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Asylum Publications CEO & Former Todd McFarlane, Stan Lee Collaborator Paul Burke: The Horror News Network Interview

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If you grew up living and breathing the world of horror and comic books, there’s a good chance Paul Burke had something to do with something you loved. Whether it be his work as president of Stabur Press/Calibur Comics, his co-founded video production company with Stan Lee, or his former role as co-CEO of TMP International, Inc. in launching McFarlane Toys, Burke has worked with the top talent of the industry to help them make their creative dreams a successful reality in especially cutthroat marketplaces. His latest endeavor is Asylum Publications, an imprint dedicated to genre interests of art and photography. Burke recently wrote and published The Early Days of McFarlane Toys, a book which chronicles his experiences with the company as it grew into a juggernaut toy company in the mid to late 90s (You could read the Horror News Network review of the book by clicking this link). Burke took some time out of his busy schedule to speak with Horror News Network about Asylum Publications and his experiences in working with Todd McFarlane and Stan Lee. read more

‘The Early Days of McFarlane Toys’: The Horror News Network Review

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If you grew up in the 90s, you couldn’t make it through your childhood without having at least one encounter with one of the many products of McFarlane Toys. Whether it be their Ultra Action Figures of popular Spawn characters, their variety of Kiss and other music lines, or their movie and professional sports lines, there was a McFarlane toy out there for everyone. If you were a big Spawn fan, though, you lived and breathed McFarlane Toys. During those years, barely a month would go by without a new comic book release or a new line of figures hitting the shelves to get everybody talking, and “mint in box” was the name of the game. Some Spawn fans have moved on from collecting since those golden years, but Todd McFarlane Productions is still as relevant as ever given the recent milestone release of Spawn #301 and the anticipation of an upcoming Blumhouse major motion picture directed by McFarlane himself and starring Jamie Foxx as Al Simmons. read more

HNN’s Coverage of The 2019 New York Toy Fair

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HNN’s Larry Dwyer and Sean McLaughlin once again invaded the Jacob Javitz Center in Manhattan for Toy Fair New York, the annual international convention of toy manufacturers, distributors and retailers.  And once again, all horror fans have a LOT to look forward to in 2019 and beyond.

The usual suspects of horror industry heavyweights such as NECA, Mezco and McFarlane Toys (among many others) did not disappoint with their impressive displays and product announcements, which are covered in the event pictures posted here.  While the genre standards like Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Chucky were of course well-represented, several new exciting licenses were unveiled as well.  Our favorites are They Live, which saw multiple companies announce brand-new figure lines, and the anticipated upcoming film The Curse of La Llorona.  Mezco appears to be knocking it out of the park in respect to the latter. read more

HNN Preview of Toy Fair New York 2019

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The 2019 New York Toy Fair is only a few days away, and the gang at HNN is ready to once again invade the Javitz Center in Manhattan and partake in all of the fun.

Staff writers Larry Dwyer and Sean McLaughlin preview what to expect at this year’s event, and shed some light on the companies and exhibits that will be of particular interest to horror fans.  The boys cover all of the favorites like Mezco, NECA, McFarlane Toys and many others.

Visit our YouTube channel (and the video below) for the entire episode, and check out our Patreon page for even more exclusive videos and content that you can’t get anywhere else (https://www.patreon.com/horrornewsnetwork). read more

McFarlane Toys to Produce ‘Cuphead’ Toy Line

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CUPHEAD mania will be jumping off of the screens of game consoles and into toy store shelves everywhere soon enough!  McFarlane Toys, in a press release on Tuesday July 17th, officially announced the acquisition of yet another toy license that began as a game and has quickly transcended pop-culture lore.  Following in the footsteps of Five Nights at Freddy’s and Hello Neighbor, the toy and action figure super-company will begin production on Construction Sets modeled after the wildly popular game Cuphead.  Spawn himself would be proud. read more

HNN’s Coverage of The 2018 New York Toy Fair

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This weekend, the Jacob Javits Center in New York City played host to the cultural phenomenon known as Toy Fair 2018.  For four glorious days, national and international toy producers, re-sellers and developers converged on the West Side of Manhattan to display their current products and provide a glimpse of what the future holds for their catalogs as well.

Horror continues to play an integral part in the toy market, and Horror News Network was there to cover all of the excitement and wonderfully-gory products that both casual and hardcore collectors (and their kids!) can expect throughout 2018 and even into next year.  Staff Journalists Larry Dwyer and Sean McLaughlin made the trek ready to report, and thanks to an assist by our friends at Action Figure Collectors (www.actionfigurecollectors.com) we were able to provide thorough coverage of all announcements and news relevant to the horror masses. read more