Officially Licensed Models
NECA Toys - Hellraiser Series One, Two and Three
Model fans had long waited for this... Ever since Screamin' first produced Hellraiser models in the early '90's, model-makers have loved to reproduce the scarified features of Pinhead, but legal entanglements prevented his inclusion in the Movie Maniacs range for McFarlane. Now NECA Toys have entered the fray, winning the grand prize of a multi-year licence to produce Hellraiser merchandise from the first six movies as well as the upcoming movies on a hitherto unseen scale.
This has resulted in the production of the first three of perhaps four series of 7" Cenobite/Hellraiser character models. Series One comprised Pinhead, Chatterer, CD, Chatterer Beast, Wire Twin and Stitch and its success led to the formal unveiling of a second series at the San Diego Comic Fair ahead of a Halloween 2003 release. Just as Series One figures each came with a single face of the Lament Configuration, so each Series Two figure (Pinhead, Butterball, Surgeon, Barbie, Julia and Angelique) is accompanied by a section of the Pillar of Souls. A number of variant figures have also been produced, including limited edition deluxe figures, the Pinhead 'Head Knocker' and a limited pewter Pinhead for the San Diego Comic Fair and subscribers to the Hellraiser Collectors Club. Additionally, Chatterer II was released late in November 2003 as a Convention and Hellraiser Collector's Club Exclusive.
2004 saw the release of Series Three, comprising four figures: the Bloodline Twins and a female Cenobite from HR1 are joined by Frank and a Hell On Earth Pinhead. Each piece comes with a quarter of an 18" Leviathan, twice the size of Series Two's Pillar of Souls and which lights up....
Delaying hopes for a semi-opening Lament Configuration, NECA have produced a static puzzle box with a run of 2,500 Lament Configuration boxes, together with a further 500 with a Gary Tunnicliffe-signed certificate, mounted in a display case.
... A dedicated Hellraiser site from NECA has now gone live at www.hellraiserthemovie.com...
Randy Falk (Director of Product Development NECA Toys) : "Our lead sculptor, Kyle "Tankman" Windrix, spent 4 years with McFarlane Toys before joining me at NECA. The guy is one of the best in the business and a good friend. Kyle and I share a lot of similar interests and tastes so we work really well together."
NECA Interview
By Claude Flowers, Figures.com, 21 October 2002 (note - full text online at www.figures.com)
Randy Falk : "The development process has been great. Miramax is very happy with all of our designs
and ideas. We have also made contact with Gary Tunnicliffe... Gary is very excited to see the real Cenobites presented in toy form and has offered his
assistance in supplying reference materials from his creature shop
"Our first assortment of 7" figures is due out in May. You can expect to see 6 different Cenobites, one from each of the Hellraiser films to kick things off. Series
1 will include Pinhead, Chatterer, CD Stitch and more. We are finalising details for Series 2 which will be out in time for Halloween... We do plan on having at
least one character in each assortment that deviates from the traditional Cenobite look. In Series 1, that will be the dog Chatterer Beast and in future series
perhaps some humans or human victims might be nice."
Hellraiser
By [ ], Action Figure Digest, Issue 105, December 2002
Randy Falk : "The first [challenge] was getting the license. The second, and frankly the biggest, was
translating the pins from the big screen to a 7-inch action figure.
"We're still working out the type of plastic we're making the pins of. They're not ABS and they're not soft vinyl - they're sort of in-between. What we're trying to
avoid is the kind of breakage you'd get with a pin that might be too hard and brittle, and the sort of mess you might get with a pin that's too flexible. I don't want
Pinhead shipping to stores and looking like he's got a bad case of bed-head."
NECA Hellraiser
By [ ], Lee's Toy Review, No 123, January 2003
Randy Falk : "From the beginning we saw Hellraiser as license worthy of a few different series due to all the various Cenobites. Based on that premise
we did not want to launch with the original core four of Pinhead, Chatterer, Butterball, and Female. It did not make sense to start with the four most popular in your first
series. I mean where do you go from there?
"Since we knew it would be a six figure assortment and there are 6 films it made sense to launch Series I with one character from each film. Pinhead was a
no-brainer and I think it is safe to say that Chatterer is second in popularity so we wanted to get him in there as well. In choosing CD, Chatter Beast, Wire Twin,
and Stitch we just looked at what we wanted to do with Series II and III and plotted from there.
