Yes, it’s Figure Friday. Yes, it’s Halloween. But here in my little corner of (Redacted), Michigan, as I write this…it’s Devil’s Night.
The night prior to Halloween is regionally referred to as Devil’s Night in southeast Michigan. Deep in the suburbs where I grew up, the most you’d have to worry about was soaped windows and maybe a T.P.’d house, but, if the new stations were to be believed, it was all-out anarchy in Detroit.
For many years throughout the ’80s and ’90s, arson was the preferred method of “celebrating” Devil’s Night. White flight during the ’70s had led to a proliferation of abandoned buildings that were ready to burn. As a kid, there was a weird culture of fear that surrounded October 30th, even though I was as far removed from it as I possibly could have been without being in another state.
One year, my dad installed a motion-activated light off the back of our house, which, as luck would have it, was right next to my bedroom window. I lay awake late that night, and the light occasionally went on and off, and I would occasionally peek outside to see if any high school hoodlums were cutting through the back yard on their way to make mischief.
Devil’s Night underwent a semi-successful rebrand to Angel’s Night when I was in college. Communities banded together in the city to protect their neighbourhoods and reported arsons dramatically decreased year after year.
However, this is a column about toys, so for more information on Devil’s Night, consult your local library or watch the 1994 documentary film The Crow.
GWAR and Spew Tank Blood Slime
My co-writer, Josh Wallen, must have sensed through the collective Figure Friday unconscious that I had a whole handful of nothing to write about this week and was kind enough to send some seasonally appropriate links my way.
This column is on autopilot now, baby! Check this shit out:
Trick or Treat Studios is proud to present the officially licensed GWAR 5″ Action Figures!
Standing roughly 5 inches tall, these highly detailed figures are a must for any GWAR fan. Packaged in retro style action figure packaging just like your favorite figures from the toy aisle. Backing cards feature art by Dug Nation.
Your GWAR collection is about to get even more disgusting. The Spew Tank is a TANK (plastic jar with a screw top lid), filled with vile RED SPEW (translucent red blood slime) and the final, most important pieces of the Scumdog leader —Oderus Urungus!
Inside, you’ll find his head, torso, and legendary Cuttlefish of Cthulhu, ready to assemble with the rest of his limbs found in the GWAR 5” action figure wave.
It’s a widely accepted fact that GWAR kicks ass. They also happened to be long overdue for action figures of their own, and fittingly, they’re being brought to us by Trick or Treat Studios! The GWAR gang’s all here, and in this set, you’ll get: Pustulous Maximus, Beefcake the Mighty, Blothar the Berserker, Jizmak Da Gusha, and Balsac the Jaws of Death! I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed writing a paragraph more than I have right now, in this moment.
These figures are in stock and ready to ship now…if you dare.
Over the Garden Wall Figure Set – Chapter 2
Before Josh’s timely intervention, I was set to repeat myself this week and write about Over the Garden Wall AGAIN. Only this time it was going to be for a set I actually purchased (at no small cost to myself).
Yes, the must-have piece of Mondo’s OTGW collection dropped this week for Chapter 2: Hard Times at the Huskin’ Bee. The timed-exclusive comes with a massive 15-inch-tall Enoch figure, a skeleton, and a dancing cat. The regular set is no slouch, sure, but a giant pumpkin-god-king (?) figure… I’d have never forgiven myself if I missed it. As of this writing, there are still some available, so get while the getting is good if you need one.
