Category Archives: Reviews

#0348: Cornelius

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

CORNELIUS

PLANET OF THE APES (NECA)

Well, I still haven’t gotten around to seeing Dawn of the Planet of the Apes yet, which means I still don’t know if my purchase of NECA’s Caesar figure from the movie was warranted or not. Okay, actually it’s a great figure, and even if the movie was terrible, I wouldn’t feel bad about spending the money to get it. However, that figure was more or less a trial run for what was to come. See, I haven’t seen the latest Apes movie, but I’ve seen all of the originals. And NECA, who are well on their way to being my very favorite toy company, are making a line of Classic Apes figures to compliment the new ones. The first series consists of a generic Solider Ape, the esteemed DR. Zaius, and Cornelius. I’ll be looking at that last one today. Cornelius is one half of the pair of apes that assist Taylor and Nova in the first film, as well as returning for the second film, and gaining a starring role in the third.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cornelius is a part of the first series of NECA’s Planet of the Apes line. The figure is about 7 inches in height and features 24 points of articulation. Cornelius only really ever had the one look in the movie, so that’s what the figure has been based on. The sculpt is completely unique to this figure, and it is just fantastic. It would have been easy for NECA to phone things in a bit on the head, and make it more generic, but they haven’t. Roddy McDowell was pretty well buried under the ape makeup in the movies, but there’s no denying that this figure is based on him as Cornelius. On top of the great likeness, they’ve also included some wonderful details in the face and hair that make the figure look incredibly lifelike (well, for a fake monkey…). The body is pretty great too. Cornelius’s garb is nicely detailed. I really like how they’ve differentiated between the different materials of his clothing. They’ve used a rubber add-on piece for his torso, so that he can have some torso articulation without ruining the flow of the sculpt. Cornelius’s paint is just as good as his sculpt. Everything is nice and clean, with no slop or bleed over. They’ve done a great job using the paint to really accent the sculpt. The paint offers just as much detail and texture as the sculpt, and it looks really nice. Cornelius’s only accessory is one of the ancient scrolls. This same piece is also included with the Dr. Zaius figure from this series. I don’t mind the re-use, but it seems to be a last minute addition to the figure. His hands haven’t really been sculpted to hold it, so there’s not much he can do with it. He’s a perfectly nice figure without it, so it doesn’t bother me too much.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was younger, I used to stay at my Grandparents’ on a fairly regular basis. My dad wanted me to have some things to play with, so he brought out his old Megos. Mostly, I was just focused on the super heroes, but he had a Cornelius, and I remember playing with that one a fair bit. When I finally got around to seeing the movies, Cornelius was far and away my favorite character. When NECA announced they had gotten the Planet of the Apes license, Cornelius was the figure I knew I wanted right away.

Cornelius was purchased for me by my dad from a local toystore by the name of All Time Toys. I wasn’t certain if I wanted the whole first series of this line, so I wanted to get Cornelius by himself. Cornelius is a fantastic figure and I would wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone who is a fan of the movies. Or if you just like really good action figures. Or monkeys!

#0347: Snake Eyes & Agent Scarlett

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SNAKE EYES & AGENT SCARLETT

GI JOE VS COBRA

In 1965, Hasbro invented the action figure with the very first GI Joe. The figure offered a take on the traditional doll idea, but meant for boys. He was 12 inches tall, had a cloth outfit, and was a pretty straight forward military man, offered in a variation for each of the four branches of the US military. After the end of the Vietnam War, soldiers and war were seen in a more negative light, so Hasbro had to change things up. This led to the Adventure Team era, which prevailed for most of the 70s. At the end of the decade, they faced another issue. Thanks to Kenner’s smaller scale Star Wars line, the industry was moving to smaller, less accessorized figures. Hasbro had to move quickly to reinvigorate GI Joe for a new audience, leading to the creation of GI Joe: A Real American Hero, which reworked the scale and made the line a collection of unique characters. It also provided the Joes with their first real foe, Cobra. It has remained the definitive take on the GI Joe concept pretty much since its inception. While the line never went away, after the 80s the line dwindled, until it was once again re-worked in 2002. That’s when I came on board. The line operated mostly on new sculpts, but there were a few re-releases mixed in. Today, I’ll be looking at one such release, with Joe mainstays Snake Eyes and Scarlett.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released as an exclusive two-pack through Toyfare magazine. They were meant to tie-in with the then current GI Joe VS Cobra.