We also want to have one character in each series that is visually different then the average Cenobite so in Series I you have Chatter Beast - more dog than
man and not wearing the traditional black leather of the Cenobites. We plan to continue this trend in each series.
"[The Lament Configuration stands] came kind of late in the game but we knew we wanted to do something extra for those who buy all six figures. Initially the control
drawings Ed Repka did had each figure with a square base featuring the graphics from the Lament Configuration. One day Ed, Joel, and I were all brainstorming
and decided since there are six sides to the box and six figures let's make the bases all lock together. It's a great bonus for those who buy all six figures so you can
assemble your own plastic version of the Lament Configuration."
Interview
By [ ], Movie Maniacs, 29 May 2003 (note - full text online at www.moviemaniacs.net)
Randy Falk : "We have an exclusive Pinhead ready for the 2 BIG summer cons. Right now we are
looking at a production run of 3,000. It is a nice variant that looks very elegant and it's a great way to promote Pinhead and Hellraiser.
"We will release images and details in a few weeks once the Hellraiser figures are in stores.
"Also believe me as a fan I understand the frustration of not being able to get Convention Exclusives like this if you can not make it to San Diego or Chicago.
If there is enough demand from you the fanbase on sites like MM.Net and Cenobite.Com I will look into a way to offer this figure directly. "
The Exclusive
By Randy Falk, posted at The Asylum Forum, 25 April 2003 (note - full text online at www.mm-asylum.net)
Randy Falk : "We are mid-way through the development of Series 2 and it is looking really good!
"We researched everything and found that CD's pants looked more like snowpants or parachute pants. We wanted something cooler
and visually interesting.
We also added four additional tools and weapons as accessories for CD that he did not use in the film.
"Our reason - we realize CD and Hellraiser 3 are not fan favorites so we wanted to pack in something extra that you can use for your
other cenobites."
Hellraiser Figures Are Almost Here !!
By Randy Falk, posted at The Hellbound Web, 28/30 April 2003 (note - full text online at www.cenobite.com)
Randy Falk : [Re. Hellraiser site] "It will go live this week. I will keep you updated. Do not expect any Series 2 news just yet.
We want to focus on
Series I and give you some behind the scenes looks at the creation of Series I.
"Sometime in June we have a special contest planned and we will start to release some information on Series II."
The Site
By Randy Falk, posted at The Asylum Forum, 20 May 2003 (note - full text online at www.mm-asylum.net)
Randy Falk : "It was a very expensive license to obtain, and you can't make all your money back on just action figures. They cost a lot
of money to create and to produce, so the fact that we already had such a wide range of merchandise helped us out. We were able to go to the studio, and even
the retailers, and tell them we're going to be doing a whole program of merchandising, rather than one or two figures. If they feel like they can setup a four-foot
section in their store centered around a particular line, it's a lot more appealing to them than trying to figure out how they're going to merchandise a couple of
action figures that'll be gone in a few weeks.
"We have a lot of products lined up that will make that possible. First there's the statue, then the figures, shot glasses, lunch boxes and at some point I'm sure
we'll do a bobbing head. Probably done in caricature type way to put a different spin on it, we don't want all the products to look the same. We're also working
on a high-end prop replica with Gary Tunnicliffe, who did the effects for the last several films, of the lament configuration. It's going to be real mahogany, brass
overlays, and it will actually turn and open up. Whatever we can get away with producing on that puzzle box without the aid of the CG effects, we're going to
make it do. That way it's not just a square box.
"It's good to have the support of guys like Tunnicliffe, who's really excited about what we're doing. We've had conversations with Doug Bradley, who's also really
happy to be a part of it and is signing the certificates of authenticity for the statues. It's great because our approval process goes straight through the studios
and if they're happy, we can go ahead. But at the same time we've made the extra step of going to Gary for advice on any of the newer Cenobites, since he's
the guy that created them. That way we can see the behind-the-scenes workings of all the creatures instead of having to guess as to what's going on from the
shadowy seconds that you see them in the film. So they're as accurate and as perfect as possible, and we get the approval from Gary and Doug. They're
excited that we're doing it and we're excited to be doing it, so it's win-win."
