MUMMY

More horror and monsters for th halloween reviews and more nostalgia from past times!!! This time from the XX century, when Sideshow made its debut in the figure collectors market, they did it with the Universal Monsters and released a chibi line, an action figure line, a 1/6 scale with real rabric line as well as mixed media statues. Those times were pretty amazing to be alive for any Universal Monster fan!!

Sadly i missed many of those and while i am still missing The Creature From the Black Lagoon from the 1/6 line, i am still missing the Frankenstein Monster and the Phantom of the Opera from the action figure line, but here we have The Mummy!! Imhotep!!! Why? Well, years ago i got this figure but with no accesorys and was custom repainted. I liked quiet a lot the new colors the artists gives him but his looked a little bit out of palce with the rest of the line but weeks ago i was able to get the original colored version complete with accesorys.

Soo basically this is a figure i review years ago and i am pretty sure no one will notice soo lets talk about The Mummy!! For a 1998 figure this guy was amde in quiet a tall scale, he is bigger than the NECA version and cant balance himself pretty well but thankfully, Sideshow gives him a pretty elegant base to deal with that.

He is articulated on the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, legs and knees. all of this are basic cut articulations soo they can only rotate and theres not much sense on moving his legs since he wouldnt be able to stand. Both the knees and elbows have a very basic hinge but this are very delicate. I seen lots of this figures with the arms broken exactly in the elbows.

Soo this figure is not very articulated and dont have a lot of display options but this was the way of the 90s, something that McFarlane was starting to make popular in that moment but Imhotep is not a pretty dynamic character full of movement either and this was the starting point of the "adult collectible" market soo articulations were used to be seen as something "childish". Tough the articulations are extremelly well hidden and almost invisible thanks to the bandages.

The sculpt is FANTASTIC!!! This is Boris Karloff face perfectly rendered along the Mummy make up, the wrinkled skin covering his face, the mark on the nose, the muddy hair, and under all those elements is pretty easy to see Karloff sad and serious expression. The slim body shape and wrinkled hands looks great as well as the bettle ring and the texture of the bandages looks quiet realistic, old and rotten and they wrap around his body with perfect sense. Even the bandages than hang around flows with the body naturally. Of course this is all thanks to Matt Falls, the sculptor that was in chargue to sculpt all this characters for Sideshow using the actors likenes.

The painting is divisive, but thats expected from a character of a black and white movie. The paint job on the bandages is superv, a bone color with some grey washes aplyed carefully as well as a weet texture make the bandages looks extremelly real and covered in oil. Details like the beetle ring and the eyes looks really good and the paint jov on the aged exposed flesh and face have a very subtle wash to make the wrinkles stand out nicelly, all in a grey......green tone? I am not sure wath color is this soo i am not sure if i like it. It makes the Mummy to look too monochrome but i guess this isnt a colorfull character, but also i feel this color is a little too dark and make difficult to notice the details of the sculpt.

This line came with a pretty mini diorama base with a plate in front with the logo of the movie, the actor of the character and the year if release (1932 for The Mummy), this make this figures looks like museum pieces. For The Mummy the base is basically made of sand with a mix of rocks and a couple of big rocks coming out of the sand with hieroglyps on them. While the rocks with the marks looks really good, the paint job on the sand and the other rocks is pretty bad and cheap looking. The tones dont mix at alll and the rocks looks very plain.

The rest of the accesorys tough are much better looking tough: a rock plate with more hieroglyps, a chest that cotains Toth scrool and the Toth scrool. The sculpt on the plate is really good, with cracks all over it and the marks are pretty clear and easy to see while the paint is a mix of yellow and light browns and gives it the looks and feel of an acient piece of rock the base dosnt have.

The chest is the same, it have two Horus sculpted at front just like in the movie and the golden seal on top. The coloring have the same mix of yellow and light brown that makes it looks mudy, ancient and dirty in a very natural way. Sadly it canot be open.

