The late 1990s saw the dead and forgotten horror franchise resurrected from the collectible toys graveyard by legendary creator of the Spawn universe, Todd McFarlane.
Releasing wave after wave of highly detailed, cinema accurate and fully pose-able 6” action figures of all major cult horror icons under the title of “Movie Maniacs” proved there was a vast and lucrative market out there for horror collectibles at affordable prices.
As years rolled on and money continued to roll in, not to mention the rejuvenation of stalk n' slash date night screams down at the local cinema complex, other companies began wielding their corporate axes for a slice of the action within this corner of the market. However it rapidly began to stagnate with multitudes of the same characters being produced with little more than a flick of red paint to justify the variant tag line.
McFarlane Toys long since abandoned the horror figure market save for their successful ongoing Spawn related collectibles, but oddities within the market surfaced with bumped up price tags and limited releases in an attempt to capture the same enthusiasm previously experienced in the frenzy of the rebirth heydays. This sadly was not to happen and releases from giants such as Sideshow Collectibles ultimately died a death with fans moving on to toy pastures anew. I mean there are only so many overpriced versions of Jason, Freddy and Leatherface you can possibly justify owning right?
......No?
Well thanks to action figure collectibles giant NECA and the success story that was the relatively new Funko, these bad boys are back but this time they've gone retro...
Riding in on recent waves of childhood nostalgia that has infected and spread throughout the collectibles arena, both NECA and Funko have begun releasing new horror figure lines with that old school vibe, breathing new life into our beloved psychos but best of all at an affordable price.
Towards the end of last year, following on from the overwhelming success of the first releases from their new line of ReAction retro styled action figures,which used the original molds from the abandoned 1978 Kenner Alien action figures, Funko released a wave of Universal Monsters and horror movie icons in the 3.75” scale size. Each figure has limited points of articulation, minimal detailing and minimal accessories, but comes authentically packaged in old style 4,5 or 6 back vintage style card-backs..think your original Star Wars figures packaging and you’ve got it. Running the risk of being regarded as a monumental leap backwards in the evolution of quality and accuracy of action figure collectibles, these simplistic yet stunning figures are anything but and really are a must have. They manage to capture your childhood in the vibrant picture based packaging whilst feeding the enthused serious collector inside. Each character also manages to clearly represent who the packaging indicates is standing within the shiny glued on plastic bubble with an awe inspiring simplistic authenticity.
The genius behind Funko's ReAction line not only gave us fan-boys our beloved usual suspects but the added much anticipated characters to the mix, such as from Trick 'r Treat and forgotten classics like The Creature from the Black Lagoon. These figures also come with a wallet friendly price tag of around $8.99/£10.99, so unleashing your collecting frenzy and just having to have them all will definitely not break the bank. Some of the lines currently available in the Funko ReAction collection are:
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Horror Movie Icons
Universal Monsters
Predator
Alien
Terminator
Escape from New York
There are also some other lines but they don’t quite fit the bloody Sunday niche. In 2015 we will see the ReAction line going from strength to strength with upcoming releases including, Big Trouble in Little China, Terminator 2 and Gremlins amongst others. All details of releases are available on the Funko website.
As mentioned NECA have also revived their horror icons line with a distinctly retro feel. This time however your maniacal maniacs are coming at you in a fully articulated 10” scale. Taking on-board the all-time fan favourites of yesteryear Mego, NECA has released a line of authentically detailed fully material clothed figures of classic horror movie boogeymen.
The high quality and finishing touches to these figures puts the like of Sideshow Collectibles to shame. NECA has achieved masterpieces of sculpt and detailing with film accurate accessories all packaged up in the Mego style card back blister but for a scarily low affordable price, coming at you around $39.99/£24.99 each. A horror-tastic bargain. They have even taken the time to cater to all types of collectors with resealable packaging!!!! No more buying two of everything huh guys n' gals?
Currently out terrorising the toy aisles amongst other non horror related retro reincarnations are Freddy Krueger, hockey masked mommas boy Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Jason from Friday the 13th Part 2 complete with sack over his head, Jason imposter Roy from Friday the 13th part 5 The New Beginning, Ghostface from Scream, chainsaw wielding Texan inbred Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Ash from The Evil Dead.
Only releases thus far mooted for 2015 are the Friday the 13th Part 5: Jason Lives Jason Voorhees figure and his Mother Pamela Voorhees from part 1 of the Friday the 13th movies. Exact dates at time of writing this may have changed and other releases in the line announced however June seems earmarked for the mother and son onslaught. Until next time..........
For full details check out NECA online.
Also check what's available out there!
James Gibson is a Scottish born and bred action figure hoarder and fanatic....with his trusted sidekick Mushu the multipersonalitied Moggy, James isnt short of an opinion or two but if they are from 3.75" to 18" in size and made of plastic he's gotta have it....action figures that is!!