Here it is! The eagerly awaited fourth part to this incredible series of information about the Monster in my Pocket insanity that was moderately popular in the early 1990s! The Super Scary series came at the point when the people at Matchbox were realising they were on to a commercial winner here, and that people would buy anything with the label Monster in my Pocket. This accounts for the lack of high quality in the Super Scary monsters, and the subsequent series'. The Super Scary series was the one that marked the watering down of the original design. They were bigger, sometimes twice the size of the monsters in Series' 1 and 2, and also had spots of different colours. As well as this, they had totally stupid numbers of points. In Series 1 and 2, the monsters had points of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30, which marked their value as opposed to other monsters (for use in trading of monsters), and also (apparently) rated then for scariness. Thus a 30 point monster would be scarier than a 10 point one, for example. In the Super Scary series, however, the monsters were worth between 50 and 100 points, which was totally ludicrous and rendered them incredibly valuable against the monsters in Series' 1 and 2. This was no good. At least they were still 'squishy', as marketed. After this series, they stopped being squishy and I didn't buy them anymore. But anyway, on with the show.
Note: some of the Super Scary monsters appear to have been given different names for marketing in the UK as opposed to the US. All the info I can find on the net gives the names as the monsters were marketed in the US, so I have included their UK names (where I can remember them, that is) as well.
Here's the first set of pictures. And while we're on the subject of pictures, I apologise for the slightly lower quality of pictures which is evident on this page. The page where I got the other ones from didn't have a Super Scary info page.
97: Sledge Hammer - Etruscan; Ancient demon who carries a hammer which he uses on his victims.
It's always good to begin as you mean to go on, and Sledge Hammer is a totally ludicrous concept. Well, I suppose the concept isn't that bad, as mythology goes, but calling him Sledge Hammer is. I would guess that the Etruscans are (or were) eloquent enough to be able to come up with a name that isn't the weapon he uses. Anyway, this one pretty much sets the scene for the Super Scary series in that it really is rather stupid.
98: Thunderdell - Biggest and fiercest giant who seeks revenge on all humans for the death of his uncle who was killed by "Jack."
Oh. Hmm. Is it just me, or does this one seem like an improved version of Ogre from Series 1? Apart from Ogre was described as being really rather thick. On the other hand, Thunderdell doesn't have much that isn't really rather monstrous. Rrrrr! He got me scared.
99: Hanuman - Hindu; Hindu monkey spirit; with immortal powers. He can fly, become invisible, and change his shape.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Matchbox really want to be careful when it comes to creatures from Hindu mythology, after the debacle that was Kali in Series 1. Anyway, this one was incredibly rare in the UK and wasn't even given a name there, so I'll go with the US one. However, I must just point out I think it looks more Egyptian than anything else.
100: Yama (UK name: Fire Creature) - Tibet; The fearsome spirit of the netherworld. He cloaks himself in flames.
Well, to their credit, the American name is more imaginative than the UK one, though probably more likely to offend people as well. Even I know that Yama was a god, not a monster. Silly, silly Americans.
More pictures now:
101: Shape Shifter - Arabian; Shapeshifter lurks in lonely places in order to capture lone travelers.
Not a great one really. This is obviously just a lump of plastic in a stupid random shape but given a name which explains the whole thing away. I haven't regrettably, been much impressed by the Super Scary series thus far. Let's hope things improve soon!
102: Astaroth (UK name: Giant Spider) - A supernatural demon who tempts mortals with the easy life and lures them into his web.
A much better name from the Americans than from the British, and the monster itself is really quite terrifying. Or, at least, it is until you look at it. A giant spider is scary (to me at any rate, because I don't like spiders, or indeed, anything with more than four legs) but give it a human head and the scariness is all gone - even if the human head is pulling some stupid sort of face that makes it look as though it's trying to swallow something particularly unpalatable.
103: Dybbuk - European; a demon that takes possession of a living person and is denied eternal peace.
Boring.
104: Lamia - Greek; A female spirit with the habits of a vampire. Known to remove victims’ eyes and keep them.
Not really very good either, although it could get better if it made the effort to explain exactly what it kept the victims' eyes for. It's just this sort of information that we really need to know and are often denied. I mean, what exactly is the stupid monster planning on doing with them? I think we have a right to know.
105: Grave Watcher - Uneasy spirit who can’t rest since his grave was robbed and vows to protect all graves from thieves.
Ooh, this monster's actually in the right. I think it's very good of him to stop graves being robbed. Does that thus make him not a monster? I think he's a good individual, really, unless he plans to protect all graves by killing anyone who might possibly make the attempt to rob them (e.g. everyone). That would put him in the wrong.
106: Creature from the Closet - American; well-known yet poorly documented creature of darkness. Lurks in dark places and waits to terrify its victims.
