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10/24/2006: Mad Scientist Toyzzz.


Continuing on with my “toys that have nothing to do with Halloween but kind of do” series, here’s a look back at some of the smaller toys from the Mad Scientist collection. You know the one. The one fronted by that weird Dr. Wily-esque guy in a lab coat. The only that had big playsets that let you dissolve clay monsters and create visuals like the climax scene in either Gremlins movie. The toys featured in this article are on the simpler side, but they were some of my favorites, because I do so love shallow tubs full of neon ooze with funky titles.


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 113 comments

Lucky me. Happy Halloween and First!

I posted this the other day, but it is the 40th anniversary of the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown this Friday night on ABC.

Ghosted by Fox @ 10/24/2006 10:54 PM EDT

I used to love these toys.

Ghosted by Kid Nicky @ 10/24/2006 10:59 PM EDT

I still own a Mad Scientist cartoon VHS where one ep. his lab/house comes to life in Monster House-esque fashion, and the other ep. every sentence “Dr. Sci” says comes to life or makes something happen. I can’t say if I’ve ever seen any other Mad Scientist cartoon. I loved this stuff! I even got a Mad Scientist outfit for my b-day one year.

Ghosted by EtHM @ 10/24/2006 11:12 PM EDT

I used to love these toys. Thanks for putting this article up,I always love X-Entertainment regardless of what the subject is,but this is the kind of thing you just can’t get anywhere else.

Ghosted by Kid Nicky @ 10/24/2006 11:16 PM EDT

Not sure what’s up with my weird double half-post.

Ghosted by Kid Nicky @ 10/24/2006 11:17 PM EDT

Lol that’s awesome. I think I dig the reviews of toys that I don’t remember more than the ones that I do. Yay Monsters! :D

Ghosted by Eddie Lightning Frog @ 10/24/2006 11:22 PM EDT

I’d pop the lid and tell it to stay quiet. It did, because it was good “Monster Flesh.”

Ah, to be young enough to talk to your toys and feel proud of them when they “behaved.” Hey… wait… I still do that…

Ghosted by broomstickjockey @ 10/24/2006 11:23 PM EDT

Crap, I gotta work friday, so I’ll miss Great Pumpkin! Even though I watch it every year, I think this will the be the first in a while where I will!

And I had a board game that involved slime called “Wipe Out” where you had to get surfers to the bottom of the wave before the slime came. It was only used once because most of the slime had gotten on me, my friends, and the carpet. I was pissed when I opened it on Christmas, I wanted “Knock Out,” and specifically said it as such in my list. Anyone else here remember either of these games??

I’m currently making a list on my blog about the Greatest Halloween Songs and Best Halloween Cartoons. Which ones should I have? The Jukebox gave me most of my songs, but I’d like to know which ones I should really list!

Ghosted by Invader Norbert @ 10/24/2006 11:28 PM EDT

I had the bigger lab playset of this type when I was a kid, I bought it at a creepy indoor flea market and the jar of monster flesh was half gone. It was awesome though, it had all these plastic skeleton parts you could put together and then build flesh over and then drop the bastard in the sea monkey tank type thing and watch his flesh dissolve!

Ghosted by Black Zarak @ 10/24/2006 11:35 PM EDT

freakin awesome, this is the closest i have ever come to first comment. w00t

someday we have to smoke matt, i live in prince’s bay near the train.

this site rocks!!!

Ghosted by Armando @ 10/24/2006 11:56 PM EDT

I remember back in third grade somebody had some of that red Mad Scientist stuff and shot a little ball of it in the air and it stuck to the ceiling. I remember it was still there on the ceiling when I was in sixth grade. It is probably still stuck there to this day…

Ghosted by Jon @ 10/25/2006 12:02 AM EDT

Just the mere mention of the name Dr. Wily brought a smile to my face.

I’m such a dork.

Ghosted by Review the World @ 10/25/2006 12:30 AM EDT

I loved these things! My ma had a “no slime toys” rule, mostly to preserve the still-faultless wall-to-wall carpeting, but so many of my friends collected these that it didn’t matter. The larger sets were awesome, too, but I’ve got a soft spot for anything branded with the “Mad Scientist” name.

