McFarlane Toys - Horror Figures

Horror Figures

Company owner/founder, Todd McFarlane, had been a long-time fan of the horror genre and decided to produce his own perspective on the classic monsters with the "Todd McFarlane's Monsters Playsets" line in 1997. Each figure was released as a playset in a clamshell package that featured the character, a background diorama, and (in 3 out of 4) an additional figure, such as the werewolf’s victim. A second series came out 2 years later with approximately the same quality of sculpting and articulation in the figures as well as fully detailed bases that had two different levels. In 2002, the horror toy line re-invented itself, doing away with the playset idea (and reducing the name to simply "McFarlane's Monsters") in favor of creating individual figures with vastly more detail and much more frightening appearances. Among its various sculpts, it featured a decaying mummy with individual muscle sinews and textured wrappings carved in, a half-man/half-bat version of Dracula with wrinkled flesh and covered in chains, and a scantily clad voodoo queen covered in grass and bones. The figures had the high-quality sculpting that McFarlane had been incorporating into its Spawn figures, which had made them so commercially and artistically successful, and would mark the last time it created versions of the prototypic monsters (mummies, vampires, etc.).

Instead, McFarlane decided to continue the idea of generating new versions of classic stories and characters, releasing a shocking line subtitled "Twisted Land of Oz" in 2003, which featured vicious or sadistic versions of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz characters created by L. Frank Baum. Dorothy was half-naked, bound, and blindfolded by mutant munchkins; the Tin Woodman was more akin to a cyborg zombie; and the Scarecrow was a straw-filled corpse being devoured by crows. All toys came with a warning that they were not for individuals under age 17, and an alternative version of Dorothy was released in large quantities (such that it was the more common variant) with a black piece of cloth covering her upper chest to prevent people from viewing the leather belt crossing her bosom. Major distributors such as Toys R Us and KB Toys, which had carried the previous line refused to stock any of the Oz figures. However, their appeal to collectors was good, and the more-revealing version of Dorothy without the black cloak became the most sought-after of the group.

In 2004, the third series, subtitled 6 Faces of Madness, used historical killers and madmen as its theme, generating vividly detailed figurines of the 5th century conqueror Attila the Hun, American "Wild West" gunslinger Billy the Kid, the "mad monk" Rasputin, the British serial killer Jack the Ripper, the Hungarian "Blood Queen" Elizabeth Bathory, and the real-life inspiration for Dracula, Vlad the Impaler. It similarly carried the "over 17" warning for its viciously gory depictions of all persons, including Jack the Ripper carrying a bag oozing red and Bathory literally bathing in blood near a candelabrum with the heads of three women impaled on it. They were more akin to semi-poseable statues than action figures, since they lacked all except a few points of articulation and were painted to be displayed precisely as shown on the toy's package. Again, the line enjoyed commercial success despite some retailers not carrying the figures or not distributing particular ones (notably Bathory) in all markets. It challenged the boundaries for horror figures by the company's previous standards and mixed in elements and themes reminiscent of the Clive Barker lines (released beginning in 2001), while generating a uniquely imaginative vision of each character. Alongside the Six Faces of Madness series was released the Clive Barker's Infernal Parade series, similarly semi-posable statues featuring figures in a hellish carnival. The series was accompanied by a comic book setting forth the backstory of the characters depicted, with a chapter of the comic included with each figure. The stories explained how each character committed sins that resulted in their sentence of eternal torture as part of the circus. Each figure came with a stand attached to a wheeled cart; the carts could be linked together to form a moving procession of horrific circus freaks. The characters were (1) Bleb the Sabbaticus Beast Tamer; (2) Bethany Bled, the Prisoner in the Iron Maiden; (3) Dr. Fetter's Family of Freaks; (4) Tom Requiem, King of Showmen, with Clovio; (5) Mary Slaughter the Spike Swallower; and (6) the Golem Elijah.

The fourth series featured Twisted Fairy Tales. The figures were of classic children’s stories, including Peter Pumpkin-Eater, Hansel & Gretel, Little Miss Muffet, Humpty Dumpty, & Red Riding Hood, and incorporated many of the gory elements that consumers had come to expect from McFarlane, but with a sense of ironic humor. Red was in a leather bikini, hooded cloak, and thigh-high spiked boots while holding up an eviscerated wolf (whose stomach contents included most of Grandma); Peter had a pumpkin full of human remains, but wore boxer shorts with a jack-o-lanterns print; and Gretel looked like a gothic model with fishnet stockings and tattoos of candy canes and lollipops running up her legs. Due to the sadomasochistic appearance of the female figures and the macabre mutilated bodies in almost every member of the line, it met with some retailers shelving only select figures or selling strictly via their websites rather than displaying all of them in-store.

Series 5 featured McFarlane's Twisted Christmas. Like the previous series, the figures all are twisted variations of Christmas, including a hunchback and obese Santa Claus who hides a lifeless skull under a gasmask-like headpiece and wears contraptions on his hands similar to the glove of Freddy Krueger; a near-naked Mrs. Claus who is dressed in nothing more than a red bikini, black platform boots and a Christmas hat; mutant blade-wielding elves; an axe-wielding "Rudy" reindeer who is restrained by fairy lights and belts; a monstrous melting snowman with six arms made from tree branches; and a massively deformed Jack Frost who is made from ice, snow and a tree.