09/24/2006: The Graveyard Gang is a THRILLA.
"Thriller" is one of the songs of the season, and to celebrate, here's a look back at the Graveyard Gang, a line of cheap bendy zombies from 1984 that quite obviously intended to capitalize on Michael Jackson's popularity without paying him a cent. For bottom of the barrel toys, these are actually pretty cool, and they came blister-packed with coffin-shaped plastic bubbles. For those around the same age as me, I hope the article doesn't resurface any memories of how freakyscared you were of the music video when you were a kid.
Discussion Thread: 71 comments
1st at last! 
What are "Boogers in a Box" candy from TARGET? They were all sold out!
Posted by
threebeesatdisney @ 09/24/2006 9:20 PM EDT
Fascinating article. X-E covering the world of obscure/crappy toys. Also like the GREMLINS 2 reference.
Posted by
The Manimal @ 09/24/2006 9:33 PM EDT
Spooky.
Posted by
diseases from monkeys @ 09/24/2006 9:36 PM EDT
I loved the THRILLER video then and I love it now! I don't know why …and sidenote….I miss Vincent Price 
I will have to dig this video out of my archives (VHS) unless someone has a link to a digital version….. PLEASE! 
Posted by
threebeesatdisney @ 09/24/2006 9:40 PM EDT
"man-faced sleaze whore"
ahhhh man i love this site….
pure literary geinus matt!!!
ThreeBees: Check youtube for the hilarious house of frightenstein for a good vincent price fix.
Posted by
JoshC @ 09/24/2006 9:45 PM EDT
I can't believe I forgot to tell my 2 semi-related THRILLER stories of mild interest:
1. The best part of the THRILLER video was the other Jackson brothers (The Jacksons) doing the rip-off video "TORTURE". When Jermaine or Tito or whoever punched open the giant eyegball….yowza.
2. School field trip to SHOWBIZ PIZZA (a sort of Chuck E. Cheese for those who don't know)and all the kids got Billy Bob and the gang to sing THRILLER. Don't ask me how or what was going on but they did some sort of interactive robot Billy Bob for us and he played what we requested (although now it is obvious that the man behind the curtain was prompting us).
Posted by
The Manimal @ 09/24/2006 9:49 PM EDT
I think Michael looks better in that doll then he does now.
Posted by
Charles S. @ 09/24/2006 9:51 PM EDT
JoshC Thanks…I have it playing now. I never heard of that show but I love ol' Vincent in the beginning introduction part.
Posted by
threebeesatdisney @ 09/24/2006 9:56 PM EDT
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE4OSyFWGPc
I don't know how to hyperlink this…oh well. Here is a smidge of the THRILLER video.
Any full length versions?
Posted by
threebeesatdisney @ 09/24/2006 10:01 PM EDT
Hilarious House of Frightenstein gets to be played EVERY DAY in Canada on the Space channel. Aren't we so lucky?
Posted by
Roadblock @ 09/24/2006 10:01 PM EDT
Here's one link to Thriller courtesy of Yahoo videos. If you zoom in and watch closely, you can see the blue zombie mouthing the words "Matt… I'm still coming for you, Matt…"
(Or he might be mumbling the words "Michael… Stop pinching my butt, Michael…" The video quality isn't great, so it's hard to be sure.)
Posted by
SJ @ 09/24/2006 10:04 PM EDT
Those are cool I have never seen them before. I love looking at bootleg toys even though I have always wondered what's the difference between a bootleg and a toy that is just a cheap dollar store piece of crap? Because if a toy looks like batman, and he's el batmano, and is exactly the same but cheaper, and slightly different, THEN THAT is a bootleg. But what if something is just a cheap army guy. He's not? it's slightly confusing sometimes.
