“Skelly” no longer has to be out there alone on those spine-chilling October nights.
After four years on the market, Skelly — Home Depot’s viral and adored 12-foot skeleton — gets Skelly’s Dog, a faithful, obedient, bony and lifeless canine companion. The decorative skeleton dog, which stands at nearly 5-feet tall and 7-feet wide, sold out minutes after the brand’s “Halfway to Halloween” sale began on April 25.
“Skelly is a staple of Halloween at this point and we thought: ‘Who is a family’s best friend?’” Jessica Poplewko, Home Depot’s associate merchant of decorative holiday, tells Yahoo Entertainment. “We immediately thought of our lovable dogs. We have used our team’s pets as inspiration for some of our porch greeters, so it only seemed fitting.”
First things first: Yes, Skelly’s Dog has ears. “We always want to bring realism to our items when we can, but sometimes we like to have some fun. Also, we wanted to make sure he looked like an iconic dog,” she explains.
As for its size, “We looked at the size of our dogs and wanted to make sure Skelly’s Dog was in the same proportion to Skelly as our dogs are to us,” Poplewko says. “Skelly’s Dog has the same [moving and blinking] LCD Life Eye setting as Skelly and a posable mouth” and tail.
While they could have gone with a scarier animal companion for Skelly on fright night, Home Depot likes leaving it up to the customer as far as how it’s posed or adorned.
“The great thing about Skelly is that you can make him whatever you want: scary or friendly,” she says. “We wanted to have the same appeal with his pet. We love seeing what our fans do with Skelly and we can’t wait to see what happens when they get his faithful friend.”
The team first came up with the idea for Skelly’s Dog, which retails for $199, “a few years ago,” but it took time to design, build and test. After the brand kicked off this year’s surprise sale on Thursday, the dog sold out right away while some of the 12-foot skeletons were still available the next day. While they won’t call it a record, they did say the dog sold out “very quickly and we are excited to see all the customer feedback on his formerly furry friend.”
So while Skelly’s Dog is currently unavailable, the brand will restock between now and Halloween.
Basically, the early sale is marketed toward true enthusiasts (like the person in your neighborhood who leaves their 12-foot skeleton up year round). Last year, the brand launched its Halloween website — with the full collection available — in July. There was a third online sale in August, which coincided with an in-store launch. Decorations go quickly, though. People hoping to find Skelly in a store in late September or early October are typically out of luck until the following season.
A pro tip is to follow the brand on social media, where they tease sales usually a day before they happen. There are also online groups, like Facebook’s 12 Foot Skeleton Owners, where people share buying tips. Sites like Etsy sell clothes and accessories for Skelly, and we imagine those offerings will expand to dog duds too.
It’s important to note that there’s never a guarantee from year to year that a specific item will be in the new collection — even Skelly. The team is always evaluating the products. Last year, there were rumors that Skelly would be retired, but instead his circle has expanded. Could a cat join the posse next year for the feline lovers out there?
“You never know,” Poplewko teases. “Just like our customers, we love dogs and thought this would be a good place to start.”
The team also tweaks its products from year to year, including Skelly. When fanatics started leaving the skeletons up all year long, the design team added a plug adapter so it wasn’t running through batteries. This year, Skelly got an eye upgrade: It now has eight LCD Life Eye settings with multiple themes, including rainbow swirls. That was also adapted to accommodate people who keep the decor on display over multiple holidays. It remains at the same price point, $299, as in years past.
Other new products this year include Frankenstein’s Monster, a 7-foot tall animated monster. “Frankie” has blue LED features and eyes that move and blink, and the servo motors give a life-like movement to its eyes, mouth and head. Poplewko says the team is “thankful to work with the NBC Universal team to make him as true to the original movie as possible.”
Towering over all of them is a 12.5-foot Inferno Deadwood Skelly, which the Home Depot team thinks will also be a hit.
“People love these giant pieces in their displays,” she says, “and love to add onto their displays year after year with the newest giants and innovative products.” Because of that, she adds, the team tries to outdo itself each year in coming up with new ways to “surprise and delight those Halloween superfans.”
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