Vintage Monster Gumball Machine Toys

Probably from the early 1960s, this vintage vending machine display card is one of my favorites. It reads: "Monsters...HEADS. GHOSTLY! HEY KIDS: They stick on your head!" And indeed they do: the tiny monster heads are still sticky after all these years. Or, you can string them on a necklace for a fabulously ghoulish fashion accessory.

Vintage Addams Family Colorforms

Here's one of my favorite vintage Colorforms sets: The Addams Family, from the 1960s. This was a super hard set to find, so even though it's missing a few bits, I don't mind too much. I just pretend Lurch has his arms tucked behind his back...

Mandrake the Magician Magic Set

I love vintage magic stuff, and October, with its aura of spooky mystery, seems a suitable month to post some.

Here's a vintage Mandrake the Magician Magic Kit, dating to the 1940s or 50s.

My brother Jody gave me this for Christmas a few years ago: its one of the greatest toy gifts I've ever received!

Voodoo Doll Game

One of the most longed-for games on my wish list was this, the Voodoo Doll Game made by Schaper in the 1960s.

The box alone is fantastic, with great graphics. The voodoo doll offers you handfuls of pins, while a ghoulish witch doctor lurks in the background. The game itself resembles a playset: there's a 3-D jungle hut, a witch doctor figure, and a giant voodoo doll.

The game is really fun to play: you and your opponent take turns putting pins in the voodoo doll. If the witch doctor jumps out of his hut at you, you lose! (I always lose, and it's really quite startling when the little figure comes hurtling out of the hut...)

Vintage Addams Family Games

Over the summer, I was really lucky and found both vintage 1960s Addams Family board games at yard sale prices, and have been saving them for an October post.

The boxes aren't the best, but the games inside are great, with really colorful, fun graphics.