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Iconic Dog Creature from John Carpenter's The Thing Transforming into an Action Figure
"I don't know what the hell's in there, but it's weird and pissed off — whatever it is."
"I don't know what the hell's in there, but it's weird and pissed off — whatever it is."
The iconic and wonderfully grotesque dog creature from John Carpenter's The Thing will receive the action figure treatment this fall from National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA), the company announced last week.
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Expected to go on sale in September or October, the 7-inch collectible depicts the various stages of the sled dog's gruesome transformation within the Outpost 31 kennel as it reveals its true nature, absorbing the other canines and morphing into a terrifying abomination of terrestrial and extraterrestrial body parts before it's burned to a crisp by a flamethrower-wielding Childs (Keith David).
"This fully articulated deluxe figure includes more than 25 interchangeable pieces to customize your Dog Creature for maximum horror," reads the official product description. "Comes in collector-friendly 5-panel packaging with opening front flap."
Check out NECA's new Dog Creature figure from John Carpenter's The Thing:
While a 23-year-old Rob Bottin is rightly credited with bringing the movie's groundbreaking (and completely practical!) visual effects to life, it was actually the late Stan Winston who created the dog-Thing puppet while a beleaguered Bottin (he ended up in the hospital with a serious case of exhaustion) occupied himself with other aspects of the labor-intensive project.
Speaking with SYFY WIRE last year in honor of The Thing's 40th anniversary, Von Babasin (a member of Bottin's team on the film) recalled how the kennel sequence was filmed using a combination of reverse photography and an ungodly amount of K-Y Jelly.
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"We mounted the dog there, we wrapped him up in tentacles, and just K-Y’d the heck out of him," he told us over Zoom. "K-Y Jelly was everywhere. And on ‘Action!’ everybody grabbed a tentacle and ran with it. They were hard rubber tentacles so as they stretch, they got smaller. By the time they really stretched, the tentacles all slipped away and let go of the dog. You reverse the photography and the tentacles just dive into this dog and wrap him up."
Fans can pre-order the action figure via Entertainment Earth for $59.99 a pop. It is worth noting that while NECA has September listed as the on-sale window, Entertainment Earth notes that the item won't become available until sometime in October.
The Thing (along with its divisive 2011 prequel) is available to purchase from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
In the mood for more creature features? Terror of Mechagodzilla, Jumanji, King Kong, and Cocaine Bear are all streaming on Peacock.