(Also, my first comment, for what it’s worth.)

Ghosted by Declan Dempsey @ 10/25/2006 12:32 AM EDT

Black Zarak I had that one as well, it was a hand me down from my brother as he suddenly got “too cool” to play with it.

I also got the one were you had a I believe it was 12 inch tall see-thru monster that came with internal organs. The organs fit inside the monster like a puzzle, then you filled the monster up with He-Man type slime. It also came with a plastic scalpal that you used to make an incision in the monster, you used a set of tongs to disect the monster innards, man that was fun. Pretty good effect to, it made my brother gag the first couple of times I did it.

Ghosted by Jester @ 10/25/2006 12:38 AM EDT

Hope I wasn’t the only one to join the Parade today. Remember to pick up all three versions. Black, White, and Velvetine.

Velvetine is worth every dime, even if some of Ray and Frankie’s commentaries come directly from the iTunes sneak peek. Gerard’s essay is pretty awesome. Mikey’s is a little vague. Bob’s is nice and raises the eternal question: Who is Hans?

I don’t need to tell you how awesome the album is. You already know. Self-fufilling prophecies are fun :D

Ghosted by K- @ 10/25/2006 12:45 AM EDT

Declan-It’s nice to know that I wasn’t the only one who was deprived of “slime” toys. My mom was the epitomy of anal-retentive…I never got an e-z bake either, due to the crumb factor.

I always drooled over these…as always, thanks for the fond (yet jealous) memories Matt!

Ghosted by MissJess @ 10/25/2006 1:40 AM EDT

The red stuff looks like The Blob. As I have always been terrified of the Blob, I’m quietly sitting here and freaking out.

Ghosted by LemonWitch @ 10/25/2006 1:48 AM EDT

A Star Comics reference! Long live the painful puns of Michael Gallagher!

Ghosted by Mars @ 10/25/2006 2:26 AM EDT

I received the Mad Scientist “Dissect an Alien” set for Christmas one year, and it easily became one of my favorites. He came with removable organs, and a jar of glow in the dark slime.

Ghosted by Dude McGuy @ 10/25/2006 2:33 AM EDT

Welcome, Declan!

Ghosted by squee4242 @ 10/25/2006 3:10 AM EDT

Not sure what’s up with my weird double half-post. –That sounds like a skateboard trick.

I never got any Mad scientist things growing up. My other always got us the truly boring educational science toys. They never had goo in them.

Ghosted by kb @ 10/25/2006 7:32 AM EDT

peewee ejacking.. no?!

Ghosted by drbong @ 10/25/2006 8:26 AM EDT

These were my favorite gowing up! But the LIVING ICE I had was colorless. This way it seemed more like, well, ice.

The best part of dissolving the monsters in the vat in the bigger playsets was when they got to the point where their flesh was still mostly intact, but their plastic eyes, ears, etc fell off. Awesome.

My first post, by the way.

Ghosted by RUrahrah @ 10/25/2006 8:39 AM EDT

EtHM: I was sure I was the only person on Earth who had ever seen that cartoon.

Ghosted by Deuce @ 10/25/2006 9:45 AM EDT

where did you get them?

Ghosted by Deuce @ 10/25/2006 9:53 AM EDT

My brother and I got the big food and drink maker labs for Christmas way back. It was an awesome day.

Ghosted by Fox @ 10/25/2006 10:20 AM EDT

Oh man… I remember when these came out, I had the big set were you would build the monster then dip it in the acid to clean him up….. I also had that Blue orge thing in living ice. I bet if these came out again they would sell as good as they did the first time!

Ghosted by Mjsgrass @ 10/25/2006 10:41 AM EDT

ETHM

I have the VHS also LOL!

Ghosted by Mjsgrass @ 10/25/2006 10:42 AM EDT

Invader Norbert:
“Halloween” by Helloween
“At the Graveyard” by Wolf

the ENTIRE “Horrow Show” album by Iced Earth – its an entire album about “nightmarish creatures”. The best songs are “Dracula” and “Im-Ho-Tep (Pharaohs Curse)” but the whole album is awesome. Im surprised no one has ever mentioned it. Its a Halloween staple around here.

