Triclops Studio’s Rob Ames and Luc Hudson, and Character’s Mark Hunt, discuss the origins of Terror Fried – and what’s next

Guys, let’s go back to the beginning… Where did the idea for Terror Fried come from?
Rob Ames, Co-Founder, Triclops Studio: We still get the local newspaper around here, and there was an article in there a while back about a chicken shop that closed down because someone found a rat’s head in their chicken nuggets. It stuck with me… Later, we were talking about product names – always important when you’re trying to come up with a new brand… We’re always coming up with puns. I came out with ‘Terror Fried’ and instantly remembered the article. It just made sense to explore a toy that provided gross discoveries through fake fast food…

The range spans rotten dissolving burgers, gooey dipping sauces, mouldy milkshakes – all housing these freaky collectible characters. Once you had the fast-food idea, did this kind of application come quite intuitively?
Luc Hudson, Co-Founder, Triclops Studio: Once we started on that train of thought, we knew there was a lot of potential in this theme. Our starting point was a process that involved ‘deep frying’ the item. That’s how we initially revealed the character inside. Character did an incredible job of expanding out from there. They have a lot of heritage in compound play with things like Stretch Armstrong and Goo Jit Zu. It became bigger and better.

Rob: We initially thought about how to ‘re-batter’ the character after frying them so you could replay the experience. We couldn’t quite get that to work, but Character came in and said: “Well, we can’t use the dip to re-coat the collectible – but what else could we use the dip for?” That’s how the whole compound play experience of Terror Fried took shape – very quickly, and organically.

One door closed but plenty more opened! And Mark, from Character’s perspective, what got the team excited about this idea?
Mark Hunt, Marketing Director, Character Options: At Character, if a concept really resonates with us, we get passionate about it. When I first saw this way back in its infancy, I thought it was very cool. And if you look in the boys’ aisle, compound play and those layers of discovery are key – but what’s cooler than fast food?! It’s very relatable and the whole concept was a perfect match-up of some very strong elements.

Can you guys also speak to the character design here? They’re beautifully repulsive!
Luc: Ha! Well, we’re big fans of that kind of gross-out horror from the Eighties and Nineties. That’s the fodder we grew up on and it’s been a very strong influence on how we design characters. The starting point for these characters came from that idea that something had been deep fried that shouldn’t have been, like flies and mice… Building the wider cast of characters was another great collaboration with Character team. They were fantastic fleshing out the line.

And Mark… This first wave of Terror Fried has really resonated with buyers – and consumers! Why do you think that is?
Mark: It’s this powerful trifecta of elements. First, collectable figurines. We know boys like to collect figures: it’s a no brainer. Second: compound play. We know slime is huge; it’s a sector mainstay – and we’ve got a great combination of compounds here. Third is how it’s wrapped up in this fast-food theme. Those three things together lead to something familiar but innovative. This take on compound-led gross out food play hasn’t been done together. And it hasn’t been wrapped up, packaged and advertised with the fast-foot twist.

Rob: I remember when the Character team showed us the crackle slime. We’d never seen anything like that before! That kind of crushable material filled with slime. So seeing the corn on the cob and fries utilising that, where you crack it open and all this slime oozes out… That really elevated it.

Mark: Crackle clay was trending on TikTok at the time; we were looking at how we could embrace that in a way that made it cool, collectable and relevant for the boys’ aisle. A side dish of fries or corn on the cob worked perfectly!

Absolutely. Looking ahead, what does the future hold for Terror Fried?
Mark: In Autumn/Winter, we’re going to launch an exciting new theme called Wok Warriors – inspired by Asian fast food. Where wave one has fries, burgers and nuggets, Wok Warriors introduces spring rolls, sushi, and noodle pots. You pour water in to fizz and unearth your gross surprises… There’s fortune cookies, sticky rice and other things to crack and squish.

We’re also bolstering the play value. With Wok Warriors, the figurines have gone to another level, with both good and evil warriors. You can remove the lids from each of the four offerings and combine them to build this ancient Chinese Pagoda playset. So we’re adding this collect-and-build element to the brand! It makes for an incredible central display piece. It adds on wave one, while retaining the core elements that have made Terror Fried successful.

Rob: It’s very exciting. We like to invent brands rather than one-off solo items, and when we originally pitched the idea, we tried to show where the brand could go. Could it be noodle pots and sushi? What gross reveals could you do with pizzas and pastas? Character has done a great job running with that.

Yeah, you can’t help but see the gross potential when looking at food through this lens! Think about the opportunities around crème brûlée!
Luc: Absolutely. Broadly speaking, food is a popular theme in toys, especially in the girls’ aisle. Cupcake collectibles and scented items. But it’s been fun to turn that on its head and look at things from a gross-out perspective.

Mark: It’s got so much potential. We just have to keep the momentum going and great things can happen.

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