#89: LEGO Monster Fighters - 9461 The Swamp Creature

It's October, I might as well get something Halloween oriented, right? Thankfully LEGO's Monster Fighters line is there to help out. Previously, I picked up the polybagged ghost from the series, but this is my first proper set in the line, and also the cheapest. So half of the set is one of the eponymous monster fighters, a pompadour sporting guy on a swamp buggy. I'm pretty amused that there are two pistols attached to the front of the buggy. Are they extras? Are they part of the vehicle? If a few pistols aren't enough, there is a rocket launcher mounted on each side. There are some smooth slightly domed pieces for the bottom, which help make it appear to not be flat on the ground. It's decent enough, but this isn't the reason I bought the set.

Thanks to the minifigures line, I have a few monsters already, but I didn't have a swamp creature. Fortunately, one is included in the cheapest set from the line, so I didn't have to buy an expensive set I don't have room for. Or I could have just found one on Ebay, like I did the Loki. It comes a bit of scenery. There's some sort of plant, with a fish, and a tiny LEGO frog. On top of the rock there's some weird translucent thing. The swamp creature is pretty cool. His fishy head is given shape by a helmet piece, but underneath the head is fully painted, so that could be an alternate look if you have a bunch of these guys and want to differentiate them a little.

One of the main reasons I wanted the swamp creature was so that I could fill out the monster lineup from The Monster Squad. And here they are. So, we know at least one of these guys has nards.

#79: LEGO Monster Fighters - 30201 Ghost Polybag

Halloween is coming! As with any self respecting holiday, Target has impulse toys in its holiday season. There's a truly bizarre Halloween themed Batman figure, but so far all I've picked up is this Monster Fighters ghost. There's a grandfather clock, but I'm all about getting the ghost minifig without coughing up for one of the larger sets. I had at least one ghost as a kid, and I think it was included with one of the castles. Since getting back into LEGO minifigures, I've been hoping they would release a ghost in one of the blind bagged assortments, but that hasn't happened, and for a dollar more, I get a clock too. The ghost minifig used to have a full LEGO body underneath the sheet, but this version has a block instead of legs, allowing for the ball and chain accessory to be attached. I think that's a cool touch. (Edit: It appears that LEGO ghosts didn't have legs under the sheet until 1997, after which I had stopped collecting. I originally had the ghost from the King's Mountain Fortress set, which did have a block instead of legs.)

Also, it glows in the dark! Alas, this is the only glow in the dark toy in my collection.