Founded on Friday the 13th, 2003, Bleeding Edge Inc. has remained true to the spirit of its birthday by introducing a singular line of Goth fashion dolls and figures-called BeGoths - and in doing so clearing the field of all competitors.
Already the Series 1 and 2 12-inch Fashion Dolls , Series 2 and 3 Action Figures and Series1 and 2 14-inch BeGoths plush tykes are sold out and gone from the line like Dracula at sunrise. But there's plenty more where those came from-Ascend Wormwood Gloom!
Entrez-vous, Abcynthia Chaser? And bring your friends Hypochondrianna, Serpentina Maria Sangria, and Antiqua Belladonna Remorse!--all springing from the fertile and intensely creative mind of company founder Steve Varner, the artist behind the design of a host of celebrated action figures, from some of the original (and extremely valuable) Star Wars characters, to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to Simpsons characters, to Strawberry Shortcake, to the foul-mouthed third graders from South Park, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Laura Croft, among others. Early in his career, while working in the film industry, his achievements included being one of the artists who sculpted a 40-foot King Kong for producer Dino de Laurentiis's 1976 remake of Merian C. Cooper's classic 1933 movie (more recently re-imagined yet again, this time by director Peter Jackson).
Bleeding Edge is an independent outgrowth of Varner Studios, which Steve launched in 1979, after leaving his native Minneapolis, MN, for Los Angeles. In addition to the above mentioned projects, he served a stint at Mattel, where he worked on "a lot of Barbie dolls" among other creations and gained an invaluable education in a specific method of production that demanded "you sculpt things so they looked fantastic, but you had to engineer them so that they could come out of steel molds. There were all the technical requirements; it was like having to do jigsaw puzzles for a living. I enjoyed working like that, but finally I wanted to do something on my own."
Varner's big break came in the late ‘80s, when Playmates Toys had him sculpt a clay sketch of a proposed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of action figures based on the original comic book. In one of those capturing-lightning-in-a-bottle scenarios, the Turtles-Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo--became all the rage, and Varner was in business, big time.
"There was about ten years where I would say at least 60 percent of my business was doing nothing but making every Ninja Turtle combination you could possibly think of," he says. "That was more than half of what I did. I ended up with about 25 employees and we were doing that full time, and we were also designing and doing other product lines for [Playmates] too, because once they saw what I could do with the Ninja Turtles they thought I could do that with everything, and gave me everything they did, basically."
The idea for BeGoths actually came from Varner's then-15-year-old son Stefan, who suggested his father ditch a plan he was considering for another line of dolls and instead do Goth figures.
"I went, ‘Wow!' I'd never thought of that before," Varner recalls, "but I immediately was intrigued by it and the next day got a bunch of people in here to do concept drawings. We literally just went full blast from that point. That was all it took. I thought the whole goth subject matter was so interesting, with all the makeup and piercings and clothing; I thought from a sculptural standpoint it was so cool. There are so many Goth kids; and if they're not Goth, they're heavy metal, with piercings and tattoos. It's not something that's going away. And there was nothing out there that I saw that was representative of that group. There are a lot of pierced and tattooed adults that have kids, and their kids are forced to buy Barbie dolls. So I wanted to give people an alternative."
The artistry Varner and his crew bring to each BeGoths doll is stunning in its attention to the precise details of, well, everything from body types to facial structure, to eyebrows shaping, to hairstyles and hair colorings, and especially to footwear, fashion and accessories-the care and precision that go into crafting the tiniest, most subtle aspects of Goth couture and attitude show a respect for the audience that is not always apparent in more mainstream products.
"That's really important to me. What I want to do is have fun with people, not have fun at somebody's expense," Varner says. "People tend to think of Goth people as having no sense of humor, but they certainly do."
And the craft apparent in the figures' design and production? "It's my training. That's what we do. And that's the way I train my people too. It comes from a long history of doing this."
The Bleeding Edge commitment to excellence in its designs and respect for the Goth subculture is evident in the BeGoths mien has not been lost on the marketplace. Collectors are flocking to the BeGoths; and even though "it's not the kind of high volume business that Barbie dolls and
some mass market items are," sales are picking up, even beyond the first initial surge upon the dolls' introduction three years ago. "So that says something. A lot of people doing these type of things may start off doing really well, because they're new and different, but then they fall off and go away. But our business isn't falling off at all. We've got the same collectors who keep collecting them, and then we've got new collectors that are brought in all the time. And we have a certain amount of kids who like them too."
RELEASE SCHEDULE SUMMER 2006
The very first BeGoths Comic Book will debut at the San Diego Comic Con on July 19 2006.
It's about several groups of social misfits mostly fresh out of high school who are investigating what life has to offer them and in some cases dealing with what life has done to them. Although they're from different parts of the world and backgrounds they're all connected in their uniqueness. The BeGoths Comic will be a series releasing three times a year.
JULY 2006
The new Series 5, 12 inch dolls including Red Riding Storm, Esperanza De Muerte, Leda Swanson, Ivanna Scream and Annabelle Lee.
Rebecca's Realm plush line of toys that will be supported by a hardcover book of favorite Rebecca, Edgar and Max toons and a line of picture frames.
The Minor Misfit line, a new line of plush; Belfry, Desiree Decay and Gaston Le Boo. They will also be present on a new line of picture frames.
AUGUST 2006
The Series 5, 7inch action Figures including, Joani Rotten, Delilah Blackheart, Jaqueline Le Spades and Mina Immortale.
All of these new creations can be seen by going to: www.BeGoths.com
For additional information, to schedule an interview with Steve Varner or for a sample doll, please contact: Lenore Nevermore, Promotion & Publicity for Bleeding Edge.
212-362-5766, LenoreNevermore@BopStar-PR.com.
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