It's sad, but true. Monster In My Pocket jumped the shark. When the line started, it was somewhat educational - the monsters came from all sorts of traditions and mythologies, ranging from fairly well-known monsters (like Charon) to obscure ones (like Charun). But then, after Series 4, they ditched the monster idea entirely. There doesn't seem to be any concrete intel on this, but it was likely because of controversy - they kept making figures of hindu deities as monsters, and getting flak for it. But either way, Series 5, the Super Creepies, was the first time Monster In My Pocket betrayed its core theme.
Okay, and now that we've registered out full complaints, it's time to take a step back. Just as with the Space Aliens, we should ask how are these figures AS TOYS? The Super Creepies are pun bugs. Although the series directly after this one was me up of ordinary dinosaurs and designed to be pseudo-educational, these... these are puns. Sure, the various arthropods are based on actual creatures, but all the sculpts are visual puns. The material is harder rubber than previous MIMPs, but not as hard as some of the ones afterward. It has a tendency to get tacky when stored, but "dries" out with minimal exposure to air. The figures also hold their paint reasonably well, though there will be some wear and tear.
They come in five colors - neon orange, neon red, neon yellow, neon green, and ordinary green. Each figure comes in between two and four colors, depending on the sculpt, and sometimes there are variations in the painted details. There are twenty-four figures total, with point totals ranging from 50 to 200, with the six spiders reaching 200 points. Sound good? Let's take a look at the figures!
TARANTULA
Tarantulas are hairy, fuzzy creatures, and that's why this one has a hipster mustache. No, seriously. Hipsters may not have been around in 1993 or so, but that facial hair definitely matches.
BLACK WIDOW
First things' first, this figure has a great sillhouette. It's shaped just like a real black widow, enought hat you can guess what spider it's meant to be even when in neon red, and without an hourglass! She has a fairly human face, complete with lipstick for the pun (because "widow" means "woman," right?). And speaking of the black widow hourglass, it's visible on her underside, framing her points and copyright information.
Wow, that is one lazy hourglass. Honestly, even though it'd be the wrong side of the abdomen, it would have been fine to stick a stylized hourglass on top of the figure.
JUMPING SPIDER
Jumping spiders are awesome. They're intelligent, friendly, curious, and cute! You should love them. Anyway, this figure is pretty much an accurate jumping spider, only with the addition of a jet pack. I like it, but if you're an arachnophobe...
WOLF SPIDER
Speakingof arachnophobia, the wolf spider is one of the better puns in this series. He's also well-sculpted, with particularly good legs. No, really, they're positioned nicely. The wolf face looks kind of like a rat from certain angles, though.
TURRET SPIDER
His pedipalps look to omuch like his legs, and thus this tanklike spider has ten legs. And tank treads just under his belly. That said, I can't compliment a tank-headed spider enough.
CRAB SPIDER
He's pretty much more a crab than a spider, but the figure is actually shaped like a real crab spider - nice detail! It's the least spidery of the six spiders, which might help you arachnophobes out there.
SOLDIER BEETLE
The soldier beetle has an armored visor and twin cannons, essentially turning him into a tank - amusing, since there is an armord bug later with arguably less protection.
SOLDIER FLY
With a Vietnam-era helmet (nobody cared about Desert Storm yet) and two guns, the Soldier Beetle is loaded for bear!
ROBBER FLY
I think you can figure out how the robber fly lives up to his name.
ARMORED COCKROACH
He's not as heavily-armored as some of the figures in this line, but the Armored Cockroach has kind of a medieval theme, and even some surprisingly decent posing - his head is at a jaunty angle, for example.
VAMPIRE LEAF HOPPER
Although he doesn't look much like a leaf hopper, the Vampire Leaf Hopper's certaily got fangs, as wella s asome amusingly halloweeny designs on his wings.
LIGHTNING BUG
Aside from the lightning pattern on his back, this bug is also shaped a little like a battery, complete with a plug!
EASTERN TOE BITER
One of the color schemes gives this a brown toe, which is close enough to skin tone. It's also the size of a big toe, which is gloriously gruesome.
STINK BUG
He wears a gas mask, and... uh, is that a pile of poop on this bug's back? Let's not dwell on this too much.
ONE-EYED JACK
Search as I must, I cannot find an actual insect called a "One-Eyed Jack." Is it a kind of wasp?
CLUBTAIL DRAGONFLY
Not only does he have a mace, but the clubtail dragonfly has a knight's helmet, too!
DOG-FACED BUTTERFLY
It's a little hard to pick up from a photo, but this is a rough, rough, one-eyed bulldog with tally marks, bullet holes, and tattoos etched into his wings! Yeah, and you thought butterflies were delicate wusses.
HORNTAIL MOTH
It's got horns on both ends, and a rather unique shape for this line. It's pretty nicely made, at that. Odd how the two horns in front are more visible than the one on its tail, though.
SCARFACE SCORPION
This is another case where I can't find an actual "Scarface Scorpion," though this one certainly looks fierce!
MEXICAN BED BUG
Oh ha ha ha ha a pun. This one is pretty creatively-made, even with a "Mexican" pattern on the bedspread.
LADYBUG
For some insane reason, she doesn't appear in red. Green, yes. Orange, yes. But not red, the sole color of ladybugs.
HORSEFLY
Oh ha ha ha ha ha another pun actually, this is one of my favorite figures.
CAVE CRICKET
He's holding his club at a very weird angle, though the pun still works overall.
HUNCHBACK BEETLE
And finally, we've got this dude, who has more attitude in his face than... uh, pretend I put something witty here. Point is, the hunchback beetle has tons of personality.
So, in conclusion... well, there you go. Love 'em or hate 'em, the Super Creepies are actually kinda creative at times. And if you can ignore the end of traditional MIMP, they are fairly cool figures. Or at least amusing ones!
