stuthehistoryguy wrote:
They did a very good job in the 1990s for a while when the commemorative stamps came out, re-releasing the core films on VHS and securing tie-ins with Pepsico products (soft drinks and Doritos). Things like that help; I'm not sure if they're cost-benefit effective in the long run.

Honestly, Blu-Ray box set was a heck of a step, but I didn't see much mainstream media coverage or adspace. Was I just living in a cave? (I do that often.)

The stamp campaign was hugely popular. It introduced young stamp collectors to the Universal Monsters and stamp collecting to monster fans. (Some other countries issued their own sets of monster stamps, too.) There was also a BIG stamp kit for school teachers filled with monster goodies, including a giant haunted house advent-style calender poster. The stamps ushered in a mini-monster craze that lasted a few years. To coincide with the stamp releases, Universal licensed the monster images to many entities leading up to Halloween 1997. Universal monsters graced tombstone pizzas and there were those horrid chocolate cookies, too. The monsters were everywhere. 

In 1998 Universal boasted they would own Halloween. And while there was a lot of product, it was also kind of a disappointment.  A good deal of it was, well, strange. I think the weirdest offering was an inflatable spider with the head of Lon Chaney, Jr's Frankenstein! We've all heard the old joke "Don't step on that spider--it might be Lon Chaney!"  I guess they didn't realize they used the wrong Chaney. After that Halloween it was pretty much downhill from there.



GARY L. PRANGE
I'm not all bad, just mostly.

"Sic gorgiamus allos subjectos nunc."