Archie McPhee® is an online and real world store in Seattle, WA, specializing in the sort of loot your childish yet evil imagination never ceases to be amazed by. The store and parent company Accoutrements creates a haven for lovers of fun and kitsch. If you’ve been looking for Jesus and Lunch Lady action figures, Edgar Allan Poe bobble heads, or a Dr. Freud’s Therapy Ball, Archie McPhee’s your go-to-guy.

I spoke with the company PR man David Wahl about 25 years of pop culture goodies which make people say both “Ooooh” and “Eeeiiiwww.”

I’ve read the history on the website about the real Archie McPhee; is the family still involved?

They are not, but they really enjoy the fact that Archie’s name can live on in such a positive, light-hearted way.

There’s a big step between peddling the products of others and making your own… What prompted the manufacture of such goodies as the Librarian Action Figure?, the Devil Duckie® and Nunzilla?

When our company began in the late 70’s, our owner, Mark Pahlow, would buy surplus items and imported novelty items and find ways to sell them to unique markets. Over time, the supply of cool surplus things dried up and the novelties weren’t advancing with the times. So by the mid 80’s, the only thing left to do was for him to start manufacturing things that he loved.

Our first big product, the one that put us on the map, was the Nun Punching Puppet. We knew that a lot of people had a nostalgic feeling about going to Catholic school. They both loved and feared the nuns that taught them. So, the Nun Punching Puppet proved to be the perfect novelty item for them. A follow up to that was the Nunzilla wind-up.

The Devil Duckie, which proved to be another smash hit, was just a matter of us taking a classic piece of popular culture and putting our own twist on it. I think most people think of themselves as cute but a little bit naughty and the Devil Duckie is that in spades.

The Librarian Action Figure, based on Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl, came about for two reasons. We were working on a series of average people action figures and librarians are a great fit with that. Who doesn’t love librarians. Also, our owner was friends with Nancy, so she loved the idea.

Speaking of every day action figures… When are you going to make The Collector action figure? (Or, it could be The Collector Auction Figure lol) It seems like a natural… And if no one’s thought of that yet, can I have a job?

We have actually talked about that, the question is, what would that person look like? Usually we get one person and base it on them.

Well, obviously you’d base it on me. Have your people call my people…

If we made an action figure collector action figure, would we have to make tiny action figures for him/her to collect?

We can hammer that out along with the details of using my image, but off the top of my head I’d say miniature duckies because your rubber duckie collection is rather vast. How often do you issue new themes or characters of Devil Duckies?

Well, at first we put out a lot of them. If you look closely you’ll notice that there are two kinds of Devil Duckies. There are ducks that just have a different pattern or color, but there are also ducks that require an entirely new mold. Lately we have been limiting ourselves to just three or four new ones a year and we have been bringing out ducks with
different molds. Take a loot at the eye-patch on our Pirate Devil Duckie.

Are any of your items made in limited quantities?

So far, only the ones that don’t sell! We have talked about doing a limited edition of some of our products, but those plans are secret. For now…

Many of your products have a retro or vintage design, classics like the pink elephants, where do you get the designs? Do you copy/reproduce old products?

We have a big research library and we are constantly buying things that we think our cool. For the most part, we don’t do a direct reproduction of products unless someone is still making the product. Most of the time we just take a concept and run with it. For instance, our Cigarette Dispensing Donkey is an old old novelty item which has been done in countless different ways, but we made our own design based on the idea behind it.

Another thing about the novelty industry is that when an item premieres, it is usually very well made and actually funny. The factories that make them try and make them cheaper and smaller every year. Often simply going back and producing something closer to the original intent of a novelty item is enough to have a good competitive product.

What’s the story behind the How to Get Along with Girls/Boys, Art of Kissing, and How to Make Love books?

As you know, those were actual self-help books from early in the 20th century. The concepts in the books are old-fashioned by our modern standards. We do have plans to issue a few more reprint books, but I can’t talk about them. We don’t want to be scooped.

Are there any discontinued items which might be worth something on the secondary market?

It’s interesting, since we do retro packaging on a lot of our products, we have seen current products in less than reputable antique shops at heightened prices. Because of its resemblance to the Obie, our Martian Popping Thing is often sold for $20 or $30.

One of our rarest products is My Pretty Nosehair. It was a plastic nose that fit over your real nose that had braided nostril hair flowing forth. It is rare because no one bought it.

Who came up with bacon and meat bandages? The nose pencil sharpener? The Avenging Unicorn Play Set?

We have a creative group that meets every few weeks to come up with new ideas. One of the best parts about working here is that you can have a conversation about a product and just a few months later it’s made real.

My favorite product creation story is Wind Up Hopping Lederhosen. One of our designers had a drawing of Wind-Up Lederhosen hanging in his office for years. After five years, the owner walked by, looked at it and said, “It’s time.”

It has turned out to be one of our top sellers!

Seriously, your staff must be (at least a bit) demented lol Is that why you have such a cult following?

It is great to work here. I work with smart, funny people.

I think the reason we seem demented is that we make products that we like rather than trying to make what we think other people will like!

How many American adults to you believe have Mini Fairy Land sets in their workspaces?

Wow, I don’t know if I have a total on that. I know that there are three people in this building that do. Lets see, if I don’t know the answer I’ll just makes something up…

The Mini Fairy Land Playset is in 10.4% of all American offices, evenly split between men and women.

Let’s move onto more serious matters. I noticed you have the ninjas with the unicorns — how does this tactic work in the ninjas vs. pirates debate? Do the ninjas look stronger or weaker for their association?

I refuse to take sides in the ninja versus pirate debate. I don’t want to alienate any of customers.

Ninjas, Pirates and Unicorns all share one quality. They are AWESOME!

Awesome indeed. That’s the fun of McPhee.