If you want to put a decisive mark on where modern horror toys begin I would say place it in September of 1998 with the release of McFarlane Toys' Movie Maniacs. While there had been plenty of action figures based on R-rated films those were typically sanitized and intended for kids. Movie Maniacs was a toy line based on hard R-Rated properties that wasn't intended for kids in any way. Measuring in at 7 inches, they were larger than most "collector focused" action figures that came before. They also actually had bloody paint applications (including some extra bloody paint variants), not hiding their horror movie roots. Lastly, Movie Maniacs was unique in that it encompassed characters from multiple properties under one banner. The line was innovative and definitely further helped differentiate what McFarlane was doing from what everyone else was doing. The first series, released in September of 1998, included Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th, Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Patrick and Eve from Species 2, and Freddy Krueger, who was just listed as Freddy on the packaging. That's how popular Freddy is; just say his first name. Like Madonna, Cher, or Elvis. I didn't collect the first series of Move Maniacs as as the time of their release I had never seen any of the films these characters hailed from. I picked up my Freddy maybe 10-12 years ago or so to add to my horror collection. While today you can go to Target (and sometimes even Walmart) and find multiple Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees figures from NECA, making these guys as toys was kind of taboo at the time. Matchbox has attempted to put out Freddy Krueger based toys around 1989 but it ended disastrously with parents groups protesting and Matchbox bringing the toys to an end. McFarlane went full speed ahead, though, not in any way acknowledging that this was a toy for kids. And it worked. Let's take a look at a figure from a toyline that revolutionized action figure collecting after the break...
The Facts:
Height: 7 inches
Articulation: Swivel waist, swivel shoulders, swivel right bicep, swivel right wrist, and a swivel head.The Positives:
* Look at Freddy compared to nearly every other figure I've reviewed for The Dawn of 31 Days of Toy Terror this year and you can see the difference. He doesn't look "toyish" at all. Yeah, the propertions might be a bit off compared to today's figures but the level of detail on this guy and the grimy, worn look of his paintwork is something different. I started collecting Movie Maniacs in 2000 as a teenager and, even then, he felt like something I shouldn't have. He feels dangerous!
* Freddy's claw looks fantastic. Rather than being a straight up interpretation of Freddy from one film McFarlane captured a general impression of Freddy from across most of the earlier films. If you saw someone in an incredible Freddy Krueger costume from a haunted house, this is what you would expect to see. The blood paintwork on these toys is still really nice and holds up well.
* He's even got articulated shoulders! They swivel so you can raise and lowers his arms.
* While pre posed figures weren't a new thing in 1998 by any means, McFarlane Toys really pre-posed the Movie Maniacs in a way that was fitting for the characters, intending them to look good on display. Freddy is just a statue from the waist down but the pose is very fitting and looks quite nice on display, especially when paired with the included movie poster.
The Negatives:
* Freddy's sweater looks pretty good on his torso, and the frayed bottom of the sweater looks quite impressive, but together? These two parts of the sculpt just don't blend. It always has kind of stood out to me like a sore thumb.
* Freddy does have some articulation but it's quite weak. Honestly, the articulation on the arms and waist feel more like it's there simply to make the molding of the pieces easier as it feels quite "sticky" as if it isn't even really intended to be moved.
While Freddy is part of what I believe is one of the most influential toylines ever, he himself is not an incredibly grand action figure. He's a Good and a 1/2 figure and a solid display piece, particularly considering when he came out, but he does have some weird design features like slightly off proportions, the weird sweater edge at the bottom, and the awkward articulation definitely render him as a piece from an age gone by that has been surpassed by the many Freddy Krueger figures made by NECA, Mezco, and others. I still remember seeing Freddy and Jason on the cover of ToyFare magazine back in early 1998 and being so impressed with these. Move Maniacs definitely helped usher in a new era of toy collecting. If you're a hardcore A Nightmare on Elm Street fan or collector share with us your thoughts and memories about this figure! It'd be interesting to hear your thoughts on this.
If you're a Freddy Krueger fan, I've reviewed a couple
of other figures of the character including the NECA 30th
Anniversary Freddy Krueger, the Toony Terrors Freddy Krueger, the ReAction Freddy
Krueger, and the Savage World: Horror Freddy
Krueger.
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