Remember all the nice things I said about Son of Frankenstein and The Creature From The Black Lagoon? Apply all of those to ol’ Abraham here.Sure, there are a few things to nitpick about, but there are very, very few figures that are perfect. Ever. The head is a little big. The scale is larger than I usually buy. The wooden stake placement is slightly impractical. And I’ll admit it, besides the need to replenish toy fundage before buying him I was apprehensive. Frank and Creature were iconic. Van Helsing in name is too, but for some reason I don’t picture him as an older gentleman monster hunter. Damn you, Hugh Jackman. But all in all I’m very glad I decided to pick him up.
The packaging is mostly like the Universal Monsters, but it’s almost like Van Helsing isn’t a part of the line. He’s not a Univeral Monster so he doesn’t have the logo on front, and then the back only pictures Abraham whereas the Creature and Frankenstein picture each other. They definitely all ship together so I guess it’s useless to think too hard about it.
The first thing you notice right out of the package is the sculpted details. The leather work is phenomenal here. The holster, the pouches, the boots, the back pack type weapons holder, and the gloves all have ornate detailing that almost fools you into thinking that it’s not plastic but actual leather. Stitching, rivets, stamping. Just beautiful.
Add that to a great head sculpt and a very detailed upper chest collar piece and there is all sorts of eye candy to keep you looking for a while. Though the pants and sleeves are a little plain, it adds a nice contrast to make the other parts even more impressive.
Throw some fantastic paint apps on top of all that sculpt is delicious frosting on the cake. The blue eye is piercing, the gray highlights to the hair is distinguished, and each gold rivet is an appreciated extra touch. Look at the semi-gloss black torso/neck padding and tell me it doesn’t look awesome. Every base coat has a wash or a highlight to bring out even more detail. High fives to Diamond Select Toys when most other toy companies are telling us that things like this just aren’t in the budget. Notice I said most, you rascally debaters.
I break down the articulation in my video review. Basically, the only biggies missing is wrists and ab crunch, but with everything going on with the chest and back I can completely forgive the missing torso articulation. I miss the wrists though.
Then there are the accessories…
The stand is the same as the one that came with Son of Frankenstein, but it’s not needed. Van Helsing stands just fine on his own. I kind of wish I had held out for the rising vampire base that comes with the Diamond exclusive version but I’ll end up with it someday.
Let me just say, the sword and the ax are superb. Detailed out, painted in the right spots, and the ax has some poor soulless monster’s blood upon it which puts it straight over the top. They are both fairly stiff plastic, no rubbery blades here. The sword is slightly difficult to get into his right hand because his fingers are stiff, but once it’s in it doesn’t fall out. All that makes these two my favorite accessories of the set.
Then there is the guns. The pistol is a little softer than the sword but it doesn’t help Van Helsing to hold it any better. The trigger guard is big and make it impossible to put the tripper finger in the right spot without bending the guard out. Then the blunderbuss. It’s way too thick and again, can’t be held in a shooting position much less a two hand grip. Don’t get me wrong, both a beautifully sculpted, just unwieldy. And that’s a good thing because they incorporate fantastically into my utmost favorite feature.
It may seem like a little thing, but I absolutely love that all the weapons included can be carried. No random guns for the fodder box or lying at the figure’s feet. Everything has it’s own spot and looks so natural that it makes me want to cry tears of joy. Hell, I’m displaying him on the shelf right now with empty hands because he looks so awesome just being ready for action but not quite in the thick of it yet.
Scale-wise he fits right in with the Universal Monsters, but if you’re thinking of getting him for another display then you might be disappointed. He’s large. I would call it almost an 8 inch scale and unfortunately I have nothing in that size to take an adequate comparison. Apologies. Me, I’m keeping him with the monsters so color me happy. Very happy.
I’ve said it more than a few times over the course of these three reviews but you just do not get this kind of action figure for $15 these days. You just don’t. It really is an amazing deal. DST, you keep making these with this amount of quality and I’ll keep buying them. This version with the less elaborate base is a Toys R Us exclusive but another version with a rising vampire base will be available through Diamond very soon.
In fact, it’s in stock at BigBadToyStore right now. So get to TRU, or your comic shop, or BBTS and get this line now. Go.
