🗝️ Coraline - Poseable Replica Dolls by Neca 🗝️

In 2008 Neca released a line of Coraline bendy dolls as a tie in with the movie of the same name. I was lucky to find one for sale the same year, so I snapped her up!

She came without her box but with her original outfit and a stand to help with posing. 

The doll is a replica of the figures they used during the making of the film, each of them are fully posable and stand 7 inches tall.

 Her body is plastic over a wire armature and has a removable face to allow you to move her eyes for more realistic posing she also has hands that turn at the wrists.

Her outfit is an exact replica of one she wore during some of the scenes of the film, it is made of fabric and is most likely removable but I haven't attempted to do so yet.

Her hands turn at the wrist, but not the fingers they are moulded in pose. She came with a stand which had a flat base and waist holder to help her remain in position once posed.

Since finding her I have been trying to get the other dolls that were released as part of the line, in various outfits and different facial expressions.

tenor.com

My other Neca posable replica Coraline is the version wearing a raincoat and wellington boots which were re-released in 2017.

As far as differences between the original line from 2008 and these "replicas of replicas" released some 9 years later there really isn't any differences that I can see. 

They both have the same weight and body construction and to be honest if I didn't know they weren't both from the same line and produced at the same time, I'd never have guessed!

While I never got to inspect the original "Raincoat Coraline" this new version looks identical to the ones I saw for sale at the time I bought my "Sweater & Jeans Coraline".

She still comes with her own stand but it is a very different kind to the ones the original dolls came with.

The stand that my "Raincoat" Coraline came with is flat and has 2 small pegs to slot into holes on the bottom of the doll's boots and so allow sturdiness while posing.

"Raincoat" Coraline has a different facial expression from "Sweater & Jeans" Coraline, but so did the "Pyjamas" and "Star Spangled Jumper" versions too.

Her face is also removable in the same way as the original doll's is and again this allows access to the eyes to allow them to be posed.

The back of her box shows the new versions of the doll I already own and the "Pyjama" versions as well as the "Raincoat" version herself.

 I hope this means they will soon be releasing the other versions for sale and also the "Star Spangled Jumper" version, which is one I would dearly love to own in either original or new line versions.

That's me done for now...
Take care,

Follow

The Grady Twins from The Shinning by Funko Rock Candy

The Shining came out in 1980, back then I was way too young to go and see it at the cinema, but I did see it a couple of years later when it was released on video, and several times after that when it was shown on late night TV. 

At the time I was around the same age as Danny Torrance  played Danny Lloyd in the film. 

I don't know why I was so into the film it has so many creepy and weird moments and down right frightening ones too.

 I guess because Mum's first husband was an alcoholic and a vicious monster of one at that, I really related to the character Danny, he was around my age after all and had the ability to know things before they happened, I did too. 

imdb.com

He saw ghosts of people long since past, I'd had experiences with that too, he "called" Dick Hallorann when he needed help... I guess I somehow did that too!

 Once when I was really ill and at our caravan in All Hallows, Kent with my Brother, Nan and Great Aunt Ollie, I got ill from eating a savloy and was calling for my Mum who was at the time back home in Waltham Abbey (almost 50 miles away), as she had to work...

 The next day, I was fine and we went to a pay phone on the site to call Mum to let her know how our holiday was going...

 She asked me if I was ok the night before and if I'd been calling for her, I told her I had... 

She told me she had been hoovering the previous night and thought she heard me, she turned off the hoover and could hear my panicked voice calling "Mummy" it worried her so much she almost got in the car and drove to us, but after a few minutes it stopped so she assumed she had imagined it.

 Danny and I had things in common, and we both lived with a monster who was violent and terrifying one who thought nothing of threatening or attempting to kill us, so I could totally understand his fear, his connection to Dick Hallorann and his visions.

bloody-disgusting.com

Stanley Kubrick perfectly captures that atmosphere, the feeling of needing to walk on eggshells and never quite knowing what to trust even when the monster seems to have turned back into a loving family man... The tension he builds up in that film is something that I understand only to well, it's not easy to describe but the intensity is palpable...

Some parts of the film are too close for comfort like the scene where Jack Torrance is climbing the stairs looking for his wife and holding an axe...

