Collector’s Corner: Spencer Gift’s Exclusive Cenobite Lair Boxed Set
This will probably be my first and only Collector’s Corner that I write for the site. Unlike Ryan and Jose, I haven’t collected niche items such as movie props or card sets like they’ve been doing over the years while following Clive Barker. But there is one thing that I found in my closet the other day that I had totally forgotten about which I think deserves the Collector’s Corner signature.
Back in the early 2000’s the popular toy company NECA had just started putting out the Hellraiser figurines to the public. These were first class toys as they captured the look and feel of the characters that they were based on. Sadly, I never was able to buy any of the original cenobites (which were the only ones I wanted) because collectors would buy up the entire stock when such stores like Spencer’s Gifts or Suncoast Video got them in on the first day. Then they’d go online and jack up the price just so they could make a quick buck.
So was my dream of having all the original cenobite figurines lost forever? Would I never play with them in the shower like I’d always wanted to? Thankfully, through Spencer’s Gifts my dream would eventually come true in the year of 2005 when NECA joined forces with Clive Barker to bring together first and only Cenobite Lair boxed set.
And on my twenty-fifth birthday I was given this holy grail boxed set from by middle brother Russ Ridenour. It was apparently the last one on the shelf too so I’m very grateful to him for getting me this.
Here are some photos of the exterior of the box:
The boxed set also came with some cool special features and I’ve listed them below:
-Contains All Four Original Cenobite action figures.
-Exclusive Female II Cenobite Figure
-Autographed Pinhead Illustration by Clive Barker
Unfortunately, these are out of print and are very rare. And if you do find them they’re pretty expensive. I saw a listing on Amazon for a new brand new set still in the box going for $225.
Here’s a link if you’re interested:
I opened mine and set it up for a few months, so the value is shot. Oh well, I had to get the signed drawing out of there somehow.
Say, your article just reminded me that NECA began working with Clive on this boxset and they actually spent time designing and sculpting Scarlet Gospel figures…I guess the book’s lengthy delay put the kibosh on it, but I’d still love to see what they were going to do. Now that I think about it, this box set may have been the last thing they released. They had a good run while it lasted.
Do you why they stopped doing toys for Hellraiser? I thought they could’ve started their own original line. Because they sold very well.
Also, that’s interesting that they were doing concepts for figures for the Scarlet Gospels. I’d love to have a D’Amour figure.
It was just a case of diminishing returns. After they eventually came out with the original 4 Cenobites, which were what most people wanted, the demand for the rest went away. They made it work for a while by making collectors buy the lesser known Cenobites in order to get a piece of Leviathan or the puzzle box. I really wanted an Engineer and Kirsty Hallway to Hell diorama before the end came, but it was not to be…
I was also hoping for a Scarlet Gospels Harry D’Amour and Norma box set, but I wasn’t holding my breath. They never seem to make the heroes into figures. My guess is it’s because they’d have about 10,000 left over elderly blind woman figures littering the shelves. Meanwhile, every version of Pinhead was gone immediately.
Good point about the Norma figure. LOL! Also, I wonder if they’ll get the ball rolling again on The Scarlet Gospels figures again if the books does very well. Which I’m sure it will. You never know.