I found a site a couple of years ago kinda like Matt's but a lot smaller, and he ahd a section about him bootleg toys and ripping on them, he linked in his name (it was a domain) and one of them was a toy keyboard which was a barnyard electronic music keyboard, and it had hello kitty and pikachu on it. It was really funny, one was a bright pink pencil/school set with random shots of spiderman. This WASN'T bootlegactionfigures.com
can anyone help me i've searched and searched and actually asked before. I would like some help so I can bookmark this site. Thanks
Posted by
Goob @ 09/24/2006 10:21 PM EDT
Ooh, Photoshopped bliss. (Did I just steal that from something? I have a feeling I did.)
And I actually posted a link to full length "Thriller" last night. Hmm. (rummaging.) There it is! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4-IlviV8Ao.
Posted by
Katherine @ 09/24/2006 10:27 PM EDT
Strangely, this video never really scared me. Maybe because of the music.
I remember seeing an article about Return of the Living Dead in a magazine of my father's and being scared shitless of that though.
Now I love it and don't find it remotely scary.
Strange how these things shift about.
Posted by
FangsFirst @ 09/24/2006 10:40 PM EDT
Yes, I too was scared to death of Thriller as a child. I never made it past the "GET AWAY!" part, as that particular scene normally sent me fleeing into another room. Upon subsequent viewings of the video during my adult years, I noticed a poster for the movie "Schlock" affixed to the outside of the theater that Jack-O and his date exit shortly before the zombie dance-number. For the uninitiated, "Schlock" is a delightfully campy horror-comedy directed by and starring John Landis (who also directed the Thriller video) about an ape-man who runs around murdering people, eating bananas, and poking a blind girl in the boobs. Check it out if you have the means.
Posted by
The Yeti @ 09/24/2006 10:46 PM EDT
Can't help but notice how Karen Corpse reminds me of The Oracal from The Matrix…a lot really. Hm.
Nice little figures though, haven't seen Thriller characters that well-done since Six Flags Fright Fest lol.
Posted by
Dan @ 09/24/2006 10:53 PM EDT
Oh, the werewolf bit had me so freaked as a kid. Nice call on the Edith dress…I read the description before the photo loaded and it was exactly how I pictured it.
Posted by
squee4242 @ 09/24/2006 10:54 PM EDT
i have the making of thriller on vhs. i watched it every day one summer and learned the dance.
Posted by
allie @ 09/24/2006 11:30 PM EDT
ever since that video came out in 82/83, vincent price's laugh and michael jackson's eyes have scared the bejeezus out of me. everytime i hear thriller nowawdays, i have to escape from hearing that laugh. i just realized it's also in public enemy's "911 is a joke." thanks a lot, chuck.
anyone remember when thriller came out? it was a world premier video and michael had a special message at the beginning saying how he was not related in any way to the occult.
one more thing. anyone see weird al's "eat it" video? at the end, weird al tries to copy the scary yellow cat eyes bit, but it's so foolish. weird al just has fake plastic cat eyes over his real ones.
Posted by
matty @ 09/24/2006 11:32 PM EDT
I'm supposed to jump on that Matrix reference, aren't I? Too bad.
My mom got me a black phone with furry pink boa feathers on it, that says "I heart Rock 'N Roll" in sequins, today. And a Hello Kitty Lunchbox!!!!!!
If that doesn't strike you as funny, remember I'm a 24 yr old male. start giggling…….Now!
Posted by
K- @ 09/24/2006 11:47 PM EDT
I remember the first time I ever saw this video. I was at my Grandma's house, and the parents wanted to leave but I was like, "No!!! We gotta stay and see that video or we'll miss it!" Because it was the premiere. I laid on the floor about a foot from the screen (Cause ya know, Grandma had one of those fancy floor TV with carved wood encasing it.) I don't really remember being scared too much, but I was amazed at it, and it's length. My brother kept trying to scare me afterwards, too.
Cool dolls. I'll chip in 5 bucks.
Posted by
Ryane @ 09/24/2006 11:51 PM EDT
I was probably four the first time I saw it, but it didn't scare me. Of course, my Friday nights were spent watching Tales from the Crypt with my babysitter's daughter, so nothing really scares me (which really sucks).
