I have made my position quite clear about my love of Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Few cult TV characters have endured with the quiet, persistent power of the rumpled, relentless reporter who chased monsters long before it was cool. Today, we’re once again diving into that legacy with two familiar creators who know a thing or two about bringing beloved worlds back to life.
I’m excited to be joined again by Chris “Doc” Wyatt and Gavin Hignight, the co-founders of Wandering Planet Toys. A company known for turning fan passion into beautifully crafted, story-rich collectibles, spanning from The Prisoner to Nancy Drew and Laurel and Hardy. Their latest project is a love letter to one of television’s most influential supernatural pioneers: a brand‑new line of Kolchak: The Night Stalker action figures.
We’ll be talking about what drew them to Kolchak, how they approached translating this iconic character and his eerie world into figure form, and what fans can expect from the line. So, let’s welcome back Chris “Doc” Wyatt and Gavin Hignight to GVN Talking Comics Interview.
Inspiration to Bring Carl Kolchak to Wandering Planet Toys
GVN: Thank you once again, Gavin and Doc, for visiting us again. Of course, it’s your own fault for raising the stakes with such cool figures. Whether it’s the Prisoner, Laurel and Hardy, or the latest addition, the Night Stalker himself, Carl Kolchak, you’ve certainly intrigued us. So, let’s get started. What inspired you to bring Kolchak: The Night Stalker into the Wandering Planet lineup?
DOC: It was always just a matter of when. From the beginning of Wandering Planet, Kolchak was on our “dream” list of properties, but figuring out the path took actual years.
GAVIN: Yeah, we have a list… a very secret and sacred list of all the things we’ve ever wanted to do in the toy world and Carl Kolchak was on it from the beginning. Day dreaming about it, and actually finding the path, and being able to make it happen officially are two different things… so we’re so excited to be here with the figure ready to launch and working with Monstrous to make it happen.
Bringing Another Cult Classic to Collectors
GVN: Kolchak has a cult following but isn’t a mainstream license. What drew you to a property that lives so strongly in fan memory rather than mass‑market visibility?
DOC: Like with The Prisoner, like with Nancy Drew, we love doing toy lines based on properties that NEVER got official figures. We’re making the figures that we wanted on our shelves but never got!
GAVIN: Yes, I think Doc and I are drawn to characters and IP that deserve toys and never got the toy treatment. One day we’d like to do an original line, and there are some lines that have been done before that we’d like to do our version of… but there is a real satisfaction in getting a forgotten or overlooked character and IP into toy form for the first time. We’re fans and we’re toy collectors so some of this just falls into the category of… I want that in my collection and it doesn’t exist. Let’s make it.
Their Personal History with the Show
GVN: Did either of you have any history with the show? Were you fans growing up, or did the appreciation come later? (I was hooked from the original TV movies)
DOC: I got into the show about 20 years ago when my friend, Bill Rude, a horror artist and big Kolchak fan, gave me a box set of the series. I became obsessed.
GAVIN: Oh yes, I love the series and I love the book. And I’ve been enjoying the comic book adventures that have been coming out recently.
Capturing the Classic Karl Kolchak Look
GVN: Kolchak’s look is iconic—seersucker suit, straw hat, camera, tape recorder. What were the non‑negotiable elements you knew had to be perfect from day one?
GAVIN: It was important to include era specific accessories. The Night Stalker is a 70s detective story at its core, and it’s fun to include the tools of the trade for a down on his luck journalist trying to fight the undead… and prove they are undead. The typewriter is such a great prop, the hammer and stake, the camera, we loved getting to research, design and make all of these. My favorite is his old school tape recorder.
Including the Vampire Janos Skorzeny
GVN: Kolchak is defined as much by the creatures he investigates as by the man himself. How did you decide to include his nemesis, the vampire Janos Skorzeny?
DOC: The TV show “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” was a spin-off from the TV movie of Jeff Rice’s original book, which was entitled “The Night Stalker.” The book and movie were called that because, in the story, “the Night Stalker” is the name that the press gives to a serial killer murdering women in the streets of Las Vegas. Kolchak tracks and (spoiler alert) puts a stop to the Night Stalker, so after that first movie Skorzeny is done… but the movie was such a hit in the ratings, the producers were afraid that if they called the TV spin-off just “Kolchak” no one would remember that it was the name of the hero of “The Night Stalker,” so they put “Night Stalker” in the TV title anyway, even though it didn’t make much sense to do so. Just odd that we all know and love a “Night Stalker” TV show, but the actual character that goes by that name is never in the show! So we figured that the actual “Night Stalker” deserved a figure in our “Night Stalker” toys!
GAVIN: These figures are from the book that started it all, and Janos Skorzeny is the menace Kolchak is trying to defeat in the book. To me, Skorzeny’s got a unique and realistic look for a vampire in fiction, so it was really fun to translate that to action figure form. And doing a blood splattered Kolchak to go with him… just makes sense. 🙂
Working with James Aquilone and Monstrous Books
GVN: I’m glad to see that Jeff Rice’s original story is still receiving attention. On that note, you’re collaborating with a friend of GVN and a huge Kolchak fan, James Aquilone, who is the Publisher and Editor at Monstrous. He recently re-released the original novel. Can you share what the process was like for securing the Kolchak license, and what freedoms or constraints you encountered during that process?
DOC: The toy license was only possible because of James. His work with the Jeff Rice estate is the only reason we were able to live out our dream of making these figures.
GAVIN: Working with James and Monstrous hasn’t felt that much like work! It’s been horror fans hanging out with horror fans talking about cool stuff to make. I wish all our projects felt this effortless. I mean, it has been tons of work, and we have work ahead of us, but the licensor relationship has been a bright spot for certain.
Why the Character of Carl Kolchak Still Resonates
GVN: Thanks again, guys. Finally, why do you think Kolchak still resonates with audiences fifty years later?
GAVIN: I think that Kolchak is a very relatable hero. He doesn’t have super powers, he doesn’t get the most respect, he has a job that is light on the rewards, he’s just trying to do his best and protect people. We can relate to the guy, we can appreciate him. He’s not at all a loser, but he seldom, even though saving the day, gets the rewards. That to me bakes him likable and memorable, And on top of that… he keeps happening himself into mysterious bits of the unknown and no one ever believes him… unless they need a monster killed or supernatural mystery solved. What’s not to love about all that?
DOC & GAVIN: Thanks for having us back! We love talking monsters and cult classics.
The Kickstarter campaign for Wandering Planet Toys and Monstrous Media’s Kolchak: The Night Stalker starts Monday, March 16th. You can visit the campaign here. At that location, you will discover the many special items that Wandering Toys is known for, including a retro lunchbox!
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
