Episcopal priest takes aim at 'warped toys'
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Episcopal priest takes aim at 'warped toys'
Sunday, November 28, 1999
The Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The playthings on the Rev. Christopher Rose's "warped
toy"
list have gotten more gruesome.
When he first began compiling the annual list more than a decade ago,
Rose
targeted toys that featured mostly mucous and vomit. These days, he
takes aim
at toys that feature severed limbs.
"At first I thought this was going to be a better year," said Rose, the
rector
of Grace Episcopal Church in Hartford. "I was wrong."
Topping Rose's list, published Saturday in The Hartford Courant, is
Hatchet
(Curse of Spawn), by McFarlane Toys. The action figure of Ryan Hatchet,
a
former high school student who has returned as a bloody disemboweled
corpse,
comes with an ax/spear weapon, a shovel, a bendable spine, and a handful
of
bloody hearts and intestines.
There also is a small plastic face that can be hung on the figure's
belt.
Rose said that in light of recent school violence, he hoped toy
manufacturers
would steer away from toys that glamorize blood and guts. He called for
a
ratings system similar to that used by the movie industry.
Toys on the list are items Rose considers exploitive, stereotypical, age
inappropriate, or graphically violent. Most of the toys carry labels
that say
they are appropriate only for children older than 5 and are available at
most
toy stores.
Rose started compiling his list in 1986 after he wandered into a toy
store
searching for something for his son, now 14.
Another making the list was the Ice Man Cryogenic Lab, out just in time
for
Christmas. The toy includes drip tray, fake syringe, and other autopsy
accessories. As the box says, "Chip, Carve, and Melt your way down to
the
guts!"
"I would call that 'Dahmer-esque,' " Rose said, reffring to serial
killer
Jeffrey Dahmer.
The action figure Tormentor, by McFarlane Toys, also made the list. The
package
describes the character as "a savage brute with no soul" who "lives to
inflict
torment, pain, and terror on others."
The toy's cruelest act is "grafting the head and body parts of his
victims to
his own body so to be able to make their pain everlasting.
Less gruesome, but no less distasteful to Rose, was one of the latest
World
Wrestling Federation action figures, Jacqueline, a large-breasted,
scantily
clad woman. Several WWF figures made Rose's list this year, including
action
figure Al Snow, which comes with the severed head of a woman.
Rose also targeted the Impaled Mummy/Severed Mummy series from Toy
Island and
Universal Studios. A child can stab or slash with a plastic sword or
spear the
two plastic mummy figures and then watch them fall apart.
On the package, just below the warning about choking that might occur if
the
small pieces are ingested, it says, "Heed this warning or suffer the
mummy's
wrath."
Most of the toys are products made in factories that exploit Chinese
child
labor, Rose said.
"So we are exploiting children on both ends," he said.
--------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 11/28/99 online edition of The
WVIT-TV,
local Hartford, Connecticut NBC-TV affiliate station web site:
Reverend lists “1999 Top Ten Warped Toys”
Rev. Rose showed off his picks for the ten worst toys of the year.
HARTFORD, Conn., Nov. 28 - They have been called the warped toys of the
holiday
season. Reverend Christopher Rose has come out with his annual “Top Ten
Warped
Toys” list.
Rose says the toys are dangerous because by playing with them the ideas
become
part of a child’s reality. When Rose compiles his list, he uses the
following
criteria. Toys which appear on the list meet one or more of the
following:
•Does the toy stereotype, misrepresent or make fun of a group of people?
•Does
the toy inspire or model violent interactive play?•Does the toy
graphically
depict gore, mutilation, and violence in such a way as to desensitize
children
to the reality of human pain and suffering in others? •Psychological
Appropriateness of the toy: Is the packaging of the toy
age-appropriately
labeled? Is the theme of the toy appropriate for children’s play?
1999 Top Ten Warped Toys
1. Hatchet (Curse of the Spawn) by McFarlane Toys
“Bendable vertebrae ~ dripping entrails.” “Ryan Hatchet, one day an
ordinary
high school student, the next day dead. The day after, he’s back,
undead, and
finds himself in a very strange place fighting off Zombie Spawn and his
legion
of the undead. Homework was never this hard.” From series 13.
2. Slam n’ Crash Buff Bagwell by WCW/NWO Toy Biz-Div. of Marvel
Enterprises
Inc.
“Seat Buff Bagwell in the wheel chair and press down lever on rear of
chair...Wheel chair will collapse and eject Buff into air. Also: Summer
Slam
‘99 WF Grapple Gear2 “No Pain, No Gain“ by Jakks Pacific Inc. Toy Wheel
Chair,
Crutches and Bloody Stretcher for use in wrestling violence - Why would
anyone
act violently toward the physically handicapped, differently abled?
3. WF Summer Slam & Road Rage Al Snow by WF/Jakks Pacific Co.
Includes female “mannequin” head with world “Help” carved on face &
“carry on
luggage”...Models extreme violence directed toward women in a children’s
toy.
Also packaged as: Wrestlemania XV “Fully Loaded Al Snow” with “slammin
stool &
head” and as Summer Slam Grudge Match with Al Snow v. Hardcore Holly.
4. Impaled Mummy/Severed Mummy from “Mummy Toys” by Toy Island &
Universal
Studios
Impaled Mummy: “Watch as his intestines fall out of his chest.” Severed
Mummy:
Stab and slice him ~ “Witness him split open”.
5. Tormentor (From Spawn Dark Ages) by McFarlane Toys
“A savage brute with no soul. He lives to inflict torment, pain and
terror on
others. His please comes from the pain of others. He is a master of
torture and
the many instruments used to amplify pain and suffering. One of his most
cruel
acts was grafting the head and body parts of his victims to his own body
so to
be able to make their pain everlasting.” Extremely graphic, gore and
mutilation
6. Resident Evil Claire Redfield & Zombie Cop by Toy Biz
“These undead officers are not easily destroyed as the loss of a limb or
two
may slow them down, but does not stop their appetite for human flesh.”
Depicts
graphic core, mutilation with blood, guts spattered on figures, entrails
hanging out, and brain which falls out of head of doll.
7. Ice Man Crygenic Lab by Wild Planet
Chip, carve and melt your way down to the guts! Play with “drainage tray
for
melted down bodily fluids and use warm water syringe and scalpel“
8. Grapple Gear - Casket Match by Jakks Pacific, Wrestle Mania XV
“Thanks to the World Wrestling Federation fans, now you can trash, dump
and
bury your opponents” Shovel, Tombstones Seal and lock casket. Bury
various
wrestling figures including Jacqueline of Wrestle Mania XV (WF)
9. Marvel vs. Capcom Captain America vs. Morrigan by Toy Biz,
Capcom/Marvel.
“Morrigan has the ability to hypnotize mortals and most men are
powerless to
resist her dangerous embrace...she ventures into the mortal world to
satisfy
her lust ~ for battle.” Child is to fight using the heroic Captain
America to
defeat the female Morrigan. Models violence of men over and against
women.
10. Sleepy Hollow “The Headless Horseman” by McFarlane Toys
“Head or skull snaps on neck.” Comes with skull and three bloody,
graphic
decapitated heads as well as a bloody axe. Graphic depiction of
decapitation.