In our first of what will hopefully be many interviews with Randy, we discussed the new Hellraiser line of figures, and what the future holds for the line that fans demanded.

In coming to NECA from McFarlane, was there any difficulty in convincing them that a Hellraiser line would sell?

Not really, early on after coming on board at NECA I sat down with NECA President Joel Weinshanker and shared with him a wish list that I had of licenses I would love to work on. Hellraiser was at the top of that list and I know how bad the fans have wanted Hellraiser figures and merchandise. Joel listened to what I had to say and discussed the Hellraiser license with several major retailers and recognized the demand for this property.



How difficult was it to get the Hellraiser master license.

It was a little tricky. Several other companies have tried to obtain Hellraiser licenses in the past but there were many obstacles in the way. I was familiar with the history of the license and had some idea of what it might take. NECA President Joel Weinshanker negotiated the deal and here we are.


How did you guys go about choosing who would be the first 6

We did a lot of brainstorming on that. 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 4 of Pinhead, Chatterer, Butterball, and Female. It did not make sense to start with the 4 most popular in your first series. I mean where do you go from there?
Since we knew it would be a 6 figure assortment and there are 6 films it made sense to launch Series I with 1 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.


Where did the Idea for the Puzzle Box/Stands come from

That came kind of late in the game but we knew we wanted to do something extra for those who buy all 6 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 6 sides to the box and 6 figures let's make the bases all lock together. It's a great bonus for those who buy all 6 figures so you can assemble your own plastic version of the Lament Configuration.


Do you have a similar incentive planned for series 2?

We sure do and it is even better.


The line is varied when it comes to Accessories and Articulation.  What was the thought process that went with deciding how much of each to do with each figure?

Really it depended on the character. For the most part all of the Cenobites are very stiff characters. None of them are your typical action hero/villain types. In deciding articulation points we looked at what made sense with the character and what would not hurt the look of the sculptures.



You guys got to meet with Doug Bradley, and he has praised your work in his everyday interviews, tell us a little about Doug and what it was like to confront him with the figure.

It was an amazing experience. First of all Doug is a great guy who has been incredibly supportive of what we are doing. We can't thank him enough for that. Kyle Windrix (who sculpted Pinhead) and I met with Doug Bradley in Florida this past January to look over the 2-UP prototype of Pinhead. Just seeing Doug's face and watching his reaction was such a wonderful experience. Doug was so grateful that we took such great pains to get everything correct and authentic to his likeness and his costume.
For this moment was totally surreal. I mean I have always been a fan of the Horror/Slasher genre and I can remember watching Hellraiser back in 1987-1988 when I just started High School. I was blown away and I never thought that I would be in any way responsible for creating toys of Hellraiser someday. It's pretty cool!


I put the figures alongside my Movie Maniacs and Tortured souls, and they match up perfectly with both.  The figures also share the same quality as your McFarlane work did. Was it hard to duplicate that level of quality?

It is always difficult to get everything you want out of mass production that you put into the prototypes. Fortunately due to my previous experience working at McFarlane Toys I knew of different resources and factories that were capable of handling our projects. We were also aware of the problems that other companies have encountered with breakage and such. We wanted to make sure our figures were strong and solid.


I know the biggest concern was the fact that people wondered how they would measure up to the McFarlane figures, did that put any uncomfortable pressure on you guys.

There was pressure but we felt confident from the start that we could do it. The only thing that was a major concern was the engineering of Pinhead's head and how we could duplicate all of those little pins in production. That took a lot of thought and a lot of time but once we had that all worked out we felt very confident that we would have no problem measuring up to all of the leading competition.


Another nice touch is the Bios on the back of the Card, it really helps to identify with characters fans may be thinking about whether to buy or not.  Who wrote them?

Gary Tunnicliffe, the man behind the Cenobites. Gary handles the make-up, special effects, and creature design for the Hellraiser films. I contacted Gary early on to help with reference materials to make sure we got every detail right. When we started to design the packages we thought it would be cool to provide some back story especially for a few of the lesser known Cenobites. Gary was happy to help us with that and I think the results are great!


Just because it's a subject of much talk among fans right now, just who is that head that comes with Chatter Beast modeled after?

Laughter, for now we will leave that as a NECA secret. Someday we will let the cat out of the bag.


Was it hard to gather reference materials for creating the line?

If we had to rely solely on the films it would be very hard due to the atmospheric lighting and the fact that you do not see a lot of the Cenobites from the back or from the waist down, etc. Thanks to our relationship with Gary Tunnicliffe we can get just about anything we need reference wise.


The line has just been released, and you are already getting great news as far as how it's selling.  Tell us a little about that and if there is going to be any difficulty finding the figures?

We are getting a great response. We have only just begun to get some initial sales reports and the retailers are thrilled. Hellraiser is selling strong both in the US and abroad. The figures have been out for just about a week now and we are getting major re-orders already.
We are doing whatever we can to insure that everyone will be able to find the figures they are looking for. That is why we packed our figures 14 per case instead of 12. It's obvious that everyone, even the casual fan, will want Pinhead so we needed more of him. We wanted to pack 2 of everyone and 4 Pinheads. It is a very fair mix so there is 2 complete sets in each case plus 2 extra Pinheads. The reports we are getting from retailers and fans is very positive to our case mix.


You also have the 18 inch Pinhead and Exclusive Wire Twins set exclusive to Spencer Gifts.  Where else should fans go to find all the new Hellraiser stuff?

The 18" Pinhead is exclusive to Spencer's in the US only. 18" Pinhead is available at all Specialty Shops that order him outside the US. The Wire Twins set is exclusive to Marz Distribution in the US. Our Hellraiser merchandise is available at Spencer's, Suncoast, Hot Topic, Game Stop, and your local comic book and specialty shop. Also many online e-tailers are carrying Hellraiser as well.


Just because it was never mentioned before in their previous work, I want to take a moment to spotlight Shawn, Sam and Kyle, who did a fantastic job sculpting the line.  I also thought it was great to see Credits on the back of the card for everyone.  Anything you want to mention about the crew?

I love our crew. We all come from similar backgrounds and share many of the same interests. Some of us even worked together in the past so it is great to be working together again. Kyle "Tankman" Windrix is our Lead Sculptor and does amazing work as you can see. Kyle was responsible for 4 of the 6 Hellraiser figures in Series I. Shawn did a great job on the Chatter Beast and Sam handled both Wire Twins and the Torso. NECA Art Director Ed Repka and I oversee the progress of the entire series from concept to control art to the final packaged product. Ed also handles all the Paintmasters and does an unbelievable job. Seriously he is one of the best there is.


You guys aren't just stopping with Series 1 either, what can we look for in the coming months from Hellraiser?

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.

And finally we have our Hellraiser website that is just launching www.hellraiserthemovie.com which will feature some behind the scenes looks at the development of Series I and maybe some clues as to what Series II will hold. There is a lot more to come from NECA and Reel Toys so keep watching!