Creepy Crawlers
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Creepy Crawlers is the name best and most famously associated with a popular activity toy made by Mattel beginning in 1964. A more generic term for the toy, used by many fans and collectors, is "Thingmaker", or even "Make 'N Play", which Mattel used themselves to describe their extensive line of activity toys.
A Thingmaker toy consists of a series of die-cast metal molds, often of insects and other scary creatures (thus the descriptive "Creepy Crawlers" name), into which are poured a liquid chemical substance called Plasti-Goop, which came in many colors. The Mold is then heated atop an open-face electric hot plate oven. The Plasti-Goop is cured by the heat, and when cooled, is removed from the mold, forming solid, rubbery replicas of frogs, lizards, spiders, etc., that are perfect for grossing out your little sister!
Following the success of the original set, which featured Nine Molds of buggy goodness, Mattel imagined many other impressive uses for their Thingmaker. Clever varieties of Sets, as well as specialty Mold Paks, appeared throughout the 1960s.
[edit] Varieties of Thingmaker Mold Sets
- Giant Creepy Crawlers (1965) - As the name implies, this Set of Nine Molds (which were Sold only in a "Maker Pak", which didn't include a heater Oven) featured one enormous creature per mold. The gigantic, Mold-sized Tick is particularly disgusting.
- Fighting Men (1965) - This controversial Set of Six Molds allowed Thing-makers (kids) to create mini-Soldier figures, using an innovative two-sided mold to give their "Fighting Men" a front and a back. Other Molds in the Set created weaponry and equipment for them to carry into battle. Designed with a similar appeal to Hasbro's G.I. Joe Soldier figures, "Fighting Men" also similarly fell out of favor during the Vietnam era.
- Creeple Peeple (1965) - This Five-Mold Set formed Six different wild heads, as well as arms and feet. When placed atop of a pencil, they formed weird, troll-like creatures. This set was the first to include fluorescent-colored Plasti-Goop.
- Fun Flowers (1966) - A Thingmaker geared chiefly towards girls, this set of Seven Molds created many varieties and sizes of flowers for decorating, and came with artificial stems and foam blocks to inspire future florists.
- Fright Factory (1966) - The perfect Thingmaker for Halloween, this one featured Glow-In-The-Dark Plasti-Goop, and Seven Molds, which made disgusting disguises, such as fake scars and mustaches, huge bruised lips, a third eye and nose bone, all to be worn by the maker. A Mold with a special insert made a horrific Shrunken Head, and another made a creepy dangly Skeleton that you built from parts. This Skeleton Mold was also sold separately, as was a variant Mold, "Fang 'n Claw", which utilized elements from two other "Fright Factory" Molds.
- Picadoos (1967) - A Thingmaker for artists. This one featured Molds with 10x10-space numbered grids. By carefully placing colored Plasti-Goop in the grid, you could create decorative artwork in either beads, mosaic tile, or cross-stitch varieties.
- Mini-Dragons (1967) - Wildly imaginative, this set of Eight Molds made all manner of strange wings, horns, claws, and other body parts, which could be combined into amazing mythical creatures. The possibilities were endless, and were limited only by the maker's imagination.
- Eeeeks! (1968) - Eight Molds make legs, bodies and heads of large, bizarre insects. Some assembly required, but that's part of the fun! Two of the Eight Molds were omitted from the Smaller-scale "Maker-Pak", reducing a bit of the variety of the Full set.
- Zoofie-Goofies (1968) - Seven Molds form heads, bodies and feet of various animals, from cats and dogs to elephants and lions. Connect 'em up with pipe cleaner legs, or mix and match the species' pieces, for animals that are really wild!
- DollyMaker (1969) - Another girl-oriented set, this one featured Five Two-sided Molds, to create two styles of cute little Dolls, and a wealth of fashions and accessories for them. A special Sears-Exclusive version of this Set came in a Box that converted to a Doll House.
- Super Cartoon Maker (1969) - A licensed Thingmaker, the Eight Molds form copies of members of Charles Schulz' Peanuts Characters, such as Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Lucy. A variety of storyline-specific accessories were featured on these Molds as well, to help You stage your own Comic Strips!
- Jillions of Jewels (1970) - The last of the Classic Mattel Thingmakers, this one was another "girl" set, and also a bit of a departure from the Thingmaker "norm". The set had Five Molds, but instead of the liquid Plasti-Goop, these formed solid plastic "gemstones" and jewelry frames from two kinds of powdered "Jewel Dust" compounds.
It is generally believed that production of the Original Mattel Thingmakers was discontinued following consumer safety concerns over allowing children to use a small electric heater as a toy. In 1978 Mattel released an updated (and safer) model of their once-popular toy. Called the "Thingmaker II", this version used a very differently formulated "Goop", and utilized plastic trays as molds, which were placed into a low-powered heating unit. "Creepy Crawlers" and "Flower Fun" were the two editions that were released, but the new sets did not enjoy the tremendous success of their predecessors.
[edit] ToyMax Revival
The version released in '92 followed this same general concept, and was not much safer. It still heated a single mold and used the liquid plastic, but had the added concept of a plastic fork to insert and remove the metal mold from the Thingmaker. The new problem was that the metal mold would sometimes get stuck and not want to come out after being heated.
In the '90s a line of action figures and a Saturday morning cartoon were created based around Creepy Crawlers, with superheroic, bug-like "Goopmandoes" trying to recover a monster making machine from an evil magician. A Creepy Crawlers creature maker could be used to make weapons for the figures. The show ran for two seasons.
