Top 10 Must-Own Horror Toys: The Evil Dead Edition
John Squires
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In 2003, on the 10th anniversary of the release of Army of Darkness, Diamond Select Toys brought John Bolton’s iconic poster for the film to life with this statue, which measures 16” high. Ash standing tall over the corpses of Deadite soldiers and flanked by a horde of mini-Ashes as well as love interest Sheila, the incredible statue was limited to only 1,993 pieces – a number chosen due to the fact that the movie was released in 1993. Diamond Select Toys also released Ash and Evil Ash busts the same year, though it was the statue that was the stand-out offering from the company. Only one is currently selling on eBay, for $800, so it’s not going to be easy to find one of these nowadays. A Holy Grail collectible, to say the least.
NECA took over in 2006, first releasing a couple of Army of Darkness bobble heads and then inserting action figures of Ash into their Cult Classics line. First came Medieval Ash in Series 5, followed by S-Mart Ash in Series 6. Honestly, either of the two figures could’ve been featured on this list, but I was forced to choose one so I went with Medieval Ash. He came with an alternate stretched head, the Necronomicon and Ash’s trusty Boomstick, and the head sculpts on both this one and NECA’s S-Mart version were far superior to what McFarlane had done years prior – sorry, Todd! Both figures can still be found for around $20-$30.
After the 2003 release of Sideshow’s 12” Army of Darkness figures, many fans were left wondering if the company would ever give Ash their prestigious Premium Format treatment – which they in fact did return to do in 2007. Cast in polystone, the Premium Format Ash statue stood over 20” tall and featured real fabric clothing, making it the most high-end Evil Dead collectible that has ever been released. I believe 500 were made in total, with the first few hundred that purchased the statue getting the Sideshow Exclusive version, which came with a Necronomicon that could be displayed on the base. These usually sell on eBay for at least $500, oftentimes even more.
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