The classic Universal Monsters cycle in and out of pop cultural prominence, but they always have some kind of presence. Despite living through a serious marketing push in the 90s and a consistent supply of quality product from companies like Sideshow and NECA, I've never owned any Universal Monsters toys that I can remember. Is that weird? I've had plenty of figures that were just downstream of the monsters. Most of my earliest toy memories are made up of the backwash of the 80s that was still lingering at such outlets as Children's Palace, Value City, and Kay Bee. And a big part of that was Kenner's Real Ghostbusters, which in 1989 introduced a subset of (legally distinct from Universal's) Monsters. Not strictly the bailiwick of Venkman and company, but there weren't nerds analyzing this stuff on the Internet back then. At closeout prices I managed to get all of 'em. So maybe that scratched my itch.
I've been seriously eyeing Super7's Reaction+ offerings since they came out last Halloween, but series 2 has my favorite--Boris Karloff as Frankenstein (yeah, yeah, he's Frankenstein's monster, save it). This is the movie that solidified the popular image of Frankenstein. The neck bolts, green skin, squared off head, big stompy boots, too-short sleeves revealing the scars where the wrists were connected--none of that came from Mary Shelley. Universal's makeup department really played up the horror elements and the resulting creature terrified Depression-era audiences and changed the trajectory of Karloff's career from journeyman to icon. The film casts a long shadow over pop culture, influencing everything from Mel Brooks to Monster High. How many movies are still getting merch 95 years after their original release?
There have been countless toys and collectibles based on Frankenstein, including 3 3/4" action figures, but this is the first one in the O-ring style. The Monster--and yes, Super7 does call him "The Monster" on the back for all you sticklers--is just a little bit taller than an average Reaction+ figure, but still well short of, say, Big Lob. You don't want these things to stray too far from the mean. His sickly skin tone is cast in color (please stop painting skin on the Joes, it makes them look more like cadavers than Frank) and his face has some awesome shading that really brings out the likeness of Boris Karloff. Karloff is uncredited here, perhaps because Universal trademarked their design for Frankenstein back in the 30s and the figure is meant to represent the idea of the monster rather than the man. Regardless, it's him beneath the scars and bolts, and after January 1 it's a moot point anyway as the film enters the public domain along with the 1931 version of Dracula.
The lower part of his jacket is made of soft PVC that I think is glued to the waist piece. The color matching between the parts is spot on (my camera makes it look like the pale green plastic of his forearms is showing through the paint, but you don't get that in person). His O-ring is maybe a smidge too small, because his torso wants to slouch forward. I took him apart and pushed it all the way back on the post and it seems better now. Right to repair for collectible toys is not a pressing issue but it's still nice to be able to troubleshoot your trinkets.
I'm not the world's biggest horror fan, but I am a big fan of what Super7 is doing with Reaction+. They've gotten better and better with each series, even if you're not going to mistake this for an actual vintage figure. The Ghostbusters set Hasbro made a couple years ago has a similar marriage of modern sensibilities and classic form factor. And hey! The Ghostbusters can fight Frankenstein once again! Now I just need Super7 to make me a Beetlejuice O-ring and I'm really in business.
No comments:
Post a Comment