The Slime Pit, an “Evil pit of gruesome ooze” was a play set
from 1986 that formed a part of Mattel’s highly successful Masters of the
Universe toy line. Designed by toy designer Ted Mayer, the Slime Pit utilised a
component that not only assured this toy a success but also set a trend that
would last for years to come, something that Mattel had already brought to the toy
market back in 1976 -Slime!
Hordak (“Ruthless
Leader of the Evil Horde”) would lock his victim inside the ‘pit’ by means of the bony clawed hand at the bottom as the container of Evil Horde Slime (sold
separately) would be poured into the back of the large skull suspended at the
top. The slime would then proceed to slowly ooze out of the mouth and onto the
victim supposedly brainwashing said the victim to do Hordak’s evil bidding!
With its heady mix of slime, claws, zombification and dinosaur skulls this
thing looked amazing and 7 year old me wanted one, catalogue in hand I asked my
mother if I could have it, after a rather lengthy presentation as to why this
toy was amazing she replied, “no, it will ruin the carpet!” my heart sank, a
fear that the carpet would be ruined was a recurring theme in our newly refurbished
home and effectively marked the end of most toy requests.
Undeterred I had another
plan though; I thought I would just bypass my mother and go straight to the
main man himself, Santa Clause but this proved fruitless, it seemed that he too
was fearful of this thing somehow ruining our floor coverings! I gave up and
moved on (unsuccessfully requesting a Real Ghostbusters Gooper Ghosts Squisher figure
and tub of Real Ghostbusters Ecto-Plazm the following year) until 2019 when I
decide it was high time I restored my original Masters of the Universe figure
collection and display them in the studio (a future post) and finally get my
own Slime Pit!
It arrived and I was delighted with it. The following day work
continued on decorating our living room when I suddenly knocked over a can of
paint... It took 33 years but my mother’s prophecy that I would ruin the carpet
if I got a Slime Pit came true! I guess mothers really do know best!
The Slime Pit as featured in the 1986 Winter/Autumn Argos
catalogue
along with the equally desirable (carpet friendly) Fright Zone!
The
classic Gurglin Gutz line-up a brain, stomach, eye and heart
Hello dear reader, we haven’t had a Monster Memories post
for some time- have we? So how about we have one now? How about...Gurglin Gutz?
Gurglin Gutz was a toy that resembled human organs (four
designs a brain, eye, heart and stomach) that was encased within a latex ball
and immersed in a red fluid that created a ‘gross’ gurgling, bubbling sound when
squeezed! Created by designer Jimmy DiResta and his brother Joey DiResta who
took their concept (a prototype consisting of a condom filled with tomato juice
and a hollow ball) to brothers Jeffery and Keneth Lewis of 4Kidz, Inc. in 1994 a
time when the Lewis brothers (Sons of Norman J. Lewis founder of LJN toys) were
keen to enter the then trending, gross toy market, and so in 1995 Gurglin Gutz was
launched going on to successfully ship over 10 Million pieces in its first 5
years. I fondly remember them showing up
at various toy outlets, as they seemed to spark a craze of squeezable toys but with
Gurglin Gutz leading the way adding a knuckle ball variant to the mix and releasing a smaller version of the
regular brain, eye, heart and stomach as key rings and pencil toppers along
with branching out with licensed properties lines relating to such movies as
Bugs Life, Toy Story 2 and a line relating to Scholastic’s Goosebumps to name
but three.
I was in Art College at the time and just as much a fan
of gross toys and thought these were fantastic! Much like Garbage Pail Kids
cards and Madballs before them they not only resonated with my ‘mother wouldn’t
approve’ mantra (Even Jeffery Lewis was quoted in the Connecticut Post,
February 20th 1997, “This is definitely a kid’s purchase. This is
not something mom’s going to come home with from the store”) I also loved the
packaging and design and as a result I had the brain variant serving as a
stress ball on my desk for many years.
Diresta signed limited edition Gurglin Gutz (Limited to
100 backers only)
and eyeball ‘clip on’
Fast Forward 23 years to October 2018 and 4Kidz announced
that they were bringing them back “with a brand new look and feel!” through a
Kickstarter campaign promising that they would be “GUTZIER” than ever before.
As the originals only lasted 15+ years (tops) 4Kidz had not been happy about
this factor and so spent nearly a year sourcing the right materials for an enhanced
feel and durability for the second generation Gurglin Gutz. “More blood” was
promised with “Better clarity, more gore, improved elasticity FOR THAT GURGLE
SQUISH and Increased durability FOR HOURS OF FUN” various tiers were offered
such as, The Mortician Special offering a “Classic" 3 inch style of choice
or the Early Bird Maggot Special with all fourof the classic organs up for grabs. Devotees
could also pledge for the Cadaver Special offering not only the four classic
gurglers but also four 1.5" clip on’s as well, IF the $10,000 target was
reached. It was, 289 backers (myself one of them) showed their support and $10,886
was raised. I had opted for the Diresta limited signed edition (limited to 100
backers only) which also included a clip on eyeball and when the project was
funded I ‘add-on’ the set of four organs to my order which arrived last week
and they have now been added to my monster/ gross out toy collection- very
happy with them and I thank all concerned for making them available again,
thanks to them I once again, “have the Gutz”!
