New KISS Monster Album series...

[mego]

For me, KISS was my favorite band as a kid. I got into 'em when I was just a wee 5 or 6 year old and it started with the cards. Before my brother and I ever knew what KISS sounded like, we knew who each member was. That's pretty brilliant marketing!!! The records followed soon thereafter. My musical tastes quickly moved beyond KISS, but their records from 1974-1979 still hold up and get the occasional spin from me today. I kinda partially follow the band's activities online out of curiosity, but haven't even been tempted to buy any of their recent albums.
The re-mego KISS dolls were a dream come true for me, because I practically lusted after these things since I was a kid. Growing up, it was difficult to even see a picture of what the whole KISS doll set looked like (before the internet age). We had Gene, but none of the others. I recall having dreams about finding all four of these dolls... that's how nerdy I was about these Despite the problems with the first and second wave, they are still pretty cool. They maintain that important throw-back look. The second set (first album series) did change the retro boot design to a molded rubber boot, which does detract from the retro-look, but they are still pretty cool. The important thing that works so well with series 1 & 2 is the heads. Those original and very recognizable heads were modified only slightly for the second wave, but there's still some noticeable distinctions. Paul's hair is more curly (best paul hair so far) and his forehead looks less awkward that series 1. Gene's is the most noticeable with the modified mouth (the tongue was removed). Ace's head has different (and far superior) hair, including some silver streaks. Peter's face paint is all new.
The Sonic Boom series head sculpts are wrong on several levels.
1. Scale. The size is a very important factor in how these figures look. The new head sculpts are far too big. Even a little too big is too big. There is no excuse for issuing a figure with scale issues.
2. Style. The new head sculpts are too detailed and attempt to be too real looking. Mego dolls are not sculpture, they are the action figure version of the real thing, which is why the original heads work and why they fit perfectly in the Mego universe. The new heads attempt to fix what wasn't broke. I do realize that somewhere down the line, new sculpt were required to accommodate the new members, but the step between series 2 and 3 is too large. The figures don't even look like they're part of the same line.
The clothing for the SB and Monster figures seems to fit the retro mold, but then again, who cares about the current line up of this band??
Since I have my four figures, I'm not tempted to but these at all. Another well done set of the original group (Dynasty, Destroyer) might tempt me, but they're gonna have to look great. As I've stated before, I'm rather sour on this company as their quality is low and prices high.

[megokissface]

The scale on the head looks bad but I can over look that for Sonic Boom. Im getting Gene on the 12 in scale to transform him into Destroyer Gene with customized dragon boot sleeves and a new codpiece. Im hoping a Dynasty set and Eric Carr figure will come out. It's nice to know I wasnt the only one whom missed out in the 70's on these Megoesque re-issues. I recall my mother couldnt buy these for me and I never forgot them when I held them at a local store back in 1979. It was tough to walk out without them and knowing my mom couldnt afford them because we didnt have much money. I know own about 14 of these figures with only 1 being an Ebay Gene original. The second wave were nice and I bought all the 8inch ones but skipped the 12inch...too expensive!!! Im really happy that CTVT took it upon themselves to redo them again...in spit of the later versions and their shortcomings. I guess, I'm like you since Im not interested in Tommy Thayer nor Eric Singer at all...the Thayer figures remind me of Herman Munster in Ace makeup...creepy

[MIB41]

Went into a local novelty store today and finally got to see both the 8 inch and 12 inch Sonic Boom Figures in person. The first thing that struck me was just how HUGE the packaging is for the 12 inch. Jeez. If you thought the backer cards were over-sized on the 8 inch...whew. They have nothing on the 12 inch. Just massive. One heck of a space killer. I liked the head sculpts on the 12 inch. I thought they had something there. But the deal killer was the hair. It's completely straight and girlie doll like on all of them. My wife was with me and even said, "Oh that hair looks like a Barbie. Why didn't they style it like the 70's figures?" The outfits looked pretty good on the 12 inch too. The 8 inch figures on the other hand had nothing going for them. Gene's head looked warped in the temple region (mold defect maybe) and Paul's head had spiked hair (AGAIN) for bangs. Eric's "Cat Man" looked probably the best, but I had no interest in that era. And Tommy just looked weird with the smirk expression on his face. But the head sculpts on the 12 inch figures showed the company is moving in the right direction. They have someone working for them now who is really bring their "A" game. But for the KISS license, the rooted hair remains a big negative for me. It just ruins whatever the sculpt has going for it and ultimately wrecks the look of the figure. It only makes sense. If you're going to give these figures rooted hair then style it so it looks correct. Why else have rooted hair unless you're going for a more realistic look? Molded hair might have been a better option here if they couldn't get it right the other way.