{"id":9970,"date":"2010-11-04T14:06:03","date_gmt":"2010-11-04T19:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=9970"},"modified":"2010-11-07T17:54:14","modified_gmt":"2010-11-07T23:54:14","slug":"vault-review-diamond-selects-mummy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=9970","title":{"rendered":"Vault Review:
Diamond Select’s Mummy"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

Like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy wasn\u2019t based on previous literary works. Instead, this 1932 movie was inspired by the opening of King Tutankhamun\u2019s 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\u2019s because the 1999 film was a remake with the same basic plot and lot more Brendan Fraser.<\/p>\n

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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\u2019s exclusive through my comic shop. Besides, the Diamond exclusive was far more interesting because it came with the Mummy\u2019s sarcophagus! Who needs a puny base when you can get a tomb? But my excitement was soon dashed. <\/p>\n

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The Mummy that comes with the sarcophagus shares the same body as the Toy\u2019s 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\u2019t 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\u2026<\/p>\n

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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\u2019s less embalmed and more Imhotep-ish. Even though this isn\u2019t technically correct, it is still an awesome sculpt and really resembles Boris Karloff.<\/p>\n

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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\u2019s 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…<\/a><\/p>\n

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One area that I wasn\u2019t happy with was his articulation. I thought the Creature from the Black Lagoon had minimal movement, but the Mummy has even less. The torso and legs of both figures are one sculpted piece, so he\u2019s basically stuck standing (or lying) in that one pose. The head of each figure is a swivel joint, and you can actually pop the heads off and switch them out if want. The arms of the sleeping Mummy are molded in place and don\u2019t move. The awake Mummy has ball\/hinge shoulders and swivel wrists. This allows him to look like he\u2019s chasing someone or moving forward at least. But you\u2019ll want to be very careful with his wrists. Both wrists on my awake Mummy were stuck in place, and when I went to turn them they began to tear. <\/p>\n

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The sleeping mummy comes with a large and very heavy sarcophagus. When I picked up the package for the first time I couldn\u2019t believe how much weight it had. When I got home, I placed each package on the scale, and the sarcophagus weighed two pounds more than the basic TRU Mummy. So if you\u2019re ordering this online, expect a higher shipping charge than normal. The sarcophagus itself consists of two pieces. The base, where the figure lays, is sculpted to look like stone on the outside and has etched cracks and a textured\/worn look throughout. To help highlight these details, the coffin has been dry brushed with a darker brown. The lid of the sarcophagus has a classic look with the plastic being molded in a gold color and decorated with blues, blacks, reds, and silver. The sculpting on the lid is extremely detailed with hundreds of tiny hatch marks, lines, and scales. Even the inside of the lid has been given etched scratches and cracks to make it look aged.<\/p>\n

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The TRU awake Mummy comes with a small but highly detailed display base. The entire base is molded in a light brown and made to look like sand and rock. There are even some footprints molded into the ground for the Mummy to stand in. The right side of the base has the sculpted red pieces of shattered pottery. While on the left side sits the casket and the Scroll of Thoth. Although both casket and scroll are nicely detailed, neither has the hieroglyphs printed on them like in the movie. That\u2019s a little disappointing considering all the other great details that are included with both figures.<\/p>\n

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The Diamond Retailer\u2019s Mummy that comes with the sarcophagus will run you about $20, while the Toys R Us exclusive will cost about $14. If you just want a decent and poseable Mummy figure, I\u2019d suggest going with the Toys R Us version. Just be careful with those wrists when turning them. But if you\u2019re a hard core Universal Monsters fan, or you really want that sarcophagus, then you\u2019ll probably want to pick up both versions. In the end, I\u2019m actually glad I got both because there were parts I liked in each set. So now I can make a display by cobbling together both sets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":9972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[34,10],"tags":[750,761,718],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/mummTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-2AO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10069,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=10069","url_meta":{"origin":9970,"position":0},"title":"Vault Review: Diamond Select’s Wolfman","date":"November 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though Halloween is past, that doesn\u2019t mean we're down with our spooky figure reviews! I\u2019ve got one more of Diamond Select\u2019s Universal Monsters toys to look at. I\u2019m ending on The Wolf Man, one of my favorite characters and a nice conclusion to the first wave of figures.","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9572,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=9572","url_meta":{"origin":9970,"position":1},"title":"Vault Review: Minimates Universal Monsters Wave 1","date":"September 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m a big fan of the classic Universal Monsters. Whether it was playing Castlevania, or watching great movies like The Monster Squad; I couldn\u2019t get enough of Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf Man, the Mummy, or the Gill-Man. So when Art Asylum released these in Minimates form, I was definitely sold.","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9860,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=9860","url_meta":{"origin":9970,"position":2},"title":"Vault Review: Diamond Select’s Creature from the Black Lagoon","date":"October 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This year, along with the great Minimates sets, Diamond Select Toys is also releasing the first action figures in their Universal Monsters line. I\u2019ve been waiting for these guys ever since they were first revealed at Toy Fair all those months ago. But was the wait truly worth it?","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15460,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=15460","url_meta":{"origin":9970,"position":3},"title":"Vault Review: Diamond Select’s Frankenstein","date":"November 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Another Halloween has come and past, which means another wave of Universal Monsters figures and Minimates from Diamond Select.\u00a0 I\u2019m starting off with Frankenstein because I have a particular annoyance with his figure and I want to get him out of the way. I\u2019m not sure who\u2019s the more popular\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/frank6.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21828,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=21828","url_meta":{"origin":9970,"position":4},"title":"Review Round-Up (October 29th-November 4th)","date":"November 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s been a hectic last couple days, but I couldn\u2019t miss Review Round-Up! This week could be called Metalhead week! It\u2019s not all TMNT this week though. There weren\u2019t many comic book toys, but Hobbit figures are getting more love and we\u2019ve always got a healthy chunk of MOTU reviews\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21754,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=21754","url_meta":{"origin":9970,"position":5},"title":"Review Round-Up (October 22nd-28th)","date":"November 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This week\u2019s Review Round-Up played dirty pool! We\u2019ve got our awesome mix of cool reviews of hot new toys and interesting reviews of toys that time forgot, but Toyriffic is on my naughty list! If not for them, I\u2019d never have known about the awesome Halloween repaint of the Hot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9970"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9970"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10068,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9970\/revisions\/10068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}