New Universal Monsters in 2014 from Diamond Select

[Mr. Hyde]

Why wasn't there an Ardeth-Bay figure?

[Mord]

I think it's because to the average toy customer it just looks like an old Shriner in a fez. KKK explained that figures have to appeal to the average Joe. I understand that, now. I hope they have great success with their "home-grown" monsters and fully apologize for calling Van Helsing "dreadful". It's a well-sculpted figure with a beautiful base. Hell, I might even buy it to hide with Dracula.

[aura of foreboding]

I'll take a picture of the stone base, Anton. And I believe Werewolf of London was not something we could do.

This is disgusting.  How can Universal limit a license so severely?  Werewolf of London has always been a Universal Monster, always!  He has been considered one officially since 1991 (with the Classics Collection), and that continued all of the way up through the end of Sideshow's reign.  How can they just now decide that Werewolf of London is not a Universal Monster?  If he isn't one, I imagine that Dracula's Daughter isn't either, which might explain the lack of this character in toy form.  If I were in charge of the negotiations at DST (or any toy company), I would definitely push for a more expansive umbrella of character options.  After all, DST is doing Universal the favor.  Universal should not be allowed to get away with this.  Companies pay good money to license the characters and ought to have as much capital as they need to continue to turn profits.  Otherwise, an extended license is worthless.  Get the picture, Universal!

[Mord]

AoF, if you have any of the Sideshow figures you'll notice that each one has not only Universal license but actor estate license. I don't know if it was easier (and cheaper) to obtain back then or what (maybe KKK can chime in with the facts). A lot of these celebrity offspring are now doing horror conventions and may feel they deserve more money now that they're horror royalty. Anyone who really wants any of these characters (like Werewolf of London) can still find the excellent Sideshow versions at reasonable prices online or in collector shops. They all fit nicely with the DST monsters (no fights so far, on my shelves).

[aura of foreboding]

I was assuming it was a character-specific issue, because he mentioned that Sideshow somehow got to do it, but they couldn't due to licensing changes.  I was assuming these were changes at Universal, and not with Hull.  If it's with Hull, that's a different issue, but (right now) it would seem as if Universal is not allowing toy companies full access to their character library, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me. 

[Mord]

Ummm, might have to do with the recent Chaney lawsuit. Maybe they don't want to give the go-ahead to any character they don't have absolute rights to. If the actor's face shows through, the relatives might want their cut.

[Count_Zirock]

But, as far as I know, Cortlandt Hull would be the executor for Henry Hull's estate. And, given his activities with The Witch's Dungeon Museum and preservehollywood.org, I can't imagine he wouldn't grant a license for WoL. Also, if they're working out separate licensing deals between Universal and the Chaneys, then that only means Lugosi Enterprises wouldn't work out a deal for Dracula, even though they would get their money without having to wait for Universal's accounting. No pun intended, but that bites!

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[Anton Phibes]

  I GETS NO FIGURE???!!? BAH!!!!  HUMBUG!!!

[aura of foreboding]

that only means Lugosi Enterprises wouldn't work out a deal for Dracula.

I've been operating under that impression for a long time now, which is why things like "Monster Jackpots" have been so puzzling to me.  How come Lugosi will work with Universal on that, but not on this?  Unless, of course, that was some agreement created back when things were still pleasant between them.  Sadly, I think any DST Dracula will have to come after they are through with Universal. 

[raycastile]

When I saw the photos of the carded EMCE Phantom and Mutant a few days ago at the Mego Museum, my first impression was, "Wow, cool!" Then I read all the online comments about how the actual production examples looked inferior to the prototypes. I had to go back and compare them to see what people were talking about. I think the picture of the clamshell packaged Phantom that hit the Web has done the toy a disservice. The red cravat is there, it's just positioned poorly. I can't tell if the vest is present, as the cloak covers up the area where the vest would be. And the length of the cloak appears to be about the same as the one in the prototype picture. If it's shorter, then it's only by a smidgen. The photo of the packaged example makes the length difficult to gauge. The figure appears to be standing slightly on its tiptoes, and the black cloak, black pants and dark card back all blend together.

I didn't compare the Mutant. That character does not mean as much to me. I think the carded Mutant looks cool, though I wish his chest were blue. The lack of color on his chest does seem curious. In stills from This Island Earth, his chest is blue.

I've bought all the retro cloth figures so far. I'll certainly buy these two. I think the line has improved with each series. I wouldn't mind another 2 or 4 figures, but only if they maintain the same standards. I would also be just fine if the line ended with these eight. It's a fine set just as it is. I don't have a burning need to see Mole Man, Quasimodo, Invisible Man and Werewolf of London added, though I'd buy them if they made them. I would think those four characters would be the next logical choices.  Mole Man and Quasi tend to be peg warmers in any line. Best to save them for the end.

[Gasport]

All's I know is that i'm gonna buy the crap out of that Phantom EMCE figure. WTF is there to complain about? ...it is sheer perfection, ESPECIALLY considering the original Mego's were traditionally a little ''off'' as far as accuracy to the original variations go.      Will it be available at Toys R Us?

[Anton Phibes]

Should be!!  September 25th from what I am seeing in the shipping updates.  You're right. Phantom is great. I think what bugs everybody is Universal's "advising"---and the behind the scenes legal goings on of getting these figures into the hands of collectors.
In this day and age---Hot Toys and NECA, etc. want figures to look as close to their onscreen counterparts as possible. Meanwhile Universal paddles their particular boat in the opposite direction because they dont wish to agree to the terms of the families involved in the likeness department. Thats why Dracula looks like generic vampire #37 and quite possibly why there aint gonna be a Werewolf of London.

Universal, who does virtually nothing with the properties except re-release the 457th version of Frankenstein and Dracula with a pretty new box, cannot possilby be expected to pay a royalty to a family member. Its a miracle we have anything at all. It makes you wonder how Billiken ever got those awesome vinyl model kits made of Universal's monsters back in the 80's.

[Mord]

Yeah, Billiken raised the bar on monster figure sculpts. I'm not really sure that they followed the same rules as U.S. companies. Their Dracula, at least, would be lawsuit bait in any decade considering Bela G's tenacity. When I bought my kits, I had to go through this one Japanese guy who made it seem importing Billikens was akin to smuggling drugs into the country. He told me that they were in no way to be sold in the U.S. because of the original licensing deal. I'm not sure if he was just saying that to make them more desirable or if it was the truth, but the kits were a lot harder to find than their Tsukuda counterparts. Btw, I would like to add Karloff's Mr. Hyde to Ray's list of Mego-style wants.

[King Kang Kong]

The ship dates we post are for the specialty market -- I do not know when they will be available at TRU, but probably around the same time?

And I do not know why we were not able to make a Henry Hull figure or use Lugosi likeness. It may have been due to permissions, or it may simply have been that the likeness licensing fee was too high. We have to hit a certain price point with specialty and TRU, and if the licensing fee is too high, we can't do it. You can't NOT make a Dracula, so we made a Dracula that didn't look like Lugosi, but to make a Hull Werewolf that looked like the Werewolf but not Hull... I don't even know how we would do that.

[Gillfan]

... which is why things like "Monster Jackpots" have been so puzzling to me. ....

A new slot machine costs a casino between $9-$20k.
With a per piece price like that it is easy to meet a licensing fee with a guarantee of $50k
You could pay the guarantee after selling less than 200 machines.