The scrool is a piece of yelowish paper with the edges cut all rough and more hieroglyps printed on it. We never see the scroll fully open on the front side of the movie but since this is the main object of interest n the movie, its very nice they detailed it this much. the scrool can be rolled up and it also have a golden ring to hold it in plce soo Imhotep can hold him.

Sideshow always add accesorys that are top quality and exact replicas to the items on screen soo they never disapoint in this. The paint of the base is the only dissapointing part and Imhotep face paint could be a little bit ligther but aside of that, this is the perfect representatio of the classic monster.

This line could looks silly now tough, with the limited articulations and sometimes odd paint choices, but from 1998 to 2021, this figures were the best loosking toys based on the Universl Movies and also the only ones using the actors likens. Not even Diamond Select came close to this even with its best peices and i find amazing that this figures were the Rolls-Royce of the horror collectors aroudn the world for more than 20 years.

Even tough i already have this guy in my collection with a totally different color palette, i am very happy to have him on his original form as well as with all his accesorys. Now if only The Phantom and the Frankenstein Creature could apeare like this in front of me....

UNIVERSAL MONSTER ALLIANCE

 I usually use this space to showcase action figures and big size statues and leave small collectibles out of this; like for example those horrible and souless FunkoPop or capsule Gashapon or blind box figurerines. Recently i been building a small collection of Gashapon but i dont think they have a place in here and once i think about it i am not sure why i think like that because they are toys as well and a few years ago i made an entry about the Monster in my Pocket in this place after all soo i will showcase blind box figures this time.

The chinese brand Pop Mart was totally unknown for me until a few months ago when theyr Labubu started to be extremelly popular, almost as much as the FunkoPop, but this let me find out that a few years ago they released theyr own version of the Universal Monsters as small figures in blind boxes. When i saw pictures i tough they were made with AI because they didnt looked real, they looked extremelly perfect and colorfull and the series consist on the Monsters sitting on a teather chair, watching a movie in a "Super Deformed" or chibi design.

It took me quiet some effort to be able to find a sealed complete box with 9 blind boxes that contain the whole 9 figures, but it was deffinetly worth it!! Despite them being tiny (the size of an Amiibo) and sculptures with no articulation at all, this little guys give the ilusion to be bigger than they are and they sculpt is extremelly detailed, funny and amusing to look at. Each one of them looks very dynamic and full of life and personality.

Dracula is sitting with his legs crossed and his giant head resting on his hand and a glass of blood on the other and an expression of boredom. The design looks too much like an anime from the 70s and have enough details to make them stand out, like the pointy ears, the eye bags, the ring on his hand...and the colorwork is really good since his shoes are jet black while his suit is a little more mate black and it contrast nicelly with his vibrant red cape and pale skin tone. The paint is soo good his eyes are bloodshot for lack of sleep!! Both the blood and the glass are made with tranlsucent plastic and they can be removed from his hand but they fit soo perfectly between his fingers.

Next one is the Frankenstein Monster that have the the most cartoony design of the bunch with the gigantic head and the square face features and big ears. Even the fingers on his hands are square and his big bits and smilm legs contrast too good with the size of the head. He is also very "sleepy" looking and have a pompking full of pop corn. Both the pumpkin and the green jachet have a pretty stronf coloring works in emrald green and orange witha  wash of black that makes them looks like marbel. The scar on his forehead, the yellow eyes with dark green eye bags, the purple nose, the color aplication is really magnificent.

The pop corn cant be removed, but as a little extra the top of his head can be removed to reveal a very pink, very colorfull and wet and fresh brain!! Its really amazing to see such small figures having "actin features" and accesorys like this.

Next one is the Bride of Frankenstein, sitting in a extremelly femenine way with a flirtatious smile and stealing the pop corn of the Frankenstein Monster. The pop corn is pretty much the only piece with color since she is almost entirelly in black and white. Her dress flows around her body and curls around her legs pretty nicelly and is entirelly white with a soft black wash. Her skin is more pale than Dracula´s with black shadows around her eyes and black lipstick and her har have a very good looking mix of black and dark brown.

