Fwoosh has been devoting some space to the Universal Monsters figures from Diamond Select lately, and with October being here and horror in the air, let’s go back a bit to an older figure. And by old I mean old. Phantom of the Opera starring Lon Chaney Sr. dates back to 1925, which means you get no color, and you get no talking, and there’s definitely no 3D. But even after so many decades, it remains a staple of classic horror cinema, and Lon Chaney’s eerie Phantom face is one of the most iconic images of all time.
Diamond Select’s Phantom of the Opera figure is an excellent version of Lon Chaney’s interpretation. It’s a very simple design, unlike the more obvious silver screen monsters, so what there is that’s uniquely “monstrous” has to sell the figure. In that regard, his face and hands are extremely expressive.
The face is one of nightmares. It’s well sculpted with a minimal amount of paint applications that in a way mirror his black and white silent movie beginnings, except with a bit more color. There’s a pained expression in his face that’s perfect to the character. The Phantom is a tragic character in many respects, and you can read the anguish in his eyes.
His hands are full of character, caught in either mid-grasp or mid-performance. They’re perfect horror movie hands.
His clothes are realistically sculpted with a nice amount of texture and variety. There are decent clothing wrinkles and buttons, and there’s a bit of a very faint grayish dry brush to bring out those details. His jacket overlay is rubbery, so there’s some leeway there.
I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t own this figure if it didn’t have at least a minimum level of articulation I need in my toys, and the Phantom has a decent amount. He has:
- Ball-jointed neck (but the clearance essentially makes it a swivel neck)
- Shoulders
- Biceps
- Single elbows
- Wrist swivels
- Wrist hinges
- Waist swivel
- DCUC-style hinged hips
- Mid-thigh swivel
- Single Knees
- Swivel ankles
There’s more than enough of what’s there to get him into the poses he’d need to be in.
There’s an alternate version of the Phantom that comes with a coat, violin and masked head. This version comes with an extra hand, a copy of his “Don Juan Triumphant,” his organ and a chunk of floor that doubles as a base. The Organ is well sculpted and scaled decently enough to him that it works as a companion piece.
If you’re a new convert to the Universal Monsters from Diamond Select and have any affinity for the original Phantom of the Opera movie, then this is a great representation of the character. He’s going to be a large figure and won’t scale well to much else, but he works fine next to the others in the line.
