If Speclatron’s Dethlor is the holy grail figure of MotU-KOs, then one particular playset is its castle. Eco’s Monster Castle! Probably the ultimate, and most delicate Castle Grayskull knock-off that you will find. Every MotU-KOllector knows what it is, but only a few have ever seen one in the flesh. Fewer have ever touched one, and only the fewest can call an Eco Monster Castle playset their own. From all MotU-KO playsets that verifiably exist, this one is the rarest, and most expensive one.

Boxed Monster Castle sample, courtesy of fellow KOllector Mario “Spida” Garay.

I can remember the time when I bought my first Monster Castle (MC) as a collector about six years ago, for around 40 Euro. Shipped! I thougt 40 Euro was relatively expensive for what I got. I can also remember how I passed on a boxed sample at the Grayskull Convention in Germany one year later, in 2012. The seller was asking 100 Euro, which I thought was overpriced. I had no clue what was coming next! Three years ago, you could pick up a complete castle for 150 to 250 Euro, loose. Nowadays you need deeper pockets. 400 Euro for a loose, complete one can be considered a “steal”. I’ve seen loose ones selling for 700 and more. Boxed ones almost never show up. But the last one I know of sold for 1.200 USD in the Knock-Off Collectors Trading Outpost group on Facebook. It’s crazy what people are willing to pay for the “German” interpretation of Castle Grayskull.

Wait, did I just say “German”? Yes! MC was manufactured by Eberlein & Co., abbreviated Eco, in Nuremberg, West-Germany. Not China, or Hong Kong, as you would probably think. The company was founded in 1938, and focused on plastic thermoforming in the 60s. They produced all kinds of plasticly things you need or don’t need in life. Store displays (!), blister packs, roof luggage racks, and also toys. Other famous items among KOllectors are their Moon, and Volcano Plates. Eberlein & Co. still exist, but they seem to have moved out of the toy business years ago.

MC is often considered the official Sungold Galaxy Warriors playset. Mostly because the castle was advertised along with Galaxy Warriors figures on the original box it came in. I was actually trying to get more background info on this subject from Eco. But for some reason they’re not answering my emails. Probably because they’ve been flooded with inquiries from nerds like me already, ha! (“Ach! Schon wieder einer von diesen Spinnern!” *delete message*.) Anyway, let’s assume the obvious. Very likely Eco showed Sungold figures on their packaging because they needed a safe way to advertise MC as a 5.5" fantasy action figure compatible playset, and as a cheap alternative to the MotU originals. Simple as that! Other than Mattel, Sungold were unlikely to give Eco any trouble regarding copyright. Using MotU knock-off figures on their packaging was a safe alternative to the “real thing”! Maybe Eco even had a deal with Sungold. Maybe it was sort of an “official” third-party playset for the Galaxy Warriors line. We’ll probably never know for sure.

Monster Castle with unassembled hand, from my private KOllection.

Both Monster Castle versions (regular to the left, lite-up version to the right), on display with Eco’s Volcano Plates. From my private collection.

If you look close at the MC box, where the Galaxy Warriors figures are pictured, there’s one particularly striking detail. One figure (Ygg) is holding the hellbard from the Castle Grayskull playset in its hand. How did it get there? Like John Coats has mentioned on his Galaxy Warriors blog, a possible explanation is that Eco (or whoever designed MC, and snapped the promo pic) had purchased a Grayskull for inspirational reasons. Its weapon lot eventually got mixed up with the bunch of Galaxy Warriors.

I’ve also been wondering where Eco got the inspiration for that distinctive giant monster hand from. Also that nightmarish lovedoll-face keeps fascinating me. The combination is just too brilliant. What instantly came to my mind were classic 60s toys from Japan and Hong Kong, like the Creeping Crawling Hand, Frankenstein’s Hand, or the Coffin Bank.

“Frankenstein’s Hand” coin bank, made by Normura Toys (Japan) in the 1960s. Pic courtesy of http://vintageToyz.com.