Wasn’t easy as I wasn’t actually home for the ‘horror-days’
this time but I still managed to watch Father's Day from 2011, the second Troma
title to feature in the challenge (although they are in no way connected). This
tale regarding a man called Ahab (played by Adam Brooks) out for revenge on a serial
killer called Chris Fuchman also known as the Father's Day Killer who murdered (putting
it mildly!) his father 30 years before, was originally made as a short film, but
was later made into a feature-length movie that received great acclaim and
numerous awards at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. The movie itself contains
all that one expects of a Troma release (and then some!) with its over the top action
and violence (some of which very gory and quite, quite graphic at times) but I
was more taken however by its impressive Grindhouse style, feel and influences (think
Grindhouse only with Lloyd Kaufman in it playing God!) and I also add that I liked the
Channel Astron 6 late night movie segments throughout the film. See you on the 4th of July!
Memorial Day is when the United States remembers and honors
those who died serving in the United States Armed Forces, and although it is
not (directly) observed in the UK I thought I would add it to the challenge line-up,
even though it has very little to do with the occasion. So, Memorial Day Killer (also known as
Memorial Day) is an offering from 1998 directed by Christopher Alender and
written by Marcos Gabriel. A tale of wrongdoing and revenge that happens to
take place on Memorial Day concerning a group of friends who decide to return to
MEMORIAL Lake Campground for the first time since Rachel(Played by Therese Fretwell) 's adopted
brother Danny accidentally drowned there three years before... sure enough, wouldn’t
you know it? The killings start. I try not to be negative about these films as I
doubt I could do any better, this movie came out at a time when I had become
somewhat disillusioned with ‘modern’ horror but I was ready to go back and have
my opinion changed, it wasn’t. Perhaps
had this been a big budget movie previously ignored the first time round it
might have been regarded by some as the ‘Missing Link’ between the Scream/ I
Know What You Did Last Summer genre of movies of the late 90’s and the Saw franchise
of the early 2000’s but frankly the deaths of the whining girlfriends and over
acting boyfriends at the hands of a papier-mâché mask wearing killer was just a
blessed relief.
Omnibot once again proving his worth, not only helping me
around the studio and listing things on eBay to raise funds but also helping me
to upload some vintage cassettes onto my YouTube channel! First up a clip from
an episode of ‘Roundabout’ that aired on BBC Radio Wales in 1986 staring Anita
Morgan (who was the very first to speak on the station back in
1978) who had visited my hometown of Nefyn, North Wales to chat with some of
the locals about village life, this clip features my mother Emrysia Jones,
grandmother Marie Julia Roberts (1938-2018) and my great-grandmother Mary Hughes(1907-1993) the clip is particularly poignant for us as a family as it allows
us to hear my Grandmother and Great Mother again, we hope it will also be of
interest to you. Have a listen. Or just read the transcript.
Anita Morgan: “I’ve Just had a charming conversation with
a small boy about 3 (my bother), who speaks no English, I speak no Welsh but he
very kindly and patiently got me to understand that his great grandmother Mary
Hughes, his grandma Marie Robert and mother Emrysia Jones were waiting for me
inside this house, on a smallholding on the outskirts of Nefyn. Great
grandmother Mary, I know your family goes back around 400 years in Nefyn but
what was the main family trade?”
Mary Hughes: “My father and family were Master Masons...
stones.”
Anita Morgan: “What sort of stone would they work on
around here?"
Mary Hughes: “Well there is only one kind of stone in the
world isn’t there? One in Nefyn, the Gwylwyr quarry and one in India and that’s
real granite!”
Marie Roberts: “And giving lots of work for the local
people, that was then before they closed at the beginning of the last war when
the Gwylwyr quarry closed, as I understand... I was just a baby then myself!"
Anita Morgan: “Mary’s daughter, Marie. I’ve said that
this is a third generation interview, grandmother, mother and daughter and
you’ve got a lovely name...”
Emrysia Jones: “Yes, Emrysia.”
Anita Morgan: “Is that Welsh?”
Emrysia Jones: “It is Welsh, it’s my father’s name, he’s
called Emrys with an “I A” added on... Emrysia.”
Anita Morgan: “You have an interest in the tourism
industry in this place surely?"
Emrysia Jones: “Yes, we do let out our houses in the
summer...”
