A partnership between Plaid Stallions, White Elephant Toyz, and Absolutely Retro resurrects the Lincoln International brand of dime-store action figures through the newly established Lincoln Monsters line of collectibles.
Released in the mid-1970s, Lincoln International produced budget-friendly eight-inch figures inspired by movie monsters such as Hunchback of Notre Dame, Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, and others. While the toys were considered by some to be knock-offs of those produced by Mego during the same era, they earned a following of adult toy collectors and horror fans.
The Lincoln Monsters brand marries the partners’ fondness for knock-off toy figures and the low-budget horror cinema of the 1950s to ’70s.
Brian Heiler of Plaid Stallions shared the genesis of the idea for Lincoln Monsters in a conversation with Toy Tales: “Let’s create characters based on movies we invent that don’t exist.” From there, the idea was born to create Lincoln International Studios, a fictional film studio whose movies would serve as the basis for the toys.
“What I like about it is the creative process where we all just met and started talking. It took off from there. Ideas just started to flood out, like every package being a poster for the movie. Everybody really liked the idea,” Heiler explains.
The first characters released will be based on the fictional Lincoln International Studios productions titled The Evil of Count Dracula and The Power of Frankenstein. The articulated and poseable figures are presented in a box that features artwork by Chris Franklin depicting the characters in the style of classic Hammer Film Productions horror films.
The partners envision incorporating additional cult-favourite genres into the mix with original science-fiction characters on the roadmap and a long-term plan in place. Of the partnership, Heiler elaborates, “It’s a collaboration. If it was a Venn diagram, the three circles would overlap just a tiny amount but in the grand scheme of things, we all have different abilities. Frank at Absolutely Retro is amazing at communications and attends a growing number of toy conventions and fan events to be face-to-face. Jason at White Elephant Toyz is a master at toy manufacturing and getting things done. I work on the packaging and promotion side of things. We work well together and we’re all in it for the long term.”
Learn more about Lincoln Monsters and shop the collection as it is released.
