Elvira Celebrates 40th Anniversary with a New Action Figure
You may know her as the “Queen of Halloween,” or the “Mistress of the Dark,” or even simply “Elvira,” as Cassandra Peterson’s alter ego has been a pop culture icon for four decades now. I personally live on the fringe of Elvira fandom, but it would be difficult to find anyone who doesn’t instantly recognize the Queen of Halloween.
Starting out as a local movie hostess in Los Angeles she was catapulted to movie stardom. Nowadays Elvira is known as an icon, sex symbol, adored by the LGBTQ community, and even a bit corny. And soon she’ll be immortalized as an action figure you can take home.
NECA (the National Entertainment Collectibles Association) who specialize in making collectible horror toys released its latest addition: Elvira. Quoting from their website, “The devilishly delightful Cassandra Peterson has played the part of Elvira for 40 years with grace, humor and more than a little camp. NECA is proud to present this fiendishly fantastic figure for your horror collection. The 8” Elvira action figure is fully articulated and features tailored fabric clothing, plus plenty of accessories… alternate winking head, skull, chalice, figure stand, and her signature dagger, which slips into a loop on the belt.
In a recent interview, when asked what her favorite part of the toy was Peterson gushed over a lot of the details: the removable dagger, the belt, but really emphasized the face. “I love the face. But the extra winking face, that was my favorite. I know the main face is the more straightforward ‘Elvira face,’ but I’m so glad we got to add the additional winking face. Because that’s very Elvira.”
There have been action figures to come before this latest release, but this one promises to be the best one yet. Nerdist.com reported, “The figure’s debut is part of the Haul-a-Thon collector’s event from NECA and Target, featuring a variety of high-end nerdy collectibles.” The toy comes out months after Peterson’s memoir was released, “Yours Cruelly: Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark” published by Hachette Books. In the book she shares stories about her humble beginnings, meeting Elvis, working alongside Paul Reubens, and eventually becoming a cultural icon. Most recently she paired up with Netflix for a series titled “Netflix and Chills” and it has recently been announced she has been cast for Rob Zombie’s reboot of The Munsters-for that role she’ll be playing Barbara Carr and leaving Elvira behind for a spell.
Anxious to get your hands on your own Elvira action figure? The Elvira 8″ Clothed Action Figure: Standard Edition comes priced at$34.99. The Signature Edition Elvira (autographed) is priced at $99.99. It’s available to purchase at the start of Haul-A-Thon on April 1 in Target stores only. It will be available to purchase online at www.haulathon.com and at www.target.com.