Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Mystery of the Bendy Skeleton

See the skeleton?
He's my favorite.
I picked him up on a road trip a few years ago and I've never seen one like him ever again.
Maybe his rarity is what makes him special?
If I found another one would I lose my love for him?
I don't know.  But I'm going to go down the rabbit hole and see what happens.
Here's the story...

A few years ago I was wine tasting in the Central Coast wine region near Santa Cruz (hey that's where they shot The Lost Boys!).

It was a foggy, misty day in October which really made the fact that I was being driven in a white van from winery to winery that much more, oh I don't know:  SPOOKY.

Every winery we stopped at had some sort of Halloween decorations up whether it be pumpkins and dried gourds, a dish of spooky Halloween candy or paper decorations strung across the mantel of their simmering fireplace. 

One particular winery-stop had a small display:  a couple of hay bales, with a mix of straw and various sized pumpkins, a live cat (sleeping) and--- this is the point of the post--- 4 colored bendy skeletons:  green, red, orange and yellow.

I walked up to pet the cat (he was having a good day, lazing amongst the pumpkins) and I couldn't take my eyes off the skeletons.  They were about 4" high, made from black rubbery plastic, with a wire frame inside that you could pose. 
I tasted some wine... then I walked over and eye-balled the skeletons.
Then I walked outside to look at the garden and vineyard, then I walked back to the skeletons.

I asked a woman working there where she got them (as I had never seen them before) and she said she couldn't remember.  I pried  (I'm a Halloween Addict after all) and she thought they came in a pack of four.

Well before we left the woman pulled me aside and said "If you'd like to take one home, you can."
I smiled broadly and picked---- the yellow one.
It was the high point of my trip.

Unpacking my Halloween decorations this year, I found Ol' Bendy (a name I never call him) and started wondering if his friends were locatable.

A few Google and eBay searches later here's what I've gleaned:
  • Written on the side of the skeleton is "Dakin 1989."
Photo from GasolineAntiques.com

 But the skeleton in these sets was WHITE and the woman I spoke with had multi-colored skeletons ONLY and not a white one in the bunch.  So though I don't doubt that this "monster" set existed, I have seen NO such evidence that an all-skeletons pack exists anywhere. 

So I call upon you, again, dear readers:  have any of you ever heard or seen such a set of Dakin bendy multi-colored skeletons? 

I'd hate to think I was in a wine-induced haze in which I imagined multi-colored skeletons, a sleeping cat and, in the end, I slinked off with one in the thick of the fog...
But, hey, stranger things have happened.


3 comments:

Ghoul Friday said...

Now THAT is a good story and a very challenging toy query. Fingers crossed someone knows the answer.

Spooky Vegan said...

What a great story! I don't have the answer, but it sounds like you have a very special little skellie there!

AllHallowSteve said...

Friday: Thanks! I'm hoping someone knows something about them...

Vegan: Yep. Good times.

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