Tag Archives: universal monsters

Nov 4 2024

Universal Monsters: Frankenstein Accessory Set by NECA

It may be November but here at FFZ, the Halloween spookiness is just getting started! I’ve covered all of the NECA Ultimate Universal Monsters figures in my collection so far, but NECA also pumped out a few Accessory Sets and we can’t leave those out! Today’s set is meant to compliment their Ultimate Frankenstein Monster release, and I have to say this one straddles that line where it almost feels like a playset, but not quite. I’ll have some more thoughts at the end about what NECA could have done to nudge it more in the right direction, but that’s me getting way ahead of myself!

The set comes in a fully enclosed box with some nice artwork and shots of what you get inside. Of course, I can’t stress enough that, unlike The Bride of Frankenstein Chair, there ain’t no figure in this box, so you’ll definitely want to pick up The Monster to go with this set. Inside the box you get the operating table with restraints, a bandaged head for The Monster, a torch, a sculpted towel to hang on the table, a tri-fold cardboard backdrop, and a cloth blanket to partially cover The Monster. I also need to emphasize that the table requires quite a bit of assembly and let me tell you that I can’t imagine it could be any tougher to actually build a living creature from corpses than it was to put this thing together. What the hell, NECA? It was a confusing endeavor and there were a lot of fragile pieces. Add that up and you’ve got a pretty stressful situation on your hands. But, eventually I was able to get it together so let’s see what we’ve got.

Here’s the assembled table with The Monster figure secured to it. The table is finished to look like bare steel, it’s big, and it looks great! I especially love all the slides and wheels and mechanisms under it, which are designed to allow it to be adjusted. Alas, none of these things actually do anything, other than gave me anxiety when putting it all together, but the detail adds a lot to the table and it is appreciated. Other details include the brackets and sculpted bolts that secure the table to the base frame and there are some holes in the corners of the frame, maybe in case someone wants to actually secure it to a diorama base.

The restraints include steel bands for the ankles, biceps, and three for the torso. These simply slot into the table and are pushed down to keep your Monster secured and they fit really well. There’s even a cradle to rest The Monster’s head on, although it doesn’t look like it would be very comfortable.

The white cloth sheet simply drapes over The Monster. It is not long enough to cover all of him, so his head and feet stick out the ends. I’m assuming it was like this in the film, but off-hand I just can’t remember.

The bandaged head is a nice bonus, especially when displaying The Monster on the table. The khaki bandages feature a very detailed sculpt and some painted clips to hold it in place. It definitely makes for a creepy vibe.

The backdrop is printed on heavy cardboard stock and folds at the ends to help it stand up. It’s got a dank castle wall pattern with an open doorway to the left and a bank of instruments to the right. The center has some more instruments and the device Frankenstein used for channeling electricity into The Monster. There’s no floor, so I had to use my own.

Finally, you get a torch, which feels like it’s tossed in there to beef up the contents. There’s nowhere to hang it and who’s going to hold it? The Monster? Even the picture on the box just shows an anonymous hand coming into the frame to scare The monster with it. I’m sure I can put it to good use somewhere in my collection, but it doesn’t do much to enhance this set.

Despite a lot of initial frustration, I really am quite happy with this set. It even brought me back to the days of trying my best to build those wonderful Aurora model kits as a kid. The table makes for a very cool display option for your Monster and the extra head has made me strongly consider picking up a second figure just to go with this set. But, at $35 I think the price is pretty borderline. The table is big and impressive, but some of it is pretty fragile. It’s also something that I would not dare take apart and return to the box for storage. So, considering the price point, I really wish NECA had just sold it as pre-built. I also wish NECA had gone just a little bit further to make it an actual playset. The backdrop helps, but a base would have been nice too. Throw in a smaller table with some lab equipment and I would have happily paid $50. Still, if you’re in the market for it and finding it sold out at most retailers, it can be had pretty easily on Ebay for right around the original MSRP.

Oct 30 2024

Universal Monsters: Ultimate Creature From The Black Lagoon by NECA

Here we are, the day before Halloween and my bold plans for a lot of spooky reviews have really shit the bed. Hurricanes and other nonsense sure saw to that. But, at least I made it here with one more shot at it, and I’ll probably keep it going a bit into November to make up for lost time. Over the last couple years, I’ve taken a look at quite a few of NECA’s Ultimate Universal Monsters, but oddly enough I have yet to touch on my favorite one of the bunch. Yup, it’s The Gillman, and he is not only one of my favorite creature designs of all time, but I absolutely love the movies. When I was about ten years old, they showed Revenge of the Creature in 3D on network television and it was a huge event in our house. We got the 3D glasses for the whole family, my Dad made Jiffypop and it was just a great time and a very fond memory.

We’ve seen the packaging for this line so many times now, and this one holds no surprises. It’s a window box with a folding front flap that features some poster art from the film. It took me a while to find this one at a decent price. He seemed to sell out online pretty quick initially and I don’t do a lot of toy hunting these days, so I had to wait for him to show up at regular retail price on Amazon again. The B&W version was around, but as neat as those are, I’m only going for the colored releases. Eventually patience prevailed and here we are!

