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 |
- According to GasolineAntiques.com HERE the skeleton was part of a "Monster Bendy" set which included Frankenstein's monster, The Mummy and Dracula.
- This fact was also confirmed HERE at ToyFanatic.com which included a slightly better pic HERE.
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:
Now THAT is a good story and a very challenging toy query. Fingers crossed someone knows the answer.
What a great story! I don't have the answer, but it sounds like you have a very special little skellie there!
Friday: Thanks! I'm hoping someone knows something about them...
Vegan: Yep. Good times.
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