Big Herc’s TOXIC AVENGER Collection
The worlds of music and movies have always been intertwined. Specifically, horror films. Not just on a soundtrack level but the many times titles have been inspired by songs or bands or certain musical scenes. Certain films come to mind immediately: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985), TRICK OR TREAT (1986), and REPO MAN (19884) are all perfect examples of this.
More times than not, when the connection between horror and music is mentioned, it often brings to mind heavy metal and punk rock. As a lifelong horror fan, I see this as a natural relationship due to outsider status, violent material (not necessarily condoning it but featuring aggro imagery), and more. Whether it’s the soundtrack, score, or fashion on display, the connection between horror and music is undeniable. Part of what made NOSFERATU and THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI so scary to audiences in the 1920s were the creepy scores played live alongside them.
That’s all fine and dandy, but what about hip hop? Hip hop is the most popular form of music in the world, but you would never guess it by its reflection in genre cinema. Even in “urban horror” films there isn’t a great depiction of the culture. It’s truly few and far between. Off the top of my head, I can really only think of TALES FROM THE HOOD (1995) and hip-hop artists Necro and The Gravediggaz that make that crossover.
I’m not sure how long ago it was, but my love of THE TOXIC AVENGER (1984), it’s animated spin-off Toxic Crusaders (1991-1993), and all things Troma Studios became a part of my aesthetic, both sartorially and cinematically.
So when an advertisement for Toxic Crusaders slip-on shoes popped up in my Instagram feed, I needed to find out more.
Where in this crazy world of fandom would a company that started as a hip hop music distribution find inspiration to make a line of street wear influenced by THE TOXIC AVENGER?
I reached out to Juan Hernandez, owner and operator of Big Herc, to find out just that.
Neon Splatter: Could you give me a little history on you and the Big Herc brand?
Juan Hernandez: This year is actually the 25th anniversary of BigHerc.com. I initially started it off as a hip hop site with unreleased and hard to find songs from my favorite artists and I eventually started adding T-shirts and CDs for sale. This was back in ’97…I was only 18-years-old and the Internet was a baby still. I had to get creative because all of the resources didn’t exist at the time. I use to make my website in Notepad! Cutting and pasting codes…trying to figure things out on my own. I partnered up with a mom & pops shop in Chicago where they basically let me take pics of everything they had available and add it to my store then we would split the profit. Back then I actually had to take the pictures, get them developed, then scan them in. It was definitely quite the process!
PayPal wasn’t around and having online credit card processing at the time was impossible unless you were a huge business.
I had an actual order form that you would have to print out and mail in with a check or money order. And here’s the best part…you actually had to provide 2 back up options in case the shirt or CD was already sold out when I got your order in. It seems crazy thinking about it now.
About 60-70% of my customers were from outside of the US and at the time I had the only place online to get a lot of this stuff from these different artists (i.e., Psycho Realm, Delinquent Habits). I was averaging around $1200 a week in sales then— which doesn’t seem like a lot but when it’s all $20 t-shirts and $12 CDs it was a lot of work.
Back then we didn’t have all these shipping label options like we do now. I had to do it all by hand…the customs forms were the worst part! After a few years it go to be too overwhelming and I took my store down for a while. Looking back at it I really wish I was able to find someone that could help me out—but back then no one knew anything about websites and online stores so I closed up shop online. At that time, I was touring quite a bit and ended up setting up a distribution route across the country with different mom & pops shops. I would bring Chicago music down to Texas and either sell at wholesale or trade for music from local artists then continue to hit spots in Phoenix, L.A., San Diego, and back to Chicago. I had quite the inventory and network going at the time. I was barely 20-years-old back when I was doing this. My best friend Joee joined me for a lot of these trips. We actually had a fake ID…that we f’n shared while we were on the road. So many crazy memories!
NS: What made you want to start your own clothing line?
JH: I’ve always been involved with selling and designing t-shirts for hip hop groups/artists but I was really starting to get sick of all the headaches from the music industry, so I decided to dabble into some pop culture properties for a change of pace. I also wanted to focus on being able to work from home so I can be there for my kids at all times and have the flexibility to walk away from my desk at any time to help out my wife with her business. She’s a chef and her catering could be any day at any time so when I really started focusing on my work, I wanted to make it a goal of mine to make sure that her events/business was a success and since her work was on a strict schedule it got top priority. I was able to work on my stuff before or after her events. It was great…until COVID fucked up everything we had built. It is slowly coming back now. We had an amazing thing going on…hopefully we’ll get back to kicking ass again.
NS: You have a very unique style. How would you describe your anesthetic?
JH: With my work, one of the things that is most important to me is working with properties that I am a genuine fan of. That definitely makes it easier to make the dopest releases! The fans can tell when something is a generic cash grab. I definitely try to put the fans and collectors first when I’m working on my new releases. I try to make sure to use the perfect color pallets and resources so my stuff with be a perfect fit to everything else in their collections.
NS: Have you worked with any guest artists on collaborations? Are there any artists that you'd like to work with that you haven't yet?
JH: For the most part I have been handling all the artwork on my own but about a year ago I started collaborating with a few other artists that can bring in a different flavor to my releases. I had a cool release that David Arshawsky did the artwork on for me. He worked with Playmates Toys back in the day and was part of the classic Toxic Crusaders and TMNT toy lines. Bringing him on board definitely made me feel like I was bringing some authenticity to my releases.
