Bay It, Don't Spray It, Wolfie!!!

Sure, you might recognize these two good fellows, but you may not believe the form in which they arrive. Yes, it is quite clearly the Wolf Man and his on again/off again pal, the Frankenstein's Monster, and they are most definitely in some degree of officially licensed Universal Monsters design here in these pretty nifty toys that I obtained in 1991.

But what are they? Well, take a look at the corner of Frankie's mouth (my favorite part of the sculpt is that sneer he has) and what looks like an odd gap in Wolfie's teeth. These guys are nothing more than water squirters (or really, they will squirt whatever weird thing you want them to squirt, you sickos...) released by a company called Happiness Express, Inc. ("H.E.I." on the bottom of the toys). Also on the bottom is a matching 1991 copyright date for Universal ("U.C.S.").

Honestly, these were fun for a few days, but you could only squirt so many people with them  – back and forth – or pull pranks on the unknowing, before the game got old. I suppose others might have used them for other liquids (and therefore, other types of games) beyond water, but just like with plastic squirt guns, you start to wonder if you should really be drinking out of painted rubber in any amount.

It is remarkably hard to find much in the way of information about these toys. I found someone selling the Wolf Man on eBay, but they had no extra information. I did find someone online in a monster forum who mentioned these were manufactured exclusively for Woolworth's

Since Anchorage, Alaska still had a Woolworth's downtown (barely hanging on, like everywhere) in 1991, it is very likely that I purchased mine there. Woolworth's closed its doors everywhere in the world (there was still one in Fairbanks, Alaska at that point too) in 1997, but I remember finding a lot of unique baseball card sets branded with the company's name at the Anchorage store, and I used to find many cool toys, costume ideas, and music bargains in those too crowded shelves and pathways. (My fondest memory of the place was a little diner area at the front where I used to always buy a grilled cheese sandwich, fries, and a Dr. Pepper, but it was cleared out a few years prior to the store's ultimate closure. The place is now a gift shop, I believe.)

Found on eBay this morning.
Don't know about other
characters.

I did find someone selling an official Dracula squirter head from the same 1991 Happiness Express series on eBay (it was going for just under twenty bucks), but as to other characters in the series, I do not know. I really hope that there is a Creature from the Black Lagoon head out there somewhere, since he was heavily promoted along with these guys by Universal in that period (as he should). A Bride of Frankenstein would be really great to see too.

RTJ

[The pics of the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's Monster are of my own toys. Feel free to repost as you wish, but please credit this blog.]