I made a choice years ago, right before Sideshow decided to make the horror toy market explode. I realized that if they started to bust out a ton of different figures, if I started collecting them, I’d have to get them all. I decided that, for the most part, I was not going to collect horror toys. They are cool and would be great to have, but that is not where I want to put my money. No judging, just a personal choice.

Granted, I have taken the plunge every now and then and picked up one or two, such as the Waldemar Daninsky figure from Night of the Werewolf from Distinctive Dummies, since, I mean, it is Paul Naschy, after all. And then there is the Emily & Dickie figure from The Beyond that Pallbearer Press & Distinctive Dummies put out, and then all those Hammer Horror figures from Mego, and a few Funko Pop figures, but that’s it!

What amazes me is the custom figure market that has developed over the last few years and has seemed to explode. These amazing and creative creations, as well as the obscure characters they decide to produce is just stunning. Which brings me to one figure I recently came across that almost had me busting into my wallet.

Monsters International by BKC. TOYS came out with the sea creature from Larry Buchanan’s Creature of Destruction! Buchanan would be smiling ear to ear in his grave had he ever realized someone not only would make an action figure of one of his creations, but that there would be crazy fans like me that wanted one! The quality of it looked amazing and really looked like it was a professionally made toy to tie-in with this rare made-for-TV movie. But it did not have a cheap price tag and almost as bad was the freight to get it from Germany. Again, not complaining about the pricing because I understand what goes into them. I just can’t see dropping close to $180 for a little 8-inch figure. But damn would that look cool sitting on one of my display shelves!

I salute you, those out there that continue to make these incredible figures and continue to tempt me from holding my ground. You may not have my money just yet, but you do have my respect.