Dinosaur Dracula!

The Mostly-Complete Dino Drac Archives.

You have some reading to do!

Below are most of the Dino Drac blog archives. Certain categories may be excluded to keep things tidier. If you notice any typos, pretend you didn’t.

  • Cool junk I saw at Monster-Mania 28!

    “Came, saw, bought a few things, made a fool of myself, went home.” That would be the summary of my experiences at the 28th Monster-Mania horror convention, which took place in Cherry Hill last weekend. I fear I’m not in any position to give you a full report, since we spent so much

  • Dino Drac’s Funpack Subscriptions – Now Open!

    Dino Drac Funpack subscriptions are back on sale! $25 a month, for a new box of weird junk, every month! Subscribe now and you’ll start with the SEPTEMBER 2014 FUNPACK — which, since the site will be firmly entrenched in the Halloween Countdown by then, has a nice dose of scares!

  • Unwrapping BONKERS candy, from 1989!

    It all started with this thing: From 1989, it’s a promotional standee for Bonkers candy, celebrating their historic teaming with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I grew up loving everything on that standee, so when I had the chance to buy it, I jumped. If you don’t remember Bonkers, t

  • Five Random Action Figures, Part 7!

    Since we’re up to the seventh installment of this series, I guess I can skip the preamble. Here are random action figures. Five of them! Biker Scout Star Wars, 1983 Behold, one of my favorite figures from Kenner’s immense Star Wars collection. Something about the Biker Scout’s boxy

  • 13 toys sold on Amazon… in 1999!

    In November of 2000, I placed my first-ever order with Amazon. Reviewing my account, it looks like I bought Charmander earrings, two Furby Babies, and twenty of the exact same Darth Sidious figure, just because it was marked down to a buck. Probably shouldn’t have admitted all of that, b

  • Highlights from TRU’s 1986 Summer Catalog!

    I was separating a stack of papers into “keep” and “toss” piles, and buried underneath so many hotel receipts and menus for dead restaurants, there it was… Yeah, this one went into the “keep” pile. It’s the Toys “R” Us Summer Fun Book, from 1986! Lightweight and onl

  • Jurassic Park Fruit Roll-Ups from 1997!

    I wasn’t sure if today’s topic truly deserved to be one, so I asked the folks on Twitter: Does anyone want to read about really old Fruit Roll-Ups? — Dinosaur Dracula (@DinosaurDracula) July 31, 2014 They said yes. And that’s how you came to read 750 words about old Fruit Roll-Ups.

  • The five best CHUCKY items on eBay.

    Hi, I’m Matt. Child’s Play fan. I was a late bloomer with horror, but Chucky was an exception. From Day One, I was on his side. Of the right age to clearly recognize him as a riff on Hasbro’s My Buddy dolls, I stupidly assumed that the Child’s Play franchise was at least partially

  • Flea Market Finds.

    I took a break from the yard sales this week, wanting to try my luck at a flea market at least once before summer was over. I begged Jay to tag along so I wouldn’t have to haggle alone, and off we went to Englishtown, New Jersey. I’ve written about the Englishtown flea market before.

  • The Ultimate ’80s Sticker Album.

    I now possess what I’m calling The Ultimate ‘80s Sticker Album. …but the truth is, it isn’t. Don’t get me wrong; as you’re about to see, it’s crazy awesome. But to say it’s the “ultimate” ‘80s sticker album is kind of fudging things. The real appeal of this book i

  • Dinosaur Dracula loves Dinosaurs Attack!

    I’ve been dancing around this subject for years, referencing it in throwaway paragraphs that have done little to capture its supreme mega greatness. Today, finally, I’m going to give Dinosaurs Attack cards everything they’re owed. Dinosaurs Attack (formally styled with an exclamation

  • Dino Drac Funpacks are back! (UPDATED!)

    IMPORTANT: If you’re looking to subscribe to the Funpacks, this is an older post. Check out the new subscription page here! Dino Drac Funpacks are back! And this time, here to stay. At least for the foreseeable future. Here’s the deal. I’m coming into that stretch of the year whe

  • Yard Sailin’, Volume IV.

    So after a month’s worth of pleasant experiences, I was finally reminded of why I stopped going to yard sales to begin with. I did find some nice things, but between the sellers and the buyers, every stop brought five new annoyances. Sellers were the big problem. I lost interest in yard

  • Five Random Action Figures, Part 6!

    Jeez, it’s been over a year since the last edition of Five Random Action Figures? On it, chief. Here are five more toys plucked from my shelves and bins. Some of them hold deep, personal meaning for me. Others are just cool killer robots. Slimer The Real Ghostbusters, 1986 While I’d ar

  • The return of sooo many Kool-Aid flavors!

    And the hits just keep on comin’! Last November, my ears perked up during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast. As a giant Kool-Aid Man rolled down 34th Street, one of the hosts casually announced some of upcoming flavors for 2014. Among them was SHARKLEBERRY FIN. The host didn

  • The Ninja Turtles invade Pizza Hut!

    Wackadoo promotions for the new Ninja Turtles movie are all over the place, and I couldn’t be happier about that. I know a lot of folks are feeling “cautious” about Michael Bay’s take, but whatever. A movie you don’t like is just a movie you don’t like, and it needn’t spoil t

  • Yard Sailin’, Volume III.

    Another weekend spent shamelessly rummaging through strangers’ trash! We only went to a few yard sales this weekend, owing to a late start and temperatures that could melt steel. Even so, my luck held. This is the third time in a row that I found dusty gold on foreign front lawns. Side s

  • OMFG, CHOCODILES HAVE RETURNED.

    Oh. Oh my. This. Words. Fireworks. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you’re sitting down. Hostess Chocodiles… HAVE RETURNED. I’ve been staring at this mostly-blank screen for five minutes, unable to come up with sentences worthy of delivering such news. Maybe there aren’t any. Maybe I s

  • Vintage Vending #21: Wrecking Power!

    On today’s edition of Vintage Vending, you will bow before the mighty power of a glow-in-the-dark sticky fist. Truth. The “Wrecking Power” collection arrived in the early ‘90s, and while it isn’t as showy as many of the sets previously featured on Dino Drac, I think I’m in love

  • Rediscovering Life Savers Holes!

    Today I pay tribute to Life Savers Holes. Tomorrow, I vacuum the upholstery in my car. Life Savers Holes! They came, they saw, and while I was convinced that they’d conquered, the fact that they no longer exist suggests otherwise. The world at large was not ready to accept the supposed