Vintage Toy Finder ALERT! If You Collect This Is a MUST-READ!
Anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to collectibles, I’m like a moth to a flame. Especially vintage toys. I, like many of you, grew up in a dysfunctional family circus. When I reached a certain age, my parents saw fit to take my most beloved toys and give them away to younger kids or just trash them completely. I’m still devastated. My childhood was pretty much nil, and I’ve been swimming in chaos ever since.
Once things finally “calmed down” a bit, I began reclaiming these relics of happier times. Damned straight I got an 18″ Kenner Alien, a Stretch X-Ray doll, a Mighty Men and Monster Maker, the Bermuda Triangle board game, etc. I revel in them as few items make me as happy as they do. As a result I always keep my eye out for things, specifically horror related toys I may have missed.
Enter 1967’s Ka-Bala, the most insane and intricate Ouija board I’ve ever seen. I don’t use Ouijas, but once I saw this, it was love at first shiver. The problem with collecting toys like this is that rarely can you find them complete. For Christmas Debi tracked down Ka-Bala for me, BUT we were missing the instructions. There’s not much sense in playing or having a board game if you don’t know said rules.
I scoured the Internet but only came up with a few sites that were charging astronomical prices for replacement parts and/or instructions. It was ludicrous. So I busted out my Creepy resources and asked our resident board game loony David Hahn, who writes Last Meeple Standing for us, for some help. Within days he and his wondrous wife, Tiffany (who also works with David on Meeple), led me to a site called Lost and Found Vintage Toys maintained by Brenda Roudabush.
Brenda, who says she has “gotten to play happiness broker several times reuniting vintage kids with their old long lost toys,” got right to work and sent me some amazing scans of the instructions and more.
After piquing my interest with her knowledge of such things, I can’t recommend her more. If you’re a collector, and chances are very good that you are because, well you’re reading this, make sure to check out the site listed above. It’s like an encyclopedia of happiness! Enjoy, and tell her Creepy sent ya!
For even more fun check out my other go-to toy site, Raymond Castile’s Gallery of Monster Toys. Quick trivia re Ray… He’s the spitting image of Coffin Joe and played young Zé do Caixão in José Mojica Marins’ 2008 film Embodiment of Evil. How friggin’ cool is that? It’s a small and sometimes wonderful world, I tell ya!
Categorized:Horror Gaming Last Toys on the Left News
