Behind The Scenes of Palisades Toys ARMY OF DARKNESS Figures (PART 1)

The following images and information comes from Kenneth Lilly, former product designer and director at Palisades Toys. Between 2004 and 2005, Palisades Toys created two series of four inch officially licensed Army of Darkness figures, with Series 1 consisting of eight figures and Series 2 consisting of 12 figures. Through his Instagram (creatusmaximus), Lilly has been sharing behind the scenes information and images regarding the production of the Army of Darkness figure line. Also included here are notable remarks made by Lilly in the comments of these posts.

"Pit Battle Ash" (Series 2) (1:12)

An army of pics of the “Chainsaw” Ash figure, from the second series of highly detailed (and downright fun) 3.75-inch scale action figures based on the cult classic film Army of Darkness. This photo shoot (by me in 2016) uses a few varieties of pre-production and production samples. - August 14, 2025

Comment: Are those t joint hips or more of the DC direct style with the hinge?

Lilly: I’m not familiar with the DC Direct joint. This is a T-crotch with discs in the hips to allow them to go outward.

Comment 1: Was Army of Darkness ever considered for a PALz line?

Lilly 1: Yeah I think so. I think we asked about every licensor we had in an effort to expand the brand.

Comment 2: That's a shame. It seems like AOD likes to thrive in the miniature figurine front: Palisades, Super7, Mezco, so PALz would have been a good fit.

Lilly 2: Unless the Mezco stuff kinda filled that need. Coulda been why the license wasn’t able to be acquired.

"Evil Ash" (Series 2) (1:16)

An army of pics of the Evil Ash figure, from the second series of highly detailed (and downright fun) 3.75-inch scale action figures based on the cult classic film Army of Darkness. - June 7, 2025

Comment 1: What kind of reference material did MGM provide (if any) for AOD?

Lilly 1: Somehow, and I can’t remember exactly how but it wasn’t the licensor, I acquired an unbelievably good CD of a ton of reference images of the practical effects. Also took crappy screen grabs on my own.

Comment 2: So MGM didn't give you guys anything at all (save for stuff like logo elements)?

Lilly 2: Not much. It was 2003…there wasn’t a lot to be had.

"Winged Deadite" (Series 2) (1:16)

A slew of final product photos of the Winged Deadite figure, from the second series of 3.75-inch scale action figures based on the cult classic film Army of Darkness. - June 14, 2025

"Deadite Infantry" (Series 2) (1:8)

An army of pics of the Deadite Infantry figure from the second series of highly detailed (and downright fun) 3.75-inch scale action figures based on the cult classic film Army of Darkness. Sculpted by SOTA Toys. - July 25, 2025

Deadite Centurion (Series 1) (released in 2-pack with Pit Witch)

Images of the original paint master/tooling pattern of the Army of Darkness Deadite Centurion (the last few photos, sculpted at 8 inches) compared to the revised and reduced (height is just under 4 inches) new paint master/factory model. SOTA, who were sculpting these figures, gave us a reduced rate (since there were so many characters) in exchange for minimal articulation and static poses. It worked out really well as they provided a good 3D template we were able to use to re-make them as functional models overseas using some specs I created. Lots of detail in those little figures. This is a paint master so it’s meticulously hand-painted and not a production piece, but I’ve always been proud of what we did in the 3.75 inch scale. Would have loved to keep working in it. - April 15, 2025

Comment 1: Recently found a YouTube video of a collector who had the entire lineup of 8 inch AOD figs. Was really surprised to see there wasn't an Ash in that scale (although there were three versions of Evil Ash).

"Evil Dead Army of Darkness Prototype Action Figures - CIOPCC Must Sees" by Michael Crawford (posted September 6, 2022)

Lilly 1: There were Ash figures sculpted in the 2-up size. All of them actually. Maybe he wasn’t able to find those prototypes but they were created.

Comment 2: Of all the variations of Ash from the small figures? Classic, knight, S-Mart, ect.?

Lilly 2: Yeah they all started at the 2-up size.

Lilly 3: Watched it. Those were (mostly) unreleased figures or variations of figures that did come out but just looked a lot different. Some awesome stuff there.