It’s been a pretty fantastic year for toys, horror fans.  We’ve seen a real proliferation of independent toy makers getting out there and bringing us truly terrifying material.  The big names (Sideshow, NECA, Gentle Giant) have also continued to grind out some fantastic horror collectibles.  With so many quality releases, this wasn’t an easy list to put together, but here it is: our Top 8 Toys of 2008!

8. Indiana Jones Mighty Muggs: Mola Ram

The first installment in this list may seem like a curiosity to some.  You may be asking yourself “What is the lead villain from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom doing on this list?  And why does he look like he’s been pumped full of air!?”  Well, friends, this is a Mighty Mugg, Hasbro’s take on the Vinyl/Designer toy market.  And while some of the Muggs are a bit…uninspired, we just fell in love with Mola Ram!  Look at that crazy bearded face, look at that bloody heart!  What more could a horror lover ask for?

7. Gort and Klaatu Action Figures

Forget Keanu, everyone knows who the real Klaatu is: Michael Rennie!  This awesome dual set of Klaatu and his robot helper Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still invaded this list due to sheer originality.  Sure, tin wind-up Gort toys and reproductions are a dime a dozen, but a Klaatu doll?  With two interchangeable heads and a murky yellow helmet?  Nice.  Thanks Amok Time!  We don’t normally go nuts for sci-fi toys, but this just brought back the kind of nostalgia that we, as horror fans, die for.  This figure reminds us that no matter how many inferior remakes they throw at us, we’ll always have our silver-suited memories!

6. My Little Cthulhu – Dark Edition

We’ve mentioned My Little Cthulhu before.  Perhaps the reason this pint-sized elder god keeps coming up is simply the fantastic juxtaposition of it all.  A giant, monstrous entity known to evoke fear and insanity in anyone who comes across it, recreated as a soft, vinyl toy?  Genius.  And it’s designed by Dork Tower creator and overall geek impresario John Kovalic.  Though the original was created in 2006, ‘lil Cthu (that’s his street name, we hear) got a fantastic repaint this year.  This Dark Edition gives him a fantastic coat of black paint, red eyes, new patterning on his back and two new little victims (a preacher and what looks to be a vampire).  A great redux on an already awesomely clever horror toy?  Yes please!

5. 30 Days of Night Action Figure: Marlow

The theatrical version of 30 Days of Night really wowed us when it came out last year.  So we were extremely excited to see Gentle Giant release this series of these “Feeding Frenzy” action figures back in April.  While it was nice that they came with a comic and a blood-filled mousepad (perfect for our FEARnet desk!), the figure really was the star of this package.  Marlow, leader of the vampire pack, thrusts his head in the air, blood soaked mouth agape.  We love the little details; the blood soaked nails, the half-eaten head on his base… Hell, even the flecks of snow on his overcoat add realism to this fantastic creature!

4. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood Scream Scene

Our first of two entries from Sideshow Collectibles, the Friday the 13th Part VII Scream Scene took everyone’s favorite hockey-masked slasher and put him where he’s seldom gone before…underwater!  The $200 statuette features Jason in glorious, disgusting detail.  Notice the erosion of the skin on his hands, the exposed ribcage through his tattered shirt, and the pruning of his scalp!  Plus, the designers of this figure really brought the scene to life.  It looks like Jason really is floating in water, chained by the neck to that giant rock.  We’re extremely impressed by the craftsmanship on this collectible, and between this and Sideshow’s other entry on the list, we see a company with nothing but reverence for the genre we love!

3. Alien – Executive Officer Kane Collectible Figure

Now this is a beauty!  Based on Tom Skerritt’s doomed character from the original Alien film, this action figure from Hot Toys comes packed with details.  First, we love that a figure was even made of Kane.  Second, the design of the figure really harkens back to that fantastic costuming and prop work of the film.  And third, it lights up!  I mean come on – his clear plastic helmet actually lights up with a little glowing red light!  Not to mention the fact that it comes with an interchangeable head that has a facehugger alien burrowed through it.  This figure was released in August, and was about 1/6th scale.  While it’s hard to admit, this figure is so incredible that it’s got us asking, “Ripley who?”

2. Max Schreck as Nosferatu - Lifesize Bust

Oh Sideshow, how we love your collectibles…even if we’ll never be able to afford them!  Sideshow Collectibles’ Silver Screen edition of Nosferatu came out this year and really blew the horror collectors away.  This $500 life size bust of Max Schreck as the Vampyre was classy to the end.  The entire bust (including clothing) was created in grayscale, giving Schreck the look he had in black and white!  The clothing’s reproduced and made of actual cloth, and the hat can come on and off.  Add to that the fact that this bust is limited to an edition of 100, and it’s no surprise that this quickly flew off the shelves!  We love the look in his eye, and we applaud Sideshow for taking our genre of choice so seriously over the past few years.

1. Nightmare on Elm St. Nancy Thompson - Screen Grab 

Our number one toy of the year comes to us from the good folks at Mezco.  We reviewed several of their toys this year, and they’ve shown a strong commitment to horror toys with their Cinema of Fear line and with their incorporation of the Living Dead Dolls.  But the most interesting horror collectibles they put out this year were the second series of horror screen grabs.  This series of dioramas takes an iconic scene from a film and makes it small, plastic, and not too pricey!  The scenes from series two included Freddy peering down through Nancy’s wall, Jason holding down a victim while chained underwater, and Leatherface giving his poor victim a chainsaw vasectomy!  But our favorite figure from the series is the Nancy Thompson in the Bath figure!  That menacing claw sliding through the water between her legs is one of the most iconic scenes in modern horror.  But why did this make our top spot?  Affordability.  Mezco brought a seriously awesome collector’s item to the mass market with this $17 dollar screen grab.  And we just can’t argue when affordability and awesome mix!

That wraps up our countdown of the best toys of 2008!  It’s been a good year for toys, and next year may be even bigger.  With hyper-detailed Edward Scissorhands and Sweeney Todd figures shipping, the fantastic “Dr. Tongue” from Day of the Dead, and much more, we’ve all got a lot to look forward to.  And we here at FEARnet will keep you updated n everything vinyl, plush, plastic and evil in 2009!

Did we leave anything off or is there something you disagree with? Comment down below and help us get a clue!