And what a great design for an action figure! It’s well known now that the Gillman portrait was designed by Ex-Disney artist, Milicent Patrick, and she got zero credit for her work for a long time. And what a shame because it is some amazing work! It’s hard to say exactly what it is about this fishy-fellow that speaks to me, but I just dig him so much! The design certainly gave NECA’s sculptors a lot to sink their teeth into, and naturally they did a superb job with it. The bulk of the figure’s overlapping plates are covered with tiny scale texturing and it breathes all new life into a creature design that I was used to seeing in grainy low-resolution B&W film on a tube TV. There are some smooth plates over his tummy, as well as some smooth areas on his lower legs, but otherwise every bit of this guy is just packed with detail in the sculpt. From behind, he has a strip of fibrous fin that runs from from behind his neck, down his spine, and splits off to his upper legs, with similar tufts on the backs of his forearms. The paint consists of some different shades of muted green and copper, and some lovely gradients throughout.

You get three heads to choose from and all are very well done. These consists of a calm face, a slightly excited face, and a face with mouth open and ready to strike. Yeah, the last one looks more like The Gillman walking into his surprise party, but I still dig it. There’s lots of great attention to detail here, especially the little warts on his forehead and the paintwork for the eyes is excellent.

Articulation is standard stuff for these Ultimate figures, which means a lot of rotating hinges. The range of motion in the elbows and knees could be better, but I can’t say as I really need it in The Gillman. On the other hand, I would have liked him to be able to look up more to hit those swimming poses. And, if you’re looking for accessories here, you’re going to be disappointed, as there are none. Bubkis. You do, however get several sets of hands. That may sound great, but there’s very little variation between two of the sets, and I’m kind of left with just a pair of flat swimmy hands and graspy hands. It does kind of feel like NECA threw in some unnecessary hands here to bulk out the package. Jada did include some extras with their figure, including a net, a speargun, and a fossilized creature hand. You could argue the speargun isn’t a creature accessory, but I would have loved to get a net included with this release to beef it up a bit.

Lack of accessories aside, I do love how this figure came out and I’d say he tops the Jada version, both in paint and sculpt, hands down. He’s loads of fun to play with and was definitely a major gaping hole in my Monsters collection. And Gillman brings me more or less up to date with the NECA Universal Monsters that I’m after. I may pick up Jack Griffin eventually, but only if I stumble upon him at a good price. I do, however, still have some of NECA’s accessory sets to check out, so look for some of those to turn up here in the weeks ahead! In the meantime, Happy Halloween! And like I said, I’ll keep some of the spookiness going for a bit into November so I can get through some unfinished business!

Oct 4 2024

Universal Monsters: Ultimate Bride of Frankenstein by NECA

October is here and the air is rife with spookiness and pumpkin spice! Last year I crammed all my horror related content into the week leading up to The Big Day, but this year I’m going to pepper it about the month, trying to do at least one spooky review each week and then toss some more in as we approach the finish line. I’d like to get through my entire horror backlog and come out of Halloween with a clean slate, but we’ll see how it goes. Back in August, I jumped the gun and checked out NECA’s Ultimate Frankenstein and Chair from The Bride of Frankenstein, but without having looked at The Bride herself because I hadn’t purchased her yet. But, I finally picked her up and so I’m going to kick off this year’s horror show with NECA’s Ultimate Bride!

I’ve had a few opportunities to comment on how weird and wonderful The Bride of Frankenstein is as a film. I touched on it a little in the recent review and a bit more back when I checked out Jada’s figure. I dig it a lot and usually include it in my October rotation rewatch along with some of the other Universal Monster films. You have to hand it to Elsa Lanchester for becoming one of the most iconic classic horror icons while having such a tiny amount of screen time. The packaging here is right in line with past Ultimate Universal Monster releases with a front flap depicting the movie poster, and opening to reveal a window showing the figure inside. Everything is collector friendly, and I have been keeping the boxes for these monsters, because they look really great all lined up and I dig the vintage poster art. You get a few different display options with The Bride, so let’s just start with how she comes out of the box.

The Bride features a white, flowing softgoods gown made of a very soft material allowing it to fall pretty naturally around the figure. It’s sleeveless and has a neck opening that laces up in the back, but comes with the laces untied. It’s a cool mix of hospital gown and wedding dress with a bit of a train trailing behind it. Mine is a little bit rumpled out of the box, but I’m sure that would steam right out. Displayed like this, you aren’t seeing a lot of detail, but the exposed arms are completely covered by sculpted bandages.

The stock head has a neutral expression and I’d say the likeness is decent, but maybe not quite up to NECA’s usual magic. Technically everything looks amazing, especially the work on the slightly parted lips and flash of teeth. But, I don’t think the eyes are quite there, or maybe it’s just a very specific expression they were going for that I’m missing. The eyes are a little too round and she could have used more lashes on upper lids. The iconic coif, on the other hand, is pretty spot on and they did include the scar running around the edge of the jawline, which is something that Jada missed on their figure. I don’t want to come down too hard on it, because it isn’t a case of poor effort or quality, but just not capturing the likeness as much as I would have expected.

There’s a second head that depicts her screaming and I’d say this is marginally better. Again, I think the eyes are too round, but that’s less notable with this expression. The work on the open mouth is really impressive with the glossy tongue and top row of teeth. I’ll also note here that the head swaps are done at the base of the neck, where the exposed skin meets the bandages. Why’d they do that?

Well, they did it to allow for the fully bandaged neck and head, and that’s pretty clever. This head has a piece that fits over the eyes so that the whole head is covered, or you can remove it and expose her eyes. The cover piece does not hold on as well as I’d like, but I really don’t ever plan on displaying it on the figure. Heck, I will probably never use this head either. Nonetheless, there’s some nice texturing on the bandages that make them look like gauze in some parts. You also get some silver painted staples holding the wrap together.

