What you see here is a 2up prototype of the Splitting Ash figure from the 4" Army of Darkness line by Palisades Toys (R.I.P).
Action figures are generally sculpted twice the size they will be at retail, and eventually shrunk down. Since the figures in this line were 4", Splitting Ash stands at about 8". Hence the term 2up. The figure is cast in resin, and although some of his joints are cut, they are glued on, making the figure unposeable. 2ups are also "paint masters". Usually there are only two 2ups made for each figure, making these extremely rare. One will be sent to the factory in China and used as paint referance (where they are often eventually destroyed), and the other will make it's rounds at Toy Fair, conventions and trade shows.
Many changes in a figure's look can take place between the 2up stage and final production piece. This one got a couple extreme facelifts.
The final production piece had completely different head scults. They were much more cartoony, and personally I think the original heads look much better. This is one of the things that makes this one a hit in my collection. Makes it even more of a unique piece. Prptotypes are great, but unproduced prototypes are...well..."groovy".
I wanted to include a picture of the production Splitting Ash for comparision, but I don't have a photo right now. So, here is a photo of the regular Ash figure, which had the same head sculpt as the Splitting Ash.
As you can see, they are very different. They still came out cool though, and it's a shame this line wasn't a bigger hit.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my Splitting Ash 2up. I have quite a few other prototypes (unfortunately, no other 2ups) from the 4" Army of Darkness line that I will be blogging eventually. Stay tuned!
2 comments:
Neat. I believe I have seen photos of him in your collection before, but didn't know his story. I didn't know all of that about the prototypes either...great inforamtion! Thanks for sharing. How did you come by this groovy figure? Lucky!
When Palisades Toys were still in business, they would sell their prototypes on eBay. Toy companies rarely let their prototypes out the door. In fact, many you see for sale were stolen from the factories in China, and those are usually test shots. It was really cool of Palisades to offer theirs to the public. The 2ups Palisades sold would always go for big bucks, and rightfully so. This was the only one I was lucky enough to win.
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