Matt,
I am in love with these action figures, but I can not find them anywhere. Do you mind me asking where you got them?
Posted by
Cotter @ 09/25/2006 12:07 AM EDT
Yeah, I gotta say thos dolls are kick ass! Take any cheep ass toy and make it glow in the dark and it automaticlly becomes cool and worthy of my time.
I can't remember the first time I saw the Thriller video, it came out when I was real young so I didnt have a chance to see it until I was older. It is a really awesome video fo sho!
Posted by
IHAQ @ 09/25/2006 12:08 AM EDT
I LOVED thise video as kid, though only during the day. At night I was absolutely convinced my Micheal-in-his-weenie-yellow-sweater-vest was growing fur in the darkness of my room.
Was the blue zombie the guy with the hole in his stomach who sorta dribbled a full mouth of blood at one point? If so, I think he scared me too. For some reason I was certain that he'd been killed by a cannon ball to the gut. Lucidity was optional at my house.
Even today, I still think Thriller has some of the best horror makeup/effects ever. Great song, too.
But I got to be honest, I think The Jackson's Five "Torture" video is scarier. Probably because the spiders creep me out and they have that scene where they take off their shades and have no eyes. Yikes.
I miss Showbiz Pizza. Yes, it was converted into a Chucky Cheese, but a singing bear mascot will always be better than a roller skating rat.
Posted by
JLAJRC @ 09/25/2006 12:40 AM EDT
Speaking of Weird Al, anyone watch tonight's Robot Chicken?
In it, ANOTHER video premired: this time for an original called "Weasel Stomping Day" and it was hilarious. Al was also in a later sketch where kids get their wishes from a star coming true (his character turned into a giant Cylon and he went to tell the others)
I was always taught that gangs were bad — but now, I can totally dispute that! Score one for the marginalized pistacho colored skin/wears velvet shirt demographic. I know I'm a proud member.
There's a red plastic-leather jacket with tons of zippers at a pawn shop near where I live. I have considered numerous times purchasing it and going as zombie Jackson for Halloween, but I always decide against it as that would require me learning how to do some of the moves from the big zombie dance scene, and being white it is therefore impossible for me to do such.
Sorry, I just can't be scared of a music video for a song that was played during Revenge of the Nerds.
Posted by
Mystie @ 09/25/2006 7:15 AM EDT
I, too, was scared outta my wits of the Thriller video. I don't remember the first time I saw it, but I still have a hard time watching it. Don't bet me wrong I can watch it, but there is something about mike's sunken-in eyes that cause me to feel like a 5 year-old all over again.
I never knew much about Michael Jackson till his "Bad" years. We didn't have cable until then and no one I knew listened to his music. I do remember having a babysitter who said she was gonna marry him. And my grandma would tell me he was a weirdo who slept in a coffin. So I thought my babysitter was weird.
Posted by
kb @ 09/25/2006 8:57 AM EDT
Oh, but I remember the premiere of the "Thriller" video well. We were all hunkered down around the TV, the cable box with it's two dozen or so push buttons perched atop the set. I wasn't so much scared by the concept, rather by the dancing zombies. Zombies weren't supposed to dance. They were supposed to slowly shuffle after you and moan as they herded you toward the mall. Anyway, I particularly like the hands on these figures. They have that nice, rigor mortis-look to them.
Posted by
LemurCat @ 09/25/2006 9:56 AM EDT
I was petrified of Thriller! During that time period, I generally fled the TV at any mention of Michael Jackson between Thriller and his hair catching on fire (despite my mom's assurances, I was always convinced they were going to show his head burning and that really freaked me out.)
Posted by
Lori @ 09/25/2006 10:41 AM EDT
mtV had a scary video countdown years and years ago for Halloween. I remember tuning in in hopes of seeing Helloween "Halloween" vid… I mean… how could you have a HALLOWEEN countdown WITHOUT it? And of course they didnt play that. And Thriller was their top #1 video.
poseurs.
