“Aspiring made scientists, pay attention.”
Released in 1979 from TOMY, Mighty Men & Monster Maker let kids create their own “super-guys” and monsters using interchangeable plates, paper, and coloured pencils.
The toy featured a plastic base with three main sections: a storage area for pencils and crayons, a recessed area with 18 double-sided plates (six each for the legs, body, and head), and a framed rubbing surface. Children would flip up the frame, place three plates on the base, cover them with a piece of paper, and close the frame to secure the paper in place. Rubbing a crayon across the surface produced an image of the character. The reverse side of the plates had textured patterns that allowed kids t0 add further detail to their unique creations.
Mighty Men & Monster Maker was released the year after TOMY’s popular Fashion Plates, a toy with a similar play pattern that let aspiring young fashion enthusiasts create their own ensembles using interchangeable plates. In 1982, TOMY expanded the line further with Pony Plates, a Western-themed variant of the toy.
Watch a vintage commercial for Mighty Men & Monster Maker on the Toy Tales YouTube channel.
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