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OK...here's a mystery for you. The two-headed Opera Ghost!

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  • enyawd72
    Maker of Monsters!
    • Oct 1, 2009
    • 7904

    OK...here's a mystery for you. The two-headed Opera Ghost!

    Many people are not aware of this, but the Sideshow 8 inch Phantom of the Opera figure has two completely different unmasked head sculpts.

    It is the only figure in the entire line to have a running change variant. Now, here is where it gets strange.
    When I first discovered it years ago I contacted Sideshow to ask them about it. Strangely, no one seemed to know WHY it was done.

    Naturally, I assumed it was a likeness issue, so I then contacted Ron at Chaney Entertainment, and much to my surprise, he was completely unaware of the revised head.
    The really strange thing is, the first release head is IMO, more film accurate, and has much more detailed paint applications which are in line with the rest of
    the figures in the series.

    Making it stranger still is the fact that this second head sculpt is very scarce, while the first release is common.
    Usually, with any running change, it's the first version that ends up being more difficult to find. This begs the question...WHY was it changed at all?
    Why pay for new tooling then hardly make any figures with the new head?

    None of it makes any sense, and no one at Sideshow or Chaney Ent. has any clear answer as to why it happened. We may never know the answer.





  • PNGwynne
    Master of Fowl Play
    • Jun 5, 2008
    • 19444

    #2
    That is fascinating! Now to chase a $$$ variant. Thanks . jk

    I need to dig out my Silver Screen edition and see which it has...
    WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.

    Comment

    • thunderbolt
      Hi Ernie!!!
      • Feb 15, 2004
      • 34211

      #3
      How do they compare to the little big head version?
      You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace. -Ernie Banks

      Comment

      • enyawd72
        Maker of Monsters!
        • Oct 1, 2009
        • 7904

        #4
        Originally posted by PNGwynne
        That is fascinating! Now to chase a $$$ variant. Thanks . jk

        I need to dig out my Silver Screen edition and see which it has...
        No need my friend. I can tell you all the Silver Screen versions have the second head.

        Comment

        • enyawd72
          Maker of Monsters!
          • Oct 1, 2009
          • 7904

          #5
          Originally posted by thunderbolt
          How do they compare to the little big head version?
          The little big heads all have their own stylized sculpts. More of a caricature.

          Comment

          • Earth 2 Chris
            Verbose Member
            • Mar 7, 2004
            • 32498

            #6
            Wow, that is strange. Maybe someone at Sideshow felt the first head was a bit big? I know they could just resize that one, but maybe that's why they made the change?

            Chris
            sigpic

            Comment

            • thunderbolt
              Hi Ernie!!!
              • Feb 15, 2004
              • 34211

              #7
              I used them for customs and they are fairly on target. I was thinking the phantom was one of the better big heads along with Frankenstein and Dracula

              QUOTE=enyawd72;1454130]The little big heads all have their own stylized sculpts. More of a caricature.[/QUOTE]
              You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace. -Ernie Banks

              Comment

              • J.B.
                Guild Navigator
                • Jun 23, 2010
                • 2881

                #8
                “I’m not only the Hair Club President, but I’m also a client.”
                You are transparent; I see many things... I see plans within plans.

                Comment

                • PNGwynne
                  Master of Fowl Play
                  • Jun 5, 2008
                  • 19444

                  #9
                  Originally posted by enyawd72
                  No need my friend. I can tell you all the Silver Screen versions have the second head.
                  Hmmmm.... thanks!
                  WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.

                  Comment

                  • Werewolf
                    Inhuman
                    • Jul 14, 2003
                    • 14615

                    #10
                    Maybe the original tool got damaged and they had to make a new mold using a secondary sculpt?
                    You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

                    Comment

                    • ODBJBG
                      Permanent Member
                      • May 15, 2009
                      • 3143

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Werewolf
                      Maybe the original tool got damaged and they had to make a new mold using a secondary sculpt?
                      Yeah I feel like it was something like this. Perhaps, going even a step further, the original mold was damaged and a resculpt of it was made. I would guess, since no one knows anything about it, that it's very possible that this was done at the factory level, without ever informing Sideshow or anyone involved. The second sculpt looks like a bootleg of the first sculpt, with possibly some amateur sculpting work done on it. So maybe it happened at the factory level because of a damaged mold.

                      Comment

                      • tay666
                        Career Member
                        • Dec 27, 2008
                        • 753

                        #12
                        Originally posted by ODBJBG
                        Yeah I feel like it was something like this. Perhaps, going even a step further, the original mold was damaged and a resculpt of it was made. I would guess, since no one knows anything about it, that it's very possible that this was done at the factory level, without ever informing Sideshow or anyone involved. The second sculpt looks like a bootleg of the first sculpt, with possibly some amateur sculpting work done on it. So maybe it happened at the factory level because of a damaged mold.
                        That is a very plausible explanation.
                        Especially with everything made over in China these days.

                        Comment

                        • favoritemonsters
                          Member
                          • Aug 4, 2018
                          • 72

                          #13
                          Aren't the Silver Screen versions in black and white ? The second head shown doesn't look like black and white.

                          Comment

                          • PNGwynne
                            Master of Fowl Play
                            • Jun 5, 2008
                            • 19444

                            #14
                            He's saying that the Silver Screen B&W head is the same sculpt as the second-edition colored head shown above.
                            WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.

                            Comment

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