And yes, there is a fully bandaged sculpted body under that gown. The detail here is extremely sharp with crisscrossing lines representing her full body wrap. You also get a couple of coiled pieces of wrap to put dangle off her hands. It’s similar to what NECA did with their Imhotep figure. Articulation consists of a lot of rotating hinges, as is pretty standard with this line, and you get a ball joint under the chest and in the neck. There isn’t a huge range of motion in some of those joints, but I guess she doesn’t need to be an acrobat. She does come with two sets of hands: One pair with the fingers tight together and one pair with them splayed a bit further apart. As for accessories… that’s it. We’ve already seen everything she comes with!

The Bride is a fairly simple figure, and yet the fact that you do have several display options for her gives her a bit more mileage. And she looks outstanding when displayed with The Bride version of The Monster. But I’ll admit that this isn’t the slam dunk over the Jada figure that I thought it would be. Some things are done better, while others feel lacking. The paint on the portraits here are better, but I think Jada did a better job capturing her eyes. Jada’s figure also had a light brown wash over the bandages and had overall better articulation. You also got a few extra pieces with Jada’s figure, like the pylons from the lab. With all that said, NECA’s still edges out as my favorite of the two, but not nearly as much as I would have anticipated. Still, a great effort and I’m happy to add her to my Universal Monsters collection. I’ll be interested to see if NECA releases an accessory set for her that includes the table and lab accoutrements.

Aug 23 2024

Universal Monsters (Bride of Frankenstein): Ultimate Frankenstein’s Monster with Chair by NECA

I’ve been a casual collector of NECA’s Universal Monsters series, picking them up here and there, but not really going out of my way to find them. So far, I’ve checked out Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Wolfman, and The Mummy. I also picked up The Gillman and Frankenstein’s operating table, but I haven’t gotten around to checking them out here yet. Well, a little while back NECA put up a new version of Frankenstein’s Monster from The Bride of Frankenstein in a Deluxe Set with his dungeon chair and I couldn’t resist, so I preordered it. It came in last week, and while I really should wait a couple of months for Halloween, I’m just too anxious to check it out. Besides, the Pumpkin Spice is already flowing at all the stores and coffee shops by me, and the Spirit Halloweens will be popping up before you know it. So, let’s go!

I have yet to pick up NECA’s Bride of Frankenstein figure, but I touched on my feelings for this film when I looked at Jada’s Bride. It’s a delightfully weird film, with it’s tiny home-grown jar people, Millie playing for goofs, The Monster getting all the screen time, and the titular Bride not showing up until the last five minutes. The set I’m checking out today recreates the scene where The Monster was captured, locked away in a dungeon, and chained to a chair, which held him for about two minutes before he broke out. It comes in a fully enclosed box with some nice shots on the front and back panels, and oddly enough a hang tag. The shots on the front are all in Black & White, which could be confusing, as the toys inside are colored, but the pictures on the back confirm that. Don’t forget, NECA has been doing B&W versions of these figures, but I doubt they’ll do it for something this extravagant. Inside you get the figure and the chair, as well as extra heads and accessories. The package is collector friendly, but you do have to attach the chair to the base, and based on the deafening snap I heard when they locked together, they are definitely not made to come apart again. So it ain’t likely to go back into the box for storage. Let’s start with The Monster!

The Monster was a little worse for wear for the this film and the new figure reflects that by resculpting some parts from the original figure. The body is mostly the same, but the jacket and arms have been replaced with the sleeves torn, the jacket unbuttoned, and the left lapel on the jacket hanging off. The exposed flesh on his arms also looks more emaciated and rotted. Finally, you get some added weathering to the jacket to resemble mud splatter and soiling. I don’t know if it’s correct to call this a variant, as he’s from a completely different movie, but I think the figures are different enough to warrant having both on display, and we haven’t even gotten to the heads yet!

The three heads are completely new sculpts to reflect the considerable changes to the makeup for The Bride. I love this look, because it’s generally a lot creepier. The hair is thinned out to better show the staples along the scalp line that are knitting together his flesh. The facial features are more emaciated and rotten and he has some burn scarring on the right side of his face. The heads depict a somewhat neutral expression, a happy expression, and a slight growly expression. They’re all good, but I think that final one is some of NECA’s best work. Not only did they nail the expression, but the detail in the teeth and the creases to the face are superb.

And here’s a quick comparison shot of Monsters from the original film and this one from The Bride. As you can see, there’s quite a lot of changes here, despite being on the same basic body. To me, the original will always be more iconic, but I like the make up on weathered suit look a tad more.

You get three accessories, all of which being food items, and a couple of extra hands to help him hold them. Included is a half loaf of bread, a bowl of peasant broth, and a mug with some wine dribbling down the side. One of the extra hands is designed perfectly for holding the mug by threading two fingers through the handle, while the other is good for cradling the bowl or bread.

A third hand has a cigar sculpted into it, which is a nice touch, even if the elbow joints can’t really bend enough to bring it close to his face. Now, let’s check out the chair!