That said I oddly love this film and always have, I think it's because in some ways I felt a kinship with the characters but it's more than that, it probably sounds perverse but there is a certain comfort to be felt when watching things from real life that don't make sense being played out on a screen, or maybe it's just because I can disconnect from it because it's happening to them... not us!?

I've always loved films and stories about possessions and ghosts, but again it goes deeper than that, I guess if I find the words to explain it I'll come back and write it down here.

New York Daily News

The worse thing for me was the Killing of  Dick Hallorann played by Scatman Crothers (I've always loved that actor, he reminds me so much of my Uncle Alf, looks-wise and he always came across as such a kindly man too. To this day I still have a very soft spot for him.) after he comes to help Danny after hearing his "call".

Jack Torrance kissing the decomposing corpse of Mrs. Massey in room 237 was pretty gross, but it's never really upset me in the way Dick Hallorann's death did.

 I was glad to find out several years later when I read the book and discovered a very different ending for his character and the Torrance's themselves.

Reddit

I think for most people some of the scariest parts of the film is the various appearances of "The Grady Twins" played by Lisa and Louise Burns. I was never really in that camp. Don't get me wrong they are creepy little things, but not scary in the way other themes the film explores are.

Not even the images of them shown in flashes, lying blood soaked on the floor bothered me that much although Danny's reaction to them certainly unnerved me, so did the way they said "Play with us Danny, for ever, and ever and ever".

google

More than anything, I've always been intrigued by them and their presence in the Overlook Hotel.

Like most I presume they are the daughters of a previous Caretaker, called Grady - whom the Manager informs Jack Torrance, prior to showing him and his family around the hotel - "run amok and killed his family with an axe". 

This has always confused me as the "Twins" or ghost girls are not mentioned in the novel, only in the film and so all we really have to explain their presence in the hotel is the story of Grady at the start of the film and the images of them as seen by Danny... 

In the scene of their murder an axe is clearly placed in the foreground and as we know Grady had two daughters and killed his family with an axe, it makes sense that they are in fact his children. 

However, the Manager of the Overlook Stuart Ullman gives the Grady girls ages as being "about 8 and 10" so they can't possibly be "The Twins" Danny sees in his visions... Can they??

Well, whoever they are and whoever they belong to they look adorable as Rock Candy Figures by Funko... Just look at their little faces!

The box has a sticker on it stating that these figures are 2018 Fall Convention Exclusives and Limited Edition, but they have no number that I could see on their box and it's really hard to find any information on them apart from what can be gleamed from their packaging or the figures themselves.

The packaging it'self is perfect in it's attention to detail and they use the iconic orange and brown carpet Danny plays on as decoration for the front, back and sides of the box.

Another detail I really appreciated is on the right side of the box, which has an image of Danny's tricycle, then the Twins, then Danny with his hands covering his face, just like first scene they appear in in the film!

                                         
                                                           Classic VHS Horror

The figures themselves are moulded holding hands, so cannot be separated. They stand approximately 7 inches tall and come with a round clear plastic base so they can stand up independently as being joined together, they are quite heavy for this kind of figure.

Their little dresses are almost identical to the ones the girls wore in the film, they even have little splats of blood on them, this however, is nowhere near as widespread as it is on screen. In the film the girls are pretty much saturated with blood as they lay dead in the hall, here they have been depicted with tiny little splots on their abdomens.

Their hair is also in the same style as their onscreen counterparts, but is a much darker colour... these gripes are very minor and certainly don't detract from the cuteness of these figures at all.

From behind it's easy to see that they were made by Funko, something about the way the hair is moulded screams Funko at me, but as I have several Funko figures that is in no way a criticism, it's just an interesting (for me anyway!) point I thought I'd note.

They are so such and quirky that I can't help smiling ever time I look at them!

Ok, that's me done for now...

Take care,

Follow

🎈 Living Dead Dolls Presents: IT Pennywise (1990) 🎈

Google 

Anyone that knows me knows I have a deep rooted fear of clowns, they also know that I have always loved Pennywise - that demented clown monster created from the mind of Stephan King for his novel IT!

So it probably goes without saying if you read my blog, when I found out that Living Dead Dolls had immortalised him as played by Tim Curry, there was no way I wasn't going to fall in love with him and have to add him to my collection.