SNAKE EYES

This is the 15th version of the ever silent ninja/commando/everything but the kitchen sink, Snake Eyes! Snake Eyes is 3 ¾ inches in height and he features 14 points of articulation. He’s meant to be a slightly more high quality recreation of the very first Snake Eyes figure, so he unsurprisingly used a lot of the same pieces. He’s mostly built out of the version 1.5, after Hasbro added the now standard swivels to his biceps, but instead of the original, he’s been given that of the second version of Roadblock. Not sure why that is, but I assume Hasbro had a good reason. Anyway, it’s a pretty great sculpt, even if it does show its age just a little. Obviously, it’s a tad more simplistic than most modern day sculpts, but that’s not too bad. He still has his fair share of detail, and he looks pretty great! The paint is a key point on this figure, as the original Snake Eyes didn’t actually have any. For this one, they’ve added some additional details to the various pouches and straps on the body to give him a little more variety. There is also a shade of very dark gray applied to the visor on his head, which was so subtle I almost didn’t notice it at first. Overall, the paint is pretty good, but there are a few areas where he has some bleed over. Snake Eyes included a submachine gun, a sword, some explosives, and a back pack, which a pretty impressive accessories compliment!

AGENT SCARLETT

This is the 6th version of Scarlett, or Agent Scarlett as she’s called here. She’s 3 ¾ inches in height and she has 14 points of articulation. Like Snake Eyes, she’s meant as a recreation of the original Scarlett figure from way back in the very first series of GI Joe: A Real American Hero. The figure is a complete re-use of swivel-armed version of the original figure, which is reasonable. Admittedly, the Scarlett sculpt is not as nice as Snake Eyes. Her arms sit a little bit far out at the shoulders, and the face is rather on the mannish side. It’s not terrible, but it’s not the greatest. The paint on Scarlett is a bit more intensive than that on Snake Eyes. All in all, it’s pretty good. There’s no real slop or bleed over, so that’s good. They’ve also made her a bit more colorful than her original incarnation, which is probably for the best. Scarlett comes armed with a crossbow and two swords, as well as a backpack.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

GI Joe was mostly in a lull when I came into the world of action figure collecting. As such, my first real introduction to the property was GI Joe VS Cobra. Once I had gotten the newer figures, I began looking into the older figures, particularly those of Snake Eyes. Thanks to an article run in Toyfare magazine, I learned of the second version of the character, which I really wanted. It didn’t prove easy to find, so I had to go without it until recently.

In the meantime, I purchased this set from Toyfare to hold me over. I remember being extremely excited when I first saw the order form in the issue in which they were offered! My always supportive Mom was feeling particularly awesome, so she ordered the set for me. Since then, it’s easily remained one of my favorite pieces of my GI Joe collection. It’s a great set and I really love it!

[EDIT 09/25/26 — I did a deep dive to find all the accessories for these guys, and wrote an Addendum about them, complete with all-new photos!]

#0346: The Riddler

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RIDDLER

DC SUPER HEROES (TOYBIZ)

