Should Hot Toys RE-MAKE the Universal Monsters? (not quite what you think...)

[Seditionary]

They could do alternative gary oldman as gigantic were-bat/robinwilliams form also.

 

[EVILFACE]

I'd buy a Oldman Dracula.

 

[Dr.Mirakle32]

I'd really love a Vosloo Imhotep sporting this look:

and these specific looks for Dracula (all sporting interchangeable heads!):

 

[Le Fantome]

I would welcome classic HT Universal 12"

In DX format with MOVING EYES (PERS)!

Imagine that! Universal Monsters DEFINITELY deserve that royal treatment, as does modern horror characters.

It's been 10 long years since there was a 12" of a standard Frankenstein's Monster. And though I love the Sideshow Frank, 10 years is a really long time without a release in that format.

With how far detailing/clothing has come for 12", can you imagine how they would look now with current advances in toy production?

 

[Mr ?]

I missed out on Sideshow's Bela Lugosi Dracula. I'd really like him in a Hot Toys 1/6 scale to go with my Sideshow Karloff Frankie and The Wolfman.

 

[abake]

Do I think Hot Toys should literally remake 12" figures based on the classic Universal horror films? Despite many fans wanting it, I really don't think so and wouldn't be that supportive, even though I do think a HT Karloff Frankenstein Monster or Lugosi Dracula would be amazing.

Why? Sideshow's line is truly iconic, and truly one of the first quality 1/6th scale collections ever produced for any licence. I wouldn't collect the HT or SSC figures I do now, if it wasn't for the Sideshow Monsters. If Hot Toys tackled that licence, not only would they not delve into the wealth of characters SSC did, it would undermine what made that line unique.

However, I would be more than supportive if Hot Toys got the licences to do a line based on remakes/reboots of the Universal horror films. Could you imagine quality, high-end detailed versions of the following:

Bram Stoker's Dracula
Gary Oldman as Vlad The Impaler
Old man Dracula w/ bun-hair, red kimono
London Pimp Dracula
Dracula in golden gown
Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Kenneth Branagh as Baron Victor Frankenstein
Robert DeNiro as the Monster

The Mummy
Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep
black robes, w/ mask version
Rotting "Juicy" Mummy version
Egyptian Priest/Fully revitalized version
Brendan Fraser as Rick O'Connell

The Wolf Man
Benicio Del Toro as The Wolf Man
Benicio Del Toro as Larry Talbot (maybe a DX 2-in-1)

Of course HT is busier with some of their juicer, more lucrative properties, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd buy more than a couple characters off this list.

Quite frankly, I don't understand how HT doing a line of UM would "undermine" SST's line... that's like saying Medicom's new alien figure "undermined" the ones they did in the 80's. Or that HT's version undermines the original Kenner alien. Or that DiD's WWII figures undermine the old G.I.Joes from the 70's.
Sideshow's fantastic figures will remain fantastic figures no matter what.
And if another company decides to have a go at them and make them better, then that's wonderful.
I have a bunch of Sideshow's UM's and I love them, they are among the best figures Sideshow has ever made and among the best 1/6 figures ever made, period. That doesn't mean I am not aware of the shortcomings of those figures.

Honestly, I don't get why people simply don't want to see better representations of older figures.

I'm not saying I want HT to do them, I'm just saying I find it silly that people don't want better figures.

 

[thenammagazine]

Quite frankly, I don't understand how HT doing a line of UM would "undermine" SST's line... that's like saying Medicom's new alien figure "undermined" the ones they did in the 80's. Or that HT's version undermines the original Kenner alien. Or that DiD's WWII figures undermine the old G.I.Joes from the 70's.
Sideshow's fantastic figures will remain fantastic figures no matter what.
And if another company decides to have a go at them and make them better, then that's wonderful.
I have a bunch of Sideshow's UM's and I love them, they are among the best figures Sideshow has ever made and among the best 1/6 figures ever made, period. That doesn't mean I am not aware of the shortcomings of those figures.

