Hey, Hey -- It's the Monkees Collectibles! by Linda Rosenkrantz on Creators.com

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Hey, Hey -- It's the Monkees Collectibles!

When "The Monkees" made its debut on NBC on Sept. 12, 1966, cynical critics dubbed them the "Pre-Fab Four" and said the group "looked like the Beatles run through a Xerox machine."

And it cannot be denied, there were certain intentional similarities: four lads with what was then considered long hair, a name that was the misspelling of a zoological species and a style inspired by the sped-up and slow-motion camera tricks seen in the films "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!"

And the gimmick worked. By early 1967, Monkees records were outselling the Beatles, the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones combined.

The Monkees were manufactured by producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, who had placed an ad in Daily Variety on Sept. 8, 1965 for "Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in new TV series ... Running parts for 4 insane boys, Age 17 -21 ... Have courage to work."

All in all, 437 applicants auditioned, including Stephen Stills — it has long been rumored that Charles Manson was among them, but he happened to be in prison at the time — and outside the age demographic. The winning foursome were former child star (he had starred in the TV show "Circus Boy" under the name Mickey Braddock) Micky Dolenz, Britisher Davy Jones, who had played the Artful Dodger in "Oliver" on Broadway, Greenwich Village folkie Peter Tork and neophyte Mike Nesmith — whose mother, coincidentally, was the inventor of White Out). Each had a personality vaguely related to one of the Beatles.

Using their own names, the boys appeared in mod wardrobes — bell bottoms and flowered shirts — and drove around in their red Monkee-mobile (a customized Pontiac GTO). For two years, they romped, mugged and sang (they actually lip-synched on the show) and were an enormous hit with young audiences. The show won Emmys and surprisingly positive reviews, with the New York Times calling the boys "the Marx Brothers in adolescence."

Their first record release, "Last Train to Clarksville," zoomed to the top of the pop charts, and their next single, "I'm a Believer," written by Neil Diamond, sold 10 million copies thanks to the show and was at the top of the charts for 10 straight weeks.

By 1967, the quartet won a hard-fought fight to perform their own music, revolting against rumors that they weren't capable of singing on their own.

Monkeemania had hit, and with it came a flood of merchandise, including lunchboxes, games, wool hats, underwear, pin-back buttons, posters, paint-by-number sets and cars. And these artifacts are as popular as ever with their old fans. Among the most collectible: The 1967 Monkee-Mobile enameled battery-operated musical friction car in bright red with colorful plastic half figures of the Monkees mounted in the seats, made in Japan; 10-inch talking Monkees hand puppets, featuring a molded vinyl head of each Monkee — several phrases are uttered when the voice mechanism is operated by a string; a 20-inch plastic Monkee guitar made by Mattel in 1966; a 1967 vinyl lunchbox marketed by King-Seeley Thermos and designed by Nick LoBianco, who also was the designer of the guitar logo for the group; and a set of 44 Donruss Monkees trading cards, 1966, featuring sepia-toned photos of the lads with facsimile autographs.

But in 1968, having been shot down by the enormous popularity of its competitor on another network, "Gunsmoke," the show was dropped after only two years, and their one and only movie, "Head," co-written by Jack Nicholson, was a disastrous flop, as was a failed TV special titled "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee." But the Monkees have lived on through reruns and a later renaissance of the original shows on MTV — as well, of course, as in the undying loyalty of collectors.

Linda Rosenkrantz has edited Auction magazine and authored 18 books, most recently "Beyond Ava & Aidan: The Enlightened Guide to Naming your Baby" (St. Martin's Press). Visit her baby names website at http://nameberry.com. She cannot answer letters personally. To find out more about Linda Rosenkrantz and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com