Monster Mash-Ups

Over the last year or so I have become somewhat obsessed with finding three things that I used to collect, with even greater obsession, when I was a kid. Two I have finally found, and one I have found no evidence of its existence. A little help here, por favor?

First, the other two:

Sometime in the mid 1970's or so, 7-Eleven came out with a series of Slurpee cups with monsters, both mythical and crytozoological, rendered in fantastic color illustrations on one side and a description of the beastie's lore on the other. Monster Cups (like the three samples on this guy's Flickr) were the all-consuming preoccupation of my best friend Sheryl and myself, racing down to the 7-Eleven in Great Bridge on the corner of Battlefield Boulevard and Old Drive (still there!) every week to get a new Slurpee with hopefully a new monster cup to wet our collective Underoos over. If we weren't busy playing Happy Days in her bedroom (she was always Pinky Tuscadero and I was always Leather Tuscadero) she was making me draw each and every monster on our cups, coloring them all the way down to the tiniest detail, so that she could have them to hang on her wall. I guess you could say that the Monster Cups are what taught me better hone my nascent skills as an artist, although I was already pretty darn sucked into monsters at an even earlier age. But few memories of my early childhood are as vivid as Sheryl in her pink jacket (Pinky) standing over me watching raptly as I in my black jacket (Leather) lay across her floor trying to sketch The Monster Of The Moors.

A nice collection of the cups. If I remember correctly, that Swamp Creature cup was an urban legend from the Great Dismal Swamp, according to what I read on the back of the cup. Wow like, almost literally Big Lizard In My Backyard!

Another great collection of the Monster Cups, including Monster Of The Moors and my favorite, The Hydra. And close ups to really appreciate the wonderful detail that went into the art. Also one photo to show how the description reads on the back.

Okay, now on to Item #2...

Back in the 1960's, comic artist Basil Wolverton along with painter Norman Saunders collaborated on a series of stickers commonly remembered as Ugly Stickers. Hideous monstrosities with common everyday English names, like Mike and Jim and Sally and Carol (I think I saw that movie. Nevermind).

Well, in 1979 Topps trading card company re-released the Ugly Stickers as "puffy" stickers, sold in strips of three with a stick of bland, cardboard-like pink gum, and renamed them Monstickers. And 1979 will be remembered as The Year Melissa Went Apeshit For Monstickers, snapping them up at the very same 7-Eleven -- or if I was lucky, my dad would come home after work with piles of Monsticker packages for me -- and I had every available blank space on my 6th grade binder book covered with every single one I could track down. All the kids who rode my bus to school would pass my binder around to look at the stickers, running their hands over the puffy textured cover, inside and out. And I'm still not certain but I'm convinced that Ricky Roberson stole one of the stickers of the book, because when I got it back from him after the bus ride I noticed an empty space where one once was. And I don't even think it was a "Ricky" sticker, either. I want to think that there was a "Melissa" sticker but I don't remember. I do remember looking for one. I couldn't wait to see what Basil thought somebody with my name might look like. Needless to say I've been a fan of Wolverton ever since.

Alright, now here is where I need help. And no, this time there are no monsters involved....

Does anybody remember back around, oh 1983, when either Coke or Pepsi ran a contest where you collected metal bottle caps with NFL and AFL football helmets inside? Something like if you collected all from one league, or all of them together, you won something or other, I don't remember. Actually I don't even remember really caring what I won after awhile -- I just grew obsessed with collecting bottle caps with football helmets inside. At first I thought "Well I'll toss them in a drawer as a get them and maybe I'll win some big dumb sumthin'-sumthin'." but over time I began to take them out of my desk drawer and line them up across my desk, studying each helmet, polishing each cap, making sure that they weren't bent too out of shape from the bottle opener. And it got to where, like the Monster Cups, I drew each helmet on construction paper, colored them vividly, and taped them to the wall around my bedroom door frame. I don't think the pictures of the helmet were in color, and me not knowing a thing about football my father helped me color in the helmets as they were supposed to look.

Anyway, I've searched the web and have found nothing about this promotion. I'm pretty sure it was 1983 because I do remember being 14 years old at the time, due to other events that were occurring in my life around the same time. And I'm pretty sure that it was a soda promotion, because my father never really drank much beer and I never drank fruit juices from bottles back then. Joe doesn't remember this promotion either, and he's the big football fanatic.

Anything you come across to prove that I'm not nuts and didn't dream the whole thing would be greatly appreciated.

And no, the collector's virus has never worked its way out of my system.

EDIT: A friend of mine posted my question on the forums at salutetosoda.com and got an answer --

"I think you are talking about the Pepsi NFL Sweepstakes caps from Pepsi. The objective was to collect all 14 AFC helmets, or all 14 NFC helmets, and win $1000. The year sounds about right."

If anybody can find more info, or better yet pictures of said caps, please let me know!