The Sideshow is Almost Always Better Than the Circus...

As I detailed a few posts ago, I recently spent a solid weekend going back through boxes and boxes of my collected Halloween memorabilia and horror toys, having a completely grand time getting reacquainted with old pals and favorite treasures.

Chief amongst these objects was my collection of the official Universal Monsters figures that Sideshow Collectibles began putting out around 2001, I believe (don't correct me if I'm wrong, because I don't care).  I had suffered through any number of half-assed Universal collectibles up to that point in time, but when Sideshow started releasing these 8-inch masterpieces back then... well, I don't remember actually weeping at their utter perfection, but let's say it would have been appropriate if I had done just that.

Since I am really bad at being a completist -- the lack of my own vehicle and the fact that, yet again, I just really don't care really plays into that status -- means that I didn't quite get them all. I did get one of each of the characters from the first four series -- a dozen figures in all, though three of them -- Frankenstein's Monster, The Bride of Frankenstein and The Creature from the Black Lagoon -- ended up being the Silver Screen Editions. (In other words, they are in black and white, which is honestly how I would have preferred all of them to be.) I also managed to grab the glow-in-the-dark figure of The Creature, who has graced my desk at home ever since.

Fantastic sculpts, great choice of props for the majority of the characters (they could have done more with the Metalluna Mutant considering they gave one of the Mole People a big bag full of mushrooms), and clever little stand-up sets, I much prefer these to the 12-inch versions Sideshow eventually released. The sad part is that I never knew about the far more limited in production Series 5, which consisted of The Phantom of the Opera in his Red Death costume, Lugosi as Ygor in Son of Frankenstein, and the figure I was most anticipating, Lugosi's Dracula. (Can somebody say "negotiations with Lugosi's estate"?)

Now my only choice cost-wise is to jump to the 12-inch versions, since the ones I missed are way too spendy for my wallet. Or I can just follow the latest trend of mine of not purchasing action figures anymore (which pretty much started once I moved back into domestic bliss in California). Either way, I have my 8-inch Sideshow line to tide me over, their perfection gracing the hallowed halls of the Cinema 4 Pylon, at least until we decide to decorate for Xmas.

[Note: The figures in the pictures above are joined by their corresponding Silver Screen Edition figures from Sideshow's Universal Monsters Little Big Heads line. More on that set later...]