An Interview With Randy Falk
By Johnny Butane, Creature Corner, 27 December 2002 (note - full text online at www.creature-corner.com)
Randy Falk : "Aside from developing Hellraiser Series II we have some other collectable items coming soon like a lunchbox, shooter set, and T-shirts. We are finalizing plans to launch a Hellraiser Collector's Club and offer exclusive items to the loyal fanbase. In the Fall we plan to release the prop replica of the Lament Configuration Box made from an original film prop provided by Gary Tunnicliffe along with a limited edition 2-Up Cold Cast Statue of Chatterer. Chatterer will be limited to 1000 pieces and will come with a numbered certificate signed by Kyle Windrix and Nicholas Vince, the actor who portrayed Chatterer."
Interview
By [ ], Movie Maniacs, 29 May 2003 (note - full text online at www.moviemaniacs.net)
Randy Falk : "Lighting up [the Leviathan model] is a possibility. It depends on costs which we are still finalizing. If we can do it without raising
the price of the figures we will.
"No plans for offering Leviathan pieces separately, sorry. Leviathan like the Pillar and the Plastic Lament Box are intended as a
'bonus' reward to those who collect them all. The Lament being sold alone was done for 2 very good reasons: The sides of the
Lament Box double as stands for the action figures. The Lament Box is the most recognizable icon in Hellraiser so many Hellraiser
fans beyond toy collectors would like the chance to purchase a Lament Box at an affordable price. If the Pinhead offends you in his
intended pose you can always re-position him to a pose you find less offensive or do not display him at all. That way you can build
Leviathan."
Pinhead and Leviathan Revealed...
By Randy Falk, posted at Movie Maniacs Asylum, 31 March 2004 (note - full text online at www.mm-asylum.net.net)
NECA Toys - Hellraiser Lair Playset
...NECA have now released their much-anticipated Hellraiser playset. Packaged with a printed copy of a Clive Barker sketch in a limited run (of 5,000), each one signed by Clive, The Cenobite Lair was made available exclusively at Spencer Gifts in the US from November 2005. In a welcome development from earlier plans, the diorama was produced with an exclusive Female II Cenobite figure, to further tempt those fans who have already assiduously collected the Hellraiser figures, together with a reproduction sketch of Pinhead created by Clive for NECA. The set, which runs at a retail price of $49.99, also includes, as planned, the rest of the four original Cenobite figures as well as interchangeable chains and hooks...
NECA Toys - 15" and 18" Hellraiser Figures
...Ahead of the first 7" figures came the limited edition of 1,500 15" Pinhead figures cast from one of the original '2-up' sculpts by Kyle 'Tankman' Windrix, who signed each numbered piece together with Doug Bradley. In response to demand, NECA decided to oblige fans with 150 Artist's Proof copies. If you can stand the thought of a Pinhead figure declaiming classic lines every time you pick him up, then NECA have created just the thing - an 18" figure with articulated head, shoulders and arms which will scare the living daylights out of your kid brother (if no-one else) when he messes with your stuff - hmm...
Following the success of the 15'' Pinhead, NECA announced details of a high-end resin bust of the Chatterer signed by actor Nicholas Vince and limited to a run of 250 pieces. To accompany the 18" Pinhead, an 18" Chatterer was also produced - motion activated with chattering teeth, of course!
Series Three was also augmented by the deluxe Dr Channard figure. With an array of hand attachments, and a moveable connection to his tentacle base, together with a variant head, Channard was showcased at the Toy Expo in October 2003. ...
Joel Weinshanker (President - NECA) [re.15" Pinhead figure] "Initially we were going to produce 1000 statues but we had orders for over 3000 in the first two hours. We decided to increase the run to 1500 and add a limited edition of 150 Artist Proofs. We wanted to keep the statue limited and offer Hellraiser fans something truly special with this inaugural figure."
Press Release
By [ ], Online at NECA website, December 2002 (note - full text online at www.necaonline.com)
Kyle "Tankman" Windrix : "I received my 18" just the other day and without a doubt it is the best 18" figure that I have ever seen, or been a part of. The
leather looks incredibly realistic. It has some neat features that caught me off guard. For example, a lot of the parts are made out a of soft material, so he grips
the box more tightly. The head is hyper-realistic, when you grab the ears they flex. The Chinese added a nice touch by adding a couple of feet (shoes) on the
bottom so the figure is barely raised. The face actually appears to be slightly more aggresive than what I sculpted, which makes him look even more menacing.
The articulation is really tight, with the seams nicely hidden. Without a doubt the quality is great and easily the best of the three 18 inchers I've done. It turned
out so great that I can't seem to take my eyes off it. You won't be disappointed.
"He's actually about 18 3/16 inches due to the added shoe soles, so a little taller than Myers."