Screen Rant

Yeah, I know it's weird, but for some reason it's the evil clowns that I can bear, perhaps because they are not hiding their true selves behind their makeup, I dunno, I just know that in terms of IT or Pennywise The Dancing Clown, he's always seemed to me to be a quirky little weirdo and of course it doesn't hurt that in the 1990 Mini- Series, TV Adaptation of the novel, he was played by Tim Curry - one of my favourite actors! 

The promotional photographs they used made my need to own him even worse... his little face looking out of a storm grate, as he did in the novel and mini-series when he "made friends" with little Georgie Denbrourgh, right before chomping down on his arm!

In keeping with that scene the Living Dead Doll version has been moulded with his mouth wide open and his Huge pointy teeth exposed ready to chow down on some fresh frightened child meat!

The front of the box is designed to resemble the cover of the Mini Series dvd, which shows Pennywise having ripped through the paper and looking out above it from the right hand top corner, this is also the same image I used as a header at the top of this post.

 The back has the image from the promotional shot above with a really cute close up of Pennywise exposing his teeth just before he attacks in the top right corner, which is shown in the photograph below.

He comes with a little red balloon and has a whole in his right hand which enables him to hold onto it for posing.

 The red balloon is significant as it is often shown during the mini series to let the characters and audience know that Pennywise is nearby and so build up the tension.

His outfit is identical to the one worn by Tim Curry in his portrayal of Pennywise in the miniseries, which is much closer to the description in the novel than the one worn by Bill Skarsgård in the 2017 film.

real nobody

The "make up" his been given is also spot on, the only thing I would have loved would for him to have mini leds in the centre of his eyes with a little switch to enable me to turn on and off his "Deadlights" ... in fact I might actually do this to him if I can get small enough leds and work out how to do it without damaging his factory paint in the process. 

I absolutely love this little guy, he's just perfect, and definitely one of the coolest Living Dead Dolls out there... I'm so glad I managed to get him and add him to my collection, he fits nicely between my Living Dead Doll collection and my Horror and Music Action Figures.

Well that's all for now, I'm planning to a review of my 2017 film Pennywise Action Figure when he arrives so stay tuned for more IT!

Hugs,

     Follow

Slayer Show No Mercy Minotaur ReAction Figure by Super7

One day in 1989 my brother Carl came home with a pile of records for me, his friend was selling some of his albums and my brother decided to buy them for me as a surprise gift - How awesome is that?!

It was kind of weird because Carl was into Hip Hop, Rap, Electro and later on The Underground Rave Scene and there was me into Heavy Metal...

 Still he knew I'd probably like them and definitely appreciate the gift so he handed me a pile of vinyls:

Iron Maiden - Live After Death.

Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time.

The Clairvoyant - 12" Single.

Suicidal Tendencies - Trip at the brain 12" Single.

Ozzy Osbourne - Bark At The Moon.

W.A.S.P - Inside The Electric Circus.

Nuclear Assault - The Plague.

Metallica - Master of Puppets.

Metallica - ... And Justice For All.

Sepultura - Beneath The Remains.

Sacred Reich - Surf Nicaragua.

Stars on Thrash (various LP).

Megadeth Peace Sells ... But Who's Buying? 

Judas Priest - Killing Machine.

And what was to become my favourite LP of all time... 

Slayer - Reigning Blood!!

As soon as that album started I was hooked, Slayer became my favourite band and have remained so ever since. 

Next time I was in a record shop I went straight to the Heavy Metal Section marked S... 

My fingers frantically flicked through the titles until I found the "Slayers".

I came home that day with  Show No Mercy, Live Undead, Hell Awaits and Haunting The Chapel (E.P) all of which I'd been coveting since I saw them on the back of the Stars on Thrash LP... 

To say I was happy with my purchases would be an understatement and the songs didn't let me down either, over the years I have of course added to my Slayer collection - including a signed copy of South of Heaven on vinyl!

Three years later I saw them live at Monsters of Rock at Donnington along with Iron Maiden, who where headlining, Wasp and Skid Row (for the second time) by then my love for Slayer was totally sealed, and along with it my Vinyl and Cassette collections grew!

I was absolutely gutted last year when they announced their Final Tour but luckily for me I have an awesome boyfriend who got us tickets to see them in Cardiff.

