X-Entertainment.com X-Entertainment.com A Proud UGO Affiliate
My dying wish is for an owl/camel hybrid, which I call camowl.
« [Main Index] »

Halloween Boglins!

I've been praying for a reason to write about Boglins again for five years now, and it's finally come my way. In 1988, Mattel sought to boost their always-cool but ever-fledging line of rubber monster puppets with the introduction of two very special Halloween Boglins.. "Blobkin" and "Bog-O-Bones" were their names, and you'll see both of 'em in this feature, along with a trick-or-treat sack with their pictures on it.

Posted by Matt on 10/10/2005. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 101 comments

I really think we should have a survey where each of us send in our jack’o'lantern carving masterpeices for voting/ approval somewhat like the art contest. I just really like pumpkin carving so I wanna see what everyone else does so maybe I could steal it for next year. Of course this would need to be done near the end of the season.

Chestnuts roasted by Phil @ 10/10/2005 11:34 PM

Also do any Canadian readers here from the southwestern Ontario area know where I can find some Booberry or Frakenberry without having to cross the broder? I have been deprived of cereal since the 90′s because people decided to start eating healthier…bastards. You non-cereal eaters ruined my life! (In terms of cereal consumption)

Chestnuts roasted by Phil @ 10/10/2005 11:40 PM

Dude, VH1 should be sending you mailbox money.

Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 10/10/2005 11:52 PM

I request Matt make x-entertainment’s first full-length movie: Boglin Puppet Theater, The Next Generation!!!

Chestnuts roasted by Kevin @ 10/10/2005 11:53 PM

I came. I saw. I squeeled with glee…!

Chestnuts roasted by phunqsauce @ 10/11/2005 12:58 PM

I was in Target today and I came across a Magnum PI costume that had a hat that read "Magnum PI" on it
Invader Norbert, you’re shitting me, right? A Magnum PI costume, in 2005? Damn, did it even have a fake, glue-on Tom Selleck ‘stache? That thing should be on someone’s "scariest ride" list, that’s for damn sure! :)

I will be heading off to Chicago tomorrow, and hopefully on Wed, I will be hitting up the American Science & Surplus store, and seeing what kind of cheap crap I can lay my hands on!! OH JOY!

Chestnuts roasted by kidneyboy @ 10/11/2005 12:59 PM

"I’m the best!" hahahaaha i totally did think of mario bros when i read that…how sad

Chestnuts roasted by Karrie @ 10/11/2005 2:05 AM

I’ve been reading X-E for about two years now and I’ve never posted any comments on the blog before, but I suddenly realized I should, because I too have noticed that there is a major lack of cool Halloween stuff in the stores today.

I’m doing my part to fix this by decorating the Hollywood Video store I work in with tons of cobwebs, cheap plastic skeletons, and rubber insects. I also make sure to play "It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" at least once a day on the big in-store TV.

Thank you, Matt…you always inspire me to celebrate and enjoy life!

Chestnuts roasted by Antenna Villain @ 10/11/2005 2:23 AM

Oh man! You rule – I totally remember these being in the front of Kay-Bee toys when I was young! Thanks for reminding me what these things were called. :)

Chestnuts roasted by lucas2600b @ 10/11/2005 3:23 AM

Kidneyboy, yeah TARGET has Magnum P.I., Miami Vice, Daisy Duke (the Catherine Bach one), and a handful of other retro costumes. I don’t know, I think the Magnum P.I. is a little too "hey, check it out, guess who I am. That’s right, MAGNUM P.I.!".

From the last thread: I can report that in Florida it was Lionel Play World instead of Kiddie Land.

Chestnuts roasted by The Manimal @ 10/11/2005 5:31 AM

There I was. I was a little boy in the eighties. I was obsessed with anything monster. Halloween was my special time.
As all little boys, I loved toys. action figures of course, but I still hadn’t grown out of stuffed animals n such.
I knew about boglins and wanted one so very badly. They were a my buddy for me. A cool ass puppet with a design and exicution that I haven’t really seen even today. And they were creepy. I could surely scare my sister with this. Hell, my mom even.
Alas we didn’t have much money, never did but I got along fine anyway (being somewhat of an idiot when it came to where things came from) as cast offs from goodwill or garage sales often did the trick.
But boglins were new. Maybe the one kid down the block that nobody knew well for some reason had one, I cant quite remember, but if he had, I wouldn’t have been able to glory in it anyhow.
So there I am in autumn, walking down what I recal as a not so well lit hallway in some department store. Walking down an isle ahead of my mom so as to have ample stopping time to look at anything that took my intrest as we couldn’t stop to look at every little thing I wanted to look at.
There it was. I couldn’t belive it. I wasted precious looky time afraid to even approach the display, thinking they might cease to exist if I approached closer.
Mom nearing, I made my way hastily over. Boglins. Halloween HALLOWEEN boglins. I picked up Blobkin, my obvious favourite (skulls are cool and defenately awesome, but Jack o’lanterns are only Halloween, my day) and gloried in him. I picked up and gloried in Bog o Bones so he wouldn’t feel bad or neglected (and to make sure of my choice, already knowing I was sure) and took in every detail of my prescious find.
I couldn’t belive I had found this. I couldn’t belive the company that made these things would make this. Surely it was just for me.
I did a quick check, was this a dream? (I often had/have dreams of the perfect toy find only to wake up and have it be a total dream. How I still long for the 15 car train transformer with each car becoming a robot AND all adding together to become the biggest transformer of them all, plus the cartoon commercial it came with…ah bastard dreams)
Anyway, I knew I must have it, more than anything I ever wanted before. I looked to mom, oh she was on me already (and past come to think of it, I always had a 15 foot pass and catch up space or so)
"Mom, I …"
"No, c’mon Damon, not today"
"No, you don’t understand, this.."
"Not today Damon, maybe later"
"But…"
She kept walking. I didn’t know what to do. I had to have it. She was 20 feet away…30 Ah crap.
I did the look at mom at the toy back and forth dance you do when you cant bare to set something down but know you don’t want to chance losing sight of your parents.
I set it down and promised,
"I promis Blobkin, I will come back for you. I swear I will get you somehow. You are mine by right."

