Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Pop Culture»Toys & Games
    Toys & Games 2 Mins Read

    Creepy Crawlers

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Creepy Crawlers were the first species to emerge from Mattel’s ‘Thingmaker‘ concept – other do-it-yourself kits would follow in the decades to come, like the Incredible Edibles and the Custom Car Factory.

    creep1

    The Creepy Crawler set came with an oven, a cooling pan, tongs, different colours of “plastigoop”, and metal moulds. In some of the sets, Crawler accoutrements like feathers and clear plastic cut-out wings were included, which could be glued onto your creations.

    Pour the goop into the moulds and, using the tongs, insert them into the oven and start watching the nearest clock. And we mean watching that clock because if the moulds were cooked too long, you were scraping them out for days; if they weren’t in there long enough, you were faced with a semi-shapeless sticky mass of who-knows-what . . .

    But if you had a good sense of timing – and if you obediently removed the moulds and gave them their little hydrotherapy respite in the cooling pan like the directions told you to – then a perfectly rubbery model was yours.

    thingmakerAnd get a load of some of the Crawler options: toads, ticks, spiders, beetles, stinkbugs, octopuses, cockroaches, caterpillars, bees and moths.

    If you had a fondness for things that spun, stung, lived under rocks or skittered across kitchen floors, this was just the thing for you.

    Of course, the manufacture of Creepy Crawlers wasn’t without its potential for pain. Sometimes the moulds didn’t slide out of the oven with the ease that they slid in with, and sometimes those tongs just weren’t handy when the mould was ready for its exit – so once in a while, you reached into the oven and had at it with your bare hands.

    Anyone who worked extensively in the goop medium has a few minor burn stories under their belts – this was a real oven that was plugged into a real electrical outlet, after all, and electricity never had any time for empathy, even when it’s a very gifted goop-craftsman that needs it. Oh well. They say you have to suffer for your art.

    Related Posts

    • WWF Action Figures
      WWF Action Figures
      Action figures had many faces in the early 80s - the blonde brawn of He-Man, the buzz-cut ruggedness of G.I.…
    • Planet of the Apes figures
      Planet of the Apes figures
      Few science-fiction concepts were as durable as the one that fueled Planet of the Apes. The success of the first…
    • Bionic Woman
      Bionic Woman
      The Bionic Woman was a spin-off of another bionic-themed prime time hit, The Six Million Dollar Man. In the dramatic…
    • VS. Series Arcade Games
      VS. Series Arcade Games
      Stuck in the mire of the 1984 video game market crash, Nintendo knew it needed a hook to draw gamers…
    • Action Jackson
      Action Jackson
      The Mego company got its start as an importer of toys and household novelties but in the early 1970s, they…
    • Xenon
      Xenon
      It wasn’t like pinball machines hadn’t been sexy before - many a lad had pumped his pocket money into Slick Chick just to…
    • Ant Farm
      Ant Farm
      In the mid-1950's, Milton Levine was enjoying Fourth of July festivities in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, when the ant…
    • Intellivision
      Intellivision
      It was an Atari world back in the late 70s and early 80s, but Mattel’s Intellivison staged a pretty good coup.…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleCorgi Toys
    Next Article Criss Cross Pop Up

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Days of Hope
      1 9 7 5 (UK) 4 x 90 minute episodes The 1975 BBC production Days […]
    • Taurus Rising
      1 9 8 2 (Australia) 21 x 60 minute episodes Taurus Rising was […]
    • Veronica’s Closet
      1 9 9 7 – 2 0 0 0 (USA) 67 x 30 minute episodes […]
    • Night We Got the Bird, The (1960)
      Gullible antiques “expert” Bertie Skidmore (Brian […]
    • For Love or Money
      1 9 5 9 – 1 9 6 1 (UK) 30 minute episodes This early […]
    • Secret of Blood Island, The (1965)
      “Blood Island” is the grim nickname given to a […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.