Tat Tuesday.

As a kid the toys I gravitated to were simple action figures, mainly G.I.Joes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and random comic book figures. As such I missed out on a lot of the more interactive/creative toys. Such as the Creepy Crawlers that you see above. I actually thought that the Creepy Crawlers were a 1980's creation but I was wrong. Let's take a look at the surprisingly long and deep history of the Creepy Crawlers.

The Creepy Crawlers as we know it came from a 1964 Mattel toy called the "Thingmaker". The history of the Thingmaker actually goes back to 1963. It was then part of the "Vac-u-form" line but spun off into its own brand. It was an activity toy that allowed children to create semi-solid, rubbery toys. This involved a substance called Plastigoop and die-cast metal molds.

These Thingmakers came in may different themes. This allowed the toy to cross gender boundaries and be a toy for both boys and girls. The themes ran from Fighting Men. Fun Flowers, and Creepy Crawlers. The last of which would become very popular.

The Creepy Crawlers theme came in 1965. It was a simple collection of bug molds. At this point it was just one of many available themes.

The original Thingmakers were discontinued in the early 1970's. It is believed this was due to safety concerns. A new revised version would be released in 1978. The Thingmaker II, as it was called, had many problems.  The new process was slow and did not work as well as the previous versions. This new version is worth mentioning because it brought back the Creepy Crawlers theme.

Remember when I said I thought the Creepy Crawlers were a 80's toy? Well it turns out that the toy skipped that decade in its entirety. Which means that not only was  I wrong, I was amazingly wrong. Anyway, after over a decade of dormancy the Creepy Crawlers brand was renewed by ToyMax in 1992. This toy had to follow much stricter safety standards. As such a light-bulb heater and heat-triggered door was introduced. The idea being, that the door would remain closed until the metal tray had cooled to a safe handling temperature.

Over the next five years a slew of new molds were released, along with modern versions of past non-Creepy Crawler themes. It turned out that Mattel had allowed many of their trademarks to lapse. As such a new Thingmaker, although not under that name, renaissance followed.

The Creepy Crawler line brought many new version of Plastigoop. You could now use Glow in the Dark Plastigoop, Scented Plastigoop, Stretch Plastigoop, Metallic Plastigoop, Color Change Plastigoop and more. The second Creepy Crawler line went on hiatus before ToyMax closed their doors.

The Creepy Crawlers line was strong enough to come back again. This third incarnation was produced by Jakks Pacific. This version included many licensed themes. You could make your own Pokemon, Star Wars, and Hello Kitty Creepy Crawlers. As of this date the Jakks Pacific produced Creepy Crawlers are still available.

You may ask why I remember a toy line that I have absolutely no experience with? Well the truth is that the commercials were great and they had a TV show that I saw a couple of times. That's it. That's all it takes for me to remember something. A good commercial and a cartoon. It doesn't matter that the cartoon was short-lived, lasting just 24 episodes over 2 seasons.

Creepy Crawlers is a toy line that you just can't help but remember. It was so unique that you couldn't help but be interested. Not to mention that it was a toy that let you create more toys. That is every kid's dream. I may have never had one but I love the line none the less. And so do you.

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