Action Figure Review: Imhotep #1082 from POP! Movies: The Mummy by Funko

   There have been a handful of "modern" updates of the classic Universal Monsters horror films and while I like quite a few of them, I still think the best of the lot is 1999's The Mummy. It's been one of my favorites since seeing it when it was released in May of 1999 back when I was in 9th grade and I still love it today. I like the entire series of The Mummy films, even if the two sequels aren't as strong as the original (I barely remember The Scorpion King, though, and I never saw any of the sequels to that). It's as much an adventure film as it is a horror movie, but it works so well. The 2017 The Mummy with Sofia Boutella and Tom Cruise that was meant to launch the Dark Universe just didn't hit quite right, but Lee Kronin's The Mummy is scheduled for next year as part of the Blumhouse Universal Studios collaborations. I'm excited to see what happens there. Lee Whannell's Wolf Man was OK, but his The Invisible Man was really quite good. For right now, though, I thought it would be fun to check out this Funko POP! of the Arnold Vosloo version of Imhotep from the 1999 The Mummy film. Vosloo was a very intimidating presence in a different way than Boris Karloff was and the film made great use of special effects to really showcase Imhotep's sorcery. Ready to check out Imhotep? Then join me after the break...

Wrapping Up 2024: William "Wild Bill" Hardy from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

   While he's no Duke or Snake Eyes, Wild Bill has had 15 figures in the classic 1/18th scale G.I. Joe toylines. That's a lot! Wild Bill was one of the 1983 characters and was packed with the vintage Dragonfly Assault Copter XH-1, so it's no surprise that he's both quite popular and the figure Hasbro selected to include with the base HasLab Classified Series Dragonfly (XH-1). Thus far, I think Wild Bill is definitely the highest profile figure to only be included with a HasLab vehicle, so this guy is selling for mucho dinero on the aftermarket. The Dragonfly is a fantastic vehicle but it's so large that my photography space just couldn't hold it and I didn't feel like doing a video review of it. Wild Bill, though? I definitely wanted to check him out. I never had him as a kid; not the original nor even the Battle Corps versions. My first Wild Bill was either the Valor Vs. Venom version or one of the G.I. Joe: Vs Cobra releases after they'd been on the market for a couple years. I was married by that point! Still, I appreciate the character and always liked his appearances in the cartoons and comics. His file card gives him a lot of personality and that spills over into the figure and the Classified Series Dragonfly with lots of cool little details like the names "Chips" and "Salsa" being given to two of the rocket launchers on the helicopter. Ready to check out Wild Bill? Then join me after the break...

Wrapping Up 2024: The Mummy from Toony Terrors by NECA

   The Toony Terrors Frankenstein and Mummy were both Christmas gifts from my parents for Christmas of 2024 which, along with the standard NECA Frankenstein and the graphic novel featuring Mary Shelly's story and Boris Karloff's likeness, led me to proclaim it as "A Very Karloff Christmas." That sounds like an old 60s novelty song, doesn't it? Today I'm checking out the Toony Terrors Mummy, leaving us now 3/4th of the way through the set. Out of the classic Universal main crew, I do think the Mummy is my least favorite of the films. It's good, don't get me wrong, but it's not as good as Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, or The Wolf Man. Now, when it comes to post 1960 Universal Monsters films? 1999's The Mummy sits at the top and reigns supreme. I really hope we see a resurgence of merchandise for that film someday. It's tough to beat the iconic look of Karloff, though, and that's what we get here. Just more animated. ready to unwrap this Mummy? Then join me after the break...

Prepare for the Wolf Man: Wolfman from Universal Pictures Classic Movie Monsters by Imperial Toy Corporation

 

   Prepare for the Wolf Man? Well, the 2025 Wolf Man film has been released and I had the chance to go and watch it with my dad on Friday, January 17th. My wife and I originally planned on taking my daughter and a friend of hers to a showing of the film on Friday evening but Thursday night I learned the movie was rated R. I actually had missed that and really thought it was PG-13. It turns out that it was a very mild R (honestly not sure why it wasn't PG-13) and I'll probably take her another time, but  by that point we'd already made alternate plans and took her and her friend to see Sonic the Hedgehog 3. That was excellent, by the way, and as someone who grew up with Jim Carrey being such a big deal it was definitely his film. It was fun, charming, and I loved it. The Wolf Man? Eh...it was OK. Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man was excellent and I thought it managed to do a lot with it's premise, plus Elizabeth Moss was excellent. Wolf Man tried. It's a decent movie with some cool new ideas, though it doesn't realize it's full potential and some of the decisions to "ground" the film really end up defanging it. I'll probably end up writing a review of the film at the end of the month but today's focus isn't on the film Wolf Man at all; It's actually on the 1986 Wolfman toy from the Imperial Toy Corporation's Universal Pictures Classic Movie Monsters toyline. 