The Mummy have a really serious look on his face and seems very concentrated on watching the movie while eating a bag of chicken nuggets. Sculpt wise he is the most simple of the collection tough the details on his aged face are very good, specially on his mouth. The bandaged body have a light brown mixed with  ablack wash while the ehad have a much darker brown and the hair part looks more orange. Details like the golden pupils and the beetle ring make it very evident the people in Pop Mart actually did watched the movie since all this details are on it. The chicken nuggets big is the most colorful part of the figure.

One of my two favorites one is deffinetly the Wolfman. He have also an extremelly cartoony design with a big mouth with fangs protunding from hislower lip, the small dog nose and the eyes mixed with an expression os sadness and anger and the way he is sitting not like a person, but as a dog, with his feet on the chair and the fingers on his paws holding of it makes this one extremelly adorable. He is eating a bag of chips and i really love his hair sculpt and the beard, and the green shirt that looks like marble with the dark wash. I really love this guy soo much.

My other favorite one is the Creature From the Black Lagoon. He is sitting with an unexpressive face expression eating tiny fish from a can. The scult is amazing with the little tiny scales covering his body as well as the different plaques and fins around his head. The dark green of his skin si perfect as well as the yellow around his mouth and fins but the best part is the dark wash that make each scale stand out, specially on his head. I am not sure if its a mix of sculpt or is just paint, but the texture on his big head looks soo realistic. Also he is cmpletelly wet, covered on a film that makes him looks shiny and slimy and on his feet theres a small pong of transluscent blue water. This little guy is soo amazing.

Good thing they didnt forget The Phantom of the Opera. Bad thing is this isnt the original version but based on the ugly color remake from the 40s soo this isnt Lon Chaney but Claude Rains Phantom. He is sitting with one hand hilding his chest about to have a heart attack while the other holds a rose, with an expression full of anguish. This is the most simplictic looking character with a white gothic looking shirt and grey pant and a well groomed hair. The green and red of the rose really ar ethe tocuh of color this guy need since he looks like he belongs to a romance novel.

The rose can be removed and is rpetty difficult to put it on his hand given how small it is and the mask can be removed. The mask have a very nice "bone" like texture and paint and holds into his face perfectly thanks to his nice and the strand of hair. Once removed it reveals a burn on his eye. The paint work of pruples and reds on the burn looks really good but i seen much worse people on the streets of my city than this, this guys is simple way too mild to belong here.

Next one is the Invisible Man. I am not a big fan of this guy but he deffinetly looks more better and interesting than The Phantom. Rivaling in elegance with Dracula, this guy is watching a movie on his pijama, sleeping rob and slippers while sporting his cool looking dark glases and a hat. He is all bandaged but since he is drinking a soda, the bandages on his mouth are missing and since he is invisible, well....his ehad is completelly empty. His hat have a very nice mix of black and dark red while his rob and pijamas are brigth orange and blue and the soda cup is neon orange. This is one of the mst colorfull of the bunch and he also have his diary with his formula under his hand (tough the tiny book likes to be lost pretty easy).

Lastly the character i really dont like at all: Van Helsing. Yes....that Van Helsing, the Hugh Jackman one. I mean, not only he is NOT a monster, but this particular version of the character dosnt beling to the same time period as the rest and looks incrediblly out of place. I really wish they added Quasimodo or even the Metaluna Mutant instead f this guy but oh well...he is rpetty ooking as the rest, with his blue eyes, angry expression and curly hair. His coat is nucellt detailed as well ad his military boots and he is holding a beer on his hand and a crossbow on the other that both can be removed.

