Spotted this on ebay

Tuzenbach said:
Though at the time I was too young to care, I'll ask the question now:

Which came first, the 1E Monster Manual or these plastic figures?!
Interestingly enough, it was the plastic figures. Apparently, a whole bunch of D&D's "iconic" creatures were actaully designed by some anonymous Hong Kong toy sculptor back in the '70s. It seems likely that these specific figures aren't the exactly the same series that Gygax was playing with--the lack of the tail paddles on the rust monster is evidence--but they're probably based on the same models.

Does anyone know exactly which critters were based off these toys? We've got a rust monster and a bullette in this eBay set, pawsplay mentioned umber hulks, and I believe owl bears were also plastic figures. What about otyughs, beholders, aboleths, and other weird aberrations?

Man, I would love to know more about the original source of those figures' concepts. I mean, were theyjust toys, or was there some obscure monster movie or comic book with something that looked like a rust monster in it?
 

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