The chair was an interesting choice on NECA’s part, since it’s featured so briefly in the film, and yet it makes for an iconic way to display the figure. It’s fashioned to look like a stone seat with a wooden back sitting on a stone pedestal. NECA did a bang up job with the detail, making both the stone blocks and the woodgrain texture look extremely realistic and I was really happy to see that the back of the chair is finished and highly detailed as well, rather than just left as hollow plastic. The shoulder braces have a pair of leather straps, cast in soft plastic with chains coming off of them, there’s a cross chain running between them with a large padlock, and a set of manacles on chains, which plug into the floor with large rings. All the chains are plastic, but they look good and feel pretty sturdy.

The Monster fits perfectly into the chair and the manacles can be placed on his wrists by popping the hands off and then on again. This set up looks absolutely fantastic on display and it makes me nostalgic for those old Aurora model kits that I used to beg my parents for, but never quite had the skills to make them look good when they were finished!

I’m not sure how many collectors who have the first Frankenstein Monster release will consider this set a must-have, but you are getting a lot of new stuff here. This set is a NECA store exclusive and retails at $60, so it doesn’t look like this one will be turning up on the Big Box shelves. And while it’s obviously started shipping the status on NECA’s site has gone back to Preorder, so it is still available, but if you buy it now you may be waiting for another batch. It’s great to see NECA finding new ways to keep the Universal Monster line alive and I’m very glad I dropped a preorder on this one. I suppose, I’ll also have to crack down and find me The Bride figure as well so I can display her beside this version of The Monster! Maybe that will be a good one to save for closer to Halloween, along with The Gillman and Frankenstein’s operating table.

Oct 30 2023

Universal Monsters: Ultimate Dracula by NECA

Happy Halloween Eve! It sucks that Halloween falls between two of my regular update days, so let’s just call this my Halloween Day review and you can even save it to read tomorrow if that makes you happier. Anyway… I’m rounding out the weekend of spookiness with a look at a figure I’ve been dying to finally open! Now I’ll confess, I’m a Hammer Dracula kinda guy, so Christopher Lee Drac will always be my ideal version of the character. But I’ll happily give props to the original 1931 Universal release. The Transylvania bits are some of the most atmospheric sequences I’ve ever seen in a horror film. The sets look massive and all the more impressive for when it was shot. And finally, the casting and performances are sublime. It’s easy to see why Bela Lugosi is still considered the only Dracula for some. Dwight Frye plays the hell out of Renfield, with such a gulf of range between his early appearance as his “normal self” and later after he is in Dracula’s thrall. And while Peter Cushing will always be my Van Helsing, Edward Van Sloan is so damn good in this film. With all that having been said, the film tends to fizzle out for me BIG TIME and the best stuff is definitely in the first half. But before we get into it, if you need to get caught up, I’ve already had a look at NECA’s Universal Frankenstein’s Monster and The Mummy, and I just checked out The Wolfman a few days ago. Don’t worry, Gillman, your day will come!

NECA does a wonderful job with their Universal Monster packaging. It’s the usual window box with a front flap secured with velcro that offers the best of both worlds. The front flap has a recreation of the Dracula movie poster and the window gives you a great look at all the goodies inside. Everything is collector friendly, and I do actually keep the boxes to all of these Universal Monster releases.

The Count comes out of the box wearing his elegantly sculpted black tuxedo and looking every bit of undead daper chic. Everything about the outfit is so well done from the wrinkles on the lapels to the slight pull sculpted into the buttons on the vest. His iconic gold medallion (even though it has little actual screen time) is sculpted around his neck with red ribbon, and you get a nice bit of ruffled finery around the collar.

The cape is an absolutely genius design, as it is cloth but with a plastic collar that cinches around the neck to hold it in place. This makes it go on easy, but it stays on really well too. The garment is made of extremely light cloth, which means it falls about the figure naturally. Yes, the inside lining should be a different color, but I’m willing to sacrifice that for a cape that fits and flows this naturally.

You get three different heads to display on the figure and all of them are excellent. The figure comes boxed with the somewhat neutral head, and it is a fantastic likeness for Lugosi. The texture of the skin is so realistic, the deep set eyes are rather mesmerizing, and the prominent, arched eyebrows are perfect. Even better, each head has its own neck piece that connects deep in the neck socket. This not only allows for two ball joints of articulation, but also makes removing the heads and swapping them out a lot easier than with some of NECA’s past figures.

The other two heads feature a smiling expression and a fierce expression that suggests it’s bloodsucking time! And yes, it accurately depicts him without fangs. Both of these heads have the same excellent likenesses. I would have liked to have a top hat included, but that would have probably required a fourth head with it sculpted on, but that’s just me being greedy.

The articulation is standard stuff for NECA’s modern figures and that means lots of rotating hinges. Dracula doesn’t really need to be super agile, but I would have liked a little more bend in those elbows. You get two sets of hands: Relaxed and graspy as well as an accessory-specific right hand. It’s not a lot of hands, but the essentials are here. I mean, it’s not like I needed my Lugosi Dracula to have fists.

Most of the accessories are confined to the Transylvania part of the movie, which makes sense since the figure is wearing the medallion. First up is the candlestick, which has a hand specifically designed to hold it. It’s a really nice sculpt, especially with the wax dripping down the sides and overlapping the candle holder.

Next up is a tray, two goblets and a bottle of “very old wine.” These were on the table in Renfield’s room when Dracula offered him some refreshment. These are nice pieces, but maybe an odd choice to include. I can’t recall whether there were actually two goblets of wine poured on the table, but it’s odd to have two because Dracula specifically comments that he doesn’t drink… wine.

