I had been wanting a life size Gremlin for as long as I can remember. Kaiyodo made a vinyl kit of Mohawk from the second movie in the 90's. He was £150 back then and was way more than I could afford. A mint one now still would be! People pop up on garage kit groups claiming to have scored one. Nine times out of ten they turn out to be recasts! I do have to hide my glee when I tell them that sometimes!
Late in 2017, Trick Or Treat Studios announced they were making 1/1 puppets of a regular Gremlin and Stripe. (The puppet was sculpted by Russ Lukich and he had one of Chris Walas' originals right next to him so it looks really authentic.) It was only when looking up reviews for the NECA ones earlier this month that I happened upon them. I looked on eBay and most were in the US so I decided I'd hold off for a while. On Saturday, I did an image search for the Gremlin and one pic was hosted by a site called Mad About Horror. They turned out to be a UK retailer and they had them in stock for way less than I could have imported one for. It was my birthday on Sunday, so, I treated myself! They go for around $200 in the US and I got mine for about £220 shipped, which I'm happy with.
He arrived earlier, in a huge box! He stands at 28" tall, which would make the NECA ones around 1/4 scale. Does he look good and is he worth the money!? OH HELL YES!! He is cast in foam latex and is padded on the inside with foam packing. There is a slit in the upper back (Mine wasn't that neat, but you can't see the back anyway.) where you can insert your hand and puppeteer the head and mouth. It's a bit awkward for my hand, but I bought him more as a static prop anyway. There are wires in the ears and arms allowing you to pose them a little, though I wouldn't advise overdoing it.
As he's foam latex, he doesn't stand on his own, so you will need a stand of some kind. One video reviewer had used a guitar stand, so that was what I bought too. The back leg on mine was really short, which held the stand at a backward angle. My first thought was 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!', but, then I had a Chop-worthy flash of inspiration! There was a forked piece on which you rest the bottom of the guitar. I took the end cap off the back leg and roughly put the piece into it. It held the stand at the right angle which allowed it to support the Gremlin! YAAAAY!! After shooting pics, I found a rubber cap in the spare room. As luck would have it, one end fitted the forked piece perfectly, and the other fitted perfectly into the back leg. Chop's ingenuity has really rubbed off on me.
Another thing, latex will deteriorate over time, so it is advisable to seal him. This will preserve the rubber so he'll last a bit longer. I did a bit of research and there were a lot of differing opinions as to what to use. It could have got a bit confusing, so I sought advice from the one person best qualified to give it. Who better to ask than the guy that created the original Gremlins for the movie!? It so happened that I'd recently joined a group on FB called Ape Suit Cinema. The host of this group turned out to be none other than Chris Walas, the creator of the Gremlins! So, I dropped him a line asking his advice. He got back to me quite quickly.
The stuff he used on the original Gremlins to preserve them was this:
https://www.amazon.com/GARDNER-GIBSON-29-Clear-Leak-Stopper/dp/B000W67GQ8
He advised thinning it to get a good even coat. You might think that would have solved my problem. Sadly, it didn't. You see, nobody in the UK stocks it and to import it via Amazon UK would have cost me nearly £70! I searched eBay for an alternative and found this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Good-Ideas-Clear-Leak-Stop-Spray-n-Seal-Mastic-Sealant-775-Stop-Leaks/163004062121?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
I haven't received it yet, but will test it when I get it. Testing it is all I can really do right now. I don't have any room to spray or really display him properly.
Mine is well painted, but, the eyes are a little off. However, I have found a neat way round this, I found some screen accurate 3D glasses! They will look ace on him when I get them. The ones you need look like this:
They can be found easily on eBay, mostly in 10 or 12 packs, so you'll have plenty of spares. Mine cost less than £5.
I'll shoot some pics of him wearing them and then, once I've tested the sealer and I'm happy with it, I'll box him back up again ready for when I move.
Anyway, that's enough words, time for some pics!