Ghosted by kittycatgirl2k @ 10/25/2006 10:57 AM EDT

Hey guys, sorry this has nothing to do with the post, but it’s so awesome I can’t resist. Check out this video of Vanilla Ice discussing his Ninja Rap from TMNT 2.

Click my name to check it out.

Ghosted by Tommy @ 10/25/2006 11:36 AM EDT

Like Declan and MissJess, my mother also had a strict “no-slime” policy. My sisters would occasionally bring home slime from the vending machines, but slime-based toys purchased from the store were just not allowed. I do remember seeing the commercials for this line, though. Frankly, I thought they looked like cooler, horror-based Play-Dough sets, and despite my mother’s dislike of slime, we DID like Play-Dough.

Ghosted by starwenn @ 10/25/2006 12:05 PM EDT

Weird Double Half-Post into a Spinning Chia Plot Crossover to Peewee Ejack with a Bamboo Peanut 640 and a Grinding I Came to See Garlic!

And that’s just falling down the stairs.

Ghosted by kingklash on a one-wheeled skateboard @ 10/25/2006 12:22 PM EDT

I remember getting the large monster-dissolving playset for Christmas,and the Disecct-an-alien toy as well. They were pretty neat.

Ghosted by Overlord @ 10/25/2006 1:26 PM EDT

Again, showing my age here. Those things were popular as I was entering high school so I couldn’t justify asking for them for Christmas. Now, I’m 35 years old and I ask for toys again.

Off Topic:
Watched the Monster House DVD last night, not a bad movie. Very Halloweeny.

Off Topic 2:
My son and I took part in scaring the wiggins out of people Saturday night at a local popular haunted forest. Hell, I could just walk down the line of people waiting for tickets/entry and people would freak out. I can’t remember when I had so much fun for so long (from 7:30pm to 1:30am). We had almost 1000 people go through. We’re doing it again this weekend if it doesn’t rain. If you ever have the chance, work in a haunted house/forest, it’s very gratifying ;)

Ghosted by freudguy @ 10/25/2006 2:12 PM EDT

Anyone else hear about this 8 movie horrorfest thing coming to theaters? It sounds awesome.

Ghosted by Old E @ 10/25/2006 2:38 PM EDT

No way! I had Ogoore or whatever the hell his name is. I loved Mad Scientist but my brother would hord the playset all the time so I had to resort to making my own set out of baking soda play-doh type substance and then dumping them into a vat of peroxide. It works, try it!

Sadly the goop to make ogore turned to crumbs years later. Wish I still had the mold though so I could play Grape Escape with him.

Ghosted by That Guy @ 10/25/2006 5:01 PM EDT

The Mad Scientist looks more like the one from Robot Chicken than Dr. Wiley to me.

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 10/25/2006 5:34 PM EDT

“starting Monday, there will be new Halloween Countdowns every day until Halloween — including next weekend.”

What happened to that Matt, what happened!?

Nah i’m just fuckin, i ain’t want to complain about a service you’re doing out of the good of your heart. But it’s getting uber close Matt, and you know it. People need their fix, or you very well could be destroying Halloween for millions…or about all 60 of us.

Ghosted by Dan @ 10/25/2006 5:44 PM EDT

The possibility exists that my GameStop is going to do a Midnight release of XII. And even if they don’t, the guy let it slip that they actually already have them in the store. I’m not sure if that’s actually true, but it did make me want to pull a fast break and beat him to the door to the stockroom.

If what he says IS true, and even if they don’t do the midnight release, it means I get to have it on Halloween anyway. And this is cool enough on its own.

Oh God Yes!!!!

Ghosted by K- @ 10/25/2006 7:02 PM EDT

Unless I’m mistaken, Monday = Scare Glow, Tuesday = Mad Scientist. So you can hold off on the admonishments for the time being, since there’s puhlenty of Wednesday left to go.
Welcome, RUrahrah!

