Could there be a better occasion than Halloween for reviving a blog from the dead? So here we are again folks … weeeee’re back!!! Mwahahaha!! Anybody who has followed this blog in the past will know that I’m a huge fan of Mego 1970s action figures. I’m also a huge fan of the old monster movies that were produced by Universal Studios from the 1920s through to the 1960s, so the Mad Monsters line by Mego comes top on my list of all-time favourite action figures. They may not have been officially licensed products, but they manage to skirt licensing laws and produce four figures that are spookily reminiscent of their silver screen counterparts.
I’ve almost collected the full set now – the Human Wolfman is still missing from my collection, alas (you’ll be the first to know when I track him down) – but I recently managed to snag this fantastic Dracula. He’s not quite Bela Lugosi but he’s an excellent addition to any horror action figure collection nevertheless.
So let’s get into the nitty gritty. Like the other figures in this line, he stands eight inches tall, has an impressive 14 points of articulation and uses the skinny Type 1 body with metal rivets. There were two hair sculpts released: an initial smoothed-haired version that flirted dangerously close to Universal Studio’s proprietary look, as sported by the sleek-haired Lugosi, was then briefly replaced in the first instance by a bizarre red-haired version, before Mego finally settled on this sculpted hair version. The only facial feature that can honestly be said to resemble Lugosi here is probably his impressive eyebrows, with one raised. The entire effect is all rather cartoonish.
My particular Dracula is in clean condition and in very good shape and the head is suffering none of the ‘melting eye’ syndrome that some of these figures suffer from, caused most probably by the ‘glow-in-the dark’ material used for their peepers. The bony hands are particularly well sculpted and claw-like, with widely separated fingers and even finger nails, and they also glow after lights out. The elastic bands in his hips are also doing pretty well for a 50-year-old vintage figure and he can be posed and stand almost unaided.
The main difference between ole Dracula here and the other Monsters is a more simplistic approach to the costume. Rather than having a separate jacket and trousers, he’s clothed in a printed jumpsuit of sorts, with a printed blue jacket with red sash and a white bowtie (movie-accurate here). Unfortunately, my loose figure has mislaid both his cape and even his shoes, accessories that would, of course, disguise the simplicity of his jumpsuit and lend more elegance to the figure as a whole.
Now to set my trap … and catch me a Wolfman at the next collector’s fair! Happy Halloween!
