Random Sunday Morning Mask Pic: Vintage Don Post Studios Instagram

The Random Sunday Morning Pic post was a long-standing tradition here at the monster mask blog, and it will continue on with the blog's revival. I thought the relaunch would be a good opportunity to point out some resources that have popped up during the hiatus. I wanted to start with my favorite place to visit on Instagram for good vintage Don Post Studios photos... The Vintage Don Post Studios page on Instagram where Joshua Warren regularly posts wonderful photos, a good many of which I have never seen before. The content is generally exclusive to Don Post Studios, but occasionally features other studios as well. Good stuff here. Check it out if you haven't already...

Image Source: Vintage Don Post Studios

1952 Topstone Catalog

 

Hey Creeps! Let's begin the revival of our little blog with the oldest piece that resides in the Phantom's catalog collection. Fresh off the scanner bed... it's the 1952 Topstone catalog. This is one of the few Topstone catalogs that I have had the pleasure of owning and scanning to share, as most of the other Topstones that I have posted have come from other online sources or collectors.

If I may say so myself, this is a beautiful catalog. The graphic design and type treatment is gorgeous and the illustrations are simply incredible. The Chamber of Horrors page being among my personal favorite in perhaps any mask catalog. And, who can resist the allure of the glamorous Mermaid Caps?

The majority of the masks in this catalog simply don't exist today, so there is little in the way of photographs to use to compare to the illustrations. But, the little monster kid in me still can't help stare at these images and wonder what they might have looked like in person.

As a quick aside, I've tried to keep the watermarks on these scans as unobtrusive as possible. I am not trying to take ownership of these images, rather I want to avoid the issue that occurred during the early days of the monster mask blog when my un-watermarked scans of a few classic 1960's catalogs began showing up on eBay and being pawned off as originals by scammers.

 

 

Let the Blood-Curdling Begin Again...

 Well, it's been a minute! It's actually been several minutes. Six and a half years, to be exact, since regular posting occurred here on the Blood Curdling Blog of Monster Masks.

Let me begin by saying “Thank You” for all the positive feedback and kind words about the blog during the hiatus. It has been gratifying to know that the content continues to serve the mask collecting community. I regularly see scans from the blog showing up on the interwebs and socials. That is one of the reasons why I started the blog originally, to share resources with the community, and it's amazing to still see them being shared continually. Over the past 6+ years, I have been told by more than a few collectors that they miss the blog, and it has been customary for me to reply by saying, “it will return one day”. That day is today!

So.... why now? Well, keep in mind that I originally stopped investing my time running the blog to instead focus more of my energy on mask-making. This strategy paid off. The last 6 years have been my most productive by far in my 25+ years of mask-making. The Devil's Workshop has become my full-time gig, and I have had the pleasure of starting a new venture with fellow mask maker Aaron Lewis as we launched Rock Bottom Novelties earlier this year. Having firmly established a rhythm and schedule, I feel I can now devote some time once again to the blog. More than anything else, the timing just feels right.

So, this is what I'm hoping to accomplish with the return of the Monster Mask Blog...

1. Share more stuff - I have accumulated a lot of new material to share. LOTS of new catalogs. A big thanks goes out to all those that have given me catalogs to share over the past several years. Contributions make up a good majority of the new material that I have. I can't thank all those who have generously shared scans, or catalogs, with me enough. Over the past several Maskfests, I have been gifted all sorts of amazing catalogs and stacks of monster mask goodness. I look forward to getting it all out there. As always, I am constantly on the hunt for new mask related material and always welcome contributors. Keep them coming you creeps!

2. Revisiting old material – My secondary goal is to revisit, and reorganize, a lot of the old material that is already posted here to make it easier to find. I plan to add better tags and meta data to make the blog more searchable. For example, there are 269 posts on Don Post Studios. It would be easier to find information if I had tags that included Don Post Catalogs, Don Post Ads, Don Post Articles, and so on.

3. New regular topics – I have some ideas of regular topics, such as a Mask of the Month post of some of my favorite masks (Phantom Faves), and plenty of other new regular posts that I want to kick the tires on.

