Go to main content

New Elvis Toys

January 21, 2004 | Other
The hips don't wiggle, the mouth doesn't curl into a sneer and that beautiful voice is nowhere to be found.
But one look and you know it: It's The King, all decked out in the black leather duds from his 1968 comeback special.

This May, Arizona-based McFarlane Toys will release the first of three planned Elvis Presley action figures.
And this first one looks so real, you almost expect those hips to wiggle and that lip to curl before crooning "All Shook Up." "We were just wowed. Just on a first take, they look so real," said Beth Hooker, licensing manager at Elvis Presley Enterprises. "The detail that they've been able to capture is just unbelievable."

The second figure, due in July, will be Elvis as he looked in 1956, just at the time "Heartbreak Hotel" hit the top of the charts and The King started earning his crown.

The third figure, due in early 2005, is undecided, but may be from Elvis's later years.

The figures will be available at music and specialty shops as well as some toy stores. They'll likely cost between $10 and $15.

This is the second Memphis-related toy that McFarlane has released, following a Grizzlies Pau Gasol figure last year.
The Elvis figures are meant to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the seminal recording of "That's All Right." On July 5, 1954, Elvis, Bill Black and Scotty Moore, with Sam Phillips producing, recorded their jumped-up version of Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup's blues standard at the Memphis Recording Service, giving birth to rock and roll. "To me, Elvis is just a way of life. I've seen his strong and devoted fan base since I was a kid, so it just made sense," said Jenny D'Amore, a native Memphian now working as licensing manager at McFarlane. "Elvis is everywhere. It doesn't matter where you live," she added. "He's immortal."

By Jody Callahan/ Go Memphis
Source:Go Memphis
sttos wrote on January 27, 2004
i think three will be made, this one , one where he sings heartbreak hotel for the first time in 1955 or 1956. and most likely one from the 70's. Most likely from aloha from hawaii. That is what i want. either that or one from 1972.