Knights & Knaves Alehouse

this is not a serious game comment, more one of those- am i just crazy or did you notice this too kind of posts..

okay first off i know im crazy, that part is retorical.

when i was a smaller brat in the mid 70s i was for a few years really into dinosaurs, i had books and plastic dinos and stuff. i remember that in certain packs of plastic dinos (the really cheap ones in random colors) there were two creatures that i never saw in my dinosaur books, and that just struck me as odd. then i forgot about them untill i saw both again in the monster manual.. of course the bulette and rust monster. i probably would not have noticed the bulette if it werent for the rusty.. its that funny propeller tail that rang the bell..

does anyone else remember thiese toys?

i would love to find them again to see if they fit the scale for the zizes given in the MM.

what? why are you looking at me that way?

Yup, it's been confirmed by Gygax that both monsters were based off the toys in question. I've never seen the actual toys, but I've seen pictures of them. The "bulette" looks about the right scale vs. 25mm figures, but the "rust monster" figure appears to be too large compared to its MM description as approximately man-sized.

I have also seen a rubber kids toy of a hook horror in a non-D&D capacity. I wonder if this monster was created the same way, or if the toy was based off of the monster?

- Wheggi

I actually owned the plastic set of dinosaurs that contained these beasties. It was purchased at the same place I got most of my D&D stuff at the time - at a toy store called Circus World.

Man - those were the days. You could buy D&D everywhere back then. Toy stores, hardware stores, record shops (do kids these days even know what an LP is?), Sears... I even know a DM who worked at a paperback resale shop who would paint D&D minatures for you at the low, low price of $1.25. For someone who wasn't that great at painting back then, it was a godsend.

northrundicandus wrote: Man - those were the days. You could buy D&D everywhere back then. Toy stores, hardware stores, record shops, Sears...

Don't forget drug stores. My first gaming purchases as a lad were in a small, local drug store called Foster's that has long since gone under. They carried a ton of modules, and my eyes always got wide every time I saw that rack (it was a magazine rack). They even had a lunch counter in the place...

I too once owned those plastic "dinosaurs" as a kid. A few years ago I went through some of my old toys hoping to find them but I fear they have been lost forever . . .

My buddy Art had "rust monster" and "bullette" figures from that dinosaur set. Haven't seen them in a long time, though -- he died several years ago, and his parents were putting off dispensing his worldly goods until they were able to cope with it emotionally. I wonder whatever happened to his D&D stuff.

northrundicandus wrote:I actually owned the plastic set of dinosaurs that contained these beasties. It was purchased at the same place I got most of my D&D stuff at the time - at a toy store called Circus World.

Wow, haven't heard anybody mention Circus World in a long time -- I used to buy D&D stuff from one of their stores in Michigan. (In fact, I bought my DMG at the half-price sale Circus World had when it decided to stop selling TSR products. It still has the price tag on it, too.)

Anyway, I was researching these toys a while back, and found two websites that have photos of the infamous plastic rust monster:

http://www.protopage.com/dragonflight

http://www.zogonia.com/gallery

I thought you guys might like to see those, for old time's sake.

Popped in from another thread. Holeeee! Yeah, Circus World! That name took really me back. I bought D&D stuff there too as it was closer to my house than the local hobby store and Montgomery Wards (ahh the joys of D&D availability in the 80's).

Buckky's tale about the two mystery dinosauurs than ended up being the Bulette and Rust Monster is identical to mine. Except I'm just now realizing the truth. I ID'd them fromt he Monster Manual at an early age, but didn't realize that EGG statted 'em up from the same bag of toys I had. Up until now, I just thought it was kind of cool to throw a few D&D monsters in with the toy dinosaurs, but D&D being everywhere back then, and being 9 or 10, didn't think much more about it.

Very cool and informative thread. I guess I can say I certainly learned something new today!

Heh, I thought it was cool to get D&D monsters in my bag of dinos when I was a kid as well. Circus World, I hadn't thought of that place in ages! I also used to buy D&D stuff at the local Ben Franklin and TruValue Hardware stores. As I recall, I found several other strange creatures that were not dinosaurs and resembled D&D monsters or Godzilla monsters. My 2 1/2 year old son LOVES dinosaurs like I did when I was a kid. It'd be great to find some of those old dino packs.

Woo hoo!!! I finally got to see the original rust monster! I can't believe how close the MM illustration is to the toy. KEWWWL!

I had both the Bullete and Rust Monster toys when I was a kid. I think I got them after I bought the Monster Manual and always kept an eye out for more creatures from that book as toy figurines. Alas, never found any (and didn't know about the Hook Horror, until reading this thread).

Gray Mouser