The Coffin Bank, first made by Yonezawa Toys (Japan) in the 1950s. Pic courtesy of http://horrorpedia.com.

And that MC face? Well, a couple of months back I watched some classic Japanese kaiju flicks from my bucket list, and there it was! Daimajin, the Monster of Terror! A trilogy of Japanese cult movies from the 1960s, about a giant stone samurai monster, “protecting” a small village and its residents against an evil warlord. Daimajin’s face bears alot of resemblance to the MC face indeed. Also the colors are similar. I assume the blinking eye and o-shaped mouth were added for two reasons. 1.) to add the popular image of the hungry ghost, and 2.) to conceal the obvious. It’s quite possible that the designer of Monster Castle was intentionally mimicking Daimajin, but didn’t want it to look exactly the same, to once more avoid copyright issues for Eco. I don’t think that the designer was German by the way. The fabrication of the castle took place in Germany, yes. But the true creator must have been from Asia. Not directly from Japan, but from a neighboring culture area that was more familiar with the concept of Japanese horror toys, and the Daimajin movies. I’d say the design of Monster Castle originated in the same area where those numerous Coffin Bank knock-offs and bootlegs were coming from. Hong Kong, the knock-off Mekka!





A MotU-KO playset, designed by some cheap hired artist in Hong Kong, and eventually produced in Germany, that’s definitely uncommon. But despite the design’s possible origin, MC was distributed within the German market and its neighboring countries only. It was never released overseas. This also explains the playset’s rarity. Besides its limited, local distribution, the castle’s fragility is another explanation. Simply not many units have survived the 80s. Not to speak of boxed ones. To be honest with you guys that have never seen, and don’t own a Monster Castle in the flesh, it’s actually the thinnest piece of plastic junk that you can imagine. Sad but true, the quality of this gem is complete shit! It looks, and feels like a vacuum pulled store display, but certainly not like a real 5.5 playset. But think about it, maybe it was intended as a third-party store display in the beginning, to promote Galaxy Warriors and other 5.5 action figures in toy stores! Probably designed, and sculpted by the same guy(s) in Hong Kong who also had created Sungold’s Galaxy Warriors! Then Eco decided to give it a real packaging, and turn it into a buyable consumer product.

My first Monster Castle, purchased back in 2011, insta-buy on eBay for 40€ shipped!



Well, a thin piece of vacuumed plastic “Made in West-Germany” seems to be one thing. A playable alternative to Castle Grayskull made in the same country is another. Monster Castle is what it is, because the costs of a real 5.5 playset “Made in Germany” would have been way too high. It seems like in this case the much praised German quality did not prevail!

Both Monster Castle versions on display with Underworld Warriors and Combo figures. Pic from my private collection.

Due to its poor quality, and strange look, I can imagine that back in the 80s Eco’s Monster Castle wasn’t a hit at all. Which might explain why the even rarer lite-up eye version of the castle exists. Eco were simply trying to pimp up a bad selling product with as less effort as possible. There’s also rumors that some castles came with a movable monster hand. A hand that’s not just hanging there, but that could be moved from the back. None of the castles that I’ve owned (it’s been four so far), and none of the ones that I’ve seen had this gadget, though. Even not the boxed ones.

As much as I’m digging the design and concept of Eco’s creation, its quality is just disappointing. But only if you see it as what it not really is, a playset. If you look at it as what it really looks and feels like, a rare and fragile store display, it’s actually cool. Extremely cool. This still doesn’t justify the crazy prices it’s going for, but hey - that’s just my opinion, dude. Eco’s Monster Castle looks sick, super weird, and otherworldish. It’s a great addition to every MotU-KOllection, and every MotU-KOllector wants, and should have one. The only problem is that it’s extremely hard to find. I’d say even harder than all Speclatron figures combined. In a situation like this it’s worth every penny that KOllectors are willing to pay for it. Period.

But still, if Eco would just answer my emails, and see what the market is like today. Oh boy! They wouldn’t believe how one kid’s trash from 30 years ago can turn into a grown-up man’s treasure.