It's time to venture in to the mummy's tomb for another visit with Imhotep! Last week I looked at Diamond Select's original release of the Mummy so this week I'm looking at NECA's take on the Mummy. There are two versions of this figure, both a color version and a black and white version, but considering the mummy doesn't have a lot of color as it is, the differences are pretty minimal. I actually found this guy sometime time late last year or early this year on clearance at Walmart and picked him up for a killer price. NECA has Ardath Bey coming out in the near future, too, so this guy will go nicely with him. Imhotep in his mummy form doesn't show up much in the original film, just for a few minutes at the beginning, but the costume and makeup is so striking that Boris Karloff's take on the character is far more iconic than any other versions of the character or similar characters, whether they're Imhotep or not. Arnold Vosloo plays Imhotep in the 1999 remake film and sequel, and does a heck of a job there, too. Kharis was the star of the four classic era Mummy sequels with Tom Tyler playing Kharis in 1940's The Mummy Hand and Lon Chaney Jr. plays Kharis in the next three sequels. Klaris, Kharis' cousin, was played by Eddie Parker in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy. Sofia Boutella played Ahmanet, the mummy in the 2017 Dark Universe film with Tom Cruise. I wonder if we'll see any of these mummies ever produced by NECA? For now, though, we'll stick with the classic Karloff mummy. Join me after the break...
The Facts:
Height: 7 1/8ths inches
Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, swivel/hinge knees, swivel thighs, balljointed hips, balljointed waist, balljointed midtorso, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, double swivel/ hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed neck, and a barbell jointed head.
Accessories: 5 interchangeable hands, 3 portraits, 2 wrappings, chest, lid, and scroll.
Year of Release: 2022
Non-Scalper Price: $35- $38 dollars
* The makeup for The Mummy is incredible and NECA captures the 8 hours of work it took to transform Karloff faithfully here. This is the black and white version which looks pretty good here. The ashy, grayish color of most of Imhotep's bandages is pretty nice and still highlights the detail on the deteriorating bandages and the decayed skin visible in the places where the wrapping has come off or didn't cover Imhotep's whole body originally. He looks really skinny and frail as you'd expect from someone who's been stuck in a tomb for thousands of years.
* As seems to be the case with all of NECA's horror figures (or at least the classic Horror figures), the headsculpts are always the best part. The Mummy gets three and they really capture Boris Karloff's likeness in the makeup perfectly. The first might be the most iconic: It's Imhotep with his eyes closed, his mouth tightly sealed, and still at rest. It's just incredible with so much fantastic texture and character. Karloff's facial features that are visible are rendered so accurately, too.
* The third sculpt honestly seems to be a NECA creation as it has Imhotep with an open mouth in his mummified form. Can anyone identify where this is from? If it is a NECA creation, I'm wondering if it's supposed to be Imhotep opening his mouth (which would have been sealed) or it's a tribute to Arnold Vosloo's Imhotep who would open his mouth like this to scream sometimes, one time releasing locusts.
* How's the articulation? Good. Really good, in fact. Excellent. For the mummified Imhotep, you wouldn't expect a lot of movement, but NECA gave him the full complement of articulation. He's got all the joints you would expect with a great range of motion. Most of his articulation is barely noticeable, not breaking up the sculpt much at all, even with some impressive stuff like double hinged elbows with a swivel on each end, allowing him to take his classic arms folded pose. He's a durable figure, too, but his slender physique allows for excellent posing.
* Imhotep comes with five swappable hands: Three right hands (with rings) and two left hands. They're not incredibly different, just slightly different expressions, but they do give you some options when posing. Interestingly, the black and white version of the Mummy comes with an extra right hand that the color version doesn't come with. It doesn't show up on NECA's official solicitations, either, but if you find a picture of the figure in the package you can see it's there.
* The scroll of Thoth comes in a box that's been well preserved inside of a larger chest (which comes in the Mummy accessory set). The chest is a pretty sizable piece with some Egyptian gods sculpted on the corners and a nice pattern printed on the sides.
* The lid comes off. It has the hieroglyphics on top that tell of the mummy's curse (spoiler: It's death!). Inside you can store the scroll of Thoth.
* The scroll of Thoth is made from paper and is quite long with some nice printing on it.
The Negatives:
* While it's made from paper, it only comes rolled like a poster, not a scroll. It's tough to get it to set right. Maybe a sculpted accessory would have been better?
NECA did an excellent job with this figure. If you're looking for a Mummy you can pose, play with, and change up quite a bit with extra wrappings and such, this is your guy. I do wish he had come with his sarcophagus, but that might have been too much to ask. Still, he is a nice figure and the three portraits are all gold. The box for the scroll of Thoth is neat though the scroll itself is a bit underwhelming. Overall, he's a Great and a 1/2 figure and I imagine they'll be some renewed interest in him when Ardath Bey comes out. Well, I think I've said all I want to say about this one, so that's a wrap...
If you're looking for more of the Mummy, specifically Imhotep, I've reviewed the Universal Monsters Select The Mummy, McFarlane Monsters Mummy Playset, the Mummy ReAction figure, the Big Bucket of Monsters Mummy, the Mummy from Mezco's Tower of Fear, and the mummy included with the Mighty Max set "Mighty Max Conquers the Palace of Poison."
For more figures from NECA's Universal Monsters check out the following:
Dracula (Translyvania)
Pretty cool and creepy!
ReplyDeleteNECA is doing this license justice. I'm very excited for Ardath Bey. I'm hopeful we'll get to Kharis, too. While Lon Chaney Jr. was wasted as Kharis, the Mummy Sequel movies are quite fun. I'd really love some from the 1999 Mummy as well. It might be sacrilege, but it's the best film in The Mummy franchise.
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