Honestly, I don't get why people simply don't want to see better representations of older figures.

I'm not saying I want HT to do them, I'm just saying I find it silly that people don't want better figures.

Save for the body itself, which the Buck was perfect for anyway, how much "better" could HT do them to justify us paying $150 for them?

 

[the angry orc]

Save for the body itself, which the Buck was perfect for anyway, how much "better" could HT do them to justify us paying $150 for them?

agreed. sideshow's are amazing. i totally dig them. timeless. classic.

i want an oldman dracula. i don't care who makes it.

 

[creature4000]

oldam Drac is an easy one.. you basically have 3+ figs for one character.

 

[thenammagazine]

oldam Drac is an easy one.. you basically have 3+ figs for one character.

I'm so tired of seeing all the "HT DX" threads, but if ever there was one to be that, this is a character best suited for the DX treatment - kickass armored version, gentleman top hat version and Barbie dress version.

 

[abake]

Save for the body itself, which the Buck was perfect for anyway, how much "better" could HT do them to justify us paying $150 for them?

Depends on each character...
Lugosi's Dracula is a so-so likeness IMHO, and the paint apps weren't very good. The outfit is pretty bad as well. However, I don't think such a figure would cost 150...
Karloff as Frankenstein's monster has a fantastic HS but, again, the outfit and paint apps are pretty poor.
Nosferatu's sculpt is also very good IMHO, but the suit pretty much sucks.
The Creature is perfect IMHO.
The Mask of the Red Death is pretty much perfect as well, although certain details in the outfit could be better.
And so on and so forth.

Again, to me it is a matter of being able to make them better. If it can be done, then why not?
The market will decide what price people would be willing to pay.

Having said that, I doubt HT would ever go into such a line. They've always struck me as a more modern oriented company. Classics for them are the 80's. Which is also fine by me.

 

[thenammagazine]

Depends on each character...
Lugosi's Dracula is a so-so likeness IMHO, and the paint apps weren't very good. The outfit is pretty bad as well. However, I don't think such a figure would cost 150...
Karloff as Frankenstein's monster has a fantastic HS but, again, the outfit and paint apps are pretty poor.
Nosferatu's sculpt is also very good IMHO, but the suit pretty much sucks.
The Creature is perfect IMHO.
The Mask of the Red Death is pretty much perfect as well, although certain details in the outfit could be better.
And so on and so forth.

Again, to me it is a matter of being able to make them better. If it can be done, then why not?
The market will decide what price people would be willing to pay.

Having said that, I doubt HT would ever go into such a line. They've always struck me as a more modern oriented company. Classics for them are the 80's. Which is also fine by me.

Nah, to me it just seems like another fanboy HT deal. There's no way HT would be able to do them for close to $100. These guys would be at least up in the $130 range. Then add taxes and shipping. I wouldn't invest another chunk like that on a character just because his suit is tailored better, or the likeness (which I thought was fine) has finely tuned eyebrows now. None of these characters really struck any poses that can't be pulled off by the Buck anyway, so again, it really seems like a waste of time. HT is better served creating new characters than riding on the coattails of lines that Sideshow has already done, and done quite well.

 

[abake]

Actually, I think the majority of my purchases are Sideshow and I'm very critical of some of HT's products, although I usually rate them very highly as a company (just don't get me started on Alien...).

As for the price tag, it would depend on what type of accessories they came with, maybe extra heads, elaborate stands, who knows.
Anyway, it's a moot point, I doubt HT will ever get into that type of figures.

 

[the dude person]

HT could have made an awesome Imhotep mummy, with squishy rubber flesh ("still juicy!"), but it's a little late for that now that the trilogy has been made and is now sitting there getting old... If a 4th one is ever made, they could do him then... Brendan Fraser as O'Connel would be cool too... Oh well...