Exclusive: WARPO Announces Don’t Cuddle the Krampus!
Paul "Nomad" Nicholasi
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WARPO has been making a name for itself among hardcore and casual toy collectors alike with its Legends of Cthulhu project. From Kickstarter success story to a distribution deal with Diamond, the company’s eye for detail, coupled with a heavy, obvious love for all things retro, is making it one of my new favorite toy companies. As WARPO’s mega Cthulhu figure ships out across the planet, they thought it was time to show off the next big thing… “DON’T CUDDLE THE KRAMPUS“!! Dread Central has the exclusive info…
We took some time to talk with Bryan Katzel, President of WARPO, to find out how success is treating them, how many human sacrifices were involved in that success, and most important of all, the details on their next killer project.
Dread Central: When we first saw the Legends of Cthulhu project, we could tell you were old school horror fans, but when we saw the box for the BIG Cthulhu, we knew you were invading our dreams and taking cues from them. So… Question 1: How do you get into our dreams, and are you witches?
WARPO: We are definitely not witches… being males, we prefer the title “warlocks.”
DC: Did you ever expect the world would fall in love with an ancient green monster with a squid for a face?
WARPO: Yes and no. Lovecraft’s work is amazing, and I believe that today the mythos he created is so relatable to our fearful, anxiety-ridden society. But where the love is coming from I have no clue… maybe our society is starving for new fantasy… new monsters, and maybe we’ve all gone insane. Either way, Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.
DC: How was the “Don’t Cuddle the Krampus” project born?
WARPO: Krampus is something that has been on our radar for quite some time now, growing more and more popular in recent years, but at the same time not really receiving the type of collectible toy that WARPO thought it deserved. Coming off of the Legends of Cthulhu line, we knew that we wanted to switch gears and let the world know that WARPO is a collectible toy company that will be producing product in a multitude of product categories. We love the 80’s and the monster toys that existed at the time, especially all the soft goods like My Pet Monster, Madballs, Boglins, and Gremlins. When we hit upon the thought of “What if there was a toy company in 1986 that knew about the Krampus mythology and decided to create a toy line to compete with the gross-out/monster toys of the era?,” we knew we needed to make it a reality.
DC: What is it about the low-res nature of the 80’s and their desperate need of tracking adjustment that is so appealing?
WARPO: It’s something that really hits home to our generation and is so closely tied to the products and properties we fell in love with at that time. Media was a lot harder to come by in the 80’s so you’d record anything you could to get a glimpse into that world that held your favorite superhero, fantasy character, or mega robot. I personally had tapes that wore out from the amount of times I’d watched the toy commercials and cartoons I’d captured… but I squinted through all the static and snow until that tape broke because it was a gateway into a world that totally amazed me.
DC: So, what’s the roll-out plan for “Don’t Cuddle the Krampus”?
WARPO: “Don’t Cuddle the Krampus” will come with one plush Krampus toy standing at 18-1/2” tall and comes complete with three Naughty Kid pillows to collect and carry in a Naughty Kid bag and removable molded manacles with chains. We teamed up with toy industry veteran Jim Groman (My Pet Monster, Madballs, Barnyard Commandos) to design, sculpt, and prototype this toy so not only is it totally retro, but it also has all the attention to detail that comes with 30 years in the toy industry!
We’re launching the “Don’t Cuddle the Krampus” product line on Kickstarter at 8am on November 10th. (THAT’S TOMORROW!!) This will be the first opportunity for people to reserve the toy and a ton of other killer merchandise only available on the Kickstarter. One exciting reward level includes the “Krampus Delivery Level” where backers will receive a lump of Krampus coal that can be sent this year as a holiday gift to alert the recipient a Krampus will be coming for them next year.
Check out all the details about the “Don’t Cuddle the Krampus” Kickstarter campaign at warpo.com/kickstarter, but first enjoy this awesome retro TV spot they put together for it.
Categorized:Last Toys on the Left News
