MUMMY

I never been a big fan of Diamond Select figures. They somehow get pricy pretty fast but the quality have a lot of ups and downs. They Monster collections have some pretty horrible fgures to show, with dull articulation and a terrible sculpt that dosnt looks at all like the monsters. But some other times they get lucky and manage to produce a really outstanding figure.

One of them was The Creature from the Black Lagoon, a figure with a terrible sculpt but with an amazing looking display with an extra character as “accesory”. Another figure that in my opinion was outstaning was the Mummy; Imhotep.

For a long time i saw this figure a couple of times but finally i get it at a very cheap price for a special edition (Select Edition is called i think).

Interpretated by Boris Karloff, this is one of the very rare situations in wich Diamond manage to produce a sculpt that actually looks like the actor. The shape of his face and nose, the head tilting to one side, this is extremelly close to the best scene on the whole movie: the awakenig of the mummy into the land of the living.

The whole body shape is also pretty realistic and standar for a character like this, Boris Karloff wasnt a muscular man. The figure has not a single articulations and is forever fixed on a “sleeping” pose, but the good news is he can stand on his own perfectly!!!

The paintwork is really good and help to accentuate the face features and the deep carved wrinkles with some agging colors like gray and some yellows. Some black shadows are a little strange looking, but theres  a division of color between skin (grey) and bandages (yelowish) yet the transition is soft and natural.

As an accesory, he comes with his sarcophagus. A trally big and HEAVY piece of plastic where Imhotep can fit perfectly. The lid dosnt close neatlly, but the two pieces of the sarcophagus can stand on theyr own as well.

The sculpt and paint on the tomb is really amazing, with pretty defined atntion to details and vibrant colors that make the lid looks like gold and a stony texture and colors in the back side of the sarcophagus, with cracks and dirtynes everywhere, the item looks strangelly ancient and old and yet pretty elegant and opulent.

Together, mummy and sacrophagus, makes out an amazing display that manages to be unsetting and colorfull and with the rigth shadws, they form a very “photorealistic” image that looks like a screen of the movie in 3D.

Later on, Diamond Select released an updated version of the character with an elaborate display base and fully articulated. I really want to get that one as well but aside of that i am happy with this version and my Gillman with Kay Parker. This action figure (mini statue) looks extremelly cool even standing alone.

CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON

Having get both the Mummy and the Wolfman, i had no choice but also get my favorite of them all!! The “Gillman” from the Creature From the Black Lagoon. Out of the tree, he was the most expensive… but if i didnt get him it would be much more difficult to find him later. Somehow he is always the more expensive and rare to find in any collection….

The man responsible from the sculpt of this guy, as well as the other monsters from Sideshows, did a great job capturing each detail as well as the perfect balance and size of the Gillman strange anatomy. While the Diamond Select have some issues and dosnt looks 100% similar to the character (specially the first version) this one is really faitfull to the 1954 costume used on the movie.

This is from the second series of figures, soo both the paint and articulations has been enhanced. The articulations are not as fragile as with the Wolfman but they are still really useless. Only to justify the “action figure” classification, but they are nicelly hidden with the little scales soo the only noticeable articulation is the one on his abs.

He is not just plain green, he have many tones of greens inbetween each one of his scales and they finally managed to do softer transition between colors. Theres golden tones on his fins and feet and orange and yellow shades on his chest and forehead. This is one of the most colorfull figures of the character, yet eveything looks organic and natural.

And like the Wolfman, he comes with the tool of his own destruction: the spear gun used to kill him on the movie. Its actually really big and have a strong retro-50s-ish design tough they also paint rust on it to make it much more realistic. His other accesory is a net to catch him. Tough is a pretty small net, its made with fabric material to make it realistic.

He can stand on his own but also comes with his decorative base. Island style, with some vegetation and sand athmosphere and with a transluscent plastic that looks like water, this is probablly the best of the bases thanks to this small detail. A watery base… i bet it was really cool looking back in the 90s. The box on the front reads “CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGGON. THE CREATURE. 1954″ and is interesting how it dosnt have the name of the actor under the scales…

This is probablly because Sideshows didnt wanted to give importance to one over another (the creature had two different men under his skin).

