Toys "R" Rated
Like
comic books, movie-based action figures are no longer just kids' stuff.
We've
come a long way from the days when 20th Century Fox gladly signed off on a deal
to let George Lucas keep the merchandising rights to Star Wars because
they didn't think there'd be any money in it. In 1997, the Hasbro toy company
paid Lucasfilm in excess of $600 million to continue their contract for Star
Wars toys through the next three films. In 20 years, the landscape of movie
tie-in toys had changed dramatically. But the big corporate checks weren't the
only difference. Much as the rock band KISS had long since realized that kids
who had grown up to their music now had disposable income to spend on $250 KISS
leather jackets, so, too, had a generation of kids raised on the original Star
Wars figures come of age. And they were still buying toys. "Tom,"
a local Toys "R" Us employee who asked to remain anonymous, states
that male customers aged 30-45 account for about 70 percent of the store's
action figure sales, and says, "Almost every morning we have a couple of
[adult] collectors waiting for us to open."
When the brand-new toys for Episode
I were released for the first time last spring, it was like a record
release party for the newest, hottest CD: The toys debuted in stores nationwide
at
It's been a long, strange trip
for R-rated movie toys. The first such wide release was a 12-inch action figure
based on the 1979 Alien, which ignited such parental fury that
It took a maverick entrepreneur
to take things to the next level. Comic book artist Todd McFarlane, who had
split from Marvel Entertainment in a highly publicized creative control
dispute, decided that he wanted a toy line based upon his gruesome
zombie-from-hell superhero Spawn. When told that he'd have to tone the property
down, or worse, relinquish a degree of control over the character, McFarlane
balked and decided to make the toys himself. Some five years later, the Spawn
toy line is still going strong (1999 was McFarlane Toys' best year yet, with a
10 percent growth over the previous year), boasting toys with such features as
dripping entrails, removable intestines, and corpses that pop out of graves at
the touch of a button. Ken Reinstein, spokesman for McFarlane Toys, claims that
Todd doesn't endorse violence, but sees the toys as "a conversation
starter."
Deciding to target collectors
closer to his own age, i.e., those who grew up with movie action figures and
might buy toys marketed directly to their current demographic, McFarlane Toys
went shopping for movie licenses, and produced Movie Maniacs, a line of
contemporary movie monsters that not only put Freddy Krueger back on toy
shelves as an action figure, but also placed him in good company alongside
Leatherface, Friday the 13th's Jason, and the two sex-crazed homicidal
aliens from Species II. Some parents still complained, but this time it
was of less consequence. Being a privately held company, answerable to no one
but Todd himself, McFarlane Toys pressed onward.
The new horror figures did
quickly vanish from the shelves, but it was because they sold out. According to
Bill Martin, president of McFarlane Toys, there was very little retailer
resistance, although a toned-down, "nonbloody" series were developed
for certain stores. The bloody versions, naturally, were the best sellers. Alex
Levitan, who has been a salesman at
Seeing the potential market,
direct-to-video horror company Full Moon developed a toy line based upon their
schlock-horror Puppet Master series, and saw their first few action
figure releases double in value by the subsequent year. Hasbro even had a Saving
Private Ryan Tom Hanks G.I. Joe doll ready to go, but canceled it quickly
when the movie started winning praise for not having merchandising tie-ins.
In 1999, at actor Johnny
Depp's request, McFarlane Toys released figures based on Sleepy Hollow,
one of which was a likeness of Christopher Walken with interchangeable severed
heads. Director Tim Burton attended several promotional events for the toys,
and Reinstein hints that
So what's next? More shock
value? Porn action figures? Not quite yet. Now that McFarlane Toys has proved
that there's a market for toys aimed at the "mature" movie fan, some
other companies are making like KISS and producing higher-end material: Flatt
World Figures, for instance, is coming out with super-articulated action
figures of Antonio Banderas as Zorro and Tim Curry as Dr. Frank N. Furter, each
priced at around $60. (There's already a market for such things in
As for McFarlane Toys, well,
they're making up for lost time, filling in the gaps on films from Gen X's past
that haven't yet seen toys. Christine Finch, vice president of licensing for
McFarlane, states that the competition for older licenses has increased since
McFarlane Toys started pursuing them. In addition to the ongoing Movie Maniacs
series, which will next feature plastic likenesses of Edward Scissor-hands and Evil
Dead hero Ash, this year will see toys based on the Paul Newman hockey film
Slapshot, Strange Brew's McKenzie brothers, and a line based on
the cult anime film Akira. Sculptor Clayburn Moore, who might be
considered the Hugh Hefner of action figures due to his tendency to make toy
lines "suggested for mature collectors 18 and older" loaded with
well-endowed and scantily clad female figures, has inked a deal to make toys
for the animated Heavy Metal: FAKK 2.
