Beetlejuice – Kenner (1989-1990)

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Beetlejuice launched on the big screen in 1988 and became an instant cult classic. With a bit of an adult theme, there was limited merchandising and no toy lines launched for the movie. So in the following year, Kenner launched a Beetlejuice toy line that was based on the movie (more of less) with a splash of the new animated series mixed in. The cartoon launched in 1989 and ran until 1991, and it became a big hit with young audiences. Kenner’s new toy line tried to capitalize on that success and still pay homage to the original movie.

For more information about Series One from Kenner’s Beetlejuice line, see bottom of the page for a complete summary.

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Adam Maitland the Headless Ghost (With Creepy Crawler)

Market Value:
Carded $45 – $65
Loose $20 – $30

Adam Maitland the Headless Ghost (With Creepy Crawler)
Accessories: Beakface Mask, Creepy Crawler
Years Released: 1989
Scarcity Factor: Easily found on the secondary market
Notes: Adam’s head can be removed by raising his right arm and then watching it slide down his arm. Then the figure can hold his own head in his hand, just like in the movie. Adam can wear the Beakface Mask over his regular head when its in place. He also comes with a Creepy Crawler, that can attach to his arm.

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Harry the Haunted Hunter (With Terrible Tarantula)

Market Value:
Carded $35 – $55
Loose $15 – $25

Harry the Haunted Hunter (With Terrible Tarantula)
Accessories: Hunting Rifle, Terrible Tarantula
Years Released: 1989
Scarcity Factor: Moderately easy to find
Notes: Everyone remembers Harry the Haunted Hunter from the famous waiting room scene in the Beetlejuice movie, and now you can re-create your own scene. Remove Harry’s regular head to reveal his Shrunken Version underneath. Work the lever on his back to raiser and lower the Shrunken Head. Harry comes with his hunting rifle, which he holds in his left hand, and the Terrible Tarantula.

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Otho the Obnoxious (With Loathsome Lizard)

Market Value:
Carded $32 – $47
Loose $15 – $25

Otho the Obnoxious (With Loathsome Lizard)
Accessories: Loathsome Lizard
Years Released: 1989
Scarcity Factor: Moderately easy to find
Notes: Otho should never have messed with the dark arts by conducting a seance at the end of the movie, and his punishment was having to wear a light blue leisure suit! To begin Otho’s action feature, remove his normal head to reveal his “Scared Head Version”. Then push down on his body to raise the Scare Head upward. Otho also comes with the Loathsome Lizard, who fits onto his arm.

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Shish Kebab Beetlejuice (With Scary Skewers)

Market Value:
Carded $32 – $47
Loose $15 – $25

Shish Kebab Beetlejuice (With Scary Skewers)
Accessories: Yellow Scary Skewers x 5, Red Scary Skewers x 5
Years Released: 1989
Scarcity Factor: Moderately easy to find
Notes: There are several versions of Beetlejuice in this line, and Shish Kebab Beetlejuice is a fun one. For his action feature, remove his Normal Beetlejuice head to reveal an eerie eyeball underneath. Beetlejuice also comes with five yellow and five red skewers that can be inserted through the front or back of his pre-designed slots to Shish Kebab poor old Beetlejuice.

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Showtime Beetlejuice (With Rotten Rattler)

Market Value:
Carded $35 – $55
Loose $15 – $25

Showtime Beetlejuice (With Rotten Rattler)
Accessories: Rotten Rattler
Years Released: 1989
Scarcity Factor: Moderately easy to find
Notes: “It’s SHOWTIME!” was one of the famous quotes from the Beetlejuice movie and now we have Showtime Beetlejuice to reenact the scenes. To begin his action feature, remove Beetlejuice’s normal head to reveal a Snake Head underneath, which can be raised and lowered with the lever on his back. Beetlejuice comes with the Rotten Rattler, which can fit onto his arm.

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Spinhead Beetlejuice (With Creepy Cockroach)

Market Value:
Carded $32 – $47
Loose $15 – $25

Spinhead Beetlejuice (With Creepy Cockroach)
Accessories: Creepy Cockroach
Years Released: 1989
Scarcity Factor: Moderately easy to find
Notes: The third version of Beetlejuice from Series One features him wearing his purple tuxedo that he wore during the wedding scene from the movie. You can remove Beetlejuice’s normal head to reveal a smaller one underneath. Spin the wheel on the figure’s back to spin Beetlejuice’s head in either direction. He comes with the Creepy Cockroach, which can fit onto his arm.

Beetlejuice (1989-1990): Series Two Action Figures

The second wave of Beetlejuice action figures included only two figures in total, which included two different versions of Beetlejuice. Other figures were supposed to accompany these two, but never made it to release.

