The recession hit a little close to home yesterday, so today, rather than working like I should I took a little rest and relaxation time and retreated into the realm of the fantastic. I did this by picking up a copy of Spectrum 16 which includes a treasure trove of great fantastic art, and the latest issue of Horror Hound. One of the facets of Horror Hound that I enjoy is the feature on new horror toys. A couple caught my eye that will need to be added to my collection, including the Sideshow Toys Cosababy line of characters from Mars Attacks!. This line includes various three inch figures such as the Short Gun Martian Trooper (pictured at left). These figures are a deal at $9.99 each, much more reasonable for working stiff horror toy collectors than the larger Mars Attacks! figures from SideShow at over $100. This line has not arrived at distributors yet but can be pre-ordered for December mailing just in time for Christmas gifts for those monster lovers in your life. visit sites like ToyWiz.com to order yours.

Another collection of toys that caught my eye was the Funko Toys line of Universal Monsters vinyl figures. These include the classic creatures of Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Werewolf, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. These figures are close to seven inches tall, and come in black and white or colorized versions. These toys are also modestly priced at $14.99. See Funko Toys or distributors like Entertainment Earth.

And finally, moving from the fantastic toys of the title of this post to the “and more,” I was in my local mall last weekend doing some Christmas shopping with my wife for my two teenagers and we made a stop in Hot Topic. At times I have found a few items that have been added to my wardrobe during such shopping outings, and during this visit I found a great looking Bride of Frankenstein t-shirt. I grabbed the XL size but it looked too small for me. When I asked the young lady working in the store why the large was so small she told me I was looking at the woman’s side of the store. During checkout I shared my complaint and suggestion that such items should be made for men I was told, to my great delight, that the shirt will be available in men’s sizes in the store soon, and that they can already be purchased via the website. Better still, I was told that Hot Topic is planning a line of “classic horror” t-shirts for us old timers and retro folks that will include at least Psycho in addition to Bride of Frankenstein.

So you fans of the fantastic are encouraged to add items like these to your Christmas list, and if you’re nice and not naughty, perhaps ol’ St. Nick will put some of them under your tree.