The chairs have a very clasic look with a brown structure and a red velvet inside painted with some dark wash to give it shadow (despite this section being completelly hidden by the figures) and looks like belonging from an opera teather and while in the front they are all the same, each one have the name of the movie each monster belongs as well as the date of release: DRACULA - february 12.1932, FRANKENSTEIN - NOVEMBER 21.1931, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN - april 22.1935, THE MUMMY - december 22.1932, THE WOLFMAN - december 12.1941, THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON - february 12.1954, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - august 27.1943, THE INVISIBLE MAN - november 13.1933 and VAN HELSING - may 6.2004.

The dates on the chairs are such a wonderfull detail tough this guys can sit on the table, the laptop, the console, every place with no need of the chairs, is pretty evident this is a cinema teather scene and they looks wonderfull  all together, perfect for halloween or to pose them in front of the TV, this are soo full of details and soo alive is always fun to look at them. This is the kind of toys that awaken on me the love for toys i felt when i was a kid.

There is an extra character tough but he is rpetty rare, one on every 108 boxes and he is Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde but i guess ask for him i way too much at this point i am perfectly fine with this group of monsters (except for Van Helsing, i probablly turn him back into his box) and really mpress me how in sculpt and paint they are at the same level as a Nendroid.

MUMMY

 I cant belive theres been five months since NECA released theyr Ultimate Frankenstein Monster. On that period Jada Toys came and released four Monsters already. Is not like NECA didnt do anything tough, since it launched Gargoyles and American Werewolf in London among other stuff, but the WolfMan had to be out months ago and theres no sign of him. But finally, after a long wait another Universal Monster arrives, tough is not the Wolf but The Mummy.

We are at the 90 anniversary of The Mummy soo the moment is perfect. That movie put to the test Boris Karloff acting skills and he creates the most subtle monster, the high priest Imhotep, who can convey a sense of power and menace just with a look at his terrifiying eyes just before unleashing his misteryous and unknown mental powers over the living. NECA´s version of the character really live up to the silver screen version.

Imhotep is surprisinglly much smaller than Frankenstein Monster. This is logic tough weird considering both are the same man, Boris Karloff, but is really really nice NECA have a pretty clear view of scale between characters. Imhotep can stand on his own perfectly despite his feet being kinda small.

He is articulated on the head, bse od the neck, shoulders, biceps, double articulation on the elbows, wrists, chest, waist, legs, knes and ankles, all ball joint and given the simplicity of his shape, pretty much nothing get on the way of his movement, he have a full movement freedom (except on the ankles, theyr range of movement is small) and is by far the most articulated Imhotep to date since Diamond Select version is just a statue and Sideshow version is completelly bound by his bandages.

Not like there is a lot of pose options here tough, this is a character that moves slow and steady and....actually we never see Imhotep full body on the movie either or actually moving. His physic is....thin, much more than the Monster, and the bandages sculpt is really nice, messy in some sections and very well defined in others and that helps keep the articulations hidden for a nice aesthetic.

This is Karloff in all his glory. His sunken cheeks, square jaw, sad eyes, the deeple wrinkled face with the scar on his nose, the sculpt rivals to Matt Falls version for Sideshow and given this is in a smaller scale, it may be better looking. The wrinkles on his hands are also perfect tough most of the effect comes on the paint job. His skin is grey/purple wich gives him the looks of a corpse but very different to the Monster skin texture.

But my favorite parts are the tip of his fingers, painted in black, like gangrene as well as the dark around his eyes, that gives them a pretty deep look.Plus, his pupils are golden and the eyes balls are red, and thats gives him a pretty eerie and inhuman look. Again, NECA nailed the "living dead" look perfectly only with this small details.

The rest of the wrinkles are perfectly painted too as the grey wash on his bandages, they are pretty natural looking and different to his skin texture. This is mostly a  black and white character since the only color is on his eyes and the golden ring on his finger.

His accesoryes are an extra pair of head, one "sleeping" and one screaming. The sleeping head is an exact copy of the base head, except he have his eyes closed to mimic dead even much better, but the screaming head is a complete novelty since we never saw Imhotep screamin on screen. His scream is crooked and he have no teeth and the wrinkles around his mouth make it looks like an endless hole, is a really creppy looking expression.

