Trick or Treat Through 31 Days of Toy Terror: The Wolf Man from Tiny Nightmares by Just Play

 

   

   OK, so while most figures this year will tie into the Trick or Treat Through 31 Days of Toy Terror theme of figures related to Halloween in some way, the Wolf Man is just one of my cheats. I mean, is there ever a real reason to not review one of the Universal Monsters? The Wolf Man is my favorite and I was really excited to see him pop up in Series 2 of Just Play's Tiny Nightmares minifigures. I reviewed the Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Bride of Frankenstein last year (from series 1) and I was pleased to discover that these aren't truly blind boxed. Instead, there is an alphabetical code on each one that corresponds to the character inside. The Wolf Man is letter "H" for the normal series that includes eight figures, so if you find that "H" then you have Larry Talbot. (Note: Last year Five Below did get a special set case of these figures with fewer characters that was lettered differently, so it's possible that there is a separate case assortment out there.) Ready for a fun treat for this Halloween season? Then join me after the break...

The Facts:

Height: 3 inches

Articulation: None

Accessories: None

Non-Scalper Price: $8 dollars

The Positives:

* The Wolf Man has a rather simple pose but it's quite fitting for him: He's crouched down just a bit with his claws at the ready, hunting his next victim. These are very sturdy little figures that feel quite solid. I'd say that they're probably as heavy, if not more so, than your average Funko POP! vinyl and yet they're only half the size. 

* Besides being adorable and furry, the Wolf Man is also sporting his outfit from the film. He's wearing a green button-up shirt and dark slacks. It's pretty close and the sculpt is nice and fairly crisp. 

* The portrait is great. It's highly caricatured and definitely going for cute rather than scary, but it's certainly Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolf Man rather than a generic werewolf. There's a very dog-like nose instead of a snout, some sharp teeth showing because of his underbite, and some wildly stylish hair. And how's that hair? Ladies and gentlemen, repeat after me.... "Perfect!"

Ah-hooooo!

* This line is advertised with the feature "Terrif-Eyes," which refer to their little reflective eyes that show off a victim in their sights. They're shiny and they look really neat with the image sitting under the resin lenses. The Wolf Man has a gentleman in a brimmed hat in his eyes, though I'm not sure who this specifically could be. I doubt it's Sir John Talbot as he kills his son, Larry, and not the other way around. Could it be Bela with a new hat?

* Here's a look at the back so you can check out Larry's fantastic hair. I really do like the style of these little guys and I'd love to have a full Universal Monsters set. Considering we've only received two figures in series 1 and one in series 2, how long might it take? 

The Negatives:

* If you look closely, or really just look, you can see that the paint on the face is a bit sloppy. For a simple, caricatured sculpt, the paint apps should be a bit tighter. It's most noticeable on the teeth but you can see slop on the nose and where the fur meets his face as well. 

   These are fairly small figures, smaller than a Funko POP! but larger than a Mystery Mini, but they're quite nice and they're rather affordable. I also really appreciate that they're not truly blind boxed thanks to the easy to identify code stamped into the packaging. The Wolf Man is a great little figure and the perfect guy when you need some savage spookiness in a small package. The Terrif-eyes are really quite a neat little feature and they're quite fun in person. Again, I'd love to see a set of the Universal Monsters done in this style. They'd look great together. Good ol' Lon (Jr.) here is a Great little figure and well worth checking around for. I had to look at three Targets before I found one as the Wolf Man was gone from the first two cases I found. Arrooooo!!!


  For more werewolves and specifically Lawrence/ Larry Talbot, the Wolf Man, I've also reviewed NECA's Wolf Man and the Wolf Man from Crypt Club 4-Pack, the Toony Terrors Wolf Man, the Funko ReAction Wolf Man, Jada Toys' The Wolf Man, Remco's Universal City Studio's Mini Monsters Wolfman, Imperial's Wolfman, the Real Ghostbusters Wolfman Monster, NECA's Raphael as the Wolfman, the McFarlane's Monsters Werewolf Playset, the Imaginext Wolfman, the Werewolf from Mezco's Tower of Fear, Mezco's 2010 Wolfman, Luke Talbot (the Wolfman) from Monster Force, the Blood Red Werewolf from the Dr. Malgam's Body Bags Bag of Heads, and the Wolf Man dog toy from Fetch for Pets.

For more Tiny Nightmares, check out the following:

The Bride of Frankenstein

Creature from the Black Lagoon