Monster in My Pocket always has a place in 31 Days of Toy Terror and today, representing the letter W, is the Wurdulac from the fourth series of MIMP minifigures. The fourth series was called the Super Scary series and the figures were a little bit larger, had higher point values, and even had a couple paint applications. Today I'm checking out the Wurdulac, one of my child original MIMPs. According to the Monster in My Pocket lore, the Wurdulac is: "European; a ravenous vampire who torments loved ones and places them under his spell to carry out his deeds."
It's actually a creature from Slavic folklore with roots in Serbia and Russia. The Wurdulac is kind of like a vampire but it often feeds on the blood of it's own family, eventually desiring to turn them all into wurdulacs like itself. It also might have some connections to werewolves as it's name is a corruption of the western Slavic word volkodlak, which refers to someone who wears the fur or hide of a werewolf. Apparently in older Slavic mythology, the soul still roamed the world 40 days after the death of the body, but if someone was so evil that they were denied entry to the world of the dead, or if they died suddenly, violently, or with improper funeral rites, their soul could return to their body. The name gained more popularity because of the 1839 Aleksey Tolstoy novella "The Family of the Vourdalak." The Wurdulac has even made an appearance in the horror anthology Black Sabbath and there are Canadian and Norwegian death metal bands named after the creatures. Pretty spooky stuff, right? Let's check out our representative of the letter W, the Wurdulac, after the break...
It's actually a creature from Slavic folklore with roots in Serbia and Russia. The Wurdulac is kind of like a vampire but it often feeds on the blood of it's own family, eventually desiring to turn them all into wurdulacs like itself. It also might have some connections to werewolves as it's name is a corruption of the western Slavic word volkodlak, which refers to someone who wears the fur or hide of a werewolf. Apparently in older Slavic mythology, the soul still roamed the world 40 days after the death of the body, but if someone was so evil that they were denied entry to the world of the dead, or if they died suddenly, violently, or with improper funeral rites, their soul could return to their body. The name gained more popularity because of the 1839 Aleksey Tolstoy novella "The Family of the Vourdalak." The Wurdulac has even made an appearance in the horror anthology Black Sabbath and there are Canadian and Norwegian death metal bands named after the creatures. Pretty spooky stuff, right? Let's check out our representative of the letter W, the Wurdulac, after the break...
Height: 1/2 inches
Original Year of Release: 1991
* I don't know where Matchbox got the inspiration for this design or what specifically makes this a Wurdulac, but this guy definitely has a vampire look and feel to him, but with more flair. A long, winged cape, a stance like he's going to lunge at any moment, and a spooky green face. Very terrifying!
* I like the pose, although the sculpt isn't as crisp as on some of the earlier figures. The arms kind of blend in to the cape a bit, though that might be intentional.
Originally Sold In: Singles, 6 packs, and 12 packs.
* I don't know where Matchbox got the inspiration for this design or what specifically makes this a Wurdulac, but this guy definitely has a vampire look and feel to him, but with more flair. A long, winged cape, a stance like he's going to lunge at any moment, and a spooky green face. Very terrifying!
* I like the pose, although the sculpt isn't as crisp as on some of the earlier figures. The arms kind of blend in to the cape a bit, though that might be intentional.
I'd love to see a revival of Monster in My Pocket, or at least something similar. Just fun, colorful monsters and creatures from world mythology and folklore. It was really fun as a kid to try to learn more about these creatures, even in the years before Google, Wikipedia, and having internet access in general. Borrowing books from the library and scaring myself silly was too much fun! The Wurdulac is a fun figure. Not as impressive as some MIMP minis, but still a nice figure with some solid paint highlights. He gets a solid Great from me.
This is the first figure of a wurdulac I've reviewed on the site. For more Monster in My Pocket reviews check out the following:
This is the first figure of a wurdulac I've reviewed on the site. For more Monster in My Pocket reviews check out the following:
I love the bit of historical background. Great write up!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I picked up a few new Monster in My Pocket figures right before Halloween, but I'll probably save them for next year's countdown.
DeleteNeat. I only saw a set of these once at a toy show. Looks like a fun line to collect.
ReplyDeleteMost of my Super Scary MIMPs came from a dollar store when I was a kid. I remember picking up 2 of the 6 packs. Now I wish I'd grabbed them all!
DeleteMost of my Super Scary MIMPs came from a dollar store when I was a kid. I remember picking up 2 of the 6 packs. Now I wish I'd grabbed them all!
Delete