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Write a Review link for that item. Universal Monsters (Neca) (Neca)The late 1920s and early 1930s saw Universal putting out various monster movies featuring iconic characters such as Frankenstein and Dracula, and NECA's been tackling them with as much heart put into them as possible. One of their more recent monsters is one originating from the 1950s: the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The packaging style is no different from the other Universal Monsters, with the original poster art on front and figure shots on the sides and back. Same old, same old, but it works for these figures. There's still a handful of plastic ties on the figure, but all the accessories are secured in the tray thanks to additional plastic. Designed by Milicent Patrick (and not that jealous hack Bud Westmore), the Gill-Man has a lot of fish-like attributes to his appearance. The head has various gills and scales, and blank eyes much like a fish. His appearance is captured well in plastic form, thanks to the work of Maarten Verhoeven and Kyle Windrix, and there's a lot of details to how he looks. As with the other Monsters, he gets three different heads: one with a slightly open mouth, one with a more open mouth, and one with an articulated jaw that opens and closes. NECA could've just given him the articulated jaw head and nothing more, but they still threw in heads with sculpted mouths for those who prefer a seamless look. The Creature takes Frankenstein's spot as the tallest figure in the line, standing 8" tall. He was played by different actors for on-land and underwater scenes respectively, and this taller suit was worn by his land actor, Ben Chapman. He has a very scaly body with a lot of ridges, and as said already, it looks great in plastic. And I mean really great, almost like he stepped off the screen. The paint also deserves attention, as while there's been multiple color interpretations of the Creature, NECA's is the most accurate to the original suit, being a dark, mossy green with metallic copper accents. The work is very clean, with even edges and no signs of bleed or slop. The Gill-Man is a little more articulated than the other monsters, and his joints blend in with the design well. He gets a barbell head with a single ball peg at the base of the neck, and both have pretty good range, but the fin in back prevents him from looking up a lot. The arms move with swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, and wrists, and these are double-jointed elbows, blending in well with his scaly arms. The ball chest and waist have plenty of tilt, and the legs are outfitted with ball hips, swivel thighs and shins, double-hinged knees with a swivel above the kneecap, and swivel/hinge ankles. Everything moves well, and you should be able to achieve plenty of poses. The Creature has various interchangeable parts to switch up his look on the shelf. I already mentioned that he has three different heads, and the articulated jaw one is my favorite for obvious reasons. Most of the heads are a tight fit on the ball, and while they can be popped on and off with no damage, I'd suggest heating up the sockets to make them go on easier. He also gets four pairs of hands in different poses - one pair of opened hands, a more splayed pair of hands, a pair with bent fingers, and a pair with curled-up fingers. They pop on and off easily, and assist with expressive poses. While he lacks things such as the fossil hand and harpoon gun, NECA has put out a few accessory sets for this line, and I assume we'll get one for the Creature at some point. Even if you aren't familiar with the film, I'd recommend getting the Creature anyways, since he's a cool design that's really fun to play with and pose. He's one of the best figures NECA's put out as of late, and I hope to see much more from this line. - 1/8/24   by RMaster007 |
| Flukeman (McFarlane Club) |  | Submission Order |  | Savanti Romero |
| Mummy (Color) | | Universal Monsters (Neca) Series | | Count Orlok (Nosferatu) |
| Flukeman (McFarlane Club) | | Written by RMaster007 | | Savanti Romero |
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