4. Self-promotion – In the past, I was never shy about occasionally announcing a new project that I was working on. Despite the fact that I haven't posted regularly here in over 6 years, the blog still has 10K+ visitors every month. I would love to be able to reach a larger audience and share my work. Especially in 2021, which is the 25^th anniversary of the Devil's Workshop. I've been putting out a number of DW25 special releases and it would be great to post them here and share some stories about the last 25 years of making monsters.

I hope you'll join me on this new chapter of the Monster Mask Blog as we once again explore the history of Monster Masks! Tune in tomorrow for the first catalog scan to be posted here in over six years...

Invasion of the SUPER MASKS has begun

 

Hey Creeps! It's time for some quick shameless self-promotion. This weekend saw the launch of Rock Bottom Novelties, and with it, the birth of a new line of masks, the likes of which have never been witnessed before... SUPER MASKS.

Rock Bottom Novelties (named in part as an homage to Topstone) is the partnership of veteran mask makers Aaron Lewis, and Pete Infelise. The premiere release of Super Masks featured the SUPER SPACE SLIME MONSTER designed and sculpted by Aaron Lewis, and the SUPER ZOMBIE designed by SKINNER and sculpted by Pete Infelise.

SUPER MASKS are produced by the legendary Zagone Studios and are limited to 100 copies each. SUPER MASKS also feature the most epic header cards to ever be stapled on the top of a plastic bag. Check them out at the Rock Bottom Novelties website and shop, and get your claws on what is sure to become an instant collector item. 

 

 

Happy Halloween!

 

Happy Halloween Creeps!!!

Happy New Year Creeps!

Wow, 2017 came and went without any posting here on the ol' Blood Curdling Blog of Monster Masks, but that doesn't mean that this blog is dead. Far from it! Each month, over 1,000 of you rubber-lovin' head hunters still visit catalog posts; and over 12,000 posts from the archive are revisited re-read every month.

When I took time off from the blog, my intention was to spend time more time in the studio, and that has certainly been the case. I was more productive in 2017 than in any year in the past. These days I regularly post what's going on in the studio on the Devil's Workshop Instagram account. Feel free to join me there!

 With that being said, I still do plan to bring back the blog at some point. Over the past 15 months since I've stopped posting, I've continued to build up a pile of mask related materials, and I have MUCH to share. In fact, just last week I was fortunate enough to score a beautiful 1952 Topstone catalog...

 So fear not fellow mask freaks and rubber necks, the blog will indeed return. I don't have a date in mind, as I have a major pinball conversion project to tackle first, but I do indeed intend to bring this blog back when that is complete. I do miss firing up the old scanner and digitizing old ads, catalogs and articles.

In the meantime, enjoy the archives! In addition, enjoy these early months of the calendar year when a flurry of sneak peeks and new releases from mask makers 2018 lineups begin to appear.  Hope to see a bunch of you at Maskfest this year. It's the 10th year for Maskfest and it's primed to be the best ever. Cheers!

The Art of the Halloween Mask

The Art of the Halloween Mask is an exhibit focusing on the art of Halloween Masks throughout the ages. Featuring modern day world class artists in the field of mask production and special effects and a collection of vintage Halloween masks dating back to the 60s. Show opening: Saturday, October 15 at 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM in PDT. Click here for additional info.

Happy Happy Halloween Button Sets

Just a quick bit of shameless self-promotion... earlier this year the Devil's Workshop released a Halloween III inspired button set titled Happy Happy Halloween featuring the classic Don Post Studios Silver Shamrock masks. There are 6 buttons per pack for only $9.99. These are limited to only 100 sets. When they're gone they're gone so get yours today...

Dread Central Article - 10 Awesome Horror Masks

This two page article on Dread Central entitled "10 Awesome Horror Movie Masks Coming This Halloween Season" highlights some of the licensed releases that Trick or Treat Studios has slated for release in 2016...

2016 Death Studios Sneak Peaks

Still a ways to go before resuming regular posting, but in the meantime, here are the Death Studios sneak peek sculptures for the upcoming 2016 line-up. Although these photos have been online since February,  it's been an annual tradition to post pics of the DS sneak peek sculpts here for many years. Plus, it felt good to log into the ol' blog again ;-)