Diamond Select Toys has given Dread Central an exclusive look at three upcoming additions to its licensed Universal Monsters collection: the Wolf Man, the Mummy, and an original take on Lucy Westenra from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. They’re detailed, articulated, and totally not for me.
As 7″ action figures go, these seem top shelf. Each one has a lot of detail and articulation for something with a suggested retail price of $25. The sculptor Jean St. Jean is a talented artist with a ton of great work in his gallery, including some extremely gnarly werewolves for other companies.
But Universal. Guys. I know you have a lot invested in your “classic monsters” intellectual property, but the world doesn’t need another Larry Talbot Wolf Man figure. I sure don’t, anyway. This perfectly on-model rendering of Larry with his tucked-in shirt, shaggy jowls, round ears, anatomically suspect feet and stick-up-the-ass pose seems perfect for obsessive collectors and no one else. It’s even designed to be shelved sideways, like a reference book no one looks at: “comes packaged in the famous Select-style display packaging with spine artwork for easy shelf reference.”
Larry Talbot isn’t a character, he’s an icon, and a dull one at that. If Universal wants to revitalize their “classic” monster lineup, maybe they should give people like St. Jean free rein to capture and reinterpret what made the characters so iconic in the first place, instead of worshipping mundane details like screen-authentic belt buckles. And Jean, if you get that kind of freedom, please don’t just put everyone in an impractical steampunk corset like you did with Lucy Westenra.
