tales from the haunted box birthday prezzie: quatermass and the toys by tony k

Tales From The Haunted Toy Box

Quatermass and the Toys

It all began back in 1953 with The Quatermass Experiment, a six part television drama written by Nigel Kneale. The series was transmitted live by the BBC for six consecutive Saturday nights during the summer of that year. As many readers will know, this ground breaking British made sci fi serial proved popular and immediately hooked its TV audience. 

It received substantial viewer ratings and became an overwhelming success. As testament to its impact, the British Film Institute's Screenonline says of the serial - 'The Quatermass Experiment became a landmark of science fiction and the cornerstone of the genre on British television!'. Following this television triumph, the BBC produced and serialised Quatermass II in 1955, and Quatermass and the Pit, from Dec 1958 - Jan 1959. 

Sensing commercial success, Hammer Film Productions immediately sank its teeth into two of Kneale's Quatermass scripts, and bought the film rights to the third a little later, in 1961. The Quatermass Xperiment was released in 1955 and became a box-office success. 

 It was followed by Quatermass 2, in 1957, which also received respectable ratings. Both big screen films were produced in black and white, and both entrusted the role of Quatermass to American actor Brian Donlevy. The third and possibly most popular Quatermass movie was screened a decade later, in 1967. 

 Quatermass and the Pit was filmed in colour and saw Scottish actor Andrew Keir replace Brian Donlevy as the leading actor. Andrew Keir defined the role of Professor Bernard Quatermass for many fans.

Guess we know the familiar movie merchandising formula... Cometh the movie, cometh the toy! Yep... riding the crest of cinematic success, a mass of must-have Quatermass action figures quickly flooded our toy shops back then! Erm... wait... actually... no, that didn't happen did it! 

 In fact, unable to solve the action figure equation, Quatermass was abandoned in derelict Hobbs Lane to ponder the fate of humanity for decades to come. Then an innovative action figure toy company called 'Distinctive Dummies' began fresh excavations into many of our forgotten faves... including Quatermass.

Bangkok based Distinctive Dummies, are billed as 'Premier makers of custom, limited edition, collectors figures' - an accurate statement in fact! They're growing in profile and have tapped into the vein of nostalgia by producing small production runs of memorable and obscure horror and sci fi heroes and villains, both past and present. 

 They've arrived on the action figure scene with a stall of good quality market-firsts, producing many celebrated genre characters which have typically been ignored by larger action figure manufacturers. The Brian Donlevy and Andrew Keir versions of Professor Quatermass are good examples of popular film characters who have never before been released as action figures. Both now sadly 'retired' from production.

Distinctive Dummies action figures are 8' inch tall and have an uncomplicated, refreshingly retro-Mego feel to their appearance and articulation. Each figure has a hand painted head sculpt which offers a pleasing 1/9 scale interpretation of the character it represents. 

The figures have good quality layered fabric outfits and enjoyable accessories. The Brian Donlevy version of the Professor (The Quatermass Xperiment), was sold as a double-pack, accompanied by ill-fated and rapidly mutating astronaut, Victor Carroon (played by actor Richard Wordsworth).

 Whilst the popular Andrew Keir version of Quatermass (Quatermass and the Pit), includes an instantly recognisable iconic Martian, freshly unearthed at the Central Line Extension - Hobbs End.

 Quatermass is just one of many limited edition characters produced by Distinctive Dummies. A quick search of eBay or google images will show what other Distinctive Dummies creations are already out there... and there are some very good ones, depending how you like your monsters.

At first glance, Distinctive Dummies packaging appears retro-Mego in size and style. However, unlike vintage Mego blister cards, which had to be damaged to free the figure inside, Distinctive Dummies have thoughtfully packaged their products in resealable clear plastic packs.

This provides the perfect formula for collectors who enjoy posing and displaying their action figures, without the dilemma of damaging and devaluing product packaging. Each pack also includes a removable backing card relating to the figure inside.

Considering the limited production runs and strong production values of these fun size figures, they offer very good value for money, when released through Distinctive Dummies. However, some secondary market owners/dealers are advertising 'retired' figures at hiked-up prices... so it certainly worth shopping around to get the best prices.

It's also worth checking out Distinctive Dummies Facebook profile to see what new releases are in the pipeline, and what fans and collectors have to say about these amazing retro-toys. 

Tony K

Distinctive Dummies Facebook 

https://en-gb.facebook.com/Distinctive-Dummies-160276604029035/