I've always been fascinated by Freddy's turn from scary dream demon to pop culture icon. I was around for the whole thing back in the 80's and I definitely remember how much Freddy dominated the late 80's.

There's definitely been some whacky shit when it comes to Freddy.

"Do the Freddy" was a cover of a 60s hit by (appropriately) Freddie and the Dreamers.

I had a lot of this stuff (the mask/hat/polyester shirt were awful), plus a big rubber figurine and a plastic Elm Street sign. Freddymania didn’t seem as weird at the time as it does in hindsight.

Chris, I can't find anything about this on Google, but there was a Freddy glove before the "Fright Glove" version. I swear it existed, because I bought it in 1987, but never saw it again. The glove was pretty thick brown canvas, the fingers were connected instead of attached with fake rivets, and the blades were separate and attached to the fingertip parts. Have you heard anything about this? I figure if anyone could confirm this, it would be you!

I love this. Videos like this are totally my thing. Incidentally I have the Freddy's Greatest Hits Record, the talking Freddy Doll (yes it still talks), the NES game, and Marvel Comic Books 😊
The Freddys Greatest Hits in particular really fascinates me as its basically an Pop album with what sounds like a female band singing the songs, and every once in a while Robert Englund will do a voice over during the songs saying things like "Ha Ha Ha I'm Freddy" 😂

Fun fact: the color combination of Freddy's sweater (red and green) was chosen because the combination of those colors is particularly jarring (so it has nothing to do with Christmas).

I was 9 years old in 1990. Freddy WAS everywhere. It was adult but definitely marketed toward the younger audience. I remember wanting the Freddy Halloween costume because of the glove

I remember my sister having a battery powered Freddy glove where the blades would glow red when turned on.  It may have been a knock off, I don't know.

My mom had me when she was 19 years old in 1983. She loved the nightmare on Elm Street movies when they came out so she first showed me a make up effects show and explained how they make monsters in movies then she showed me nightmare on Elm Street and I loved it from then on. I would call the hotline constantly as a small child and even had a Freddy poster in my bedroom when I was about five or six years old. I did think he was scary, but he was more just a very awesome character and it was exciting.

Fun fact sharp hand Joe has 2 versions one that has his claws being individual and a later sorta bootleg of bootleg where the claws where merged together

When I was in 4th grade, I wanted to be Freddy for Halloween but the only glove we could find at the time was a "Razor Hand" glove by the Rubies company, which was basically just a tan spandex glove with shiny, floppy mylar blades. I still have it, as well as its packaging, to this day. (By the time Halloween came around, I was finally able to locate a proper Collegeville glove, mask and hat, but I still have fond memories of that bizarre "Razor Hand" glove.

Sharp Hand Joe is my favorite (bootleg) Freddy merch ever.  😆  Nightmare Feddy is pretty great, too.

When I was a kid in the 80s, I had a little Freddy on a suction cup that I guess you were supposed to stick on a window.  I think I cut the string and suction cup off, just to have him as a Freddy figure.  haha  Movable arms and legs, oversized head, removable (though probably not meant to be removed) felt hat, tiny little burned hand, big claw hand, little black pants, big chunky booted feet, little red and green sweater.  That was probably the most impressive part, in retrospect...that this silly little dangly toy actually had a tiny knit sweater.  😆  The height of Freddymania was a trip.

EDIT:  I also had, of course, the ubiquitous Freddy's Glove.  That one has been sold on several different cardbacks over the years, but the OG grey card at 4:03 was the exact one I had.  It was a futile struggle, trying to keep those blades from bending every which way and staying like that.  haha  Still, I loved the hell outta that glove.  Also had the mask/terrible foam hat combo pictured at 6:49.  😂  That was my Halloween costume when I was...9, I think.  But I also had the official Indiana Jones fedora that was released in conjunction with Last Crusade...a proper felt hat.  So the foam hat wasn't used much.  😆  The mask, basically the cheaper alternative to the DPS mask at the time, eventually got the rot and basically melted all over itself.

When I was like 7, there was a Freddy make-up kit got or Halloween. It was mask that you had to paint and then glue onto your face. I remember it took forever to put on and fell off after like 30mins. I still have the glove but not sure which one it was.

I can’t imagine Craven’s reaction to all those merch of his child murderer 😭🙏

Anyone have the Freddy show bag back in the day? It came with a really crappy glove, a flocked, vac formed plastic fedora, thin plastic Freddy mask, poster and a badge I think. I begged my dad to let me buy it at the Royal Show one year because I wanted that glove but I was so scared of the mask I hid it in my wardrobe and looked the other way when I opened it.

12:55 That's not an ad for the costume, that's the Japanese movie poster for Dream Child.

Some of those are so silly it reminds me of when the 80s made toys of Terminator, Robocop, Alien, Predator. I liked the Movie Maniacs figures even though I never got them. I got the plastic glove when I was younger. There was also a random set with New Nightmare Freddy, Part 2 Jason, and Leatherface in a suit. It was like a Mesco thing, not quite a lego but a little bigger.

A friend of mine had one of those plastic Freddy gloves when we were kids. I didn't even know they existed until I went over to his house one day, and there it was on his bedroom floor. I wanted one of my own so bad, but I'm sure my Mom wouldn't have let me have one. I never saw them for sale in any store, so I never even had a chance to ask for one.

The only Freddy merch that I do remember seeing for sale was the Freddy doll and the NES video game.

Broo i remember being a kid living in Germany at the time and my mom bought me the fright glove!! A memory unlocked! Thank you man 🤘

I had the Freddy's hits on cassette tape yes I did