   This (along with a couple of the other Universal Pictures Classic Movie Monsters) are currently the oldest Universal Monsters items in my collection. I don't want to say that 1986 is that old (I turned two in 1986), but it is close to 40 years old. Of course, the 1941 Lon Chaney Jr. film is 84 years old, so the distance between the original film and this toy is comparable between the distance between this toy and now. Crazy, right? I'm planning to start getting into some of the Remco Universal Monsters at some point soon, but these were much easier to acquire. And much less expensive. I haven't had these since childhood but only acquired them last year. Ready to take a look at Imperial's Wolfman? And, yes, they called him Wolfman with no space between Wolf and Man. Let's see how he howls after the break...

Wrapping Up 2024: Rip Cord (Night Force) from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

   

   Here comes the third team member of the Haslab Dragonfly crew: Rip Cord in his Night Force gear. Rip Cord was the first tier/ stretch goal figure unlocked (at 13,000 orders) and, since he's decked out in his Night Force gear and was part of the 1984 series, we'll likely see a standard version (or Retro version) at some point in the near future. While Rip Cord isn't one of the A-list Joes like Snake Eyes, Duke, Roadblock, Scarlett, Flint, or Barbecue, he definitely has some recognizability due to appearing in one of the most popular years of the vintage line, appearing in the Sunbow animated series, having a pretty well remembered storyline (when he date Candy Appel, A.K.A. Bongo the Balloon Bear, and goes on a solo mission to rescue her from Cobra Island), and appearing in 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra where he was played by Marlon Wayans. Rip Cord / Wallace Weems is an interesting character as he has all of those accomplishments and appearances and yet he only received one vintage figure and seems to often be confused with other characters, or intentionally renamed. Also, sometimes his name is written as Ripcord with no space, while other times he's Rip Cord (with a space). Has Rip Cord received any action figures since the vintage line? 

   Yes, has. In 2003, as part of the G.I. Joe Vs. Cobra: Spy Troops, there was also a figure that was named HALO Jumper, Ripcord's MOS, with the file name Wallace Weems. The name was changed during the run, however, and the figure became Sgt. Airborne instead, now with Airborne's classic name of Franklin Talltree. Airborne wasn't a HALO Jumper but a helicopter assault trooper. In 2009 as part of the 25th Anniversary Collection,  Airborne was released in the Assault on Cobra Island set....just kidding, no he wasn't. It looked like Airborne but the figure was named Spc. Altitude and given the file card name Phillip Arndt, like the Sky Patrol Altitude figure with the file name of Freefall. Who the heck was this guy supposed to be anyway? That same year there were four Rip Cord figures released as part of the Rise of Cobra line, all called Wallace "Ripcord" Weems and based on Marlon Wayans' likeness. None were outfitted as paratroopers/ HALO Jumpers, though they were pretty cool, especially the one outfitted in full camo. Lastly there was a Ripcord figure in 2011 based on the short lived G.I. Joe: Renegades who did have paratrooper gear and favored the Marlon Wayans take on the character over any other previous versions. While he wasn't part of the vintage Night Force subset, a Night Force Rip Cord did come out as a 1/18th scaled figure with the Haslab Skystriker a couple years back (2022), which seems to be what this figure is based on. Why'd I spend all that time on this? I just find it interesting. Thanks for sticking around! Let's dive in to the main review after the break...

Wrapping Up 2024: Frankenstein from Toony Terrors by NECA

 

   I picked up the entire series of the Universal Monsters Toony Terrors and I'm making my way through them, following up the Wolf Man with Frankenstein. Or Frankenstein's monster. Or just the Monster or the Creature. I received two of the Toony Terrors as Christmas gifts from my parents, Frankenstein and the Mummy, so it was a very Karloff Christmas at my house. Ready for an animated take on the classic First Monster of cinema? Then join me after the break...

Prepare for the Wolf Man: The Wolf Man from Toony Terrors by NECA

 

   We're less than a week from the opening of the new film Wolf Man, a reimagining of the classic character. From everything I've seen (I've been trying to stay very spoiler free) we are definitely in for a different take on the story rather than a remake of the 1941 Lon Chaney Jr. film. I'm actually really excited for the movie and, to help find an outlet for that excitement, I'm reviewing a few different Wolf Man figures throughout January. While the Crypt Club 4-pack and this Toony Terrors version of the Wolf Man are new releases (though both from the very end of 2024), I've got some older stuff that will be showing up, too. NECA's Toony Terrors are a fun range of figures that I really cherry pick. I don't buy or like all of the characters or films they draw from, but I've found most of the ones I've picked up to be real winners. I received the Mummy and Frankenstein for Christmas but last weekend I was at a large mall that had an FYE and found Dracula and the Wolf Man. Let me tell you, I have no idea what FYE's business model is or what they're smoking but these guys were priced at $22.99. That's really high! Fortunately they were having a buy one, get one half off sale, so I ended up paying around retail price and had the opportunity to select from multiple figures for the best paintjob. They had a lot of figures in stock, but FYE was charging $40 bucks for a standard Star Wars: Black Series, Marvel Legends, or Jada Street Fighter figure. Insane. I'm not sure what their marketing strategy is as they have a massive clearance section of unsold figures, some cheaper and some more. Anyways, I just wanted to complain, even though it worked out to standard retail for the two Toony Terrors I received. Let's run with the Wolf Man after the break...