Today is Frankenstein Day in honor of Mary Shelley’s birthday. I just bought Son of Frankenstein yesterday with no knowledge of this fact. It’s weird how things work out like that.
Before I begin though I have to admit that I’ve never seen Son of Frankenstein. I’m not a big Universal Monsters fan. I know of the movies and have seen a few a long, long time ago but it’s mostly just passing knowledge of the characters. But I do love me some good action figures. And when I saw this and the Creature from the Black Lagoon I just had to pick them up because they looked like great action figures. And Franky definitely is pretty great.
The packaging is not anything special. It does it’s job well with the branding and the descriptions and the protecting of my figure from other grubby mitts.
Inside the packaging is one hell of a Frankenstein figure. The sculpting, the paints, the articulation, all absolutely fantastic. I was actually kind of surprised, which is totally my fault for letting this figure, hell, the whole line, slip under my radar until I saw it in Toys R Us. From the top of his head to the bottom of his feet is filled with excellent sculpting detail. A day later I’m still finding subtle little things in the sculpt.
Paint is no slouch either. The skin is a pasty green with a wash that just makes the figure look sick, which is a good thing. The fur vest has a heavy wash that makes the details just pop out at you. Add that to some weathering of the pants with a drybrush of gray and brown over black and you have a figure that looks like he walked right off the movie screen. Or at least stills that I researched.
To top it all off, Frankenstein is packed with articulation. Well, I say packed, there is no torso joint because of the fur vest but the rest is all accounted for, including the new style hinge and swivel ankles. That’s right, Frank has rocker ankle! His legs are hindered by the vest but this figure has no trouble standing in any pose you could imagine a reanimated mishmash of corpses could get. No ninja kicks, but why would you want that? I break down all the articulation in my video review.
When I was standing in Toys R Us contemplating this purchase, on top of just wanting a good action figure I was also considering fudging him into my Marvel display. My brain was telling me that the old Marvel Frankenstein wore a fur torso vest or shirt and while I was right, Franky’s head in the comics didn’t really match the Universal Monster look. And then there is the size discrepancy.
This figure is HUGE! While I could kind of justify the size or look separately as reasons to slip him into my Marvel display, together they are just a double whammy as to why I can’t. But that doesn’t mean he will meet his fate in a storage bin. He’s going up with my movie figures. And really, that’s where he should be.
I forgot to take pictures of the included base and severed arm but you can see them in the package shots and video. Bad Robo! The accessories are what makes this a Toys R Us exclusive while the the Diamond exclusive has a more elaborate base.
Best of all, the Son of Frankenstein figure only costs $14.99. Wait, let me double check my receipt because I haven’t typed that price in a review in a while. Yup, $14.99. That’s is just insane for an exclusive action figure that’s nearly nine inches tall and has the sculpt, paint, and articulation this figure does. Crazy!
So, basically, go buy this figure. Go now. Yeah, the fur shirt is a little weird to anyone with just a passing knowledge of Son of Frankenstein, but the figure is so good that it makes me like the fur. Yeah. He’s that good. Diamond Select knocked this one out of the park.