Ben Cooper Jigglers Rubber Halloween Toys - Raymond Castile's Basement of Horror
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- Опубліковано 20 жов 2023
- Continuing with our Ben Cooper theme, we look at the company's various Halloween and monster rubber jigglers. Made of soft PVC, these rubbery, wiggly figures had elastic loops threaded through their heads so they could dangle from a child's finger or a grownup's rearview car mirror. They were sold in drug stores and dime stores like Ben Franklin and Skaggs in the 1970s and 1980s.
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When you said "The Clock is ticking to get this story down" it really hit home for me.. my Mom and Dad had ALL SORTS of Stories they'd tell me about their life when they was younger... i waited far too long to actually interview them and get the stories down on video so i could re-hear them after they were gone.. well... my dad's been gone for 11 years, My mom 3, going on 4... and i wish beyond wishing i would have had the foresight to do that.
There is a book about the heyday of the Hong Kong toy manufacturing scene, but it is written from a Chinese perspective. It's an interesting read, but I think there is still room for a similar book written from the perspective of U.S. toy manufacturers. I know what you're saying about interviewing your parents. I have a video interview with my mother, who died in 2000. I haven't interviewed my father.
I was born in 1967. I remember having a few of these ( or knock - offs). In this size, I had Batman, the forgotten prisoner, and the soldier ape with the knife above his head. I also had a weird "flying posed" yellow one of a hero that had a cowl and cape like Batman(without the ears), and an " S" or snake inside a diamond shape on his chest.
I also had larger ones of the Mummy, Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon and Frankenstein's monster. They were probably 10 or 11 inches tall.
I remember my sister hated the smell of my "rubber monsters". I enjoyed this video immensely, it brought back a ton of memories of my childhood in the 70's.
Thank you so much.
Thank you! Your larger jigglers were probably AHIs. They were bigger than the Ben Cooper jigglers and were licensed through Universal. The yellow snake superhero is a generic jiggler that is generally credited to Ben Cooper, but I don't know if Ben Cooper really made him. There are two other generic superhero jigglers in the same set.
I especially love your channel during the Halloween season, really takes me back to the 1960’s when all the kids in our neighborhood bought this stuff. I can still smell the funky rubber. ❤👻
❤
Thank you!
It's interesting how multigenerational jigglers are. I was born in 98 and I vividly remember getting universal jigglers of the wolf man and the creature at Walgreens. It's neat to see that Walgreens has always carried that stuff, they are so fun for how cheap they are/were.
I'm glad jigglers are still with us. I wish they were more like the 70s variety, made of solid oily rubber, instead of hollow and filled with pellets.
Really really enjoyed this episode
Thank you!
One of my FAV Collections you have shown ! I had many Jiggler's in the mid 70's. Including the first devil you showed, Batman, Superman (poorly painted) Many gators, bugs etc..I always cut off the strings to fight with my GI Joes and Major Matt Mason's figures Thanks for the childhood memories !!
As a kid, I removed the elastic on all my jigglers. It's amazing that the Devil still has his elastic.
Thanks for shedding some light on this topic, I have a little collection of vintage jigglers and some have been a complete mystery to me...
Thank you! There are some mysterious jigglers out there.
Oh man at the memories, i had the Frankenstein, mummy, hunchback and the devil man, all bought at Ben Franklins in 74, 75, and 76, i remember them well. I loved that store so much, they always had something neat and cheap too. Kids today will never understand the joy we experienced back then. I also had a beautifully detailed gorilla, it was a King Kong knock off but very well molded, to this day i have never seen another one, wish i had it all back, i live in Georgia and in the early to mid 70s they played the Friday night frights on an Atlanta local channel, played all the Universal monster classics, Kmart had some good Meco monsters then too if im not mistaken. I always loved the classic monsters, at 6 and 7 years old i remember seeing made in Hong Kong on the danglers and i imagined this place must make a lot of good neat stuff and i wanted to go there !!!
Thanks so much for the great video !!!
Oh the cherished memories.
Thank you for watching! I’m glad it conjured up memories! Can you describe your childhood King Kong? Maybe I can identify it.
@@RaymondCastile it was in a standing position with his arms up and fists clenched like he was about to pound something, think he had light brown tone on his chest pecs, his mouth was open and he had teeth and fangs, molded fur pattern looked similar to the wolfo pattern.
Was he black? Would this have been around '76? I think I know the toy you are talking about. @@magnumman50
@@RaymondCastile yes he was black, his mouth was open and growling.
Ben Cooper had to have a hand in creating some of these. No factory is going to acquire permission for licensed product. Plus they made a whole catalog on jigglers! They wouldn’t do that just for factory offerings.
On a another note, that Spider-Man on the card is wonderful.
I don't think the licensed characters were pre-existing. But some of the generic ones might have been available for import by different companies. Absolutely, the "Shark!" set includes a pre-existing shark that was sold by other companies.
Thank you for your videos. I look forward to them every week. Take care.
Thank you!
I own a handful of Ben Cooper Jigglers but surprisingly not a single monster one. I guess the Sleestak sort of counts.
PS jelly of that catalog but you probably assumed I would be.
One Sleestak carries more weight than a fistful of Halloween monsters. The Sleestak is one of the few Ben Cooper characters I don't have, along with Woody Woodpecker, Fred Flintstone and a couple others.