If there’s one positive to Toybiz’s DC Super Heroes line, it’s that they managed to do a few more figures in the Super Powers style. Most of the figures weren’t up to the same standards, but some mix in alright. One such figure is the Riddler, the well-known Batman foe. What’s interesting about the Riddler is that is seems that everyone but Kenner wanted to add him to the Super Powers line up. When Argentinian toy company Pacipa purchased the old Super Powers molds, they released their own Riddler, dubbed El Acertijo, made from repainted Green Lantern molds. Toybiz followed suit, also releasing their own version of the Riddler, which I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Riddler was released in the first series of Toybiz’s DC Superheroes. The figure is about 4 ½ inches tall and features 7 points of articulation. The first series of DC Superheroes made use of Super Powers molds with some slight retooling, and Riddler follows the trend. He’s a slightly retooled SP Flash figure with a new head. Flash has a pretty great sculpt, so Riddler has a pretty good starting point. They’ve made adjustments to give him his proper gloves and belt, so it makes him different enough from Flash that they don’t look bad on the same shelf. They’ve also tweaked his right hand so that it can hold something, which doesn’t really work. It just makes the fingers look really stubby. The new head is… well it’s a sculpt. It manages to be neither good nor bad. It’s just there. Which is okay, I guess. The paint is fine. Once again, it’s not amazing, but it’s not bad. The question marks are handled pretty well, so that’s good. The figure included no accessories, which is super annoying because they clearly re-sculpted his hand to hold something!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Green Lantern, Riddler was part of the rather sizeable selection of figures I picked up from Yesterday’s Fun over the summer. I mostly picked up Riddler to accent my Super Powers collection. For that purpose he’s not bad. I must admit, while he’s not a particularly good figure, he’s not horrid either, and he looks okay mixed in with other figures. He’s certainly better that the GL figure and he’s probably one of the best figure’s Toybiz released in this line. So there.

#0345: Green Lantern

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GREEN LANTERN

DC SUPER HEROES (TOYBIZ)

The now defunct toy company Toybiz is a name that is most commonly associated with making Marvel toys. This isn’t surprising, of course. They ended up bailing Marvel out of bankruptcy in the mid-90s, leading to them becoming a part of Marvel proper and thereby passing the name onto Marvel’s in-house toy making branch. However, their first major property was not Marvel. No, it was actually Marvel’s main competition, DC. See, when Super Powers ended, DC was looking to move the DC license elsewhere. They turned to a small upstart company by the name of Toybiz, who launched a line simply titled DC Superheroes. The line was pretty much the same scale as Kenner’s Super Powers, mostly because it was pretty much just a slightly lower budget version of Super Powers. The sculpts were just slightly tweaked and made out of inferior plastic. Needless to say, DC wasn’t thrilled by this offering, and after just two series, the rights reverted back to Kenner. Today, I’ll be taking a look at that line’s version of Green Lantern!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Lantern was released in the second series of Toybiz’s DC Super Heroes line. The figure is just shy of 5 inches tall and he features 7 points of articulation. The second series is a little different from the first in that they actually featured new sculpts, rather than just retooled SP ones. So, for better or for worse, GL got a brand new sculpt, wholly unique from his SP counterpart. I suppose it’s not fair to compare the work of Kenner at their prime to that of Toybiz in their infancy, but the sculpt of the TB Green Lantern is not up to the quality of his predecessor. The sculpt is wide and oddly proportioned. He’s got these bent arms, which are honestly impressive, because I’m surprised he could bend arms that thick. The torso is huge and ill defined, and the legs lack any real detail. The head looks not unlike a papier-mâché head sculpted over a balloon, which is not a compliment. To top it all off, the joints are horrendously obvious, to the point where you have to question if they did that on purpose. I suppose if I were really trying to find something nice to say, I’d say he bears a passing resemblance to the Filmation version of the character, which isn’t a terrible thing. The paint is…well it’s there. It’s mostly cleanly applied, but other than that, there’s not much to be said of it. The figure is incredibly shiny, which really plays up the whole obvious toy angle. The figure came with an array to let him squirt water from his ring or something. I don’t know, I bought mine loose.  [EDIT 02/06/26 — Through the magic of buying a not loose one, now I have all of his accessories, which I discussed in his Addendum!]

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure is another from the haul I picked up during the summer from the super cool Yesterday’s Fun. As an avid Green Lantern collector, it’s a figure I’d been looking to pick up for some time now, I’d just never gotten around to it. They had one for a reasonable price, so I went for it. Now I’m reminded of why I put off buying it. It’s not a terrible figure, it’s just overwhelmingly mediocre. It feels like one of those incredibly obvious toys they’d use on a TV show to more easily convey that it’s a toy. I just don’t quite know what they were thinking with this one, especially since it followed up figures that re-used the far superior Super Powers sculpts.