The final accessory is Dracula in his bat form and this comes with a base and a clear plastic post with a ball joint to connect the bat to. It’s an excellent addition, but that ball joint is a tight fit and the post is so frail, it’s just a breakage waiting to happen. The sculpt is great, and if you want it to be even more movie accurate, you can tie stings to it!

NECA’s Universal Monsters have been absolutely outstanding and Dracula keeps that trend rolling along. The sculpting is absolutely superb, the cape is a brilliant design, and the Lugosi likeness on each of the heads is a homerun. The accessories are fine, but I might have exchanged that tray of wine for something like Van Helsing’s mirrored cigarette box or an additional head with a top hat. Still, I’m really thrilled to have a Drac figure this nice in my collection. And I’m even more excited to be getting the Christopher Lee Dracula from the Hammer films!

Oct 28 2023

Universal Monsters: The Wolfman by NECA

Updates on a weekend? Yup, there wasn’t enough time for me to get all the spooky reviews in before Halloween on Tuesday, so I’m squeezing in a couple extra today and tomorrow. And it seems only fitting that my next three reviews will be brought to you from those masters of spooky plastic: NECA! Let’s have a look at The Wolfman from the 1941 classic… um, THE WOLFMAN!

Of all the Universal Monster movies, I probably have the least history with this one. Indeed, when I sat down to watch it again this week, I realized that it had been quite a few years since I last checked it out, whereas I probably watch most of the others at least once every October. I don’t dislike the film, but apart from a few brief sequences, it just isn’t all that atmospheric or spooky to me. Larry Talbot is a fine character and I genuinely feel for him throughout the movie, but the script feels so contrived that it’s hard to take it too seriously. And while the makeup is impressive for the time, I just don’t find it nearly as creepy as any of the other Universal Monsters. Anyway… the figure comes in the same style window box with front flap that we usually see out of NECA. The front features the movie poster and everything is collector friendly. Time to paw this thing open…

You get a couple ways to display Larry, either in his human form or his wolfified form. Starting with regular Larry, there’s nothing terribly exciting here, but everything is still extremely well done. He has a green button down shirt with a nice wash and lots of sculpted stitching and wrinkles. Below the waist he has a thin belt and brown slacks, which are rolled up to his calves revealing his bare feet. Yes, you can only display regular Larry sans shoes and it’s designed that way to make make the transformation work. NECA is one of the few companies out there who can make a compelling figure out of a guy in regular street clothes.

I really dig the head sculpt here. NECA not only nailed the Lon Chaney Jr. likeness, but also the gee-whiz, befuddled look he has on his face for most of the film. It’s a demeanor that definitely helps make him more sympathetic, providing he isn’t peeping into your bedroom window with a telescope and then telling you about it to get you to go on a date with him, because then he’s just a creep.

You get one accessory that’s meant for Larry in his human form and that’s the wolfhead cane he buys from the antique store while creeping on Gwen. This is a superb recreation of the prop used in the film. It’s perfect for stepping out on the town or beating the piss out of goddamn werewolf gypsies. You also get a human right hand designed expressly for holding the cane.

Larry can be transformed to the titular Wolfman by replacing his hands and feet, and obviously the head. The feet peg out where the legs connect with the pants, which works really well. The sculpted fur on the hands and feet looks great and the feet are even sculpted so that he is standing on his toes, giving them a slight hint of that doggie hind-leg anatomy. As a result you get a small disk stand to help out. I was able to get him to pose pretty well without resorting to the stand, but I will definitely use it when I put him on my shelf for extended periods of time.

You get two wolf heads and both are excellent. The sharpness and detail in the sculpted fur is top notch, as are the teeth jutting from behind his lower lip. I actually think the makeup design works a bit better for me on the figure than in the movie. I would have loved a bit of high gloss on that nose, but otherwise everything here is just fantastic.

The alternate head is a growly one, which is the one I will choose for everyday display. Here you get the mouth open and the upper row of teeth showing as well. He’s got a side eye going on here, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it doesn’t bother me at all. Again, I can’t say enough about how sharp and well sculpted the fur is on these heads. NECA really knocked it out of the park!

The articulation here is everything you would expect from NECA, which means lots of rotating hinges. I will say the elbow hinges give a lot more range of motion than I’m used to seeing in their figures, which is certainly nice. You get an additional pair of swivels where the feet connect tot he pants. You only get one pair of wolf hands, which seems a little lacking, but they work well for most poses, so it’s no big deal.

There’s one accessory included for the wolf form and that’s a pretty cool bear trap. This thing has a rusty patina to it and it’s fully articulated with a locking arm and hinged jaws. It always impresses me to no end how much attention NECA will spend on one-off accessories like this one.

I’ll admit, I almost skipped this figure, because I’m rather indifferent toward the film, but after getting him in hand, I’m glad I didn’t. He’s another fine example of how this license is in the best hands out there. NECA practically exists for just this thing, and it never ceases to amaze me that you can go to your local Big Box retailer in 2023 and buy a figure from a 1940s movie right off the shelf. He does feel a tad light on the accessories when compared to the other releases, but I can’t really think of anything critical that’s missing. It’s just another great addition to the classic monsters lineup.

Jun 29 2022

Universal Monsters: Ultimate Mummy by NECA

NECA has been working their way through releasing Ultimate versions of the Universal Monsters and I’m all in on the color versions of these releases! They started off with Frankenstein’s Monster, then went to The Wolfman, and then everyone’s favorite shambling Egyptian corpse, Imhotep, aka. The Mummy, which I’m checking out today. Don’t worry, I’ll swing back to The Wolfman eventually!