I never got Blobkin. I went back, what, a week later. Gone. I asked every toy person I saw for two years if they were comming back. Two empty halloweens for me.
That turned into, what, 20 years of missed oportunity?
It has become the one thing from my childhood that I never got over not getting.
The orriginal reason I found X-Entertainment (awesome place where everything I loved is still alive) was a search engine result for Boglins.
Thanks to Matt I know that others remember that beautiful little beast from that long ago day. I am not alone (though quite possibly the most obsessed) in my memory of Blobkin and his brother.
Though Matt’s orriginal article didn’t mention the Halloween brand nearly enough (for me) this article makes up for it. I am heartily thankful that the article I really had come for has finally been written. Thank you matt profusly.

I never have gotten that boglin. I don’t know how this ebay really works. I don’t think I can order things online anyway, no credit card or something. If I did order somethin online god knows If I could rationalize spending whatever outragous price he would be. But At least I have the hope that Blobkin may still be out there for me to fulfill my promise to, though years later and maybe a little worse for the ware.
I’m not sure why this little guy has ment so much to me, but I love ‘em. Matt, I know that you know what I mean.
Happy Halloween people.

Chestnuts roasted by spooky @ 10/11/2005 7:12 AM

What Spooky said, except replace "Blobkin" with "Pee-Wee’s Playhouse playset."

I saw Magnum P.I. at Target yesterday too. If I remember correctly: it’s a hat emblazoned with Magnum P.I., a mustache, and either a Hawaiian shirt or a lei. I was too distracted because I (finally) found the creme-filled Halloween Peeps pumpkins. Still no sign of cocoa cats in my area anywhere.

Chestnuts roasted by mtrox @ 10/11/2005 8:44 AM

I had a vague memory of these things and i remember wanting one, but they were "boy’s toys" so I got stuck with a Barbie :(

in an unrelated note, who saw the Steeler game last night?? was that a good one or what?

Chestnuts roasted by bitchpants @ 10/11/2005 9:55 AM

Hey, has anyone else seen the "Sunkist" halloween edition cans featuring "The Munsters". I saw one in a coke dispenser on display. If I’m not mistaken it had a picture of "Grandpa" on it.

If anyone’s seen them for sale, PLEASSSSSE let me know. I love "The Munsters". Thanks :)

Chestnuts roasted by Texican @ 10/11/2005 9:59 AM

The closest thing I have to a toy I never got over not getting was Barbie Loves McDonald’s. It was my answer in that thread about what you would buy if you had a time machine. However, what was more painful was the Christmas that I really wanted Dixie’s Diner. I saw it in the JCPenney Christmas Catalog (on the same page as the Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Set, which is what made me think of it.) It was so neat – a perfect little diner with excellent detail. You could buy a formica-looking counter, booths, a pool table, a light-up jukebox…I looked at that catalog almost every day and pined for it. As was the case with most kids, it was one on a list of several things I wanted. Well, deciding they couldn’t get me everything I wanted (what parent can?) they bought me some things off of my list and thought the diner would be a cute thing for my little sister. Oh the pain… She promptly lost nearly all the pieces and broke off parts of the diner. What didn’t get broken got scratched or messed up in some way before being thrown in the closet and forgotten. It hurts even now just to think about it. The few you can find on eBay are way too pricey for me to justify their purchase. If only I had made it more clear that I wanted that diner more than anything else on the list. If only…

Chestnuts roasted by Lori @ 10/11/2005 10:15 AM

That is why god invented the asterisk system. Things on a gift list at normal priority level are left without an asterisk. Things you really want get an asterisk. Things you really, really want get two asterisks. Things you NEED get sixty-two asterisks.