This is awesome to learn about, thank you for the video Raymond. Have a great weekend and take care!
Thank you!
This has to be the finest collection of jigglers in all of existence!
Thank you! I've seen photos of finer jiggler collections. I guess mine isn't bad.
Do you remember the jiggling prisoners? One had the face of the Anthrax logo (the band that uses the toy face w/a mustache, not the disease). Love this channel
totally! ... my folks had them on the R.V. mirror as Raymond said. Same , much love to a collector/presenter outstanding collection of ALL the cool stuff from our past
Are you talking about the Spooky Kooky jigglers?
@@RaymondCastile that was MY thought. I had the Nutty Mustache guy too
I got a chuckle out of the printing on the Scary Monster Action Figure Frank. It says Ben Cooper Inc. is located in "Brookly" NY
I didn't notice that!
Great show.I fished one of those devils out of a crane machine in the mid ninties.could of sworn had Hong Kong on it,but no label on the string.didn't know they were reproduced.
I'm sure the 90s one was Made in China. I had several China ones, along with several China Forgotten Prisoners and China Witches. I don't know what I did with them. I must have sold them or traded them. I had a nice quantity of them.
Another cool episode! Man that ''Acid Lady'' is a very interesting piece. I never knew it existed until now. Pretty daring even in it's own era.
Thank you! There seems to be a lot of interest in that acid lady!
I was happy to find one of the Flying Bat creatures from the 25 cent vending machines that I had as a kid . I'm sure you know what I am talking about - it's a kind of Humanized bat with a snout , one leg is bent , and it's black and flattish .
I'm not sure. There are a few jigglers that could match that description.
P.S. i actually have a blue Huff n Puff , perfect shape , although hard as stone at this point , but great to display.NEVER seen that Female monster ! love her! ! ! - everything about her. a new grail for me . Thanks , have a great wk end
I have a couple of the dragons, but I don't think they are blue. I think they are green. They are still soft. A lot of people seem to love that acid lady.
As a kid , these WERE a staple ,as a toy. I also DO remember adults hangin certain lines from the rear-view mirror ! DUDE ! , you made my DAY! i forgot the big folks collecting them too!. i remember the one MY parents did. These goofy , dorky vultures & birds, & a goofy version of 'The Forgotten Prisoner of Castle Mare' lookin guy s too. they had striped suits & ball n chains. Great post. The scary jigglers were tops ,then Super Heros , then bugs. Much love ! , Hello to Billie
Thank you! I wonder how/why adults started hanging them from their rearview mirrors. What a weird fad!
@@RaymondCastile Right? .... the good ol days
I have a red and a green acid witch Jiggler. I bought the red one in the late 70s from McCrory 5@10 stores. She was in a display box . The graphics on the box depicted the witch sitting on a pile of gold inside a cave. Anybody else remember the display box? I was around 6 or 7 .
I think it Jiggler was called the Sea Witch .
Thank you! That is very interesting information. I have never heard of a box like that. If your memory is accurate, I hope an example of that box surfaces someday.
Awesome episode love you Billy ❤
Thank you!
Great video! I have a small collection of "jigglers" (about 8 or so) good info!!
Thank you!
Hey Raymond you check ur closet to see if u have the Imperial monster universal 2006 toys, all there characters are Frankenstein - Bride, Creature, Wolfman, Mummy, and Dracula
Yes, I have those. I think I have a counter display box, too.
Watch where you put your finger on Pumpkin Man 4:40 LOL Fun video, though. Took me down memory lane. :)
Thank you! I can't tell if Pumpkin Man minded the experience or not.
I remember having a bunch as a kid. Even then, the nipples on the caveman were disturbing.
I didn't even notice the nipples until you mentioned it. They are kind or weird, aren't they.
hey i gonna tell u something raymond i got this rubber spider its had blue eyes i bought it at my local toy store they have a box of these rubber bugs some are hanging on a metal they also have some rubber snakes i wanna get the snake to scare my aunt but the box they only have two snakes now
Anybody ever remember the spooky kooky jiggers?
Yes, I have several of those.
Good video, Ray ! I don't think I've ever had a jiggler, but after watching your videos about them, I really want to get a few of them. I would be really interested in watching a video on the Ben Cooper toys, if you're able to get the information that you're looking for. Hopefully you can find someone to interview.
Thank you! I doubt that interview show will ever happen. I've been putting this request out there for at least a year. By now, anyone who has access to someone has surely heard me and chosen not to respond.
@RaymondCastile that's a bummer. It's sad when interesting history like that is lost.
I hav a few jigglers in my collection one Batman and few monsters
Cool!
Great show! What’s the value range of the Acid Lady Jiggler? I want to add one to my vintage jiggler collection
Thank you! I haven't checked prices on any of these lately.
I'm still trying to find out about a Ben Cooper plastic devil head cane I bought on Ebay a few years back
That sounds pretty generic. Probably a 70s item. Are you in the Basement of Horror Facebook group? Maybe someone there could identify the era. I assume that is what you want to know. There's really nothing else one could say about it.
Hey, you mentioned that you're looking for the blue Dracula jiggler... I just saw one on eBay today that someone is selling along with two different wolfman jigglers. Maybe you can get them to sell you just the Dracula. Hope this helps.
Thank you! I think I know the listing you are talking about. There was something not right about it, or I would have bought it.