You can see the improvised part of the stand there.
Tootsies!
Gremlin selfie!?
Superb detail!
FEED ME!!
I love him, if you want one, get one!
CHEERS!
Late in 2017, Trick Or Treat Studios announced they were making 1/1 puppets of a regular Gremlin and Stripe. (The puppet was sculpted by Russ Lukich and he had one of Chris Walas' originals right next to him so it looks really authentic.) It was only when looking up reviews for the NECA ones earlier this month that I happened upon them. I looked on eBay and most were in the US so I decided I'd hold off for a while. On Saturday, I did an image search for the Gremlin and one pic was hosted by a site called Mad About Horror. They turned out to be a UK retailer and they had them in stock for way less than I could have imported one for. It was my birthday on Sunday, so, I treated myself! They go for around $200 in the US and I got mine for about £220 shipped, which I'm happy with.
He arrived earlier, in a huge box! He stands at 28" tall, which would make the NECA ones around 1/4 scale. Does he look good and is he worth the money!? OH HELL YES!! He is cast in foam latex and is padded on the inside with foam packing. There is a slit in the upper back (Mine wasn't that neat, but you can't see the back anyway.) where you can insert your hand and puppeteer the head and mouth. It's a bit awkward for my hand, but I bought him more as a static prop anyway. There are wires in the ears and arms allowing you to pose them a little, though I wouldn't advise overdoing it.
As he's foam latex, he doesn't stand on his own, so you will need a stand of some kind. One video reviewer had used a guitar stand, so that was what I bought too. The back leg on mine was really short, which held the stand at a backward angle. My first thought was 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!', but, then I had a Chop-worthy flash of inspiration! There was a forked piece on which you rest the bottom of the guitar. I took the end cap off the back leg and roughly put the piece into it. It held the stand at the right angle which allowed it to support the Gremlin! YAAAAY!! After shooting pics, I found a rubber cap in the spare room. As luck would have it, one end fitted the forked piece perfectly, and the other fitted perfectly into the back leg. Chop's ingenuity has really rubbed off on me.
Another thing, latex will deteriorate over time, so it is advisable to seal him. This will preserve the rubber so he'll last a bit longer. I did a bit of research and there were a lot of differing opinions as to what to use. It could have got a bit confusing, so I sought advice from the one person best qualified to give it. Who better to ask than the guy that created the original Gremlins for the movie!? It so happened that I'd recently joined a group on FB called Ape Suit Cinema. The host of this group turned out to be none other than Chris Walas, the creator of the Gremlins! So, I dropped him a line asking his advice. He got back to me quite quickly.
The stuff he used on the original Gremlins to preserve them was this:
https://www.amazon.com/GARDNER-GIBSON-29-Clear-Leak-Stopper/dp/B000W67GQ8
He advised thinning it to get a good even coat. You might think that would have solved my problem. Sadly, it didn't. You see, nobody in the UK stocks it and to import it via Amazon UK would have cost me nearly £70! I searched eBay for an alternative and found this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Good-Ideas-Clear-Leak-Stop-Spray-n-Seal-Mastic-Sealant-775-Stop-Leaks/163004062121?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
I haven't received it yet, but will test it when I get it. Testing it is all I can really do right now. I don't have any room to spray or really display him properly.
Mine is well painted, but, the eyes are a little off. However, I have found a neat way round this, I found some screen accurate 3D glasses! They will look ace on him when I get them. The ones you need look like this:
They can be found easily on eBay, mostly in 10 or 12 packs, so you'll have plenty of spares. Mine cost less than £5.
I'll shoot some pics of him wearing them and then, once I've tested the sealer and I'm happy with it, I'll box him back up again ready for when I move.
Anyway, that's enough words, time for some pics!
You can see the improvised part of the stand there.
Tootsies!
Gremlin selfie!?
Superb detail!
FEED ME!!
I love him, if you want one, get one!
CHEERS!
.
