This morning is looking good. I'm still on holiday and Film4 are showing 20 Million Miles To Earth on TV at 11am. Monsters for breakfast, what a treat! Like getting a cereal killer in your conflakes!
20 Million Miles to Earth is a classic 1957 US monster movie about a dinosaur-like creature called the Ymir, who comes to Earth as a stowaway on a US rocket, which crash lands off the coast of Sicily. Much of the action involves Ymir wrecking Rome! An iconic flick displaying the stop-motion genius of Ray Harryhausen, what's not to like?
The rocket itself vaguely resembles Project SWORD's toy Re-Entry Task Force 2 both pictured below [US Tarheel version of TF2]. It was a combination of the V2 and NASA designs [Ray's Official Site].
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Consulting my Collecting Monsters of Film and TV book by Dana Cain, the chapter on 20,000 Miles To Earth has roughly 15 collectables of note including models but sadly no toys. The most valuable collectable is listed as Billiken's 1980's resin model of Ymir valued at $650.
Ebay
I'm surprised their are no Ymir toys. Even the prolific and brilliant US Palmer 3 inch monsters range from the 60's didn't include the Venusian terror despite having Harryhausen's similar Cyclops from the 7th Voyage of Sinbad [1958]. Fellow palmer monsters included King Kong, the Creature, IT [Came from Outer Space] and my personal favourite, Konga. Cyclops is pictured third from the right.
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Incidentally, I nearly owned some Palmer monsters. When I set up my vintage toy business, Mad About Monsters, in 2006, I bought a set on Ebay from the US intending them to be a focal point on my stall at toy fairs.
Alas, my Palmers never arrived, mislaid in the mail and gone to the lost world where all missing monsters go. I have remained Palmerless ever since.
Although unconfirmed, a possible Ymir featured in the 1980's Space Creatures line of eight 2 inch soft rubber monsters. Unlike Palmer's range, Diener's figures were more difficult to identify and their names only added to the mystery. The Ymir wannabe was named Lizard Man and is the yellow chappie below.
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It is possible to see the influence of Harryhausen's Venusian 'lizard man' in other toys too. Colourform's Collosus Rex [below left] from their magnificent Outer Space Men springs to mind. I'll have to check creator Mel Birnkrant's brilliant website for its true origins.
More recently Trendmaster's Space Alien Hunter from the early 1990's [below right] appeared as an Ymir/ ALIEN mash-up and with it's skull-firing tail [yes, that's right!] a dash of Predator thrown in for good measure!
saw a whole tower of these boxed monsters stacked against a wall in a cheapo toy shop in Wakefield during the mid-Nineties. It remains yet another toy I walked past and didn't buy despite it's splash-banner shouting 'Bye Me' [or was it 'Try Me']!
figure archive/ ebay
One more monster with definite Ymirness is Harryhausen's other large lizard, the Kraken, from Clash of the Titans. Mattel released their Kraken as part of its excellent Clash toy range from 1980.
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Last but not least is an Ymir with SWORD connections. We have to go back to the year of the film's original release in 1957, when Amazing Stories published a tie-in novelisation. The fabulous cover was illustrated by no less than Ed Valigursky, whose art went on to inspire Project SWORD's Booster Rocket and the SpaceX MEV2. Cool or what!
Does anyone else like 20 Million Miles to Earth and have any collectables?
Oops, I boobed in the Palmer monsters bit. They didn't make a Konga. I meant Gorgo! Grrrrr!
ReplyDeleteI''ve set the V+ to record it , so I'll be watching it when I get in.
ReplyDeleteThe first time i heard about this film was in 1970, reading the listing in tv times i saw it was on at 10.30. Unfortunately,Ted Heath, the prime munister decreed that power cuts were in place and tv went iff at 10! Damn conservatives!
ReplyDeleteX Plus made 2 nice poseable figures about 10 years ago.One was a 12 inch size in a window box and one was about 8 inches and was sold loose with a tag.there was also a number of small resin figurines including Mr. Ymir on the operating table.I'll also throw in that there is a Harryhausen DVD gift box that includes a Ymir figurine that looks a bit like that Biliken model.Lastly I've seen a 9 inch bagged figure made by a merger of 2 Japanese companies;Pilot Ace and Beagle.I've also been told that Pilot Ace is now defunct,so that one may be hard to find.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Ymir from when I first saw a picture of him in my Horror Movie book as a kid (1970ish) but it was a long time until I actually got to see the film.
ReplyDeleteI can remember making lots of forked tails out of Plasticine too and grafting them on to several of my toy figures like my king kong.
I also think that the monster from Cloverfield had a bit of the look of the Ymir about him, in the face.
Definately Ed, CloveYmir! Especially the shot near the end where Clover is standing over the cameraman in the park prior to cleaning its teeth with him.
ReplyDeletePlasticene fork tails? You were a budding Harryhausen Ed. Do any photos survive of your creations?
Its interesting what you say about only seeing the film ages later. When were all these monster films actually on? they must have been rated X in those days, which meant late night airing surely. We must have been allowed to stay up to watch Appointment with Fear or maybe I was older than I remember. How did we manage to see so many fantastic B-movies on TV when there were only 3 channels in the UK? Films must have been a higher percentage of the output on those channels than they are now maybe. Wish my memory was better. Think I need hypnotism!
Really interesting stuff Brian. I had no idea that so many Ymirs were made later on. A 12 inch Ymir must be very impressive. Are any of them in your collection?
ReplyDeleteNo,but I bought that Diener figure at a flea market last year.I actually have that Trendmaster Alien,but it doesn't light up because the batteries corroded.It still is cool looking,and a heavy rubber toy to boot!
ReplyDeleteI have one by Furuta, like this http://tinyurl.com/bsk2clh really nicely made. They also do the Robot from 'Earth vs the Flying Saucers' and the octopus from 'It Came from Beneath the Sea'
ReplyDeleteExcellent Liam! If you have any piccies of your collectables they're always welcome here on the blog. Email me on moonzero@moonzero.freeserve.co.uk
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