Warner Bros., meanwhile, hopes
to boost their fledgling toy department with toys based on The Matrix
and The Road Warrior, licensed to the relatively new N2 Toys. Perhaps it
should be noted that WB Toys' Monica Bouldin emphatically states that these
action figures "are not considered toys, they're collectibles. Nowhere on
the package does it say that they're toys." Other than the "WB
Toy" logo, of course. And what was it Shakespeare said about a rose by any
other name? Regardless, although nothing has been announced yet, don't be too
surprised if Warner Bros. mines their past further for "collectibles"
based on cult hits like Blade Runner. When questioned about this
specifically, N2 Toys president Ron Hayes would say only to "keep your
fingers crossed." Hayes wouldn't get too specific about licenses he's
pursuing for fear of driving up the bidding prices, but notes that he's always
looking for "classic intellectual properties" and "films with
interesting characters and heroic feats." The Val Kilmer-Carrie-Anne Moss
movie Red Planet is next on his agenda.
So, having paved the way for
toys based on R-rated properties, what would McFarlane Toys most like to do
down the line? According to Finch, "Dr. Seuss and anything
sports-related."
Looking to buy some of these
movie toys, but don't know where to start? Here's a quick rundown of what's in
stores now:
Star Wars: Episode I (Hasbro, $7 and up). The grand-daddy of
movie tie-ins is still pushing out quality product, but the $600 million deal
with Lucasfilm forced a price hike that has alienated kids and adult collectors
alike. And based on the success of their Batman line, Hasbro seems to have
decided that what kids want is endless versions of the same characters, so
forget about all those weird aliens: you're gonna see nonstop variations of
Anakin, Obi-Wan, Darth Maul, and Jar Jar (whose popularity was severely
overestimated). Grade: B-
The Matrix (N2 Toys, $6 and up). Nicely sculpted
figures aimed at teen and adult collectors, this line has erred only in its
character distribution. Those who have dreamed of owning a Laurence Fishburne
or Joe Pantoliano toy are in luck, but the superhot Neo and Trinity figures are
nowhere to be found. Grade: A-
The Beatles: Yellow Submarine
(McFarlane, $8 and up).
A major departure from the master of the macabre toy, these certainly resemble
their film counterparts, but may be aimed at a generation too old to fully
appreciate movie toys. Grade: C
Movie Maniacs: Series 2 (McFarlane, $8 and up). Re-enact the Psycho
shower scene with Norman Bates! Pit Halloween's Michael Myers against
the Scream stalker in a '70s versus '90s fight to the death! All figures
come with minimarquees featuring replica movie posters. Also in this series:
demonic doll Chucky and his bride, Goth hero The Crow, and the demonic
Pumpkinhead. Grade: A
Retro Puppet Master (Full Moon, $10 and up). Demonic
faux-wood dolls with multiple joints and cloth costumes. Think G.I. Joe as a
Satanic midget. Uncommonly high quality toys, given the sort of movie that
they're based on. Grade: B+
The Road Warrior (N2 Toys, price as yet unknown). These
toys haven't come out yet, but judging from the prototypes, they're well up to
the standards set by the previous Matrix line. The Mel Gibson likeness
is perfect (provided the actor signs off on it, which is apparently still in
doubt), and the film's apocalyptic stylings look as good on action figures as
one might expect. Just one question: Where are all the cool vehicles? Grade:
Incomplete
Austin Powers: Series 2 (McFarlane, $8 and up). The
figures based on the cinematic sequel did so well that Series 2 takes on
characters from the first film. Expect parents to have fits over the Fembot
with gun barrels that pop out of her breasts. Gen X star Seth Green finally
sees toy form as Scott Evil, and most wanted of all is the ultrarare Elizabeth
Hurley in black leather figure. Rrrrow.Grade: A