Cthulhu and Mothman are about to settle their differences the only way two legendary monsters can: by getting in the ring and throwing down.
Wandering Planet Toys has teamed with sculptor and horror artist VELIKAN to crowdfund Cryptid Combat, a new pair of 5-inch soft-vinyl art toys that mash up classic horror, cryptid lore and good ole’ professional wrestling. The lineup pits H.P. Lovecraft’s ancient evil against the legendary creature of Point Pleasant, with Cthuluchador taking on the Ultimoth Warrior.
Inspired in part by VELIKAN’s childhood love of professional wrestling and later fascination with Lovecraft and cryptids, the figures are hand-sculpted and reproduced in Japanese sofubi-style soft vinyl. The original sculpts stand seven inches tall to accommodate the intricate details before being scanned and painstakingly reproduced by sofubi artisans.
“I grew up in the late ‘80’s and merged my youthful interest in WWE with my later interests of H.P. Lovecraft and cryptids,” said VELIKAN. “I was lucky enough that Wandering Planet had the same interest in such things! I hand sculpt my designs out of Super Sculpy and then make a silicone mold to cast them. This gives me a hard resin figure that outlasts anything else I’ve tried. The originals are seven inches tall so that I can get the details in, and they are then scanned and painstakingly hand reproduced by sofubi masters. Hardly a machine involved in the process! They are true Art Toys.”
The non-articulated figures will be available individually for $75 or as a pair for $120, with three colorways planned: The Insanity Smackdown, The Mightnight Matchup and Fire Versus Ice, the latter being a Backerkit exclusive. They’ll come packaged in hang bags with original header-card artwork by VELIKAN. Wandering Planet will also offer retro-style lunchboxes featuring Cryptid Combat artwork.
The Cryptid Combat campaign is coming soon to BackerKit, with fans able to sign up now to be notified when it launches. It’s one of two campaigns that Wandering Toys is preparing to launch, the other being for a line called Planetoid Raiders.