#0344: T800 Terminator

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

T800 TERMINATOR

THE TERMINATOR REACTION

The ReAction line is certainly a line of ups and downs. I appreciate what Funko are trying to do with the line. I like the style they’re aiming for, and I really love a lot of the properties they’ve managed to secure in this scale. That being said, a fair number of figures in the line haven’t been as good as they could have been. Of the four figures I’ve looked at from their Terminator line, one was good, two were alright, and one was downright bad. That’s not terrible, but it could be better. There’s one figure left in the series, based on one of the film’s more definitive looks. Has Funko managed to pull this one off?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Terminator was released as part of the first series of The Terminator ReAction Figures. He is just shy of 4 inches tall, making him the same height as the Tech Noir version and just a little shorter than the Endoskeleton, and he features the same 5 points of articulation standard for the line. The figure is based on what is probably the T800’s most distinctive look from the first movie, usually referred to as the “police shootout” version. It’s the look the character sports during his attack on the police station where Sarah and Kyle are being held. The figure, like just about every other ReAction figure, features a brand-new sculpt, and a very good one at that. While he doesn’t quite have the girth of Schwarzenegger in the movie, he very nicely translates the look into the Kenner aesthetic. There aren’t any strange proportions or issues of flatness on this sculpt. What’s more, the likeness on the head sculpt is pretty much spot on, which is certainly a change of pace with this line. Even little, seemingly-pointless things, like the slight bend of the arms, have been handled pitch-perfectly. The figure’s paint work is also pretty good. The glasses in place of painted eyes really helps, and I love the heavy shine they put on his jacket. The figure includes a Spas-12 Shotgun and a stockless M16, which are the two weapons he carries through the police station. Both are handled pretty nicely, though the M16 is a little lighter on the details than the other weapons in this series. Special thanks go out to Tim Marron of Timiscal Thoughts for helping me properly identify those weapons!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just like every other figure in this set, the Terminator was ordered from Amazon. Thrilling story, right?

I had certain ideas about this set of figures when I ordered them. I knew Sarah would be the weak link. I figured the Endo would be my favorite, and I was looking forward to Kyle and the other Terminator. This one…eh, I just didn’t know. He’d probably be cool, right? Little did I know he’d end up being my favorite figure in the series. Heck, he’s my favorite figure in the entire ReAction line! This figure looks like he stepped right out of the Kenner Star Wars line, and that’s amazing. I hope that this figure is indicative of the future of the ReAction line, because he is a heavy step in the right direction!

#0343: Kyle Reese

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

KYLE REESE

THE TERMINATOR REACTION

Well, yesterday’s review was a bit of a downer. Not every figure can be a winner, but it’s still sad to see it happen. It’s especially sad to see it happen with Funko’s ReAction line, because it’s already under enough criticism based just on the style choice alone. Fortunately, the figures seem to be improving as they keep going. I still have two figures left from the first series of The Terminator ReAction Figures, and fear not dear readers, it’s only an uphill stride from here. I’ve looked at the title character and the target, and today, I’ll be looking at the hero of The Terminator, Kyle Reese, the human resistance fighter sent back to save Sarah Connor. He also happens to be portrayed by Michael Biehn, also known for playing Hicks in James Cameron’s Aliens, and also the lunatic villain in Cameron’s The Abyss. Cameron just really likes this guy!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

