I recently met a fellow toy enthusiast at work who has even more vintage toys than I do. It has been fun talking with him about Star Wars and other space toys and looking at pictures of his collection. As he was zooming through his digital picture album to get to other Star Wars pict, he inadvertently stopped on these images:
Its Hugo, the man of a thousand faces! Wow, I had completely forgotten about that toy! It was made by Kenner in the mid 1970's. All of a sudden memories flooded back to me of playing with all of the rubber scars and warts. I remembered the scratchy side burns and hair that was just as messy as my own 8 year old mop. I could even smell that strange glue again that was used to stick the pieces on Hugo's creepy face. I had so much fun with this "puppet". I thought of him as a Halloween toy because most of his "thousand faces" were ugly or scary. After all, half of the pieces were scars, warts, broken noses and vampire teeth! I'm sure I'm not the only one who also attached these pieces to my own face too. Hours of fun without electricity or even batteries.
Why am I making a big deal about Hugo? This toy, these pictures and memories, have reminded me why I started toys2remember.com in the first place. I want to give others opportunities to remember toys that they had. It is easy to remember toys that defined us and the ones that were our favorites. But for most people, there are other toys that they have long forgotten. I want to hear people say "hey, I had that" or "wow, I remember playing with that at my cousin's house" or "I forgot all about that game, that was fun!" Of course I won't really be able to "hear" you say those things, so feel free to comment on the posts. I promise I'll do a better job replying or answering emails than I have in the past. And I promise that I will write regularly again.
To help me with that part, I will now have help. Remember that new friend and coworker I told you about earlier? His name is Tracey Hamilton and he is a great collector of classic toys and of all things Star Wars. Soon, he will be writing a few articles here as well. His posts will have far more information and substance than mine do - he really knows his stuff. He has even been published in Tomart's Action Figure Digest! I know you will love him. Hugo my be the man of a thousand faces, but Tracey is the man of a thousand vintage toys! Between the two of us, we have thousands (or at least hundreds) of toy pictures to show and things to discuss with you.
Back to Hugo: - If you don't remember Hugo, maybe the pictures and description on the back of his box will help you:
Kenner's promo type on the box reads:
HUGO MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES - Easily changed disguises create thousands of pretend friends... Disguises fit on Hugo as well as youngsters. Hugo can be anything his master wants him to be... a villain, a hero, a comic character, or a scary guy. Facial disguises easily adhere with a special non-toxic glue. Hugo is also a hand-held puppet. Enough disguises for over 1000 different combinations.
Set Contents: 13" Hugo complete with cloak, disguises including wigs, moustache, assorted scars, moles, false noses, eye glasses, chins, and non-toxic glue sticks. Pretty weird - and cool!
Ah yes.. I had a buddy who had this toy, and was SO bummed I didn't have one! Looks kinda like "mini me" now that I look at him now!!
Posted by: Darrin | 09/17/2010 at 06:48 PM
Ah yes.. I had a companion who had this toy, and was SO bummed I didn't have one! Looks kind of like "mini me" now that I look at him now!!
Posted by: lance | 01/03/2012 at 12:34 PM
This was one of my favorite toys growing up. I still quote the commercial to this day, which I now have all my friends doing...I need that toy ASAP!!!
Posted by: Carolyn Karn | 02/14/2012 at 01:50 PM
My sister had Hugo and she used to torment me with him. He was so creapy.
Posted by: michele | 07/14/2012 at 06:03 AM