Top 10 Must-Own Horror Toys: Texas Chainsaw Massacre Edition
John Squires
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The toy rights to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise have changed hands many times over the years, and ole Leatherface has seen release from most of the major companies we all love. Of the seven films he has starred in, five of them have been given the toy treatment, with most of the focus being placed on Leatherface’s two different looks in his original outing. But we’ve gotten a few fun surprises over the years, which have given us an exciting break from the norm.
Though there are quite frankly more than ten Texas Chainsaw Massacre toys that diehard fans of the franchise should probably own, what you’ll find below is what I consider to be the cream of the crop. Just know that I’m only leaving some awesome toys out because I’ve got no choice.
So let’s rev up those chainsaws and get on with it!
I think it’s safe to say that most of these ‘must-own’ lists will be kicked off with toys released by McFarlane, the company that gave us the very first high quality toys of many of our favorite horror icons. This particular list is no exception, and though I feel a bit bad about not including their original 6″ version of Leatherface, which was the first Leatherface toy I ever owned, I had to nix it in favor of their massive 18″ version. Released in 2001, as part of Movie Maniacs Series 4, this biggie sized Leatherface toy depicted the hulking brute in a vicious ready to strike pose, his clothing splattered in blood from a recent kill. Like McFarlane’s other 18″ Movie Maniacs toys, Leatherface was equipped with motion-activated sound, his trusty chainsaw starting up whenever you walked past him. Depending on whether you want him loose or in his original box, you can typically buy this figure nowadays for anywhere between $50-$100.
A few years later, in 2004, McFarlane revisited Leatherface on the heels of the remake, and put out another jumbo sized toy in Movie Maniacs Series 7, which turned out to unfortunately be the final series in the beloved line. The figure itself standing over 12″ tall, remake Leatherface came with an impressive base that brought the whole display piece to over 18″ high, depicting him wielding his chainsaw in front of the gnarly pulley system he hooks his victims onto. This figure also came with a severed arm, and in a nice little touch, Leatherface’s own right arm was removable, paying homage to the scene at the end of the film where Jessica Biel hacks it off with a cleaver. Definitely my favorite figure made of the reboot Leatherface, which can be picked up for fairly cheap, both in and out of the packaging.
If there’s one recent toy line that I wish had continued longer than it did it’s gotta be Mezco’s Screen Grabs, part of their Cinema of Fear brand. The line consisted of only two series’, and with it Mezco brought some fun to the horror toy game by bringing iconic movie scenes to life, through the use of small scale dioramas. No doubt one of the most shocking and memorable scenes of all time, this Series 1 release recreated the first kill we ever saw Leatherface make, bludgeoning Kirk with a mallet. I loved the way the Screen Grabs dioramas brought our favorite horror flicks to life, and I again wish Mezco had gone further with the idea than they did. You can find this one on eBay for around 20 bucks.
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