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Exploding Beetlejuice (With Dreadful Dragon)

Market Value:
Carded $70 – $100
Loose $30 – $45

Exploding Beetlejuice (With Dreadful Dragon)
Accessories: Dreadful Dragon
Years Released: 1989, 1990
Scarcity Factor: Moderately easy to find
Notes: When you squeeze Beetlejuice’s knees together, watch him explode into pieces! Then simply snap him back together to get ready for the next explosion. This version of Beetlejuice comes with the Red Dreadful Dragon, which fits onto his arm.

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Shipwreck Beetlejuice (With Horrible Hydra)

Market Value:
Carded $35 – $55
Loose $15 – $25

Shipwreck Beetlejuice (With Horrible Hydra)
Accessories: Horrible Hydra
Years Released: 1989, 1990
Scarcity Factor: Moderately easy to find
Notes: When you squeeze Beetlejuice’s knees together, his arms raise into the air and “tentacles” appear from the top of his head. This version of Beetlejuice comes with the Green Horrible Hydra, which fits onto his arm.

Beetlejuice (1989-1990): Neighborhood Nasties

In addition to the two regular waves of figures, another set was made available called the “Neighborhood Nasties”. This group of figures was made up of four different characters, Hungry Hog, Old Buzzard, Street Rat and Teacher Creature.

Beetlejuice (1989-1990): Misc. Accessories

Kenner released a few separately sold accessories for their Beetlejuice line from 1989 to 1990. There were the Gross Out Meter and Snake Mask for fun role play, then the Vanishing Vault and Collectors Case to use with the figures themselves. The coolest of all though, was the Talking 16″ Beetlejuice figure himself.

Beetlejuice 16″ Talking Figure

Market Value:
Boxed $120 – $180
Loose $50 – $75

Beetlejuice 16″ Talking Figure
Accessories: None
Years Released: 1989
Scarcity Factor: Moderately easy to find
Notes: The Talking Beetlejuice figure is exactly what it sounds like, a 16 Inch Beetlejuice figure that talks. When you pull his string, he has six different phrases, such as: “I’m the ghost with the most” and “It’s SHOWTIME”. All the phrases are listed on the back of the box. In addition, Beetlejuice’s head spins around when you manually turn his head three times to the right, then hit the button on his back to watch it spin around. This is one of the more popular items from the Beetlejuice line by Kenner and is much sought after nowadays.

Beetlejuice (1989-1990): Vehicles

Kenner released two vehicles for their Beetlejuice line, in the Creepy Cruiser and Phantom Flyer. Both could fit any of the Beetlejuice action figures and captured the spirt of the toy line perfectly.

Beetlejuice (1989-1990): Unreleased Items

It should be noted that some Series Two cards list the “Squisher Toys” on the back, but they never made it to release.

• Squisher Bugs
• Squisher Finger and Wart
• Squisher Worms

A third wave of figures had been in development, but also never made it to release. Some of the known figures that were in some stage of development include:

• Archaeologist Beetlejuice
• Bully The Kid
• Doctor Beetlejuice
• Napoleon Blown-A-Part
• Pin Head Beetlejuice
• Splitting Headache Beetlejuice
• The Black Knight
• Rotten Roadster Vehicle
• Shark Attack Vehicle

Beetlejuice launched on the big screen in 1988 and became an instant cult classic. With a bit of an adult theme, there was limited merchandising with no toy lines being made available for the movie. So in the following year, Kenner launched a Beetlejuice toy line that was based on the movie (more of less) with a splash of the new animated series mixed in. The cartoon series launched in 1989 and ran until 1991, and it became a big hit with young audiences. Kenner’s new toy line tried to capitalize on that success and still pay homage to the original movie. 

Over the course of its two year run, Kenner gave us two waves of figures, along with a few vehicles and accessories sprinkled in. The first wave of figures in 1989 included six total figures (Adam Maitland, Harry the Haunted Hunter, Otho the Obnoxious, and three different versions of Beetlejuice himself. The second series only contained two figures (Exploding Beetlejuice and Shipwrecked Beetlejuice), but Kenner also released a small set of “Neighborhood Nasties”, which included: Hungry Hog, Old Buzzard, Street Rat and Teacher Creature. In addition, there were two vehicles (Creepy Cruiser and Phantom Flyer), along with a few small accessories. A talking 16″ version of Beetlejuice was also released, and remains one of the highlights of Kenner’s line.

The packaging for the Beetlejuice line was colorful and whimsical, just like the movie. The Beetlejuice logo sat at the top left of the card, with a fun art portrait of the included figure on the right of the card. The name of the character sat directly underneath the logo on the left side of the card, with the figure itself underneath in a traditional bubble style package. Overall, the packaging was very eye catching and worked well for the Beetlejuice line. The only criticism of the card was the Beetlejuice theme seemed to be downplayed a bit with minimal reference to the movie.