He also have with a couple of left hands with the scarab ring. I had issues noticig the difference bwteen the hands tough sicne they are very similar, but one hand have open fingers and another one look like is triying to grab something. Is odd they didnt add any extra rigth hand but he dosnt have too many accesorys to hold anyway. The hands and heads can be exchanged pretty easy.

He also have a couple of extra wrappings, made with soft plastic but still keeping the fantastic sculpt and natural paint of Imhotep´s body. This wrapping are sculpted to be put around his neck and flow around his closed arms on his chest as well as around his legs, but they can hang on any places actually, on his arms, or feet. And given the sculpt, they also give to the character a pretty cool sense of movement since it looks like they flow with the wind.

His last accesory is the ceremonial chest that is buried along him, a replica of the one on screen toug this one is grey, unlike the Sideshow version that is yellow. The golden horus on the sides as well as the stars and symbols on the lid are perfectly painted, and inside it is the Scrool of Thoth, thet one that once read, brings back the life to Imhotep. Its just a printed piece of paper tough the printing quality is really good.

And no sarcophagus since it will be DLC. Really is a shame such a crucial piece will be DLC but thats pretty much the only issue i can find on this figure. The quality of the sculpt, paint and articulations are perfect as well as the accesoryes. Like i already say, NECA is closing the gap between prototype and final product and this Mummy si really a lot of fun. Now lets wait another half a year for the Wolfman.

MUMMY

In the late 90s it was very nice to be a toy collector, not only everything was much more cheapter than now but the industry was also leaping and growing to a more adult market and on America it was McFarlane part of that change since it was the very first company to be associated with horror toys for both his Movie Maniacs and McFarlane Monsters lines.

The Monsters consisted on small scale action figures with a complete playset with accesoys and extra figures; a cementery for Dracula, a lab for Frankenstein, a forest for the Wolfman and a church for Quasimodo soo a year later, they released a second serires with other 3 monsters to play with. To my dissapoint and confusion, the first set was Frankenstein....again....with a two headed creature. I never understood why McFarlane had such a big dislike for the Bride of Frankenstein, he avoided her like a plague.

The second set was much more interesting tough; the Mummy. Bust again, this is the playset i like last tugh that not the problem of the titular character. The central piece is actually the best part of the set, the Mummy have such a good looking design: she is dry, grey, with hism limbs twisted under the rags of bandages and his head is almost pure bone, with his jaw completelly disjointed.

He is articulated on the head, shoulders, a elbow and legs, all basi cut joints soo theres not a lot of posability in here but all the bandages are made with soft plastic, soo the very little movement he have is not restricted. The sculpt is really outstannd as well as the paint, specially on his eye and teeth since this figure is on a really tiny scale after all.

His companion is not as stellar tough....is a statue of Anubis and comes armed with a big ceremonial lance. Is articulated on the head, shoulders and waist and cant stand on his own even removing the giant lance. The sculpt is really simple, with some cracking and stony details here and there but he is kinda plain....and the paint is also really plain. Mostly yellow with only a few blue details on his head dress, he pretty much blends with the background.

Also while the character is a little boring looking, its presence is also really confusing. Is he alive? Is he a guardian of the tomb? Does he help the Mummy or he actually fight against him? While in Dracula it was obvious the vampre bat was a transformation and Richard was a victim of the Werewolf, here this Anubis creature role is completelly obscure.

The playset is also as shaddy as Anubis since i am not sure if this is a pyramid or a cave since it dosnt looks like any. The groudn space is too small and only one character can stand on it but the wall is also too short soo is difficult to find out wath this place it. The sculpt have only bricks and the paint is just yellow with some noise. I can see Horus on the background but the lack of painting makes him blend away and looks more like a shadow.

There is a plank plataform that moves away with a level in the back and the character standing on it falls to a short and almost empty pit with a weird....two head snake. The snake is not very good looking tough since its made with bendy plastic and the paint is really cheap looking is more cute than dangerous looking. The problem is who will fall into this trap? The Mummy or Anubis?