No surprises with the packaging. The figure comes in a window box with a front flap. The front panel has a great recreation of the original movie poster with pictures of the figure itself on the back panel and inside the flap. The window gives you a good look at the goodies inside, and the whole shebang is collector friendly. I’ll go on record as saying The Mummy is among my favorite of the Universal Monsters, but I watch the Hammer Horror flicks more often than the Universal original. Let’s unwrap this guy and check him out!

Well, I’m really impressed with the overall sculpt, but this is NECA, where great sculpts are par for the course. Where The Mummy is concerned, it’s all mostly just bandages, and there aren’t a lot of specific details to hook onto, and I think that’s what makes me dig this sculpt all the more. It feels like they went all out on making sure that each and every bandage was recreated, and I had a bit of fun just turning this figure over and over in my hands and drinking it all in. Only the exposed smooth joints in the elbows and knees are there to interrupt all that wrapping!

The figure also comes with two loose wraps: One intended to hang around the neck, and the other to hook around the ankle, so it can drag along as he shambles toward his victims. I’ve also taken a few shots of the ankle bandage hanging off his wrist, because I think it works pretty well either way. I like the idea of these, but I wish the neck wrap laid flat against his chest a bit better, and I would have liked a peg to attach the one to his ankle.

You get three heads, two of which are rather specific. One has his eyes closed in case you want to display him resting in his sarcophagus, and I do believe that NECA is planning to release one for this figure in an accessory pack. The other is the normal face, and the final shows The Mummy making his O-Fface, which to me is the creepiest of all the heads. It’s just something about that black soulless void in his maw that gives me the shivers.

The articulation on the figure is probably more than you could possibly need for a shambling corpse, but I find the double hinged elbows very useful, especially if you want to put him with his arms crossed on his chest. The double-hinged knees are probably not necessary, but heck, it’s nice to have him. The figure comes with two sets of hands, one pair of relaxed and open hands, and the other Imma gonna getcha hands. I’m assuming that the second pair were supposed to be right and left, but mine came with two right hands of the second set. They’re extremely close to each other, so I’m not sure if that was intentional or not.

As for other accessories, you get a chest that opens and contains the legendary scroll of Thoth, which consists of hieroglyphs printed on some heavy stock paper. You want more accessories? Pre-order the Deluxe Accessory Set you greedy bastard!

Probably my most anticipated release in NECA’s revealed Universal Monsters, The Mummy does not disappoint. He’s got a great sculpt, an abundance of heads, and some cool accessories. In other hands, this one could have turned out to be a big bore, but NECA did their usual nuanced treatment to bring out every last bandage and some super creepy portraits. Now I’m just waiting on the accessory set to drop, so I can have a proper sarcophagus for him to rise from!

Oct 11 2021

Universal Monsters: Ultimate Frankenstein’s Monster by NECA

My sincerest apologies to those of you who aren’t into horror, but I’ll be back to comic characters and transforming robots and all the other stuff in just a few weeks. For now, it’s the second week of my Halloween Horror Month and I ain’t done with The Universal Monsters just yet. After a week of looking at Jada’s efforts, it’s time to switch gears and check out NECA’s own version of Frankenstein’s Monster! And I’ll go ahead and do some comparisons throughout.

If you’re familiar with NECA’s Ultimates line, then the packaging here should be instantly familiar. Frank comes in what appears to be a fully enclosed box, but there’s actually a front flap secured with a little velcro. Opening it reveals a peek at the figure inside. While I wasn’t entirely sure whether or not Jada was up and up on all their likeness rights, there is no doubt at all, that NECA is offering the real deal here! You get a beautiful recreation of the movie poster on the front and they rightfully dub him The Monster in the bottom left corner. This figure was released in both Color and Black & White versions, and I’ll be looking at the Color Edition here today!

IT’S ALIVE!! ALIVE!!!! Well, he looks so damn good, he might as well be! Let’s be honest, NECA has their share of problems, but when the stars align just right, and the QC holds up and the joints don’t bust, you can count on them to produce an amazing looking action figure. And to be fair, I’ve had precious few issues with NECA’s stuff over the decades, and absolutely none with this figure here. Frank looks amazing, from the top of his flat head to the bottoms of his platform monster boots. If I’m being honest, I fell in love with this figure the moment I got him out of the box, and I’ve had a big dumb smile on my face the whole time.

As always, realism is the order of the day, and Frank’s suit fits the bill! It actually has less textured detail than Jada’s, but manages to look more convincing with it’s smoother finish. The jacket is cast in soft plastic with the sleeves sculpted as part of the arms. The jacket is fastened at the top two buttons, showing off the top of his black undershirt, and parting down below his trousers. You get some rumpling in the sleeves, and a lot more down in the trouser legs. The suit has mostly a matte finish, but there’s some gloss splashed here and there to give him a bit of a wet look in some areas. The coloring on the trousers and coat also match quite closely here. The sleeves are short, exposing part of his forearms and they have all the detail that I lamented was lacking in Jada’s release, including staples and sutures.

