If you ever spent time perusing trashy tabloids while your parents paid for groceries in the ‘90s, you’ll inevitably recognize the face of Bat Boy, a fictional creature who made appearances in Weekly World News at the turn of the century. Now, almost 35 years after he made his front page debut, horror fans can bring home their very own Bat Boy thanks to a new partnership between the fictional tabloid and Cryptoids.
As a part of their War for the Green Planet series, Cryptoids unveiled a new 1/12 scale action figure of Bat Boy, designed by Jacob Walsh and sculptor Tristan Miller. The figure features full articulation and grotesque molding, along with branded packaging featuring the Weekly World News aesthetic and two heads: one smiling, and one with his iconic screaming facial expression. Also available is an exclusive black and white version, pulled straight from the newsprint Bat Boy first appeared in.
“Bringing Bat Boy into the Cryptoids universe was one of the earliest ideas we had for the line,” says Cryptoid’s Craig Goldberg. “We’re all 90’s kids who were obsessed with Weekly World News, so the chance to immortalize such an iconic pop-culture character in action figure form is beyond exciting for us.”
Bat Boy first appeared on the cover of Weekly World News in 1992, created by editor Dick Kulpa and appearing in numerous issues of the tabloid throughout the 1990s, as well as in his own comic strip. He became such a pop culture phenomenon that he even got his own Off-Broadway musical in 1997, with music by Legally Blonde and Heathers musical composer Laurence O’Keefe.
But Bat Boy isn’t the only cryptid making his debut with the new action figure series. Born from the minds of the Yes Have Some Podcast, hosted by Walsh, Goldberg, and Abigail Gardner, the War for the Green Planet line also includes figures of Bigfoot, the Yeti, Mothman, the Squonk, the Jackalope, reptoid drones, and little grey aliens.
No release date has been announced for the Cryptoids Bat Boy figure. Stay tuned to FANGORIA for more updates.