I am not sure if this is the best action figure of the character, since the second version of Diamond Select is really fantastic, but is deffinetly the most acurate to the original design. Now i am hunting down  the Phantom of the Opera and Dracula (and the Frankesntein Monster too).

WOLFMAN

After getting the Mummy from Sideshows i had to have another one of this action figures (yes…i know i have a problem) and my most obvious choice was the Wolf Man, another one of my favorites. Tough this one was brand new on his blister package.

Sculpted by Oluf W. Hartvigson, this wolf is the cheap/toy version of the 12″ figure in almost everything.

He is shorter than Im-hotep wich make sence, giving his crouched position and can stand on his own perfectly, something amazing given the inhuman nature of his feet. His articulations are pretty basic and kinda useless, like they used to be back in the last century, but they are really well hidden and are almost invisible.

Sadlly, they are really really cheap as well, soo it feels like his arm is going to fall apart each time i move it. Its a shame but i guess is to be expected given the price range this had 18 years ago.

The sculpt is fantastic, the puffynes of his hair, his nose, the size of his shoulders, the fold on his pants, everything looks perfect compared to Lon Chaney character on screen, this is, i think, the best figure of the Wolfman to date (tough the Diamond Select version wins over articulations).

The paint is a little more basic i am afraid, while certainlly is solid and have the rigth tones, with no slopynes anywhere (not even in his small eyes and fangs) some colors on his hair needed a softer transition. The light brown on his face is a little too defined and his shirt is very dark as well.

He comes with some movie props too, a bear trap with no articulation at all and the best one, the silver cane with the wolf head and the pentagram. This cane is 100% faithfull to the one from the movie and that validates this figure a lot. Tough is strange he holds the cane considering is the tool of his demise.

He also comes with his base, in the same style as the Mummy. A small island with river rocks, vegetation and a log. Is simple but nicelly detailed and the comes with the same box as the rest of the figures that read “THE WOLFMAN . LON CHANEY JR. 1941″.

Overall this is a pretty neat and cool action figure that looks fantastic on display. Is true it comes with a couple of rough elements but considering the time it was made, this guy is really impresive.

MUMMY

While my main Universal Monsters collection consist of the 12″ figures, i cant keep drooling over other smaller figuresof the Monsters and one series that i ignored for a long time was the Sideshows action figures. Working as the “cheap” option of theyr Universal Monster series, this guys are the best action figures based on the characters.

This is mostly because Sideshows made contract with the familly of each actor behind each monster, soo theyr figures are the extact portrait of said actors. Also, the accesoryes and overall design are 100% faithfull to the on screen scenes soo this make this series stand out from the ocean of Monster toys out there.

I try to avoid them, but i ended up getting the Mummy, In-hotep - portrayed by Boris Karloff - since i was able to find him at a really low price.

He is actually big, towering over normal action figures and having the height of two Figma´s, something really impresive considering this is an action figure from the 90s. His articulation are also very “vintage”, very in tune with McFarlane Toys: extremelly useless and basic.

Then again, this is not a character that needs a whole lot of movement and they did a great job hiding the articulations nicelly. This fgure is all about style and esthetic over functionality since is mostly a statue (like figures from back then).

The sculpt was done by Oluf W. Hartvigson and is trully amazing. The face features of Boris Karloff and pretty sharp and evident and the amount of wrinkles and agging sculpt on his face are outstanding. His bandages are also finelly crafted and while they are PVS, they have this weathered cotton texture in each one of them.

The paint tough, originally, was pretty awkard. It had the mummys face and hands in this green/dark brown color with a wet look that made him like like chocolate with two eyes. This one tough is a costume.

I get this mummy mostly because i liked a lot his painting, even if it wasnt on package, the person who painted him did a great job making the sculpt stand out, painting each wrinkle in dark and giving him a bluish almost glowing white skin tone. Looks really ghostly and he even painted the veins on his hands.

I am not sure i like the yellow on the bandages tough he keep the cotton texture on them perfectly sharp.

He didnt had the accesorys of the figure tough: a stone with hyeroglyphics, an ancient bault and a scoll, but he gives me the base, the most basic of them all.

The base looks like a tiny island yet it have a pretty nice athmosphere on it, with the sandy texture and all the rocks with egyptian writting on it. The box on the front reads “THE MUMMY. BORIS KARLOFF. 1932″ a detail that gives this guy some kind of museum quality style. Is not only a figure of a Mummy, but is also a portrait of Boris Karloff.

