HILL'S CHARLES BAND INTERVIEW - Part 1

Hill - Myself and the Puppet Master fans are very excited about Wizard Toys new Puppet Master Figures. Besides Blade and Tunneler, can you reveal what other 4 Puppets we can expect to see in the line up?

CB - Sure, well there will be the original six puppets that appear in Puppet Master 1. Next week on our site we will have the 4 other puppets visible on the site to give a mock up on how it's all going to look because what we have created is really cool. It's a diorama of the 6 puppets that fit together on this cool brick background. So how far we will go beyond that I'm not sure, but these 6 puppets will be coming in the next 8 months. These sculptures are just unbelievable, i mean they're polyresin and sturdy. There are pictures of them on the site but really don't do them much justice until you see them in person. When I first did this I wanted them to be really beautiful, real special and something we've never done before. I wanted to do a very limited quantity of 1990 which is the year the first Puppet Master came out. It seemed like a neat number. Every figure will be numbered and signed. But now the problem is we already have 300 people at the last two conventions that have already put their name on the list for these action figures. The best thing to do for anyone at this point is to send an email to our site and we're going to have a toy site set up in about a week as well. Send an email and say put my name on the list because my concern is a lot of people will be unhappy because there all gonna be gone (laughs).

Hill - So where exactly can people email to get on the list?

CB - Just go to my blog which is just charlesband.com or fullmoondirect.com and that way they can put their name on the list for these figures. So that will be cool and also in relation now that we're back and running there are a number of items that we're talking to some people about. I can't really talk about which ones they are but they'll be everything from full size figures to masks and things that could work for halloween. Ya know we have a whole list of things that we are exploring that will tie in to some degree to a Halloween theme and in a few weeks I'll be able to talk about it.

Hill - Sound awesome. Will there be a new full size Puppet Master character?

CB - Correct.

Hill - Cool.

CB - We will start with Blade and then probably either Tunneler or Torch. But I mean like 6 foot tall.

Hill - Wait, 6 Foot Tall Figures???

CB - We're talking some big, big characters that will actually be somewhat inexpensive retailing under $100. Again we are exploring this with a big Halloween company that will tie into that theme.

Hill - Ok, next question. Why did you choose Polystone for the new Puppet Master Toys?

CB - Well ya know I wanted something that was heavy and sturdy. I'm just not sure how well received another poseable, lightweight $15 little puppet would be...not that anything is wrong with it. We've already done that with all the various variants. I wanted something that could sit on someone's desk and look really, really cool. God knows all 6 of them will weigh 4 or 5 pounds. But ya know, I wanted something different and more collectible and again a very limited quantity. But that doesn't mean we're limited to the polyresin. The new toy coming out Marvin, from Decadent Evil will be poseable, bigger and I could compare it to uhh the Trilogy of Terror character......umm.

Hill - Zulu?

CB - Yeah it kinda reminds me of the Zulu guy but we're not going to stick to any particular process. But with the first line up we've decided to go with the Polystone figures.

Hill - Are the Blade and Tunneler images on the poster prototypes?

CB - No, actually those are the test shots of the first two production pieces we received from the manufacturer. We got in these first production pieces we put up and are on a poster in fact...you're right.

Hill - So those are the ACTUAL figures.

CB - Correct. Those were photographed from what came off the assembly line.

Hill - Ok, any plans for a series 2 for these polystone figures?

CB - Well it's a little early to talk about a series 2, we're still giving birth to these new toys but there's no question we'll be making more because I'm planning the next Puppet Master movie and to make it really well so this may tie into a series 2 of these puppets...but it's a little early to talk about that.

Hill - OH, so you ARE coming out with a new Puppet Master movie?

CB - Yeah I gotta redeem myself. The one that appeared on TV, I mean I had nothing to do with it directly. So I want to go back and make a great Puppet Master movie. Puppet Master went in so many directions and I never thought they would be making so many. I was pulled in so many directions over the years so with the one I do next year I want to go back to the very roots. I mean if there was a Puppet Master I'd want it to be closer to, I'd say 1 or 3.

Hill - The best 2 in my opinion as well.

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