Another Halloween has come and past, which means another wave of Universal Monsters figures and Minimates from Diamond Select.  I’m starting off with Frankenstein because I have a particular annoyance with his figure and I want to get him out of the way.

I’m not sure who’s the more popular monster, but it’s got to be between Dracula and Frankenstein right?  (Personally, it’s the Wolf Man for me.)  So I found it pretty interesting that Diamond Select put them both out in the same wave.  I have an idea as to why they might have done this, but you’ll have to wait for my Dracula review for more on that.

Like last year, these figures are being released in both comic shops and at Toys R Us.  The biggest difference between the two Frankensteins is that the TRU version comes with a small base of a brick floor and the beginning of a flight of stairs, while the comic shop version comes with the table that he was brought to life on.  The figures themselves have the same sculpt, but the comic shop Frank is dry washed to look bloody on his hands and face, while the TRU version only looks dirty.

Like all the DST Monsters so far, Frankenstein’s sculpt is pretty great.  The sculptor did a fantastic job of capturing Boris Karloff’s likeness.  Interestingly, they went with the sadder look on his face instead of the annoyed look.  Personally I would have preferred the annoyed face, but only because Frank looks a bit morose on the shelf.

The rest of the figure’s body was sculpted as detailed as the face, but it’s mostly a suit coat and pants so it’s also much more plain.  Both coat and pants have a ton of wrinkles though, and both were sculpted to look a bit short at his ankles and forearms.  The forearms themselves were given the proper cut marks at the wrists, while the left arm has a metal band that runs down to just past his wrist.  I never noticed this little piece in the movie, but it was sure enough there when I looked up his pictures.  So kudos on that.

Frank’s paint job is also pretty good.  Most of him was molded in its proper color, so the majority of his paint work comes from the details.  Like his skin, his clothes have also been dry washed.  But the details here make them look dirty and worn instead of bloody.  Frankenstein’s huge clunky boots have been brushed with both light and dark brown, giving them a scuffed up metallic look.  Continue to page 2…