The Mummy can stand on his own tough, soo the base is purelly decorative.

I liked this guy soo much that i even got some more Monster friends for him…

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

Some months ago i started to collect the Universal Monsters action figures from Sideshows. They are 18 years old but they are still the most faithfull representations of the characters to date and looks damn good when in good conditions. I got The Mummy, The Wolfman and The Creature From The Black Lagoon and just in time for Halloween, i just get the Bride of Frankestein at a really good price.

Sculpted by Oluf W. Hartvigson, she stands as one of the tallest monsters (along side the Gillman) thanks to her hair and yet she can stand perfectly for herself and have a really good balance.

Articulations are really limited. This woman is a 90s toy - back in the McFarlane fever - soo her articulations are pretty basic and not very helpfull but they are not intrusive at all.

Her body dosnt looks comic book style with huge boobs or anything, she have a pretty “normal” silhouette for a female and i dare not a pretty healthy female. The sculpt on her banadges are really impresive since they have a pretty thin and soft texture on them and they fold in an extremelly realistic way around her body. I am not sure if i like how yellow looking are those bandages tough but they contrast pretty well with her dress.

Her dress is made with fabric and is not just a random piece of fabric at all, but it have a pretty specific shape for her and joins in the chest part like a cocktail dress. Is kinda tricky to put the dress on her with the limited articulations, but once eveything is on place, the dress have a pretty good flow and looks spectacular.

Her face sculpt is by far the closest fo Elsa Lanchester, specially on profile view, she is stuning beautyfull and i love her red eyes and bloody red lips with black. At first i tough her chin was damagged but all figures have the same mark and taking a closer look, Elsa Lanchester actually had cleft chin soo it looks like they didnt wanted to leave any detail out, tough the cleft chin looks kinda strage with this scale of figure.

Her hair is nicelly sculpted and have the two white stripes in the rigth place (and both have a different size) soo this is trully 100% faithfull to the character on screen.

Her only accesory is an extra head with the bandages on. The paint is pretty simple (tough we can see her red eyes and blue make up under the bandages) but the sculpt is really amazing since you can see the shape of her face perfectly and how the bandages wrap around it in an very realtistic way. She ooks fritghtning like this but i like her dressed version much more.

She also comes with the most intrascendental and boring base out of the figures i have. Just stony floor from the laboratory with a strange and tall electrode and a blue …. thingy…it add some color to the set up but i am not sure wath this equipment is. She have the box that reads “THE BRIDE OF FRANKESTEIN. ELSA LANCHESTER. 1935″ ,just like the other monsters and this gives her a pretty “museum quality” style.

Not counting the 12″ scale dressed figures of Sideshows and theyr ridiculous priced statues, this is the best Bride of Frankestein figure to date - since Diamond Select version was trully awfull - and i am glad i got her. I am still not convinced by her mate but i really want Dracula to make her company.

MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH

When i started collecting the Sideshow figures of the Universal Monsters years ago i just wanted the main characters of the movie, i wasnt interested on secondary versions like the Frankenstein monster from "The Son of Frankenstein" or Rendfield from "Dracula". Tough the most elusive figure that i hasnt been able to get thanks to its high price is the Creature from the Black Lagoon, another figure i saw imposible to reach was the Mask of the Red Death version of The Phantom of the Opera.

Is the Phantom with a different costume, but its such a good looking figure i really wanted him on my display and just last month, just in time for Halloween, i was able to get him. He was....expensive, really expensive, morethan the Bride or the Mummy, this is really the third more expensive figure i have on my collection.

The box is on really good condition, with one of the posters used 90 years ago to advertise the movie, with "The Phantom interrupts the masked ball on the grand staircase" legend on it and beautifull and elegant art from the 20s, the box looks as fantastic on the shelves as the figure itself.

The figure have the same sculpt of Oluf W. Hartvigson the basic Pahntom figure have, with the same mad and wicked smile and ghostly eyes but since i have the basic Phantom in "Silver Screen Edition", the paint is totally new for me. I love the black and white aproach but the yellow and sick looking skin and dark eye bags really help brnging this monster to life. Both the details on the realistic eyes and teeth are trully fantastic.