Posted by
kittycatgirl @ 09/25/2006 11:14 AM EDT
If you're still worked up about opening those, I'll return your money for them. $25 ea
Man I remember the night that video premiered. I had no idea what "Thriller" was, because I had never listend to the album that far. I just thought it was the name of the album. So anyway, my cousin and I waited and waited for this video premier because MTV was hyping the shiz out of it. I think I was a little scared. It was really long.
So anyway, I got this crazy beast of a teacher for 6th grade and she had this message on the corkboard above the chalkboard that I couldn't figure out for like a week.
"6th grade is a Thriller so Be a tit and learn"
I finally figured out that "be a tit" was "Beat it" with some unfortunate spacing due to the framing of the cork boards, and it corresponded to the Michael Jackson poster of the album cover for Thriller.
Ever see the "Thriller" video done in lego? I have it somewhere on my hard drive.
Posted by
klatubaradanikto @ 09/25/2006 12:23 PM EDT
Kudos for avoiding the obvious pedophilia references. There'll be no cheap jokes on THIS site, thank you very much.
Posted by
Uncle Lumpy @ 09/25/2006 12:59 PM EDT
Yeppers, Michael was right. He wasn't into the occult, just little boys. Take that, Lumpy!!!
Posted by
K- @ 09/25/2006 1:08 PM EDT
That is SO Tim Curry on the packaging.
Posted by
Hotblack Desiato @ 09/25/2006 1:17 PM EDT
Are you the same Uncle Lumpy that's the poet laureate on Comics Curmudgeon?
I plugged in my VCR into the "av in" jack on my digital camera and recorded "Weasel Stomping Day" to play from time to time today. I'm watching it now!
What would Vincent Price's "rap" sound like if read by Christopher Lee? Or Christopher Walken?
Posted by
kingklash @ 09/25/2006 1:41 PM EDT
I somehow managed to not see Thriller until I got older (I was ten or so) so it didn't scare me. Although if I saw it as a little child it probably wouldn't have scared me either. I was a strange child with a weird obsession with ghosts and skeletons. Dancing zombies would have fit in nicely.
However the "Torture" video DID scare me, especially the part where one of them (I think Jermaine but I don't know for sure) looked down and there was an eyeball IN HIS HAND. That stayed with me for awhile.
And I second what Uncle Lumpy said. Thanks for avoiding the cheap jokes most people would have made, they're too easy to make and not very funny.
Posted by
jazzy @ 09/25/2006 2:16 PM EDT
Correction: Jermaine wasn't even in the Torture video. Here's the link, for anyone interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUURa5t91bU
Posted by
jazzy @ 09/25/2006 2:19 PM EDT
Well, I second myself. Just be lucky it wasn't a shot of Michael's hand. Shudder to think what he would have been holding!!!!
Posted by
K- @ 09/25/2006 3:36 PM EDT
I remember my family having the betamax copy of the Thriller video with behind the scenes making-of stuff on it. I think we had it only becuase of my older sister. She had the Thriller album and stuff like that. Between that and a betamax copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark,we watched those so much they got worn out,Raiders more so.
Posted by
Overlord @ 09/25/2006 3:37 PM EDT
Duh, K-. A tinker toy.
Har! Har! Har!
Thriller was great. I remember renting the behind the scenes VHS for it, that was only 30 minutes long, I believe, over and over and over again. I've always had a hard-on for zombies.
[INSERT RIGOR MORTIS JOKE]
Posted by
ColonelCatsup @ 09/25/2006 3:43 PM EDT
Was that video supposed to be scary? Something cumming on his hand may be scary for him, but for Michael? All in a days work!!!
I'll be here all day, folks. Just remember the 7:30 show is completely different from the 9:30 show!!
Posted by
K- @ 09/25/2006 3:58 PM EDT
Don't say anything, but the zombie eyes still scare me.
Posted by
NIC @ 09/25/2006 4:16 PM EDT
I am having the worst month of my life- my Crohn's Disease kicked it into overdrive AGAIN and I just got out of the hospital after a 6 day stay…3 of which I was not even allowed to drink water, so food was out of the question. The only good part about this is that I now have lots and lots of XE goodness to read while I recover.
