New Tragic Toys from Tim Burton and Dark Horse!

The fertile imagination of Tim Burton is one of the most interesting creative resources in pop-culture today. While his many films are stamped with his unique vision, cinema is an inherently collaborative process. It was therefore with great excitement and pride that Dark Horse Deluxe brought forward a merchandise program based on Burton’s most personal work – the delightfully twisted characters who populate his book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories.

Springing from Burton’s sketchpads and notebooks, these charming little characters have taken on a life of their own. They are his strange little children, and although some have described them as twisted or odd, as Burton himself has observed, "One person's craziness is another person’s reality."

Dark Horse has collaborated closely with Burton in making many of these characters "real," most notably in a series of faithfully sculpted miniature figures sold in boxed sets. After finding wide acceptance in the specialty market, these have been perennial sellers over the last several years.

Dark Horse Deluxe now proudly introduces large-size vinyl versions of these characters for the collector market. While the same faithful attention to detail is present, this new 6"+ size brings forward the special nuance of each individual creation, and fits very nicely into the ever-growing popularity of "designer vinyl" collectible toys. Three releases are planned for the end of 2009: Oyster Boy, Stain Boy, and Toxic Boy.

In conjunction with this, Dark Horse is refreshing the packaging of the original boxed sets, giving it a new graphic-design look and, in a reluctant bow to the increased cost of just about everything, a new suggested retail price (SRP).

The Tim Burton program is also being updated with a variety of new releases, including two heat-sensitive coffee mugs, a pull-tab journal that animates a Burton watercolor scene, a new light-up journal, playing cards, T-shirts, and note cards in light-up boxes.

"Dark Horse Deluxe has been privileged to work with many of today's [pop-culture] giants," VP of Product Development, David Scroggy, remarked, "But there is no one we get excited about more than Tim Burton. These characters are almost like his little children, and we are grateful that he trusts us with them. We have always told Tim that our mission with this program is to bring forward his artistic vision, and we take that responsibility seriously. The new items are a step forward on that journey, and while we don’t know exactly where it will lead us, we are certainly having some fun along the way."

As a capstone to a storied, ongoing career, Tim Burton is to be recognized with a career retrospective show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The exhibit will run from November 2009 through March 2010. Dark Horse Deluxe products will be available at the museum, and the original sculpture maquettes for the figures will be part of the installation. With previously unseen characters being exhibited, it is likely that selected pieces will find their way into the merchandise line as Burton deems appropriate.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009