part of the incredibly rare and very internet-famous line of Oozers action figures, from Irwin Toys in 1991.
These were released in Canada and never available in the States. They eventually found fame here, though, thanks to a YouTube upload of the old TV commercial, which was so preposterous and over-the-top, many people – including me – initially mistook it as a modern parody.
Oozers was a collection of monster figures that each came with a tube of slime, with which you could fill the figures, squeeze them, and then watch neon goo burst from their various orifices. In Bonesy’s case, red gel horrifically leaked right out of his eyes!
The figures almost never pop up, and Bonesy seems to be the rarest of them all. I’ve only ever seen him for sale one time, and I was quick to the draw, even if it meant paying more for a rubber reaper than anyone really should. Read More…