Creepy Crawlers

Creepy Crawlers is the best-known name associated with an activity toy made by Mattel beginning in 1964. Another name for the toy is "Thingmaker".

A Thingmaker toy consists of a series of die-cast metal molds resembling various bug-like creatures, into which is poured a liquid chemical substance called Plastigoop, which comes in assorted colors. The mold is then heated atop an open-face electric hot plate oven. The Plastigoop is cured by the heat, and when cooled, is removed from the mold, forming semi-solid, rubbery replicas.

The concept of the Thingmaker was actually introduced in 1963, as part of Mattel's "Vac-U-Maker" set. This omnibus toy combined the new molds and Plastigoop technology with the existing "Vac-u-form" machine, which molded simple sculptures by heating thin sheets of plastic, then using a vacuum pump to form the softened plastic over hard plastic forms. Following this introduction period, the Thingmaker portion was spun off as a separate set, and the "Creepy Crawlers" line began in earnest.

Mattel produced many Thingmaker sets as follow-ups to the original "Creepy Crawlers" throughout the 1960s, utilizing a variety of themes, aimed at both boys and girls.

Mattel packaged molds from various sets to be sold separately, and also combined molds into larger omnibus editions, encompassing several themes into one set, under names such as "Triple Thingmaker", "Super Thingmaker", or even "Every Thingmaker". There were also several exclusive single mold sets, such as Superman and Tarzan, and original Mattel concepts like Squirtles and Gangly Danglies.