By JAMES BURRELL
For decades, icons like Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Leatherface were the only slasher film characters to receive the merchandising treatment, with everything from talking dolls to masks to pet costumes and room decor being produced by an array of companies. However, other less-merchandised characters are being rendered into collectibles as well. The homicidal miner from George Mihalka’s 1981 Nova Scotia-filmed horror classic My Bloody Valentine is one character who recently made the leap into action figure form; with the Canuck horror icon appearing on a soundtrack album, T-shirts, the cover of a hardcover movie novelization and vintage-styled trading cards. Now, The Miner’s fearsome masked visage has been transformed into a fantastic new ceramic mug courtesy of horror t-shirt specialists Gutter Garbs.
Standing 4.75 inches (12 cm) tall, this mug captures The Miner’s (or Harry Warden’s, depending on your preference) signature helmet and insect-eyed mask (in actuality, a modified MSA Chemox Oxygen Rebreathing Apparatus) in very nicely sculpted and painted detail. The character’s trademark weapon of choice – his trusty pickaxe – has been ingeniously incorporated into the design as the handle for the mug. This is a large mug, able to hold 21.5 oz (about 636 ml) of coffee, tea – or maybe even some Moosehead. If drinking from Harry’s head isn’t your thing, the mug makes a great display piece on a collectibles shelf.
Packaged in a beautifully designed box featuring graphics of the mug and pickaxe-wielding madman, this is a unique, must-have item for My Bloody Valentine fans. SPR for the mug is $28.00, and it can be purchased here: My Bloody Valentine: Miner – Coffee Mug – Gutter Garbs.
To check the rest of Gutter Garb’s collection of My Bloody Valentine merchandise (officially licensed by the film’s production company, Cinepix), including T-shirts, hoodies, an enamel pin, buttons set, and a “Welcome to Valentine Bluffs” metal sign, go to: My Bloody Valentine (1981) – Gutter Garbs.