He is fully articulated and his costume dosnt block any joint at all soo he have totaly freedom of movement. He is the same size as the other monsters and can stand on his own, tough the weigth of his costume make him lose balance at times. To counter that he comes with a small base with a bricks design. The base have a peg that inserts on the Phantom feet but it dosnt help stand at all.

His costume consist on very shiny mesh pants and shirt with pointy sculpted boots, fluffy shorts and a cover shirt with buttons on front and the long sleeves, everything on a fantastic brigth red. The costume can be totally removed in theory but theres no point on doing it since it dosnt get in the way of the movement.

He also have a red long cape that goes around his torso and with the help of buttons, it wraps around his shoulder and hangs magnificently around his body. The procces to put this cape is easy, tough it gives a very complex look to his entire costume and gives it a huge sence of drama.

He also have a big black plastic hat with the end of a red bandana glued on one of the sides and a big red feather hanging in the other side. The hat is heavy and it actually dosnt fit on the Phantom´s head and keeps falling over but once in balance it looks perfect.

His other accesorys are his mask, sculpted by Jared Chapman and his cane. The mask have a fantastic sculpt with an impresive texture, level of detail and yelowish paint that makes it looks like made with bones. The crazy smile and empty look on his eyes is fantastic and it fits perfectly on the Phantom´s face (unlike the hat) and the cane, black with a snake wraping around and biting a skull on the top is also really creppy and 100% faithfull to the on screen cane.

Aside of the little detail of the lose hat and the fact his base dosnt work (easy to fix with another base) this figure is really perfect and looks amazing on any kind of horror, film or gothic display, no matter wath you collect, he looks great and is probablly one of the best dressed figures i ever seen. And i really do love that his scene on the film is actually the only section filmed in color, wich makes the red tones of this figure even more relevant.

This is an expensive figure and it actually does looks expensive, like a bloody red jewell, and shine a lot in between all the other Universal Monsters.

WOLFMAN

Out of all the monsters, both the Wolfman and the Creature from the Black Lagoon were the most beastly and inhuman and the special effects for theyr creation are still pretty impresive. The Wolfman is of course one of my favorite monsters and i could not let his figure out of my collection.

Along side the Bride, he was the most expensive but his box is on great conditions. With the usual poster art from the 30s, the box have a perfect continuity (artwise) with the rest of the monster.

His articulations works good and the clothing dosnt limite them, tough like Nosferatu, he comes with some bands wrapped around his torso and under his shirt. This bands dosnt let him stand tall and make him stand on a croching possition. This limit the poses a little bit but giving his nature is pretty logic. This also allows him to stand on all four as well.

Along side the Frankesntein monster, hes the one with the most simplistic and generic outfit. Just a bluish shirt and brown pants. Oh and a leather belt. His pretty slim on the accesorys part as well. He comes with a big log and a bears trap.

The log is pretty good looking with fungos and moss all around it and is the only accesory in the entire that is vital for the character. The log is actually his base. The Wolfman cant stand at all on his own since his feet are beastly, soo hes designed to be standing on the log. The other accesory, the bear trap, is pretty huge and looks deadly and it actually appeare on the movie. When the Wolfman is wandering the woods, he falls on one of this RE4-esque traps and Maleva, the gypsy, comes to rescue him. In the same scene, the Wolfman fall to the ground thanks to the pain on his leg, and holds on a log. This log base is exactly that log that appeare on the movie as well.

The sculp is made by Oluf W. Hartvigson and is at the same level as the rest of his work. The eyes are pretty livelly and shiny as well as the black nose and and big fangs. He is extremelly cute looking. The hands are not as menacing as Nosferatu hands but the nails and all the hairs are detailed with obsession. Also his feet are pretty awesome since hes really standing in tiptoes and that adds a lot to the beastly design. My only complaign is that his hair is a little pain looking. Just like the Bride, hes hair should me more spickey and wild looking.

His colot palette is pretty plain tough and looks like hes on one same color and almost camouflage with the background. Sideshows is not guilty for this since this guy was designed like this from the beining, but he dosnt stand out as much as the Frankestein couple.

Even with all the simplicity on his design, i am pretty happy with him since hes basic for the collection and Sideshows did an impresive job with him.