As we covered last week, Diamond Select Toys is jumping into the Universal Monsters franchise with the Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Mummy. I was excited to pick up the Mummy at my local comic book shop, but little did I realize that DST would get me to purchase two versions of his figure.

Like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy wasn’t based on previous literary works. Instead, this 1932 movie was inspired by the opening of King Tutankhamun’s Tomb and the mysterious Curse of the Pharaohs that followed. Boris Karloff, with his mournful eyes and stone like features, was cast as the living mummy Imhotep. After being resurrected by an archeologist who reads a life-giving spell, Imhotep goes on a quest to discover the reincarnated soul of his long dead lover, Princess Ankhesenamun. If this sounds familiar, it’s because the 1999 film was a remake with the same basic plot and lot more Brendan Fraser.

Also, like the Creature figure there were two versions of the Mummy released. The Toys R Us exclusive came with a normal looking figure of the Mummy and a small display base. I noticed this figure at my local TRU a couple weeks ago, but passed on it because I had ordered the Diamond Retailer’s exclusive through my comic shop. Besides, the Diamond exclusive was far more interesting because it came with the Mummy’s sarcophagus! Who needs a puny base when you can get a tomb? But my excitement was soon dashed.

The Mummy that comes with the sarcophagus shares the same body as the Toy’s R Us version, but his head has a slightly different sculpt with closed eyes and a more peaceful expression. To add to the look, the sleeping Mummy figure also has new molded arms that are crossed over his chest and can’t move. While he looked great, especially in his sarcophagus, it still left me with an in-action figure. So my next stop was Toys R Us…

The sculpting on these two figures is superb. I was very impressed with how much tiny details were included on a figure that can tend to look repetitive with all those bandages. But the sculptor went beyond the look of layers and added unique aspects to the bandages themselves to break up the monotony. Turning the figure around there are visibly rotting tatters hanging down and even areas where the wrappings seem to be coming apart. The facial features on both the sleeping and awake heads are also terrific, if not entirely accurate. Instead of the classic depiction of the Mummy when he first awakens, we get a half way look that’s less embalmed and more Imhotep-ish. Even though this isn’t technically correct, it is still an awesome sculpt and really resembles Boris Karloff.

The paint on these figures is also great. The bodies are molded in this dingy looking gray and then dry brushed in a muddy brown with a touch of black here and there. Not only does this give a nice texture to the bandages, but the brown also seeps into all the small cracks and spaces, making the figure look like he’s being held together as much by dirt and decay as his wrappings. The faces of these figures have been done in a similar way, with the brown accentuating every tiny wrinkle on his aged visage. The only areas that stand out from this gray and brown collage are his black eyes, his lighter gray hair, and the tarnished ring on his right hand. Continue to Page 2…