Open Message
By Kyle Windrix, posted at The Asylum Forum, 25 April 2003 (note - full text online at www.mm-asylum.net)
Doug Bradley : "Neca have done an absolutely magnificent job with [all] the figures - and that they're giving all the movies in the series such in-depth coverage is just amazing. That they are in such demand doesn't surprise me. Dare I say it? I think Neca are taking the movies a little more seriously than Dimension."
Hell Raiser Interview
By Mike Hodge, www.milenko500.com, 25 August 2004
Randy Falk : "The four phrases the 18" Pinhead says are the four best of course:
'We have such sights to show you'
'We'll tear your soul apart'
'You're suffering will be legendary, even in Hell'
and the 4th one I will let you find out for yourselves...
"We researched everything and found that CD's pants looked more like snowpants or parachute pants. We wanted something cooler and visually interesting.
We also added four additional tools and weapons as accessories for CD that he did not use in the film.
"Our reason - we realize CD and Hellraiser 3 are not fan favorites so we wanted to pack in something extra that you can use for your other cenobites."
Hellraiser Figures Are Almost Here !!
By Randy Falk, posted at The Hellbound Web, 28/30 April 2003 (note - full text online at www.cenobite.com)
Jeff Saylor : This towering replica sculpted by Kyle 'Tankman' Windrix speaks four different movie phrases and comes complete with his own puzzle
box and scalpel, each of which is removeable...
"The phrases uttered by this scream great are:
'We have such sights to show you.'
'You're suffering will be legendary, even in Hell.'
'We'll tear you're soul apart.'
'Oh no tears please. It's a waste of good suffering.' (with chick freaking out in the background :)
"Batteries are included and an On/Off switch on the back allows you to silence him. In addition, articulation is added at the head, shoulders, upper forearms
and wrists. It slices the 7" figure and 12" statue to shreds as far as more bang for your buck. "
Review
By Jeff Saylor, Figures.com, 9 May 2003 (note - full text online at www.figures.com)
Kyle "Tankman" Windrix : "It has occurred to me that many people don't understand the origin of the sculpt that eventually
became the toy and statue for NECA. As many of you already know, about three years ago I worked for a different company who
makes some wonderful toys. During this time a friend named Eric, who now also works for a different company, started a Pinhead
sculpt thinking that it would become a toy for the company. The piece was basically just started and in rough form. The pose was
good and the overall proportions were excellent. Eric moved on to another company and the piece sat on a shelf. While I was off
work, I began a Pinhead and progressed it beyond Eric's sculpt. It was just past the rough stage with the head at about 99%
complete. Because of a heavy workload I was unable to do much more to the sculpt and it ended up at home on a shelf, much like
Eric's...
"I began work at NECA, who easily attained the license. So I grabbed MY sculpt that I had started years ago and finished it. I was
happy that when Doug Bradley handled the final piece he commented on its uncanny likeness and high quality. He told me, 'It was
like looking into a mirror.' The End. "
The Pinhead Sculpt Story
By Kyle Windrix, posted 3 June 2003 (note - full text online at http://groups.msn.com/Tankman)
Randy Falk : "Chances of seeing a Channard at some point are very good. We plan on making as many of the best characters as possible over the next few years. As long as the fanbase is there to buy them we will be here to make them."
Hellraiser Figures Are Almost Here !!
By Randy Falk, posted at The Hellbound Web, 28/30 April 2003 (note - full text online at www.cenobite.com)
NECA : "This week is the 2003 Mass Market Toy Fair in NYC, and to celebrate we are going to unveil some of the big projects we have coming your way. Here you will see our shots of the soon to come Crow 18 inch figure with sound, Freddy VS Jason 2 pack set, and a shot of our most requested Hellraiser figure, Dr. Channard. Each of these amazing sculpts are the work of Kyle Windrix with stunning paint jobs by Ed Repka. You can't wait to have them? Well we can't wait to get them out to you!"
Your Dreams and Nightmares Unveiled!
By [ ], NECA, 22 October 2003 (note - full text online at www.necaonline.com)
Randy Falk : "We have a new exclusive figure planned for later this year - hopefully around Halloween. Like Chatterer II this figure will be offered at the various conventions we attend and through the Hellraiser Collector's Club. We will also make every effort to make them available to collectors outside the US through other means."
Answers
By Randy Falk, posted at Movie Maniacs Asylum, 23 March 2004 (note - full text online at www.mm-asylum.net.net)
