Chérie Shulter is a certified literature teacher as well as a school counselor and licensed therapist. Having been familiar with the plot and characterization from Leroux's novel for some time, she was somewhat disappointed when she at last (March 2008) saw Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical reinforcing her belief that regardless of phenominal music and special effects, ultimately, there is no substitute for great literature. After discoving Leroux-based fanfiction (and writing a few pieces herself) she was disappointed to learn that there are few (if any) collectables related to Leroux's original The Phantom of the Opera and set out to change that. A few months later (January 2009) she and El Gibbs (who did the actual drawing) submitted the Erik you see under "production documents" to a company that makes plush toys and the rest is... well, not yet history. By summer of 2009 the preliminary prototype process was nearly complete, and Erik is expected to be ready for purchase before Halloween 2009. Chérie hopes you will love and cherish your Leroux Erik as we all know Christine Daaé should have in the first place.