HELPING YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR FIGURE(S)!

Have You Ever Seen Anything Truly Horriffic?

Some Horror Figures have gained as large a cult status in the collectors market as their movies have in the theatres. Some prime examples of these notorious Horror Action Figures include the infamous likes of Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare On Elm Street, Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th, Michael Myers from Halloween and of course Chucky, everyones favourite psychotic doll!

But what constitutes horror or the horrific?

Well, The English Oxford Dictionary defines horror as:

A feeling of great shock, fear or disgust.

This is also a perfect definition for McFarlanes Horror Figures. McFarlanes are one of the leading manufacturers of horror figures and have been shocking fans since 1995 with their often bizarre, grotesque and macabre visions.

Some of cinema's most notorious, evil and bloodthirsty villains have been immortalized by the creative talents of McFarlane's sculptors and artists for your pleasure.

Their portfolio reads like the book of the dead and includes the likes of Leatherface, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Norman Bates and Chucky included in his range of Horror Action Figures as well as many strange and twisted horror figures of his own creations.

McFarlane, the creator of Spawn and company founder, has gained a reputation for creativity and attention to detail both as a comicbook artist and toy manufacturer (I use the term toy loosely as many of these are anything but toys).

His reputation for excellence and in particular the care and attention to the minutest detail very quickly became the benchmark by which other companies were judged, and brought about a profound change in the action figure market.

McFarlane has since continued to push standards and expectations higher with his meticulous detail, flare, imagination, innovation and originality.

One of his most popular lines, and one of my personal favourites, were the Movie Maniacs series which featured The Terminator, Pumpkin Head, Norman Bates, Aliens, Predator, Species and The Crow to name a few.

He has also collaborated with many of horror fiction's greatest creative talents such as Clive Barker, H Gieger and Wes Craven to produce new and innovative figures.

Some of these are counted are amongst McFarlane's finest works.

Clive Barker's Tortured Souls Horror Figures proved to be one of the most successful releases of all time.

Loosely based on the classic Hellraiser characters Clive Barker also wrote an exclusive story featuring the six characters in the series.

Each of the figures came packaged with a chapter of the story so in order to complete the novel all six figures had to be collected. This series proved to be so popular and gained such a huge cult following and fan base that since its initial release it has been converted into a computer game and there is talk of making it into a movie.

Whether you're already a collector, new to the hobby or an avid horror fan you'll find what you're looking for here.

But McFarlane's Horror Figures aren't only based on modern day horror movies and fiction but also include many of the old classics such as Dracula, The Mummy, Werewolve and Frankenstein.

But let's not forget the other top companies who manufacture excellent quality and intricately detailed horror figures including:

Sideshow Toys
Hot Toys
NECA
Mezco

Unfortunately early in 2008 McFarlane announced they would be cancelling all their In-House lines of action figures which sadly means an end of the successful Dragon Series, The Legend of the Bladehunters and many other Fantasy/Horror action figures that were planned.

A lack of support from retailers was blamed for this decision and so McFarlane will be concentrating on their Licensed brands.

Hopefully though this may mean we'll see more Hellboy, Alien, Watchman, True Blood, Friday the 13th and other horror fan favourites as McFarlane horror figures.

In the meantime companies such as Hot Toys are doing an excellent job of keeping horror fans supplied.

In fact I would say that Hot Toys are quickly becoming THE number one manufacturer of horror figures.

A close contender is also Sideshow Collectibles but their productions are generally more Dioramas, statues and busts as well as their Premium Format figures.

One of their best lines though is their Dead series of Zombie horror figiures.

NECA have recently improved tremendously and their recent line of Hellboy figures has been outstanding.

Mezco aren't generally known for their horror figures although they have produced a few.

Being a Japanese based company their main markets are in their Vinyl and stylized figure ranges although the do also produce many action figures based on a range of manga and anime series.

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