Anita Morgan: “Houses?!”
Emrysia Jones: “Yes, like we said it’s a family affair
you know”
Anita Morgan: “And how many houses do you have?”
Emrysia Jones: “four”
Anita Morgan: “Do you find it lively enough as a younger
woman with a child?"
Emrysia Jones: “Personally it doesn’t bother me; I’m
married- I married young. Butfor other
younger people, no I don’t think there is enough life here for them, they do
tend to stand on the streets, Really they only have the pubs. But again it
depends on the people and the kind of life you like, its fine for me.”
Anita Morgan: “It’s fine for the three of you? The three
of you enjoy Nefyn?”
Marie Roberts: “Yes definitely”
Anita Morgan: “Have you ever lived away from Nefyn Mary?”
Mary Hughes: “No, but I traveled quite allot..." (Laughs)
Anita Morgan: “Where have you been?”
Mary Hughes: “Through bombs! And shells!” (Laughs)
Anita Morgan: “During the war time?”
Mary Hughes: “yes!”
Anita Morgan: “What sort of vehicle were you in?”
Mary Hughes: “Lorries”
Anita Morgan: “As a passenger?”
Mary Hughes: “No dear, driving it.”
Anita Morgan: “You were driving the lorry?!"
Mary Hughes: “Oh yes... you sound surprised?”
Anita Morgan: “I am surprised! ...Where would you be
travelling then? ...Where would you drive?”
Mary Hughes: “Liverpool. Manchester. Birmingham... (*In
welsh to my grandmother “translate for me”)
Marie Roberts: “You would get a phone call saying that
there was a ship able to come in and that it needed emptying. These ships with
the planes flying over Liverpool, it was important that they got as much off
the ships as possible so they... there were also local men as well working on
the Lorries as haulage contractors in the district"
Anita Morgan: “So the area was quite busy with haulage?”
Marie Roberts: “Yes, that’s right... Quite a lot of
haulage but because of the quarries closing down then that was decline of the
haulage, the decline of everything... “
Anita Morgan: “What about otherwise, apart from that the
decline of Nefyn as a place to live in... Has it declined? Can you still get
everything you want here in the way of shops, entertainment and so on”
Marie Roberts: “Nefyn itself, if something has prospered
really, during the last fifteen years I would say. Because now we have a very
fashionable shop in the village, a very nice fashionable shoe shop in the
village, you needn’t go really, anywhere but if you’d like to go for a day out
to Llandudno then yes, fair enough you’ve got ‘Marks & Sparks’ but if you
really didn’t want to travel out of the village then you wouldn’t have to if
you patronise local people.”
Anita Morgan: “No more trips to Liverpool driving the
lorry for you Mary?”
Mary Hughes: “Why not?”
Anita Morgan: “Why not? She says!”
Marie Roberts: “Why not? She says at 79!”
Anita Morgan: “79! ...Great Caesar!”
Mary Hughes: “I’d been driving since I was ten, eleven
years old! Motorbikes...”
Anita Morgan: “Motorbikes?!”
Mary Hughes: “...Lorries, all sorts of things...”
Marie Roberts: “She was a 1929 Rally winner... tell them
about that”
Anita Morgan: “Rally winner?”
Marie Roberts: “ Yes, motorbike in the race... Black
rocks in Porthmadog. We have a picture of her here, with her motorbike that she
won the first prize with."
Anita Morgan: “Against all the men?”
Mary Hughes: “Oh yes”
Anita Morgan: “Who’s’ going to choose the music, of the
three ladies?”
Marie Roberts:
“Anything by Sir Geraint Evans anything classical would go with the village we
live in.”
Anita Morgan: “They like good music in Nefyn do they?”
*Closes with The Duke of Plaza-Toro by Gilbert &
Sullivan.
Have I mentioned that Mrs Jones reads Tarot? Reading the
cards as a divination tool to see the past present and future, reading them
intuitively, which means she doesn’t use a spirit guide, instead reading
through feelings and intuition, calling on her inner voice to guide her to the
meaning of the cards for each person. Beth has been reading the cards for some
time now, offering open (general) readings and specific question readings helping
many establish a clear picture of what is happening in all aspects of their
lives and helping to find the answers and it’s been very well received. So well
in fact that we needed a sign for people to find us- This very hand painted sign in fact! Helping
people to find the right location to find the answers they seek. Find out more or
book a reading via her Facebook page.
The Slime Pit, an “Evil pit of gruesome ooze” was a play set
from 1986 that formed a part of Mattel’s highly successful Masters of the
Universe toy line. Designed by toy designer Ted Mayer, the Slime Pit utilised a
component that not only assured this toy a success but also set a trend that
would last for years to come, something that Mattel had already brought to the toy
market back in 1976 -Slime! 