Posted by
Muppet Baby @ 09/25/2006 4:39 PM EDT
Faces fill with joy and cheer,
What a magical time of year!
Howdy-ho, it's Weasel Stomping Day!
Put your Viking helmet on,
Spread the mayonnaise on the lawn,
Don't you know it's Weasel Stomping Day?
All the little girls and boys
Love the wonderful crunching noise!
You'll know what this day's about
When you stomp a weasel's guts right out!
So, come along and have a laugh,
Snap their weasel-y spines in half.
Grab your boots and stomp your cares away!
Hip-hip hooray, It's Weasel Stomping Day!
People up and down the street,
Crushing weasels beneath their feet.
Why we do it? Who can say?
But it's such a festive holiday!
So let the stomping fun begin,
Bash their weasling skulls right in!
It's tradition, that makes it OK!
Hey everyone! It's Weasel Stomping…
We'll have some fun on Weasel Stomping…
Put down the gun, it's Weasel Stomping Day!
Hip-hip hooray, it's Weasel Stomping Day!
Weasel Stomping Day! HEY!
Posted by
Your Local Weasel Stomping Council @ 09/25/2006 5:23 PM EDT
Hey, that IS a zombified Tim Curry on the packaging!!!!
Posted by
K- @ 09/25/2006 5:37 PM EDT
JUST now noticed the icon for home. It's…OH YEAAAHHHH….Scare Glow!! Mad love for MOTU matt. Oh yeah. Can ya guess from my name I'm a fan?
Posted by
Terror Claws Cole @ 09/25/2006 5:40 PM EDT
It really does look like Curry. I'm surprised you didn't jump all over that, Matt.
Sounds like someone was a bit tuckered….
Posted by
ColonelCatsup @ 09/25/2006 5:45 PM EDT
The impossible has happened…Yes!
I FOUND FRANKENBERRY & BOO BERRY!!
It was at an Eckerd's where I work, and they're cheap as hell too!
Posted by
Invader Norbert @ 09/25/2006 5:50 PM EDT
Interesting how jazzy and I had the same post. I don't think she saw mine which makes it even better
That THRILLER in Legos is very funny.
Posted by
The Manimal @ 09/25/2006 6:18 PM EDT
MuppetBaby; i hope you feel better. There is nothing worse than long hospital stays! I knoow from experience so you have ALL my sympathy! Feel better soon, and look on the bright side, atleast you are outta there for now, right?
Posted by
kittycatgirl @ 09/25/2006 7:07 PM EDT
My favorite part of Thriller is Vincent Price's line: "Creatures crawl in search of blood/ To terrorize y'all's neighborhood". He had such perfect diction it's hilarious just hearing him say "y'all". And I like the idea that zombies seek out and kill specifically those "without the soul for getting down".
Posted by
Welsh Rabbit @ 09/25/2006 7:08 PM EDT
Heh, "without the soul for getting down" is totally the best bit, hands down.
Muppet Baby, I'm sorry to hear you're having more health woes. Hope you return to good health soon .
(kb, where have you been! I've been wanting to ask what you thought about Gay Witch Hunt!)
Cheap jokes are my very favorites…I'm reminded of that time at the zoo with the albino gorilla…
Invader Norbert, I just bought a box of Frankenberry/Booberry/Count Chocula at Sam's Club. It is a huge box with 3 separate bags inside!! I don't know if you guys have Sam's, but it is one of those stores where they sell everything in really big packages. What's that called…a warehouse store? I don't know. Anyways, I couldn't wait to get home and tell everybody about that. Yay for Halloween cereals!!
Posted by
Lilly @ 09/25/2006 8:15 PM EDT
Ronald MacKinnon: hey man, ive been tryin to get one for about ten yrs, you wouldnt happen to live in canada would you??? I'd totally buy that from you if were to buy it, msg me on myspace or email me at maptosleepwalking@hotmail.com
thanks
JoshCarter
Posted by
JoshC @ 09/25/2006 8:25 PM EDT
Can I horn in and say Gay Witch Hunt was awesome?
