Monster 500

Monster 500 was a toyline developed by Creata and distributed exclusively by Toys R Us, hitting stores in October, 2013. Ten characters were released, with an additional ten slated for a 2014 release. For some reason, the second series was never released in all of 2014, but there are plans to relaunch the line with the initial ten plus the additional ten figures sometime in 2015.

The primary toyline consists of ten unique figures which are a combination of painted plastic and painted die-cast metal vehicles. There is no articulation to the figures, and they are glued into their vehicles, which can roll.  Typical dimensions for the toys are around 2 inches long, 2 inches high, and 1.25 inches wide. Two playsets were developed to roll and race the vehicles.

I consider these to be one of the most interesting toylines of 2013 for several reasons.

First of all, the Monster 500 sculpts are top-notch.  These are really creative takes on iconic monsters and creatures.  We easily recognize them all: Zombie, vampire, werewolf, alien, bigfoot, mutant crocodile, crazy clown, Leatherface-style chainsaw killer, Frankenstein-style monster, and Jekyll & Hyde-style mad scientist. The depictions are extremely reminiscent of artist Ed Roth and his hot-rod characters such as Rat Fink. The figures are nicely designed, very detailed, and painted exceptionally well.

Second, the Monster 500 packaging and marketing material is superb.  Each figure comes with a standard-sized collector's card.  The card features the character's name, tagline, and brief bio.  You can tell that a lot of creativity went into the artwork and copy.  Including a collector's card is such a simple and effective gimmick.  It gives the purchaser (potential fan) a chance to receive exclusive information and artwork, and an immediate and physical means to track their collection.  I always advocate including specific character-based collector's cards with a toyline.  Making them standard-sized (2.5 by 3.5 inches) or smaller is important, so people can keep them in readily-available sleeves or pages.  In this case, the cards also have codes that can be used to access content in their tie-in App game -- another winning toy gimmick.

Overall, the packaging emulates the successful Skylanders.  Aside from the card, the code, and the game tie-in, the bubble-card packaging is nearly identical to that of the Skylanders.  Further, also like Skylanders, some of the figures are available in 3-packs.  There is no real reason for the 3-packs since all the figures in them are also available in single packs, nor is there any cost advantage to buying the 3-packs.  You could buy both of the two different 3-packs plus 4 singles, or 10 singles to end up with the full set of 10 figures.

1. Zoom Zombie

2. Lead Foot

3. Flattop Frank

4. Evil Clownevil

5. Crocpot

6. Drac Attack

7. Captain Heinous (from Uranus)

8. Dr. Jerkyl and Mr. Ride

9. Turbo Chainsaw Maverick

10. Werewolf Blitzer

As another nod to the Skylanders, there are rare "chaser" versions to be found.  I am a little embarrassed to admit that I just discovered this fact.  Simply put, I've never found a chaser variant by chance, there is no message on the packaging suggesting we look for the variants, and I've never before visited their website to find out about their existence.  Creating rare variants to "chase" is a very popular gimmick. Many toy companies overuse this gimmick to a level of gluttony that simply insults their consumers. I rather like Creata's take on it.  First, they went the "secret chase" route by not putting text and images all over their packaging insisting that you find all the rare versions. Second, as their website informs, each figure has one (and only one) chaser version. Third, most of the chase variants are truly unique involving distinct plastic instead of some silly re-paint.  These are the "chasers" produced:

Translucent Black: Lead Foot and Captain Heinous
Translucent Green: Evil Clownevil and Turbo Chainsaw Maverick
Translucent Red: Crocpot and Werewolf Blitzer
Glow-in-the-Dark: Zoom Zombie and Drac Attack
Repaint with Silver Vehicle: Flattop Frank and Dr. Jerkyl and Mr. Ride

Creata has not disclosed how many have been made of each "chaser."

Additionally, four of the ten characters (Zoom Zombie, Crocpot, Lead Foot, and Fattop Frank) were released in much larger sizes.  These toys feature buttons that activate lights and sounds. Of the four they made in this size, I was only interested in Crocpot. Here is a size comparison:

Finally, here is artwork for the Series 2 figures that will HOPEFULLY see store shelves in 2015!!!