As noted in the opening, Kyle was released as part of the first series of The Terminator ReAction Figures. Kyle is 3 ¾ inches in height and features the same basic 5 points of articulation as every other figure in this line. Obviously, he’s based on Kyle’s look in The Terminator, specifically his 1984 look. Kyle wears both a green and a blue jacket over the course of the movie. The figure goes with the green one, which is the one he wears earlier in the movie, most notably during his showdown with The Terminator at the Tech Noir club. The figure features a cloth piece to emulate the coat, which isn’t the greatest. The sleeves are really baggy, and the collar sits oddly, which makes it look more like a bath robe. Once it’s removed, the figure actually improves greatly. Kyle’s sculpt is unique to this figure. It’s not bad. Not the best ever, but not bad. Certainly better than the coat lets on. The torso is still a little too flat, like so many of the other ReAction figures. Aside from that, the rest of the sculpt is a pretty great translation of Kyle to the Kenner style. The etched stripes on the shirt look pretty great, and the proportions aren’t bad. The head is a little too generic to be a spot on Biehn, but it isn’t too far off. It’s close enough that you can tell who he’s supposed to be. Kyle’s paint is pretty good. It’s a little on the clean side, but that’s mostly to do with the style of the figure. There aren’t any issues with slop or bleed over, so that’s good. In addition to the removable jacket, Kyle includes his modified shotgun and a small revolver.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Kyle was, surprisingly enough, flung at me by an angry homeless man while I was walking to class the other day. For real guys. It was weird…

Okay, not really. Like the rest of the series, I ordered Kyle from Amazon. I had initially been pretty excited for Kyle, but that excitement waned once the prototype pictures surfaced. However, I came across a few pictures of Kyle in-hand, especially without the coat, and that was enough to sway me back. Kyle isn’t without his issues, but he’s really not a bad figure, and he certainly makes me feel better after the very sad review I had to do for Sarah. If you’re a fan of The Terminator, you could do worse than this Kyle figure.

#0342: Sarah Connor

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

SARAH CONNOR

THE TERMINATOR REACTION

What separates Funko’s ReAction line from many of the other lines to tackle such licenses is the selection of characters Funko is releasing. See, Funko’s not just doing the one or two distinctive characters from a license. They’re also focusing on doing figures of characters never before released. Although The Terminator, has been granted a few figures of key players like the T800 and Kyle Reese, one figure that’s never been released is Sarah Connor, the Terminator’s intended target. Sure, she’s had a few figures based on her appearance in T2, but her original look has never been covered before. Funko has seen fit to release that particular version of the character in their Terminator line. Let’s see how that one turned out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sarah was released in the first series of The Terminator ReAction Figures. She’s a little under 3 ¾ inches tall, making her one the shortest of The Terminator figures, and she has the standard 5 points of articulation. As I noted in the intro, she’s based on Sarah’s look from the first Terminator movie, specifically the look she is wearing while she and Kyle are on the run. For what it’s worth, Sarah’s sculpt is totally unique to this figure. That’s probably for the best, because simply put: it’s not very good. I suppose the body sculpt is alright, but she seems to be a little too frail looking. She also seems to slope outward from the top, not unlike a pear. One of the more defining things about Linda Hamilton, who played Sarah in the movies, is that she has somewhat broad shoulders. The sloping shoulders throw the whole figure off, and she ends up looking like she has really stubby arms. Unfortunately, the body sculpt is nothing compared to the head. Sarah suffers from a serious case of man-face, but not just any man-face, ugly man-face. Both of the T800s are prettier than this. Heck, Sloth from the Goonies line is prettier! On top of the bad face sculpt is what can lightly be described as a hair helmet. Sarah’s hair in the movie was pretty bad, but it didn’t look like this! All of that is rounded out by a neck that is definitely too long. Combined with the body, this sculpt gives Sarah a really odd look. In what is definitely a change for a Funko figure, the best part of this figure is her paint. She still has the problem of her eyes being set too far up that we saw on Kaylee, but otherwise, the paintwork isn’t bad. In fact, she’s gotten the proper white stripes on her shirt, which even the prototype lacked. Everything is nice and clean, and there aren’t any issues with slop or bleed over, so that’s pretty good. Sarah comes with no accessories, which is kind of a bummer. Was the upper half of an Endoskeleton too much to ask for?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Sarah was another figure acquired via Amazon. Mostly, I bought Sarah because I was buying the rest of the set. I can’t really see why anyone would want this figure otherwise. Sadly, this is one of the worst figures Funko has put out so far. I really would like to focus on the figure’s positive qualities, but there really aren’t any to speak of. It’s nice to have finally gotten this version of Sarah, but the figure doesn’t really do much for the look. I’ve noticed that the biggest downfalls of what Funko has released seem to be the female figures, which is a shame.