Ghosted by squee4242 @ 10/25/2006 7:09 PM EDT

someone just got pwned.

Ghosted by Old E @ 10/25/2006 7:48 PM EDT

It’s 9:33 PM… do you know where YOUR new countdown entry is??

Ghosted by Old E @ 10/25/2006 9:33 PM EDT

Well using your theory, yeah, you’re mistaken.

Scare glow was posted on Sunday night, ready to read for Monday’s entry.

Mad scientist was posted Tuesday night, ready to read for Wednesday.

There wasn’t a post on monday night ready for Tuesday. Tuesday went by with nothing until the usual nighttime post ready for the next day.

Unless you wanna go by the theory that Mad scientist was posted Tue, so that’s tuesday’s entry (even though that’d be a stupid system due to how late they’re posted), and you’re trying to say there’s plenty of wednesday left to wait for it. In that case, well where was Monday’s?

Can’t work it different ways in order to fit in with your analogy.

Ghosted by Dan @ 10/25/2006 10:18 PM EDT

I’m not the only one who remembers Mad Scientist! YES!

I actually went a step further with mine. The “monster flesh” and “living ice” would become traps for my G.I. Joes, which they would escape with a dunk in the “acid.”

In retrospect, that would probably have burned the flesh right off of Shipwreck as well.

Naw, it wouldn’t. Shipwreck was made o’ solid brass.

Ghosted by Blake @ 10/25/2006 10:31 PM EDT

I had all of those Mad Scientist toys, they freakin ruled. Dissect an Alian, the lab, and the others.

I had the clear living ice too, which looked pretty cool. I chucked it up on the ceiling of my basement and that shit never came off. My pops was pissed, I bet that stuff is still congealed up there with new owners wondering what it is. It’s living ice bro.

Ghosted by Pete @ 10/25/2006 11:32 PM EDT

OH. MY. WORD.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/2006/10/jason-movie-deaths.html

You know what that is? That’s a video of every death in the Friday the 13th series. EVERY death…in chronological order.

Ghosted by Cid @ 10/25/2006 11:39 PM EDT

somehow i totally missed mad scientist altho i remember doodling mad scientists all the time in grade school and they looked alot like him so maybe that’s where i got it from.. damn how do yall remember so much from childhood i can barely remember last year

Ghosted by drbong @ 10/26/2006 2:57 AM EDT

Man, I wish there was a new Transformer article every once and awhile…

Ghosted by Erik Majorwitz @ 10/26/2006 4:11 AM EDT

Welcome back, Major!!

Matt, I don’t think you were that sadistic, if you couldn’t bear to destroy action-figures for no good reason… Now, one should never underestimate the inherent sadism of 12 – 13 year old girls. This is why so many NKOTB Cabbage-patch dolls have been found without heads or limbs in the San Francisce Bay area. Archaeologists of the future will postulate a religious cult worshipping geeky, half-gay weirdos with braces and odd hairstyles, culminating in an orgy of ritual slaughter-by-proxy through doll-like effigies. This may work for the Backstreet Boys as well. I forsee learned doctoral theses on the Early Information Age and its strange religious practices. (Maybe all those “Neolithic fat woman” statues were toys???)

Er, where was I before I distracted myself so badly? Oh. We didn’t ever get Mad Scientist Toys in South Africa, but seeing as the government banned Black Beauty (it’s. about. a. horse.), I’m not surprised. Uhhh, why do all mad scientists have Einstein hair these days?

Oh, and Maa-aaatt! Finish the Chia plot! We will say Ni! until you do! ;)

Ghosted by arete @ 10/26/2006 7:00 AM EDT

Anyone remembe the Will Vinton Claymation specials of the late 80’s early 90’s, with the California Rasins? I stubbled on it on Amazon and havn’t seen it since watching the originals in the early 90’s.

The Halloween one was great and had Wilshire Pig. Anyway, I found it on youtube and knew that you guys would probably love it.

Click my name to watch the Claymation Halloween Special.

Ghosted by Fox @ 10/26/2006 10:04 AM EDT

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 24th, 2006 at 10:52 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.