Like the rest of the figures, Drac’s articulation is minimal. His head is a ball joint. His shoulders are swivel/hinges, while his waist and wrists are swivels. This makes him good at gesturing, but not much else. What he really needs are some hinged ankles though. I can’t get my figure to stand up without the use of a stand or leaning him against something. This is a pretty large problem that knee joints would have easily fixed.
The comic shop exclusive Dracula comes with a large black wolf as an accessory, while the retail version only comes with a base. The base itself is a nicely sculpted chunk of earth with rocks scattered about. Behind where Dracula stands are two gravestones, the larger of which is in a state of crumbling. Neither tombstone seems quite big enough though, especially when compared with the figure’s prototype. I’m also annoyed with the placement of the peg holes, which are too far apart for the figure to use both at the same time.
This figure has quite a few annoying problems, but I think the worst is its inability to stand unaided. With all the insane engineering feats that have been accomplished in the toy industry, standing issues are a problem we shouldn’t be dealing with in 2011. If I had to do it over again, I don’t know if I’d buy him. At the very least I would wait for clearance, because he does look rather nice squared off against my Simon Belmont.
-Vault
I’m surprised that Diamond Select couldn’t afford the Lugosi likeness rights when Sideshow Toy could…and Sideshow was a new up-and-comer at that time.
That’s a pretty horrible looking Dracula, really. I’ve been completely unimpressed with this line and brother, that Drac just, um, bites.
(sorry, but it was there and demanded to be used. 🙂 )
I don’t think it’s a problem with the Lugosi estate, I think that for some reason Universal just didn’t want to use his face. I imagine they don’t have anybody handling this licensing stuff that actually knows toys. I think I’d rather they all just own up to being statues and be done with it, ya know?
They just all look so sad, together like that. As if they’re fully aware of being half-assed phoned-in products. But maybe that’s just me. I’d go $5 a figure.
man, these characters deserve better than these. drac, frankie, wolfie & co are literal classics and should be treated as such. these “figs” are just not up to those standards. as vault notices, i think drac looks a boatload more like duncan regehr than bela lugosi… and that’s not entirely a bad thing… but it’s terrible if you’re doing “universal monsters” and you’re doing “action figures” (ok, it’s a lot of quotes… sue me.)
i’m sure mike crawford would agree… we need REAL figures of the universal monsters, and they need full likeness rights for chaney, lugosi, and karloff in particular. (the chapman and browning estates respectively can suck it.)
btw… it might be cuz i’m a tad tipsy… but i miss vincent price. it saddens me on a fundamental level that my kids are living in a price-less era. but it makes me very happy that he left so many great performances to know him through. my mom used to be addicted to AMC back when they showed real classic movies, and every time i was sick, or ferris buellering being sick, we sat at home and watched movies… and i was always sickest around halloween when the horror movies kicked into heavy rotation. the raven was excellent, my favorite price until edward scissorhands, and that movie to this day makes me cry. it’s amazing how a good actor touches your soul.
From what I understand the Lugosi estate won’t give up the likeness rights. Lame.
Anyone pick up Grandpa from Munsters? Maybe he could be a stand-in for ‘ol Drac here.