SarahConnor2

#0341: The Terminator

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

THE TERMINATOR

THE TERMINATOR REACTION

Funko’s ReAction line has become one of the bigger splashes in the toy world, mostly due to the large scope of the line. Funko’s massive catalogue of licenses allows the line to have some serious pull. A lot of people are getting into it solely based on some properties getting their first toylines ever. One such license is James Cameron’s The Terminator. While its sequels weren’t short on toys, the original tends to only be seen through a stray figure here or there in a sequel’s line. Recent years of collector lines have added a few more figures from the first film, but never a purely devoted line. Today, I’ll be looking at one of the ReAction versions of the titular Terminator.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Terminator is part of the first series of The Terminator ReAction Figures line, which is part of Funko’s larger ReAction line. He stands just shy of 4 inches tall (making him shorter than the Endoskeleton, by the way) and features the standard 5 points of articulation. This figure is based on the Terminator’s “Tech Noir” look, which is the look he sports for the first half of the movie. It’s referred to as the “Tech Noir” look after the name of club that he first confronts Sarah Connor in. It’s the look he has for the longest stretch of the movie, but it isn’t usually considered the definitive Terminator look. The Terminator has an all-new sculpt, based on his look from the movie. It does a pretty good job translating the Terminator to the style, but it’s not perfect. He’s a little bit too skinny for Schwarzenegger in the first Terminator, especially at the neck. The head sort of looks like Schwarzenegger, but it’s not spot on. It’s like the Terminator, if he were a Vulcan. The paint on the Terminator is passable. He’s got a few areas of slop and bleed over, as well as some fuzzy lines. Then, of course, there’s the eyebrows, which are definitely not right. Still, as a whole, the paint is fine, and it seems to have summed up the Terminator’s look nicely. The Terminator includes an Uzi and Colt with a scope, both of which he is seen carrying in this particular outfit. They both are quite well sculpted, especially for the scale and style.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Terminator was another figure purchased from Amazon, along with the rest of the first series. While this isn’t the definitive Terminator look, it is a unique look. It looks pretty great with the rest of the set, and it’s not a bad figure in general. He’s not the best ReAction has to offer, but he’s far from the worst.

#0340: T800 Endoskeleton – Chrome

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T800 ENDOSKELETON – CHROME

THE TERMINATOR REACTION

Well, it seems I’ve been bitten by the ReAction bug. I had mixed feelings about the quality of the Firefly figures, but the pros outweighed the cons, and just the sheer volume of characters available in the style meant it was pretty easy for Funko to pull me back in. One of the early properties announced for the line was James Cameron’s The Terminator, of which I’m a pretty big fan. I mean, it’s no Aliens, but it’s one of the top sci fi films of the 80s. It also has the notoriety of being one of the announced ReAction properties that was released somewhat closely to the figures of the style that this line is going for. Today, I’ll be getting under the skin of the titular Terminator, with the T800 Endoskeleton!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The T800 Endoskeleton was released as part of The Terminator ReAction Figures line, under Funko’s wider ReAction Figures umbrella. The Endoskeleton is 4 inches in height and features the line’s standard 5 points of articulation. The figure is of course based on the design of the T800, specifically from the first Terminator movie. However, this is the Chrome version of the figure, which more accurately coveys the sheen of the T800 in Terminator 2. That being said, the vac metalized look is probably more accurate to the Kenner style. Fortunately, Funko has given fans the choice between two different sheens. Anyway, the sculpt is all new to this figure, and it’s pretty great. It manages to capture the complex design of the T800, which at the same time maintaining the more simplistic aesthetic of the rest of the ReAction line. The head is a little on the large side, but it’s not too bad, and it maintains the same quality as the rest of the sculpt. Obviously, the Endoskeleton isn’t a design that requires much paint, especially in the case of a chromed version, but Funko hasn’t cheeped out. The head features properly painted eyes and teeth, both of which are very well done, with no slop or bleed over. The Endoskeleton includes no accessories. It would have been nice to get a plasma rifle or something, but the Endo isn’t actually seen wielding any weaponry until T2, so I guess the lack of accessories is accurate.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Endoskeleton was ordered from Amazon, along with the rest of the first series of The Terminator ReAction Figures. When the ReAction Figures were first announced, the chrome Endo was one of the first ones I really wanted. The Endo design is incredibly distinctive, and definitely one of the more memorable killer robot designs out there. The figure isn’t perfect. He feels a bit on the frail side, and I’m uncertain of how long the chrome will last. That being said, he’s a fun little figure, and I whole-heartedly recommend him to even moderate fans of The Terminator.

