As excellent as the Hook Horror is, the other end of the spectrum of quality in the LJN Dungeons & Dragons toy line lies with the Grell toy. Yea, you read that correctly. This weirdo is supposed to be a Grell.

Everything I said yesterday about the why of the Hook Horror applies here. Why on earth did they try to make a Grell toy, out of all the monsters in in D&D? Unlike the pretty rad Hook Horror, though, why on earth did they decided to release the Grell toy when it came out so obviously doofy? The temerity of LJN, to label it the Deadly Grell on the card. It looks about as deadly as a Furby (which, I always got an HG Wells Martian vibe from it, specifically when the Martians are dying from catching colds, but it DOES look like a Furby, doesn’t it?). 

When I learned that there was a bendy Grell toy in the LJN line, I was thrilled, because the Grell, specifically Russ Nicholson’s illustration of the Grell in Fiend Folio, is one of my all time favorite D&D critters. But when I saw it for the first time, I thought someone was playing a practical joke. I still kind of do…