Hot Rod Herman And The Rest Of ‘The Munsters’ Figures Roll Out At Super7

Welcome to the table,

Between 1943 and 1945, after the idea of a family of comical monsters was first suggested to Universal Studios by Looney Tune animator Bob Clampett, The Munsters was being developed as a cartoon series. After some back and forth with executives, the series shifted from being an animated offering to being a live-action pilot titled My Fair Munster and was filmed in color for MCA Television for Columbia Broadcasting System. For the pilot, Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis were the first to be cast, as they had recently completed the series Car 54, Where Are You? and had really good chemistry together.

If you ask my editor Brendan, he will tell you that Officer Francis Muldoon was actually a victim of grave robbers and his body, after being laid to rest, was cobbled back together and brought back to un-life as Herman Munster. I’m not going to argue with him. That is an adorable bit of headcanon from his childhood, and we all need those things to keep us going.

Beverly Owen was signed to play Marilyn Munster, Joan Marshall was cast as Herman’s wife Phoebe, and “Happy” Nate Derman was cast as Eddie. A second pilot was ordered in April 1964 with Yvonne De Carlo replacing Marshall, and the character renamed Lily.

On the heels of the first set, this second set of Super7 ReAction figures features the remaining two members of The Munster family as well as Herman Munster in his “Hot Rod Herman” outfit.

This figure looks fantastic, even though Marilyn Munster was considered homely by the other members of the Munster family. Marilyn comes with a skull-adorned book accessory to complete her screen ready sculpt.

The youngest of the Munster family, Eddie Munster comes rendered in brilliant grey tones and packed with his favorite Wolfman doll, Woof Woof.

Now Hot Rod Herman, who as Grandpa said looks like a 150-year-old punk, is from a very special episode of The Munsters that is worth talking about. If you have not seen the episode Eddie Munster tells his friend Sandy Baylor that his dad Herman can best Mr. Baylor, a professional racecar driver, at the Mockingbird Heights drag strip.

After Lily laughs at the idea, Herman’s ego gets the better of him and he agrees to race. Herman ends up losing the Munster’s Koach, the family’s stylized car, on a bet with Mr. Baylor. Determined to win it back, Grandpa Munster constructs his own roadster, the Drag-u-la, to beat Mr. Baylor at his own game and win back the family’s beloved Koach. Even though Mr. Baylor tries to sabotage the Drag-u-la at the race, Grandpa still wins.

It’s a very simple plot, but as a kid, it came off like a live-action wacky race when I saw it. These stylized cars raced by monsters were zooming around for the full episode and it was honestly some of the most fun I had watching cars on television as a kid.

You can purchase each of these ReAction figures on the Super7 site or score them all at this link.

Until next time, “I’m not going to help, because nobody asked me to help!”