Something wicked this way comes from American International Toy Fair in New York City this week as several major collectible companies debut their expanding horror lines. The action figures, maquettes, busts and (yes!) even plush toys will all roll out to the public later in 2008, but FEARnet got to chat exclusively with several companies, including Mezco, Neca and Gentle Giant, about what to expect.

Mezco Toys

One look at the Mezco Toys booth and even the most jaded horror aficionado is going to sport a little drool. About twenty-feet of glass casing showcases a plethora of horror-related series celebrating some of the finest, classic horror titles from A Nightmare on Elm Street to Friday the 13th. Mike Drake, Mezco's Director of Special Projects, highlights some of their standout series offerings, including Cinema of Fear. The line includes 7" scale collectible action figures, Screen Grab dioramas, plush and stylized (animation style) figures. "Cinema of Fear has been unbelievably popular," Drake enthuses. "Series One of the Roto Plush (featuring Freddy, Jason and Leatherface) sold out almost instantly. They had a run of almost 40,000." For the 2nd series of 7" Screen Grabs out in '08, Drake says there will be two scenes from A Nightmare on Elm Street: Freddy above Nancy's bed and the infamous "glove shark" scene. "We wanted to do a Nancy figure because she had never been done before, but by herself she's not very exciting. So we figured we'd put her in the bathtub (with the Krueger claw)." Mezco will also launch a mini-plush line of Freddy, Jason and Leatherface which will be entirely plush and no plastic. But Drake says he is most excited about their upcoming 12' Jason Voorhees which he says 'We feel it is the best Jason ever done. Another company did a 12" Jason but the jawline was wrong and the clothing was not correct. For ours, we not only did movie reference but we went back to the (original film) makeup artist and have his actual Polaroids. Ours is movie accurate.'

Neca Toys

If you want cult figures, Neca is the company to see as they've made their niche in the market creating action figures for more specialized properties. In their booth, they showed off their expanding Alien and Alien vs. Predator figures. Mark Ambrose from Neca says there are three new AVP figures and 'the original Alien will be available in 7' and 18' versions with heavy articulation. The little mouth will extend and a lot more.' Neca will also have the first Arnold Schwarzenegger Conan the Barbarian figure ever. 'We have Arnold's likeness that our team sculpted and there will be three versions this year.' There is also a Jareth and Hoggle two-pack from Jim Henson's cult classic, Labyrinth.

Neca's popular Cult Classic line features new pieces from Grindhouse, The Exorcist, Beetlejuice and Trick 'r Treat. Ambrose details, 'Machete and Stuntman Mike from Grindhouse will be hitting shelves this year.' Asked about any plans to release Mike's car from Death Proof, Ambrose said, "Not at this time." But Regan from The Exorcist doing her backwards crawl down the stairs will be out in late 2008. And Sam from Trick 'r Treat will also be out around that time. Tim Burton's character Beetlejuice will also get a Cult Classic Presents release in all his spirited glory.

Gentle Giant Ltd. Horror

Following up on Gentle Giant Ltd's Horror line, representative Eric Lyga explains 'we started doing mini-busts with Leatherface and Chop Top from Texas Chainsaw. Jason Voorhees is the next in the series. We are also doing mini-busts of Cal McDonald, which is a comic book by Steve Niles, the creator of 30 Days of Night. Speaking of which, we'll do 30 Days of Night action figures next year.' GG will also create a two-gate statue from Gris Grimley's Cannibal Flesh Riot, which opens up to show bones inside. That will be available in time for the San Diego Comic Con, in July '08.

Check out our exclusive photos of the Gentle Giant lineup at Toy Fair. And come back soon for more pics of the above-mentioned Neca and Mezco toys!