You get three heads here, and each and every one of them is a winner. The standard head is just Frank being Frank. His eyes are partially rolled up into his head, and he’s generally expressionless. Here is all the Karloff likeness that I couldn’t find in Jada’s figure, and I’m still not sure that’s what they were going for anyway. Whatever the case, this is a strikingly gorgeous sculpt with some absolutely amazing paintwork. Let’s talk about skin color! I’m no Frankenstein expert, but I do know that the makeup was tinted green, and as I understand it, that was to make it look gray and dead on B&W film. As such, NECA went with an approximation of what that would look like in color. It’s more yellow than gray, but the jaundiced hue works for me very well indeed. I also love the glossy red they used for his forehead wound.

The next head is kind of derpy and I mean that in every positive way, because I LOVE derpy Frank! Yes, this is actually designed to replicate his cheeky growl, and it’s a mighty fine effort, but frozen like this it takes on a whole different meaning. NECA’s wizards manage to keep the likeness there, and the mouth is just some fantastic sculpting!

And finally, you get grimacing Frank, and again I think this one is up for interpretation. I think they were going for angry or scared, but I think it looks more like a big dumb smile, which I really adore because it reflects the misunderstood tragedy of the character. This is also some wonderful execution, and again the depth and realism in the mouth is striking. I don’t think it’s like has been equaled at this scale by many other figure sculptors. Take it as you see it, but like the previous one, I think this head works for a couple different possibilities.

In terms of articulation, NECA’s Frank takes a step back from Jada’s, favoring rotating hinges in the elbows and knees, as opposed to double-hinges. In this case, I don’t mind. As I stated in the other review, I don’t need super-articulation out of my Monster figure, and this guy is capable of whatever pose I wanted to do with him. I will say that the elbow joints look a bit unnatural in some poses, but I guess those double hinges aren’t always attractive either. In the end it’s all compromise, but I’m happy with what we got here. The figure also comes with three sets of hands to change up for different poses. He has a relaxed pair, a grasping pair, and a pair to interact with his flowers.

Yes, flowers! Frank doesn’t come with a whole lot of accessories, but he does come with a trio of flowers to recreat the famous scene. The flowers are sculpted in two pieces, one pair and one individual and he can hold them quite well in his special hands. These are perhaps not the most exciting accessories, but I think they were essential part of the character’s true nature, when people weren’t antagonizing him.

You also get a set of manacles, as opposed to the two sets that came with Jada’s figure. These feature a shorter chain, and the cuffs do not open so you have to pop off the hands to put them on. Still, they look better and feel more substantial.

By every assessment, this is an excellent figure, and for fans of the original film, I think it’s a must own. Jada’s figure still has it’s merits, and I’m happy to have it in my collection, but it’s an entirely different take and comparing the two is like apples and oranges. For a while, I was actually going to pass on this release, since I’m trying to limit my acquisitions these days rather than expand into new areas, but once I saw that the line would be expanding, I jumped on board. I think you’d probably have to look to Mezco’s One:12 release to find a suitable rival, and considering the vast price difference, I think this one wins the day.

Oct 8 2021

Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein by Jada

Welcome back to the Toy Crypt and my fourth installment of FFZ’s Halloween Horror Month! Today I’m wrapping up my look at Jada’s assortment of 6-inch Universal Monsters figures. So far, we’ve checked out Dracula, The Gillman, and Frankenstein’s Monster, and now it’s finally time for a lady monster… Here comes The Bride!

The Bride of Frankenstein is such a delightfully weird film. It can turn on a dime from innocents being murdered to Una O’Connor’s wacky antics as Minnie. It casually drops Dr. Pretorius’ ability to grow miniature humans in jars, which seems a lot more advanced than his desire to recreate a single full-grown human by stitching bodies together. Besides the fact that I never know whether that whole scene is supposed to invoke shock and horror or is it being played for laughs. And, of course, the film relegates the instantly iconic Elsa Lanchester’s role as the titular Bride to about five minutes of screen time. Absolutely criminal! I do enjoy watching this film, but it’s without a doubt the strangest among these four classic monster flicks.

And yet The Bride is indeed so damn iconic, and I’m pleased to say that Jada did a fine job bringing her to this collection. And with soft goods no less! Yes, The Bride comes donning a long white dress, which is expertly tailored and looks great on the figure. There’s plenty of room for her to move her legs, and it’s sleeveless so as not to impede her arms either. When worn, you can see her bandaged arms and feet, and really nothing else, so let’s take it off and see what’s going on under there!

The dress secures in the back with a velcro strip, so taking it off is pretty easy. With the dress gone, The Bride is bandaged from neck to toe. It’s cool to see that Jada didn’t cheap out on what’s underneath. Every inch of her bandaged bod includes the sculpted detail of the wrappings, all realistically textured and even given a paint wash to bring out all those details. Sans dress, you can also get a better idea of what’s going on with the articulation. Yup, it’s mostly more of the same, although Jada did take a page out of Hasbro’s book by nixing the double-hinged elbows for their lady figure and replacing them with rotating hinges. As a result, The Bride has a lot less range of motion in the elbows than the others.

The standard portrait is pretty damn good. At least, I think the likeness is a lot closer to the mark to Lanchester than Frankenstein was to Karloff. However, I think I recall The Bride having visible scars and stitching running up in front of and behind her ears, which isn’t present here. There is a seam that sort of works as a stand in, but it’s an odd detail to omit. The eyes appear to be halftone printed and the lips and eyebrows are pretty sharp. Of course, the iconic hair is recreated quite well too. All in all, very nice.

