CineToys -- The Odd Toys From The Blair Witch Project

 

When you think of the Blair Witch Project, what comes to mind? Scary walks in the woods? Motion sickness? A stuffed teddy bear?! If you thought the lore of the Blair Witch Project went deep, well just imagine some of the weird and strange toy collectibles released over the years. Learn about some of the odd marketing choices for the Blair Witch Project -- and one of the only movie’s toy sets worth buying.

The Missing Bear - The Blair Witch Project

 Can you imagine being back in the early 2000’s as you organize your precious Beanie Baby collection and then decide to add THIS monster to the mix? Officially dubbed the “Missing Bear”, this thing is the stuffed animal of nightmares. The dark design features the infamous Blair Witch stick-man plastered right on the face of the creature. Even stranger are the “accessories” packed with the bear, which includes miniature designs of the cabin from the woods and another small house. The button eyes do the bear no favors, looking more like something out of Coraline, rather than the found-footage classic.

 

The title of the “Missing Bear” is interesting as well because in none of the Blair Witch Project movies are any of the characters searching for a bear -- or is the bear some clue to the mystery in the woods. We must assume the bear itself is somehow tied to the film's story of Rustin Parr, the man who kidnapped seven children in the 1940s. Either way, the odd collectible makes a nice decorative piece for Halloween, but would probably conjure up way too many nightmares if kept around the house all year long.

And speaking of nightmares, the original Blair Witch Project was built upon a complete fear of the unknown. We never got to see the witch in the film -- and it was probably the best decision of the whole movie. Well, McFarlane toys decided to throw that idea out the window with the release of the Movie Maniacs Series 4 Blair Witch. Were they really so desperate for action figures ideas that they had to dive deep into the Blair Witch? Apparently so. Todd McFarlane and his design team crafted not one, but TWO completely original Blair Witch designs, making some sort of weird fan fiction completely part of the Blair Witch cannon. 

McFarlane's Blair Witch

Movie Maniacs

Sure, the designs are highly detailed, but they don’t belong with a Blair Witch tag attached to them. Yeah, 2001 wasn’t the best year for the Blair Witch franchise. Book of Shadows was released on DVD and this action figure was released to store shelves. The pick-axe really does it here, completely adding to the cliche of a traditional demon and taking away the mystique the movie brought on. 

Mint In Package

Just imagine if the original film featured this witch in any of the scenes. It would be laughable. If you are interested in the fabricated designs, look for the two versions -- dubbed by fans as the Tree Head Witch and Dread Head Witch. The tree head looks more natural to the story while the dreads witch makes us wonder how bored the witch must be when victims aren’t around that she has time to stylize her hair. The coolest element of the figure is the poster stand.

We do have to give McFarlane toys a little credit, though. Despite watering down the mythology of the witch -- their design was far better than whatever we had to witness in the 2016 Blair Witch sequel.

Why do these toys just keep missing the mark? We all know the Blair Witch franchise isn’t known for its great car chases, but this didn’t stop the Johnny Lightning company from creating the official Blair Witch van featured in Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. The movie itself uses the van for a couple of key scenes, but we can’t imagine too many fans were clamoring for a replica of the car. The company did go all out on the detailing, including two small stick men attached to the front bumper, along with the nice camo detailing to replicate the film design.

Johnny Lightning

Blair Witch-Hunt Van

If Blair Witch cars and teddy bears aren’t really your thing, there’s one set of figures that completely captured the spirit of the movie and is worth collecting. Back in 2000, the Japanese toy company Medicom released the Blair Witch KuBricks series. 

Essentially, a LEGO-inspired set, this is the ideal collectible for fans of the original movie. Packaged together in a nicely branded Blair Witch box, the collection includes Heather, Joshua, and Michael minifigures -- all fully detailed with replica outfits from the film. The accessories include a small video camera, the stickman, a weathered book, and a wrapped pile of twigs. The display looks great, displayed loose or in the box and Medicom even followed up with a Book of Shadows boxset for all those completists out there.

The mythology of the Blair Witch continues in much better form with books and online content, but what do you think about these toys? Do you own any of them? Are you scouring eBay to purchase some right now?