I had artwork from Art Baltazar on one of my kids’ releases. This one was pretty cool because my kids and nephews all had his DC Comics releases. He has a great unique style that is perfect for kids. I’ve been having this amazing artist out of Philly that goes by Non-Heinous…his work is so sick. There are a few other artists that I have releases in the works with right now but I want to try to keep them as a surprise for when they actually drop.
But there is one artist that I would really love to work with on a release some time down the road…the great Kevin Eastman. The Turtles played a huge part of my childhood so it would definitely mean a lot to me to be able to work with him.
NS: I've been a lifelong fan of THE TOXIC AVENGER and Toxic Crusaders, what is it about this character that that made you want to do a collection based on him?
JH: So back in the ‘80-’90s my grandfather owned two video stores in Chicago. I spent a lot of time there as a kid trying to help out...putting movies back where they belong and stuff like that. I loved examining the artwork from the VHS tape cases. They were so cool during that era. In the back of his first video store, we had a big Toxic Avenger cardboard cutout. That really stuck with me…any time I would see that image it brought back some great memories of growing up in the video stores. When I started looking into licensing properties, Toxie was at the top of my list. I feel like I hit the jackpot with this new movie coming up.
It’s crazy that I actually got to meet Lloyd Kaufman back when I was probably like eight or nine at some kind of promotional event. I barely remember the details but it was pretty cool meeting him when I was little and then over 30 years later he became my biggest fan. I love dealing with him…he’s been super supportive of all the work that I have been doing with his “baby”. I really didn’t see any of this coming when I was a kid playing with the Toxic Crusaders action figures.
NS: I always get excited when you announce new designs. Is there anything in the works you can let our readers in on?
JH: Well right now my big focus is finalizing all the artwork and styles for my new manufacturing/distribution deal I scored that will be putting my gear in thousands of stores all over the place. That’s been pretty stressful…but exciting as all hell! I am a one-man crew…besides the times I use some outside artists, I have been handling everything on my own. From brokering deals, merchandise/packaging design, maintaining my website, promotional content, shipping, e-mails and the list goes on. It’s kind of scary the more I think about it but it is something that I was working for…didn’t expect it to happen this quick. Luckily, I fell in the right circle with the right people to make something like this a reality.
NS: What’s the future of Big Herc?
JH: Outside of my Big Herc x Toxie line I have quite a few awesome releases coming up. The biggest release that I have coming up is this new Schoolly D album that I executive produced along with Chris Schwartz (RuffHouse Records). We started this album a few years back and COVID pretty much put a monkey wrench in our plans but in the end, it turned out to be a good thing…it’s turning into a bigger release than we were originally anticipating. Sotheby’s auctioned off the original artwork for it. That totally blew my mind. I came up with the concept for the album in my basement so it was crazy that it got to that level. I am dying to release this animated video that I did for the first single we dropped for the album.
My main goal when we started working on it was getting Ice-T on a track…that collabo was long overdue. Once Chuck D found out about the Ice-T joint, he demanded to get on it too…can’t say no to Uncle Chuck! I had my homie Sid Wilson from Slipknot jump on the turntables for it to kick it up a notch. The video that I did for the song actually has appearances by Toxie and Lloyd Kaufman along with some of the voice actors from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I had a blast working on this one…I actually redid the video twice since the album kept getting delayed.
This one will never get old! A #StPatricksDay #Safety #Message from the #OG #IceMotherFuckingT
— Big Herc (@bigherculez) March 17, 2022
🍀🍻🚫🤮🛣 @FINALLEVEL pic.twitter.com/H3tABtLUyg
This summer I plan on releasing all the previously unreleased songs/re-mixes that I have been sitting on all these years on Big Herc And The Golden Era All-Stars. At this point in my life, I have no desire to be a rapper but I have too many badass collaborations to not release them. I haven’t settled on the final track list yet but I am sitting on tracks with Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Everlast, Sadat X, and Schoolly D along with members of Cypress Hill, DAS EFX, The Beatnuts, Tha Liks, M.O.P., Funkdoobiest, and a ton more.
It features production by Psycho Les of The Beatnuts and RZA. My man DJ Cash Money will be helping me bring this project together.
As of now this album isn’t my top priority though…just a little something I’m dropping to celebrate the 25th anniversary of BigHerc.com.
My Big Herc x Cypress Hill “Black Sunday” Converse All-Stars will be on tour part of a hip hop sneakers exhibit with The National Hip Hop Museum.
The tour kicks off in Little Rock, AK in April.
My Big Herc the “space pirate” alter ego makes his return in the upcoming comic book from my homies The Microphone Misfitz.
That drops on March 26th!
Those are pretty much the bigger things that I have going on right now.
On the side I am chipping away at a screenplay for my first movie. I have been able to secure a pretty nice budget for it but I am taking my time developing the story and pretty much the entire world that it takes place in.
Huge thank you to Juan Hernandez for sitting down with us at Neon Splatter and discussing all things Big Herc and TOXIC AVENGER.
If you are as big a fan of Toxie and everything associated with him as I am, do yourself a favor and check out Big Herc right away. With items ranging from t-shirts and hoodies to flip flops and women’s briefs, there’s something for everyone.
Big Herc is on all major social media sites; Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Or, just skip all that and head right over to the website and check out all there Tromatized goodness.
Tell ‘em Neon Splatter sent ya, and, as always, remember to BUY OR DIE!