Chestnuts roasted by mtrox @ 10/11/2005 10:27 AM

I was afraid to click on the movie link until I’d read through some of the posts. Assured that I wouldn’t be questioned by my co-workers, or worse, my boss as to what I was watching…I carefully clicked… and now I can’t stop laughing. EXCELLENT WORK once again Matt!!!

Chestnuts roasted by bad karma @ 10/11/2005 10:44 AM

Oh, how I wanted "Bog-O-Bones." I got one of the ordinary Boglins a few months earlier, and when I first caught sight of the skeleton-themed "Bog-O-Bones," I was in love. Alas, I never did get one. I had to count my blessing with my ordinary, Plain Jane, non-skeleton-looking Boglin. Hurumph.

Chestnuts roasted by tanta07 @ 10/11/2005 12:21 PM

Cocoa cats/bats sound so good… they even LOOK good, and now I crave them, even though I never really liked the peeps, and they aren’t vegan and I know they will probably suck anyhow :(

They remind me of the Hostess snowballs I used to ALWAYS want but I’d choke down most of the first one and wouldn’t be able to eat the 2nd, then mom would get mad and vow to never buy them for me again.

Chestnuts roasted by Ryane @ 10/11/2005 12:26 PM

I remember Boglins! I used to have one when I was a kid, it was a olive green and purple and rancid.

Chestnuts roasted by Review the World @ 10/11/2005 12:36 PM

Hey Jedoc, I’m with you. I live on the Gulf Coast where our current icy weather is 80. In two weeks our leaves will go from green to dead. Anyway, I too, wanted a Boglin and got…a Jem doll. Totally outrageous, yes, but in now way as cool as a Boglin.

Chestnuts roasted by violetdied @ 10/11/2005 1:32 PM

Of course, now I want Hallowe’en Boglins. The both of them. Now!
I’ve got me an itch to relate a story about the Jack O’Lantern’s origin, but I’ll save it for the weekend. Once I get it straight in my head. Two to three-part story. Watch for it.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 10/11/2005 1:41 PM

O_O! Halloween Boglins! Awesome! ^_^

Like 8 years ago I managed to snag a Bog-O-Bones & a Blobkin complete with their cages (& one had the trick-or-treat bag, I gotta see if I have it).

My cousin got the Blobkin & I got the Bog-O-Bones. I’ll need to bust Bog-O-Bones out for Halloween, cause that day is what he was made for.

Hey, has anyone ever managed to capture the Boglins commerical on Video? o_O? In all the years since they’ve come out, it’s one of the few toy comericals I’ve never saw.

Funny dancin’ Bog-O-Bones too, lol.

-Chris/Boglin

Chestnuts roasted by Chris/Boglin @ 10/11/2005 1:43 PM

Jeez, Matt, you had the pervert in me (who also kept scrolling back up to see Scott Valentine’s pubes in the review of "My Demon Lover")prepared to see some X-rated soda-sex video, but, instead, I got treated to 20 seconds of a Boglin puppet. But that’s ok–the music redeemed it. That was funny.

I remember those Boglins, though not in detail.

Lori, I can’t help but feel your pain about "Dixie’s Diner." Although this experience never happened to me, it hurts.

Kidneyboy, definitely report on the fun crap you get your hands on at the Surplus store!!!!! I can’t wait to hear it!!

I was in Target on Sunday–didn’t go looking for that Magnum PI costume though.

I got my iPod Nano on Sunday, which is my early Christmas present. I got it early, and good thing I did–when I got to Best Buy, they only had the 2 GB(500 songs) version, and only in white!!! I downloaded 122 songs so far. I may download the last Dennis Miller book into it, since it is only on CD and not in print (I own all his other books, as well as a RARE 1990 stand-up video "Black and White," which was literally filmed in B & W, the Off-White Album on CD, and "Live from Washington DC" from 1993 on DVD. I asked for "The Raw Feed" on DVD for Birthday (Oct. 19)/Graduation (Dec. 18)/Christmas. You tell me I don’t have quite a collection.)

I really want Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix for Game Cube for christmas this year. I got the GC in January, and I have the Mad Catz MC Grooves Dance Mat and game, but I gotta have the Mario game, although it requires a compatible mat. Dammit, I don’t want the second mat, but my current one is ONLY compatible with the other dancing game. I even tried playing Sonic Advance 2 on the Mad Catz mat–there’s an experience!

Chestnuts roasted by Allison @ 10/11/2005 2:09 PM

Allison, no worries, I will sooo tell everyone what kind of awesome stuff I find!

#2 on the vacation plans? KMFDM in Milwaukee on Friday. I guess they are playing in Chi. on Thursday, but I only have so much money/time. 1 for the money, 2 for the show, 3 to get ready, now go cats, go!

Okay, I’m out the doe, I might post from my friends in Chi. so yeah. Bye everyone! AS&S here I come!

Chestnuts roasted by kidneyboy @ 10/11/2005 2:22 PM

Add A New Comment!


This entry was posted on Monday, October 10th, 2005 at 9:07 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.