#0339: Frankenstein’s Monster

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

FRANKENSTIEN’S MONSTER

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS (SIDESHOW)

Frankenstein1

Frankenstein is an important story. The original book is generally considered to be the very first Science Fiction story, and the 1931 film adaptation of the book helped kick off the Universal Monsters series, and made a star out of Boris Karloff. The first film is great, but it is surpassed by its sequel, Bride of Frankenstein, in the eyes of many. Bride featured better writing, better character work, better special effects, and a killer soundtrack to boot!

In the early 2000s, Sideshow Toys was just getting into the 12 inch scene. One of their earliest licenses they launched in that scale was Universal monsters, with Frankenstein among them. They did pretty much every version of the monster from the movies. Today, I’ll be looking at their version of the Monster as he’s seen in Bride of Frankenstein.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FrankensteinWilsonThe Monster was released in 2002 as a part of the Universal Monsters line by Sideshow Toys. He was the second version of the Karloff Monster, but he was actually the fifth version of the Monster in the line, after the versions from the original film, Ghost of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, and House of Frankenstein. The figure stands about 12 ½ inches tall and features 29 points of articulation. As noted in the intro, this figure is meant to represent the Monster from The Bride of Frankenstein. In Bride, the Monster has been left a little worse for wear by the events at the end of the first film, so the figure reflects that. Like most Sideshow figures of the time, the Monster is built on the Sideshow Buck, which was their original 12 inch body. It’s slightly dated and stiff now, but it was the standard in the day, and what’s more, the stiffness is actually perfect for a character like the Monster. In addition to the Buck, the Monster features unique pieces for his head, hands/forearms, and his feet. The hands and feet replace the usual Buck pieces, and elongate the figure’s body a bit to give him his more gargantuan size. The head represents the Monster’s more scarred look from the movie, and it does it very well. The likeness to Boris Karloff is astounding, which is really great. The rest of the figure’s appearance is handled via cloth pieces. They aren’t as impressively tailored as something like Hot Toys, but they aren’t bad. The green of the jacket seems a touch too bright, but otherwise the coloring seems pretty good. The clothes also feature some padding built in to help aid the figure in looking a bit larger. It works pretty well, so that’s good. The paint on the Monster is very well done. While it lacks some of the more lifelike touches that future Sideshow figures have, it’s very clean and features some really great detail work. The monster includes a cobblestone textured display stand, a skull, and a stack of bones. All of these are pretty great, especially the skull!

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was growing up, the Frankenstein movies were some of my favorite horror movies. I had a small selection of Sideshow figures, and among them was Fritz, the Doctor’s ill-fated assistant from the first movie. I always wanted a Monster to go along with him, but I never got one. A few weeks ago, my parents and my brother took a trip to visit a friend, and on the way back they visited a comicbook store with a decent selection of Sideshow’s Universal Monsters. My family, being the horrible, supportive influences they are, called me to ask if there were any I was looking for. I inquired about the Monster and was told I could choose between the one from Son of and Bride of. I went for the more conventional Bride design. I’ve actually always preferred the look from Bride, so I’m really happy with this figure. All in all, he’s a great version of Karloff’s interpretation of the character, and I’m really glad to finally have Frankenstein’s Monster to go with Fritz.

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