I have two things to say about this one. Firstly, why does it do what it does? What is its motivation? Where did it live before closets were invented? Secondly, the plastic model was so badly made that it would never stand up. There were times when it looked like it was going to stay standing, but as soon as you let go, it just toppled over. I think Matchbox should be sued.
107: Slaughterford - England; Ghost seeking revenge for his unjust hanging. He appears with noose around neck and in chains.
Never heard of him. Did anyone notice how his name sounds like the name of a village, not a person? As with Grave Watcher, he's probably in the right if he goes around getting revenge from those who are responsible. If he goes for people who had nothing to do with his unjust hanging, then I suppose his activities earn him a big no-no.
108: Jenny Greenteeth - England; Water-dwelling spirit who pulls people into the water to be with her for eternity.
Never heard of her either. I never liked this monster, to be perfectly frank. It looked rather unpleasant.
Pictures:
109: Houngan (UK name: Undead Zombie) - Zombie, whose job is to raise zombies, causes injury with use of victims’ hair, nails, or skin.
Don't understand that. He injures people by using their own hair, nails or skin? The nails I can just about visualise (especially if it means the type of nails that we use for hammering, not fingernails), but hair and skin? I don't think so. And once again, the Americans came up with a better name.
110: Mad Gasser of Mattoon - American; Rumour has it that this strange figure wearing a gas mask sprays gas into rooms and flees.
And he does this because ...? And anyway, to return to a topic that I harped on about at length in Series 1, he's not really a monster is he? He's just a loony in a gas mask.
111: Drude (in the UK had another name, but I can't remember what) - England; A nightmare witch who has the power to haunt any victim with terrible visions.
Never heard of this English monster either. It makes me wonder whether they just make them up (gasp! The very idea!). It sounds vaguely familiar, but as I can't think of the specific monster who does a similar thing, we'll let it off.
112: Boogeyman - A rather unpleasant type of spirit who delights in tormenting and frightening humans.
Uhhh, don't they all like doing that? Or am I just mistaken? Here I was, thinking the monsters were ALL rather unpleasant, when it's only actually a select few, e.g. this one. Honestly.
It's time for another batch of pictures:
113: Alu ( in the UK had another name, but I can't remember what) - Assyrian; Hideous looking phantom who often appears with limbs missing and envelops its victims.
They really aren't that interesting anymore, are they? This lot gets ever less imaginative. This is another ghost, but the twist here is that it doesn't always have all its limbs. Scary.
114: Fachen - Ireland; His habit is to track and torment people who travel after dark.
The interesting thing about Fachen was that it only has one leg and a tail. I don't know if it's supposed to be like that in mythology, but it certainly renders its job of tracking and tormenting people rather difficult, wouldn't you think? I bet it can't move all that fast. And far be it from me to point out ANOTHER factual inconsistency in the Monster in my Pocket range, but the Fachen comes from Scotland, not Ireland.
115: Jersey Devil - American; Born in the pine barrens of New Jersey from a gypsy’s curse on a young girl, he escaped into the woods and still lives there.
Well, okay, I have no real problems with that, but why did the gypsy curse the girl? I think the gypsy is being painted as the villain here, but perhaps the girl did something to deserve it. I think we should consider these points before making our condemnations.
116: Wurdulak (UK name: Wurdulac) - European; a ravenous vampire who torments loved ones and places them under his spell to carry out his deeds.
A boring monster whose only real point of interest is that his name sounds like the noise Luther makes when he dies in Lands of Lore II.
Last set of pictures now:
117: Poltergeist - German; A noisy, mischievous, destructive, spiteful and cunning spirit that infests humans rather than haunting them as a ghost.
Infests them? What does that mean? Anyway, the Poltergeist does actually haunt people. It's generally invisible and it throws pots and pans about, which presumably explains what the monster shown in the picture is doing.
118: Umi Bozu (UK name: Sea Phantom) - Japanese; Giant sea phantom who terrifies seamen, destroys their ships and takes them to a watery grave.
Once again, the Americans come out on top in the naming competition, but the monster itself is very repetitive of such individuals as Kraken and the ever popular Bishop Fish.
119: Wildman of China - China; Hairy ape-like creature, a Chinese version of Bigfoot, believed to have survived for millions of years.
Well, if it's the same thing as Bigfoot, who was included in Series 1, why include it again?
120: Imp - Lives in volcanic caves. A small humanoid creature with batlike wings, the Imp attacks with the stinger in its tail.
A surprisingly good monster, actually. I always liked this one best of the Super Scary series. It had a simple name, a simple description that made relative sense, and it looked pretty cool. A good one to go out with.
That concludes my run through of the Monster in my Pocket series, although I may include an article at some point in the near future about the Battle Cards, something I have failed to mention in this series. On the other hand, I may not. You'll know when you see it.
Back to Monster in my Pocket Series 2!