Posted by
Welsh Rabbit @ 09/25/2006 8:56 PM EDT
Lollerskates…. YouTube has everything.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H51ih0gsgqo
Posted by
Mystie @ 09/25/2006 9:01 PM EDT
K- "I'm supposed to jump on that Matrix reference, aren't I? Too bad."
Huh? You weren't supposed to jump on anything dear boy.
Posted by
Dan @ 09/25/2006 9:15 PM EDT
Invader Norbert, the grocery store where I work just got in a huge batch of Monster Cereals, all three, including Boo Berry. They just went on sale this week. This year's Halloween-themed Lucky Charms is in, too, not looking too much different than the last few years' Halloween-themed Lucky Charms. And I don't know if this is Kellogg's jumping on the Halloween band wagon or a weird-ass promotion, but current boxes of Cocoa Krispies, Apple Jacks, and Froot Loops (and there may be others - those are the ones I saw) have a giant eye on them creeping out the usual mascots.
I have vague memories of the "Thriller" video. Yeah, I was scared, too, and I was another one who'd flee the room whenever it was on. All of this is fairly ironic, considering my mother had the record the moment it came out and played it for years and years, but a song running in your imagination and actually seeing Michael's yellow eyes and fur and blue zombies are two entirely different things. I actually found another "Thriller" LP last month for 25 cents from the thrift shop where I volunteer.
Posted by
starwenn @ 09/25/2006 9:38 PM EDT
Ooh, Welsh Rabbit I didn't realize you were an Office fan or I would have asked . Glad to hear from someone else who loved it!
So, did anyone else get overcome by nostalgia and actually buy Invincible?
Apparently you don't know me as well as you think you do, my dear boy
Posted by
K- @ 09/25/2006 9:58 PM EDT
Hope you feel better soon, Muppet Baby
Posted by
jazzy @ 09/25/2006 9:59 PM EDT
I'm in LI, by the way, in case anyone here wasn't familiar with my dilemma last year.
Couldn't find the cereals for 2 months, asked someone here, they sent me 2 boxes of Frankenberry, I thanked them fondly, then I ate the contents, then I was happy. Whoever sent that to me, I still wanna say thanx!
Sometimes the lesser-known figures can be the scariest. The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland used to scare me a lot (for a rather long time), but what I found the creepiest was the blue bride in the attic with the visible red heart. That one really made my flesh crawl, and I would often close my eyes when we got to that room.
As for Thriller, it makes me wish I was about 10 years older so I could've experienced Wacko Jacko while he was still extremely talented, and sane. I first saw it as a teenager in the '90s of course, but I think it would have spooked me pretty bad too if I'd seen it when I was little.
And now for the obligatory "weirdo" joke; I first saw Jacko in Captain EO when I was about six. What I most strongly remember was asking, "Mom, why's that girl called Michael?"
Posted by
Andrew @ 09/26/2006 9:11 AM EDT
So, I'm sitting here reviewing an educational presentation about our mutual funds' track records through the decades and what do that f*ckers up in marketing us as iconography for the 80s? A still for the effin' Thriller video.
I really effin' hate it whem parts of my life intersect like that.
Oh, and Muppet Baby — Feel better soon. I too have a Crohn that lives in my gut. I'd beat her up if it didn't require me to punch my own stomache region.
Posted by
LemurCat @ 09/26/2006 10:06 AM EDT
Andrew, have you seen that the Haunted Mansion got an upgrade? the bride now has a freaking ax!
Muppet Baby, I hope you feel better, I've a few friends with Crohn's, and for one friend, it messes up his life every few months. I hope your's isn't as aggressive.
Add A New Comment!
This entry was posted
on Sunday, September 24th, 2006 at 9:16 pm and is filed under General.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Posted by Matt. 
