NIGHTMARES AND NIGHTSTALKERS

CARL KOLCHAK custom

One of my favorite television shows growing up was "Kolchak the Nightstalker" starring Darrin McGavin, about a smart-ass reporter who discovers the existence of the supernatural while working on a murder story in Las Vegas (vampires). Once his eyes are opened, no story is ever as simple as it seems ever again. Every week would bring Kolchak a new encounter with the strange and the bizzare, with little ever left afterwards in the way of proof for his troubles. 

The inspiration for the X-Files, Kolchak was actually planned to appear as a guest star in an episode of the show, but complicated legal rights (and old business hostilities) could never be worked out to let that happen. Instead they created the role of recurring character Arthur Dales for McGavin, the "father" of the earliest X-Files.

A Kolchak toy is something that I have wanted for years, and when NECA made 12" "A Christmas Story" figures recently, me and every just about every Kolchak fan who knew how to customize knew our ship had finally come in.

Christmas figures have become an odd fad the last five years or so. Somewhere in this merchandising glut came NECA Christmas Story figures, which co-starred Darrin McGavin as the "Old Man".

These figures are re-offered and re-released yearly through Diamond Previews every year (though with Suncoast Videos closed, I don't know where they are sold at now, besides on-line stores and E-Bay).

They made him as a 12" action figure and as a 7" one, so really, you have a great customizing source for Kolchak in either scale. 

Taking the head off of the 12" NECA "Old Man" figure (not an easy task), I Dremmeled it's neck hollow so it could pop onto a Dragon 12" doll body (with individual bendy fingers!). For the costume, I hired seamstress extaordinaire Vikki Godwin of the "Fabric of Space and Time" to make me his trademark seer sucker suit.

It was my call to make it powder blue. I know it was striped in the tv show, but as a kid it always looked light blue to me (still does unless there was a close-up!), so that's the way I wanted it. She even put pockets on the jacket, which I love, because now I can stuff them with monster hunting gear!  I made the tennis shoes out of 12" scale army boots, cut down and just painted white. 

I was surprised how well I had his monster hunting accessories already covered, culled from various Buffy dolls and figures- a medical bag for weapons, stakes, crossbow, holy water, crucifixes. His old 70's camera is courtesy of my friend Milo from his GI Joe Vietnam Photographers set, (which personally makes the custom for me), and his clunky 70's tape recorder was a no-brainer to be made from one of my Playmates 9" Star Trek Tri-corder accessories, with a cloth strap added on for detail. His old hat was the hardest thing for me to do. I took a spare 12" hat, cut the brim away, then had my wife use it as a base for a Sculpey build-up. I really ought to put a ribbon band around it because the painted one looks kinda crappy.

KOLCHAK THE NIGHTSTALKER: DEVIL'S BIRTH

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