BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS (JADA TOYS)

Released four years after the original Frankenstein, 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein adapts and expands upon later elements from Mary Shelly’s original novel, both in its attempts to more fully humanize the initial Monster, and in his desire to have a mate, the titular Bride.  Bride is pretty widely agreed to be an improvement upon its predecessor, and is probably the best of the Universal films in general.  Though she only gets a scant few minutes of actual screen time, the Bride’s design is quite distinctive, and she’s become a fixture of the franchise as a whole, especially when it comes to merchandising.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Bride is another piece of the first assortment of Jada Toys’ Universal Monsters line.  With only one film appearance, it’s pretty clear which one she’s based on, so I guess that’s simpler than it was with the Monster.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  She’s once again going by the Hasbro playbook for the articulation scheme, and it again works pretty well.  The joints don’t have quite the same range of motion this time around, but they’re still more than serviceable.  Like the Monster, the Bride is an all-new sculpt, and it’s a pretty good one at that.  The facial likeness of Elsa Lanchester is pretty decently rendered, and they’ve done a respectable job of making the distinctive hair style work in toy form.  The body sculpt has a ton of detailing on the bandages, and the texturing is pretty top notch.  It’s kind of a shame to cover it up with the sheet, especially since it’s the weakest part of the figure.  It’s just a pretty simple cloth piece with a velcro strip in the back to help secure it.  It’s not particularly tailored or fancy, and the edge is a little uneven.  It gets the job done, but I do wonder how it will hold up long term.  The Bride’s paint work is pretty solid, though somewhat of a reverse from the Monster.  The head is kind of basic in how it’s laid out, and ultimately lacks the more lifelike qualities to the face.  The hair also is just a pretty basic black with white streaks, with very little accenting or subtleties to it, which is kind of a shame.  Lanchester’s hair was red, so I like when they can give it that slight tinge of color at the very least.  On the flip side, the work on the bandages on the body is pretty cool, as it really helps to showcase all of the detailing in the sculpt.  I mean, it’s again mostly covered by the sheet, but it’s cool that it’s there.  The Bride is packed with a second head with a hissing expression, as well as two sets of hands in differing gestures, and two of the pieces of equipment used in the experiment that brings her to life.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After deciding to grab the Monster, it was hard to pass on the Bride.  They do make for a good pair and all.  Bride is certainly a favorite of mine, so I do always keep an eye out for good toy coverage.  Thus far, it’s always been iffy.  While this one’s not quite as good as the Monster, she’s still very good.  The only thing that really holds her back for me is the sheet, and even that’s really not bad, if you get it futzed just right.  Overall, she’s a nice companion piece to the Monster.  I hope Jada continues the line, as I think there’s some real potential for success here.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.