Creature Specs

[drmego]

My good friend and partner Joe Sena drew this page.

A word to the wise - the Creature and Bride are being made in equal numbers,
as all the Monsters have been, so it will be very hard to get the Creature alone.
I suggest you look at it as the Creature is double the price, but comes with a
bonus Bride of Frankenstein

[tllgn]

i pre-ordered three sets of these-their that cool ,and i want the bride,-to me a double bonus,i would like to see the specs for her as
well,i got all these monsters ,i sure hope next year they come through with that "this island earth " creature, great job guys.

[darkmonkeygod]

Thanks Doc!

[EMCEtoys]

My good friend and partner Joe Sena drew this page.

And only to save money (I work for free)...our budgets on these guys are so thin that there was no room for costly changes, so we felt a pre-production illustration was necessary. Sculptor Sean Sansom has time for one pass on this, so we had to be crystal clear about engineering, so we wanted Universal's approval before spending any time on sculpts or outfit. Didn't want fins to be cloth, wanted to have a functional collar-piece, wanted Creature's head to turn, etc. We eventually lost the stitching on the abdomen; it just wouldn't come out right.

As it is, what's not shown here is Diamond's functional improvisation at the factory level; we initially imagined the fins as strapped on, then in prototyping we decided they should be glued on -- Diamond's solution was even better: the fins now have pegs which fit into small holes drilled into the body. You won't see that until you actually get the figure, but it's less cumbersome than straps and more secure than glue.

A similar construction approach was taken with the Mutant, though by then we had done the Creature so I didn't need to draw anything; Sean just took it from there.

The Mutant, Creature and Phantom were my absolute favorites to work on in our retro-8" projects since the Gorn and Shazam. I'm sad that there are no other real monsters to work on at this level. When you get to this stage you start looking around and seeing that the pool is pretty thin. And the work of Millicent Patrick and Bud Westmore is the pinnacle of Universal's humanoid monster designs, so it was great to be able to translate their suit/mask solutions to the Mego-style universe and improve upon the crank-that-crap-out-the-door approach of the 1970s.

[darkmonkeygod]

As it is, what's not shown here is Diamond's functional improvisation at the factory level; we initially imagined the fins as strapped on, then in prototyping we decided they should be glued on -- Diamond's solution was even better: the fins now have pegs which fit into small holes drilled into the body. You won't see that until you actually get the figure, but it's less cumbersome than straps and more secure than glue.

Great solution. The breadth of thinking on this is really a marvel, and all on a character that means more to me than any other. Thank you all.

The Mutant, Creature and Phantom were my absolute favorites to work on in our retro-8" projects since the Gorn and Shazam. I'm sad that there are no other real monsters to work on at this level. When you get to this stage you start looking around and seeing that the pool is pretty thin.

Well, there's still the Mole Man and his hunch, and Quasimodo as well, but yeah. I would that there were a market for the AIP monsters, or deep into the roster of Toho. Then there's the McFarlane route of monsters from multiple franchises. I still want the Maxx FX Alien, and a Re-Mego would scratch that itch, but the Uni Monsters are the true joy.

And the work of Millicent Patrick and Bud Westmore is the pinnacle of Universal's humanoid monster designs, so it was great to be able to translate their suit/mask solutions to the Mego-style universe and improve upon the crank-that-crap-out-the-door approach of the 1970s.

I agree with you on the Creature design, but they ran out of time, money, and technological ability on the Mutant. Ever see the drawings of it with spider legs instead of pants? Had they been able to pull that off, it would have been an entirely new game. It took alost another thirty years and Rob Bottin's version of the Thing to get to that point.

[galaxyexplorer42]

This figure is nothing short of my most anticipated figure in my history of the hobby. There haven't been many posts on it yet, but I usually respond to all of them. So for the fin pieces, I'm still kinda confused. Do they just slot into the body, and are they removable? And I'm assuming we have to remove the hands & feet to remove the suit...? Is that correct? Anyway, it continues to look beautiful, & I can't wait to have all of them that I've preordered in my hand.. Thanks-

[Timothy2251]

There's still a few good Universal Monsters yet to be made: Invisible Man, Mr. Hyde (maybe with 2 heads so we can have Dr. Jekyll as well?), the Neanderthal from Monster on Campus. How about a Dr. Frankenstein and Igor set?

[darkmonkeygod]

How about a Dr. Frankenstein and Igor set?

To my knowledge and sadly, everyone steers away from a Colin Clive figure because the state of his likeness is uncertain.

[drmego]

Yes and yes - the fins have nipples that fit into holes in the back and the hands and feet are oversized so you
will have to pop them off before removing the costume (although I don't know why you would want to).

Just a note - the pre-visual shows the feet with pegs, instead of a trench ala MEGO. The actual figure has
mego style feet - the feet DO NOT pop out like the hands do.

Do they just slot into the body, and are they removable? And I'm assuming we have to remove the hands & feet to remove the suit...?

[Gorn Captain]

The Mutant, Creature and Phantom were my absolute favorites to work on in our retro-8" projects since the Gorn and Shazam. I'm sad that there are no other real monsters to work on at this level. When you get to this stage you start looking around and seeing that the pool is pretty thin.

Does this mean we're nearing the end of the series?

[JediJaida]

If you guys ever get the Clash of the Titans license, do you think you could do Medusa the Gorgon, as well as Calibos and Pegasus?

A Kraken would be a little cost prohibitive, considering its size in comparison to the others.

But a Pegasus with removable wings would be fantastic!!!

[ukaking]

If you guys are looking to save a few bucks, I have some on pre-order and selling the sets for $30 plus more reasonable shipping than most companies are providing! PM me if you want to reserve yours with Pain Train Sports and Collectibles!

https://www.facebook.com/paintrainsportsandcollectibles

[thunderbolt]

There's still a few good Universal Monsters yet to be made: Invisible Man, Mr. Hyde (maybe with 2 heads so we can have Dr. Jekyll as well?), the Neanderthal from Monster on Campus. How about a Dr. Frankenstein and Igor set?

those would be great picks, throw in the Mole People, Creature walks Among us, Werewolf of London, Son of Drac, Dracula's Daughter

[THE FALCON]

Looks awesome!

[alex]

Id love to see a fly !!!!