Forrest J Ackerman, the Dark Horse Comics statuette
Beethoven probably never got his own action figure either… Not that Forry moves, just the same, Dark Horse Comics’ Forry Ackerman statuette is an instant front-runner for next year’s Rondo Awards in the Best Toy, Model or Collectible category —
Forrest J Ackerman, commonly known to fans as “Forry”, comes to life in this colorful 13″ tall statue. Forry was the creator, editor and principal writer for Famous Monsters of Filmland, a magazine that influenced generations while spreading the love of the horror genre he was also known for his “Ackermansion,” a sprawling house in Los Angeles that held his extensive horror book and memorabilia collection. For fifty years, Forry shared his collection with fans during open-house events. As an agent, writer, editor, and actor, he had far-reaching influence in the science fiction, horror, and fantasy community. The statue includes a nameplate on the base with one of Forry’s most popular nicknames, “Dr. Acula.”
And think how cool it would be if LASFS bought a batch of these to give its Forry Award winners (instead of the nothing they get now.)
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian for the story.]
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Don’t Forry Award winners receive a plaque?
I didn’t. So I concluded that it’s a virtual award now. Though yes, they used to. Remember the typo on Hal Clement’s plaque — The Folly Award for Liftime Achievement. That joke compounds typos from two different awards he won but the Forry was one of them.
Forry would have been delighted at the idea of a figurine of himself, particularly this one, showing him reading a copy of his favorite magazine, his Famous Monsters of Filmland. I don’t know why it never occurred to me to mention it to to him, but I read copies of that when my age was in single digits, long before I ever discovered fandom. His influence on male children growing up in the early ’60s is surpassed only by Walt Disney.
I think he’s wearing the famous Dracula ring on his left hand.
This is a very cool statue, because it’s transcendentally geeky.
If you’ve not seen a copy of the 4E documentary you should seek it out: http://www.jasunnistore.com/ackermonster
In it I learned that as a wee lad I bought my first copy of Famous Monsters at the very same newsstand that a young Forry bought his first copy of Amazing Tales.
I wish I’d never have given my copies of FM away. I do recall a story from the early part of the sixties, where some kid had a small run of the orignal issues and used to charge people if they wanted to borrow them.