Killer Klowns From Outer Space (Amok Time)

Killer Klowns From Outer Space
Amok Time
2013

Amok Time gets the Official Seal of Awesomeness for their 2013 renditions of Shorty and Tiny from the 1988 cult classic, Killer Klowns From Outer Space. While this wasn't the first time these characters have received a plastic rendering, it was certainly one of the more accurate to their actual movie counterparts (in terms of sculpt and paint job).

The movie starred...Well, nobody really. John Vernon is really the only person most people will recognize, and even then they won't know him by name. The film is your typical "B" movie horror flick. It has corny dialog, cheesy special effects, and a cast that (mostly) went on to do very little, never seeming to break out in Hollywood.

So what makes the film so great? Well...It's one of those so bad it's good movies. You know the kind. The ones that you'd never sit through alone, but yet when you're with your buddies, possibly a case of beer, and a night of doing nothing, it turns out to be great.

The movie actually had sixteen different clown klowns in it, so it's rather disappointing that only two got produced. This of course was most likely due to poor sales at best. Let's face it, we don't know to many fans of the film in general - Let alone ones that collect action figures. It probably didn't help that Amok Times went out of business in 2014.

Honorable Mention

Now Playing Presents
State Of The Art Toys
2004

State of the Art Toys gets an honorable mention for being the first company to produce figures based on the movie. Much like Amok Time, only two figures got produced. Because none of the klown characters were given  names officially on screen, these figures were only entitled "Klown".

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Walk the Line / Cash (State of the Art Toys)

Walk the Line / Cash
2005
State of the Art Toys

Admittedly we know very little about Johnny Cash beyond the handful of song we heard playing on our parent's 78's, and of course the 2005 movie Walk the Line staring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon...Oh, and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story staring John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer. The man in black has songs we know, but we're not necessarily his biggest fans by any stretch.

Because our post on his history would be based on the above, we'll go ahead and spare the Cash fans out their of our impromptu history lesson, and jump right into the figure.

State of the Art Toys produced a Walk the Line / Johnny Cash figure in 2005 for Fox to distribute as a promotional item for the upcoming film. For what it's worth, this figure isn't bad. It certainly captures the look of Cash from the head sculpt to the black head to toe clothing.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the backdrop for the package is actually the poster for the 2005 film. Not a bad touch at all.

Mind you, this wouldn't be the only version of the figure. State of the Art Toys also followed up with a retail version - Or rather, specialty shops version.

The retail version, known as Cash, featured a wanted poster backdrop, but the same figure inside.

In general neither version is any more desirable than the other. Both the Fox promo and Cash versions can be found for as little as $9.00 here and there. High end sellers have been known to get as much as $30.00 for them, but more so the sales benchmark at about $16.00.

Personally, we'd rather have a Dewey Cox figure, but that's just us.

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Now Playing Presents Land of the Dead (State of the Art Toys)

Now Playing Presents Land of the Dead
State of the Art Toys
2006

State of the Art Toys is one of those companies that comes and goes at its own pace. They don't tend to release a whole lot of items, but what they do produce is pretty impressive. The quality and sculpts show the work of people who care about the product they're putting forth, and the attention to every detail is always highly praised by fans.

Now Playing Presents Land of the Dead was one of those lines that kind of came out of no where. It was based on the George A. Romero of the same name (Minus the Now Playing Presents part). Romero himself has been pleasing fans for decades with his "Dead Series", and SOTA took an opportunity to bring some of that pleasure home in the form of plastic action figures - That sounded almost dirty as we typed it.

Beyond saying that there were three figures produced, there's honestly not a whole lot more to say on the series. It's a line that appeals to a niche market, and beyond that isn't going to be a big seller - Thus why there were probably only three figures.

Big Daddy

Machete

The Butcher

Each figure came packed with a few hacked up pieces to form "The Victim" when compiled. However, this wasn't exactly an extra figure that could be assembled - More so just spread about the plastic base diorama pieces that also came packed with each figure.

These days it's not a hard line to track down - It just costs more than most people are willing to pay. Typically priced at an average of $25.00 to $30.00 per figure, most go unsold on secondary markets. Most collector's on average are willing to pay about $5.00 for each figure.

Join us next time when we take a look at Ghost in the Shell!

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Charmed (State of the Art Toys)

Charmed was one of the leading shows for the now defunct WB Television Network from 1998 to 2006. The show initially stared Shannen Doherty, Alyssa Milano, and Holly Marie Combs as sisters Prue, Phoebe and Piper. Doherty's character was removed from the series after series three, and replaced by youngest sister Paige played by Rose McGowan. While it has never been confirmed why Doherty left the show, it has been confirmed by both her and Milano that the two actresses never got along.

With the sudden departure of Doherty, the future of Charmed was questionable. However, rather than lose ratings, the series actually became even more popular, running for an additional five season. When the series ended at the end of season eight, there were 178 episodes in total.


In 2004, State of the Art Toys (or SOTA for short) produced two series of figures based on the show. The basic line included characters from the current cast line up including protagonist Belthazor played by Michael Bailey Smith for 14 episodes.

CineQuest.com offered four exclusive figures through their online site which included the same figures from the first series, just in different clothing. What is interesting about these exclusives is that the character Paige received two figures, as opposed to the other characters who only got one variant.


The final exclusive for the series was the transparent Belthazor figure which was released at San Diego Comic Con. To date it is one of the most difficult figures to get, especially mint in package.

In 2005 SOTA released a second and final wave of figures. The series once again included the three girls from the current cast line up, as well as Leo played by Brian Krause.

Unlike the first series which utilized large bubble packaging over cardboard backers, the second series came packed in PVC packaging. It is arguable that astatically wise, the first series packaging was more appealing. Both series came packed with an incredible amount of accessories and background pieces - Such as the attic "playset" which could be assembled by accumulating all the series one figures.

Despite repeated requests from fans and collectors, a figure based on Doherty's character was never released. It is possible that the actress would not license her likeness to the company due to her sudden departure from the series, but much like why she left the series, its unknown as to why the figure was never made. We attempted to contact SOTA toys regarding this, but as of this posting have received no comment.

Today the figures can be found for roughly ten dollars a piece with the exception of the San Diego Comic Con Belthazor which sells for fifty to sixty dollars.

Join us next time when we take a look at Knight Rider!

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