*Side Note - Paul and I met one lunch time when we were in Comp' and a mutual "Metal Head" friend introduced us... Paul's first words to me were "Do you like Slayer ?" 

Ever the lady I replied "Fuck Yeah!!" and we spent the rest of lunch break together... and every other one after that. 

We went to as many local gigs after school and at weekends as we could and had a great time, until I stupidly ended it, moved away and went to college. 

I always regretted it but we lost touch and the years went by then one day out of the blue I got a message on Facebook - 24 years later!

We met up, fell in love all over again and went back to gigging and spending as much time together as we can! *

So it was fitting to go and see Slayer's Final Tour with him by my side, and being Slayer it was of course awesome... And being a girl and knowing that this is the end of the band I left elated by the music and buzz of being there and in tears because that was the last time I'll ever see them live!

At the beginning of this year I read that Slayer had teamed up with Super7 to make an action Figure of the cute little Minotaur that adorned the cover of their first album - Show No Mercy... 

https://www.slayer.net/discography

Well of course I was going to have to get one!

Around the same time I decided to quit smoking a shitty habit I've been a slave to for over 30 years, the release of the ReAction Figure coincided with the one month anniversary of my quitting so it was a given it was going to be my "Well done Me!" gift to myself, as I had to get it on preorder it gave me more incentive to keep going.

Super7.com

When he arrived, I was even happier with him than I thought I would be, for me when it comes to ReAction Figures they normally are so bad in a quirky way that they are awesome, although my Slayer one is just prefect!

The only issue I have with him and these figures in general is to do with the packaging - in order to take the figure out and have a pose and play, you have to destroy the packaging as it comes in a bubble backed with cardboard.

The artwork on the pack is so faithfully reproduced,  the back has the track listing from the album and a really cute photo of the figure surrounded by "Hellfire"!

Super7.com

Because I love the artwork so much, I can't bring myself to try to remove him from it, which is pretty sad really as I'd love to play with this little guy and pose him next to my Trooper Eddie, Bark at the moon  and The Osbourne's Ozzys and Welcome to My Nightmare Alice Cooper.

 He's the smallest of the bunch, standing about 7 inches tall and for now will remain in his packet... But as he still looks great propped up next to them anyway so it's not all bad!!

Slaaaayer Graffiti  - Artist Unknown

That's enough of my ramblings for now, until next time...

Hugs,

Follow

🦇 The Osbournes: Ozzy Osbourne Talking Doll & Maggie the dog 🦇

blabbermouth.net

Being a life long Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne fan, I was pretty intrigued when I heard the announcement that The Osbournes would be shown on TV, starting in 2002.

I was really looking forward to finding out more about Ozzy in a way that TV /Magazine Interviews and concerts just cannot provide.

I guess the old adage, be careful what you wish for is very true as when I got the chance I watched a couple of episodes and discovered a complete clusterf**k of dysfunctionality that really brought Ozzy Osbourne down in my estimation...

 I hated his wife and children too and found that he is not only away with the pixies permanently but he also has a talentless family who've made their careers based on the fact he is their Husband or Dad, that he likes to take potshots at live chickens and he lives in a big house that must stink of dog shite and piss...

 oh how the mighty had fallen.

So for many years I was so disheartened by what I'd seen on that show that I didn't bother following him or the show until a couple of years back when I spotted a cheap Ozzy Osbourne Talking Doll in a box on ebay... It looked so much like him and came with a cute little dog so I couldn't really resist!

The box is pretty tatty, but that doesn't really matter, I bought it as more of a curio anyway.

It was made in 2002 as merchandise for that horrendous show by Fun 4 All Corporation - Incidentally the same corporation who collaborated on the huge awesome Bark at The Moon doll by Art Asylum that I blogged about a couple of days ago, if curious, you can view that post here.

I decided to not remove him from the box as for now I'd like to keep him in perfect condition, so I removed the outer sleeve for these photo's so I can check him over better.

His head, calves to feet and just above the elbow to hands are all vinyl the rest of his body is soft padded over wire so he can be posed. His outfit is fabric and of pretty good quality.

His head is fixed in position and the sunglasses don't seem to be removable but the detail on his face mode is really good under them. He really does look like Ozzy.

As he's a talking doll, I recorded his phrases so you can hear the wise words he has to say!

Follow