The alternate portrait is her screaming at the sight of her Groom to Be, and while I think this one loses something in the likeness, I don’t think it’s all that bad. The open mouth looks good, but the teeth really needed some added detail. I’m not sure I’ll end up displaying this head on the figure a lot.

In terms of accessories, The Bride comes with an extra pair of hands, which look to be copying one of the more common production stills, which has her posing with her left arm straight across her chest and her right arm drawing up to her left shoulder. Unfortunately, because of those elbows, she really can’t recreate that pose so well. She also includes the pylons that were on either side of her when she emerged from the operating table. These are pretty simple and have a chain and a strand of wrapping attached to the top of each.

I think The Bride may be my second favorite figure in this assortment, right behind The Gillman. The soft goods dress is a big hit, and I love that Jada still gave her a full body sculpt underneath. The only other figure I’ve ever owned of The Bride was the retro-style 3 3/4-inch ReAction figure, and this is certainly a huge step up and a nice way to round out this Quartet of Classic Horror.

Considering all I knew Jada for was their lines of mediocre painted miniatures, I think they did a damn fine job on this run of 6-inch figures. They don’t feel like an early effort, but rather like they came out of the gate swinging. I haven’t heard a huge amount of buzz around these, and I’m hoping that they do well from word of mouth, because I would very much like to see a second wave with The Mummy and The Wolfman, and whoever else they want to scare up!

Oct 6 2021

Universal Monsters: Frankenstein by Jada

Welcome to my third entry in FFZ’s generically named Halloween Horror Month! If you can’t tell, I’m running through all four figures in the first wave of Jada’s new Universal Monsters series, and number three on the list is Frankenstein’s Monster! I’m a big fan of the original film. It’s so atmospheric and fun to watch, although I’ll confess I’m an even bigger fan of the Hammer Horror flicks featuring the always amazing Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein. I’m actually working my way through all of those again this October and loving every second of it!

Now let me be Frank with you… HA! Does it bother me that they called him Frankenstein on the box? Nah. I’ve got no more strength in me for that fight. The last time I heard myself say “Um… actually…” I wanted to punch myself in the face. Let it go, people. Let it go! I will, however, point out that this guy has some fierce competition on the shelves, as NECA has already got their own version of The Monster out and about and in my clutching mitts. And yes, he’ll probably be the first figure I review after I’m done with Jada’s line this week. Let’s face it, NECA is going to own at least 75% of this month!

First off, I think they did a great job on his overall stature. Frank is a big boi and the heft and size of this figure conveys that very well. He’s not overly big, not too small… He’s just right. And true to the film, some of his height comes from his giant platform kicks. His suave monster suit consists of a black shirt, dark gray jacket, and brown trousers, all of which is textured with a cross-thatch pattern to make it resemble cloth. The trousers have all the usual rumples, and a wash to bring out some of the detail. The jacket is the usual soft plastic vest with sleeves sculpted as the arms, and the illusion works, as there aren’t any major gaps in the arm holes. You get sculpted pockets, lapels, and buttons, and some green slime painted on his right arm. I like that the sleeves are too short, but would have liked a little more gross detail on his exposed forearms.

You get two heads, the first of which is a pretty solid sculpt, even if it isn’t a great likeness for Karloff in the makeup. I’m actually not sure if Jada actually got the license to do Karloff or not, but there’s enough attempts at similarity here that I’m going to assume they did. The indent in the bottom lip, for example, is definitely from Karloff’s Monster, but it’s way too exaggerated here, and the overall facial structure just isn’t quite there. That’s not to say it isn’t a decent looking portrait for a more generic take on The Monster. And to be fair, if you aren’t very familiar with the film, or have a picture to compare, you might not notice the discrepancies. The paint is pretty good, especially the shading. They used halftone printing for the eyes, which as usual looks great in hand, but breaks down as you get in real close. I like the silver paint applied to the bolts and the staples, as well as the red for the forehead gash. Still, I don’t need a crystal ball to tell me that the portrait is going to be a big part of what separates this figure from NECA’s effort.

And then you’ve got this head, and I don’t like this one at all. I know the look they were going for, but I don’t think they got there. Indeed, the drop in quality on this head is so noticeable that it feels like it should go to a different figure. Beyond the expression just not working, the paint here is high gloss, giving him a shiny finish, which makes him look like he’s got a flop sweat going. The eye paint is also terrible, and the white for the teeth is sprayed all over his lower lip. I don’t know what happened here, but if the grave robbers I hired brought me this head, I would have sent it back. It’s just terrible.

The articulation here is right in line with the previous figures, so I won’t run through it all here. Suffice it to say, The Monster has a lot more range of motion than a lumbering brute like himself should really need. With double hinges in both the elbows and knees, and the ability to get those wide stances makes him fun to play with. And even with those platform boots, he has good balance and is easy to stand. Frank also comes with a pair of grasping hands, which are probably what I will display him with the most.

In addition to the extra hands and a terrible second head, The Monster comes with two sets of chains and manacles. These are really well done, as each of the manacles is hinged and can be opened and closed, so you don’t have to pop the hands off to put them on.

Despite a total failure on the alternate head, I think this figure turned out fine. I don’t think he’s as amazing as The Gillman, but I’d put him on par with Dracula for sure. Little attentions to detail and texturing on the body go a long way in making this one feel like a labor of love. Even the pair of manacles are well thought out and well executed accessories. So far, Jada’s Monsters have been hitting home, and I’ve got just one more to look at, so come back Friday for a look at The Bride!!!