There is also a sarcophagus that fits exactly in front of the snakes pit, soo my guess is that the Mummy is destined to fall there....but why?? Unlike the other play sets, this one dosnt have a logic visual story behind it and theres no small details to build one either, and it have soo very little space to play with...

The sarcophagus tough is the best lookign element here, it can be removed and have a nice looking golden painting with some blues and reds and a intrincate engraving. Once the lid is open, the insides have also engravings and paint of Horus and the Mummy can fit inside tough the lid cannot be closed with him on it. Despite that the sarcophagus looks much better than the rest of the set.

There is also a pair of canopy with the head of Horus and Anubis but they are made with soft plastic and the paint is soo simple, they dosnt have any use for the Mummy or Anubis and dosnt have specific spot on the background either soo they are only ornaments liying around.

The last accesory is a scepter with two colors in shape of a "?" that fits on the Mummy´s hand nicelly to give him a ceremonail look but not much more.

While i love the Mummy figure and the sarcophagus is really nice looking, the rest pf this playset is really outlandish, dosnt have too much place to play and the very little that is included dosnt answear to any logic. I wish they did a kind of archeologycal site or maybe a museum, but in here McFarlane really didnt knew wath to do.

MUMMY

The last treasure of my first toy hunting of the year was The Mummy, from MacFarlane´s Monsters box set “Icons of Horror”.

Now, after witness the Frankenstein monster is easy to try to forget this line. Logic would dictate they add the werewolf as an icon of horror and that would have brake the deal for me. McFarlane werewolf is something i wish i never looked.

Luck for me, they decided to add one of the best design of the line; The Mummy.

While Dracula was a beastly version of himself and the Frankenstein Monster wasnt himself at all, the Mummy is the closest of its original design. Its soo easy to notice who this is but the design is still soo twisted and elegant, it feels like an evolution of the character, not a distortion.

He is the tallest of the 3 (kinda ironic) and the best articulated as well. He is probablly the best articulated of the McFarlane toys: head, shoulders wrists, elbows…he is the only figure that actually feel like an action figure and not a statue.

He have loads of details, from charms to jewells and even tiny scorpions coming out from between his bandages. His skin is yellow and completelly dry, and the bandages have some grey shades to make them looks used and dirty. His face is distorted (like a good mummy) and you can see part of his neck bones as well as a hole on the back of his head.

His head is empty and you can see the other side through both holes. This is a great detail taht show how intrincate is the sculpt of this character.

He comes with a pretty neat cobra, with a bendy body and a great sculpt, each scale is sculpted and his back and front sides are different colour.

He also have a pair of ceremonial staffs. This staffs are actually shaped like two different deadly axes, and you can join them to make a big spear. This is not only an egyptian zombie, but an armed zombie as well!!

He also have a “nemes” (headdres) with the shape of Anubis and Uraeus on his forehead. This accesory have a lot of beautifull coloring, with vobrant reds and a great looking gold texture, with this on his head, this mummy looks really royal and imposing.

The nemes also comes with a lot of amulets and charms as well as a representation of Horus at the center and a sash with hieroglyphics. The symbosl have actual meaning this time!!! From the top to the bottom it reads M K F A R L A N I M K G. This is an amazing detail that most folks would miss and shows how dedicated and special can be this figures.

Not everything is brillant tough, his limbs are pretty thin as well as his articulations. While i was taking him out of the blister, i broke one of his arms. I glued it back soo he lost one of his articulations and the rest of the joints feel extremelly delicate at this point. This figure have 15 years and the plastic is getting dry but i also read some people back in 2001 have theyr figures broke raight out of theyr package.

I am really afraid to broke him and this is the only stain in this magnifiscent looking toy.

Now i just want the Sea Creature to get all the toys i want from this line. This was a great blast from the past and a reminder of how awesome was McFarlane Toys back then.