Saturday, 21 July 2012

The ‘new’ Monster Munch Monsters (1995- 2008)

In an interesting letter from Monster Munch (circa 1995) a potential Monster Munch club member is notified that “the monsters are going to have to close the club”. Having returned the membership fee and included some ‘spokey-dokeys’ and ‘spoke clackers’ to make up for the inconvenience the letter assured the ‘Monster Muncher’ that there where “lots of exciting things happening on Monster Munch this year – watch out for the new TV ads, loads of offers and a wicked promotion!”. A clue as to what was going to happen could be found at the bottom left of the letter, which brings me to another aspect of the Monster Munch brand history that I haven’t covered yet… namely the classic monster’s ‘retirement’ in 1995. Walkers took over production of Monster Munch in the mid 90’s relaunching with new flavours and monsters only to relaunch again in 2008 by bringing back the original ‘classic’ monsters replacing the replacement monsters…  Even though I am pleased to see the classic Monsters back where they rightfully belong this does leave me wondering how to catalogue the ‘other’ monster products that Walkers produced during their 13 year tenure. So I shall devote this post to the ‘new’ Monster Munch Monsters.


 The ‘new’ Monster Munch Monsters: Orange Monster for Pickled Onion, Blue Monster for Spaghetti Sauce, Pink Monster for Beef Burger and Red Monster for Flamin' Hot. Featured on this limited edition print signed by Ken Lidster.



The ‘TV ads’ that the letter mentioned were stop motion adverts featuring the new monsters directed by Ken Lidster and produced by Glenn Holberton of Loose Moose. Featuring the voice of Enn Reitel.
A second advert was produced for their first promotional offer Grippa Clippas! Grippa Clippas gripped onto whatever you wanted and could be found in lucky packs. There were 3 to collect, pink, blue, and orange.


A regular promotional item for Walkers during the 1990’s were Tazos, circular game disks given away in promotional packets.  They ranged from Star Wars to Looney Tunes and in 1996 Monster Munch produced their own set of 30 Monster Munch Tazos along with 3 Tazo tubes to store them.


And those were the ‘new’ Monster Munch Monsters, perhaps best remembered for their limited edition flavours such as Cheesy, Vanilla Ice Cream or the ones that turned your tong blue.  Everyone was happy when Walkers announced that they were bringing the classic monsters back in and so the   ‘new’ Monster Munch Monsters simply faded away…

© Arfon Jones 2012. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.


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9 comments:

  1. Paul14 September 2012 at 14:35

    Wow! I have never seen those Tazo tubes before,these are really nice.Did you have to send away for these?
    I haven't forgot to rely to your email,I really have been very busy just lately,will reply very soon.Sorry for the delay.

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    1. Arfon Jones21 October 2012 at 14:26

      My dear Paul I am no better I have only just noticed your comment and your thread proving a link (thank you!) I am really sorry that I hadn’t noticed this until now.
      Yes you sent away for the tubes, they came with a checklist and sticker for you to place on the front of the tube. The tube also has a clip on the side to fix to your trousers! :)

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  2. TwoHeadedBoy31 August 2015 at 06:30

    I was obsessed with all things POG or Tazo-related back in the day, so of course I sent away for a Monster Munch Tazo tube. They sent me the orange one, and in the years since I've got the other two off eBay...

    Ice Cream Monster Munch were fantastic, and there's bound to be at least one person out there (me, maybe?) who misses the "replacement" monsters - they certainly had enough exposure in the Beano to form a part of my childhood.

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    1. Arfon Jones31 August 2015 at 08:22

      I recall collecting the Loony Tunes and Star Wars Tazos from Walkers crisps and the actual Pogs from Wotsists packs I also have a collection of the Mask ones from Skips in a folder (they were promptly removed from shops when it was revealed that children were choking on them…) As for the tube, Monster Munch have a long history of sending the wrong item requested, hoping it would do!
      Ice Cream Monster Munch was interesting…I remember eating a pack of them and drinking vanilla coke right after…
      Its funny, during their ‘reign’ I missed the classic, but when these guys were retired I felt sorry for them… as for their exposure in the Beano I was going to post one of the ads, shall I include it? I have a few things to add to this post.

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    2. TwoHeadedBoy31 August 2015 at 09:25

      Go for it, this is already the most information there is on the "newer" monsters on the whole of the Internet...

      Put the rest of the adverts up too, the animation's fantastic!

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    3. Arfon Jones31 August 2015 at 15:42

      I’ll update it again, I’m following up on a previously unmentioned promo to add to the mix, I also have a complete set of plush monsters that I forgot to include last time! I will post the comic add but I’m sure there where others. I added the previous add reluctantly, I don’t like adding Youtube videos that I have no control over… I hate dead links! ;) I seem to recall two adverts at the time of the Monster Munch release with Enn Reitel doing his Vincent Price impression and Peter Lorre for the second.

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    4. TwoHeadedBoy2 September 2015 at 07:34

      Plush monsters? Fantastic, never even seen those advertised!

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    5. Arfon Jones2 September 2015 at 15:58

      Oh yes, not sure what the promo was but they are 100% officially licensed as they have the tags to prove it. I had 2 of 4 of them and bought a set of 4 (with the intention of selling on the doubles) when the postman delivered them I found out that there were two versions so I now have a 2 of the 4 small ones and a full set of 4 large versions... Ill post a pic soon :)

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  3. Unknown15 November 2016 at 23:45

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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