VINCENT PRICE

TOONY TERRORS (NECA)

Fun FiQ Fact #0112: Masters of horror Vincent Price and Christopher Lee shared the same birthday, May 27, and fellow horror actor Peter Cushing’s birthday was only one day earlier on May 26.

I have a deep-seated appreciation of Vincent Price, the root of which comes not from anything Price himself did, but in fact from a stand-up comic’s bit that I heard on Laugh USA some time in the early ’00s, which featured an impersonation of Price attempting to pick up women in a bar, culminating in the phrase “gaze upon my haunting VISAGE!”  I knew Price’s work enough to get the joke at the time, and it’s been stuck in my head ever since, so that it’s the first thing I think of when encountering Price’s actual work.  It’s also become a go-to response to me for unrelated things, because it amuses me.  So, you know, with all that said, I felt like maybe I needed a Vincent Price figure.  As luck would have it, here’s a Vincent Price figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vincent Price was released as part of Series 9 of NECA’s Toony Terrors line.  While the line initially began as strictly fictitious characters, they’ve started working in some horror associated personalities.  Vincent’s the first time that we’ve gotten someone under their own name, but we’ve gotten the likes of Elvira and Svengoolie, and an argument could be made that Vincent was as much a persona as a real person.  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Ash, the only other Toony Terror I’ve looked at, was pretty stiff, but still had a surprising amount of movement.  Vincent…does not have a surprising amount of movement.  He’s still got the ball-jointed neck, which is certainly useful.  However, he’s just got cut joints at the shoulders and wrists beyond that, meaning he’s really just got the one pose.  Thankfully, it’s at least a pretty in-character pose for Price.  The sculpt is all-new, and true to the rest of the line’s Saturday Morning Cartoon-inspired stylings.  Price is clearly patterned on his look circa the ’70s, which is a pretty classic look for him.  The head sculpt in particular is impressive in its ability to capture everything signature to Price’s likeness, while still looking appropriately cartoony.  Vincent’s paint work is basic, but clean and to the point, and without any notable issues of bleedover or slop.  Vincent is packed with two different right hands, one bearing a cigarette, the other open for gesture or holding.  He also includes a skull (which fits in the open hand), and a black cat.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

One of the places in particular that the “Haunting VISAGE” quote gets thrown around a lot is work, and it’s very specifically hurled Max’s way a lot of the time, to the point that it’s become a very recurrent gag for us.  There was no way I was missing this figure when it arrived at All Time, and I didn’t.  It’s not a very “playable” figure, I suppose, which is a little bit of a shame, but it’s still very fun.

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