In the mythos of the Deadlands RPG, published by Pinnacle Entertainment, the hanging judges were five corrupt, confederate circuit judges who formed a secret alliance to steal land, ruin their rivals, and eliminate anyone who stood in their way. Hunted down and killed by enraged locals, the arose as horrific abominations, stalking the chisolm trail by night, terrorizing anyone who happened to cross their path.

Based on original artwork by Ron Spencer, the fully painted resin statue was sculpted by Karl Sanders.

"Because of the beautiful work he'd done on our Middle-earth line," said Jon Huston, artistic director for Toy Vault, "I felt sure that Karl was the sculptor best suited to launch our new Deadlands franchise. He's done a fabulous job of sculpting one of the best cold cast statues on the market today. The intricate detail on this figure is nothing short of amazing."

The Hanging Judge is scheduled to ship ion Fall of 2000 and carries a suggested retail price of $129.00.

Toy Vault has also announced the release of it's eagerly awaited The Other Side of the Looking Glass line, with a deluxe set of cold-cast resin figurines.

Taken from Lewis Carroll's timeless, beloved fantasy classics "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass", the beautifully sculpted and painted figures come packaged in a special, collectors window box.

"When I first encountered these books as a child," said Huston, "I was utterly enchanted by the illustrations of the legendary Victorian artist Sir John Tenniel. While many toys and figures based on Carroll's work have appeared over the years, most have either been original interpretations or based on some other version such as the Disney animated film. Even toys based directly on the books have, for the most part, completely failed to capture the strange, other-worldly quality of Tenniel's original artwork."

"One of the reasons we've been working on this line for over two years now," adds Huston, "is that we wanted to make sure we got it right. I think we have!"

Toy Vault's initial set offers four of Carroll's most beloved characters, including Alice with flamingo and hedgehog, Humpty Dumpty, the Mad Hatter and the Caterpillar, complete with hooka pipe and mushroom stand.

The box set with sell for $29.95 and can be found at retail outlets and gift and specialty shops across the country soon.

In 1998, when Toy Vault introduced their Middle Earth Toys, a line of action figures based on the best-selling novels of J.R.R. Tolkien, they became the first manufacturer to ever release action figures based soley on a literary property. Carrying on this tradition, Toy Vault has announced it's upcoming release of Cthulhu Rising, a new cold cast resin statue based on the works of noted horror write, H.P. Lovecraft.

"Lovecraft is one of the most difficult writers to adapt to a visual medium," explains Huston, "While Lovecraft's feverish, adjective ridden prose packs an emotional whallop, his desciptions of the various monsters and elder gods that populate his tales, tend to be rather vague. Because of this, I knew I had to find a sculptor, or sculptors, capable of bringing a nebulous concept to terrifying life. When I finally came upon the work of Brandon and Jarrod Shiflett, I knew this was the team for the job."

Best known for their Kabuki and Duke Nukem statues for Moore Creations, the world famous Shiflett Brothers have created one of the most intricate and difficult sculpts they have ever attempted. Cthulhu Rising marks the first time any artists have attempted to sculpt a three-dimensional representation of an actual scene from one of Lovecraft's short stories. This beautifully painted resin statue depicts Lovecraft's shambling, "old one" as it appears in the story "The Call of Cthulhu", devouring a band of unfortunate sailors who've unknowingly opened the door to it's domain.

Look for Toy Vault's Cthulhu Rising statue to ship in early 2001, with a suggested retail price of $199.00.

[Posted 6/28/2000]