"A war between worlds had long been dreaded. Throughout recent history, Man, convinced that life on other planets would be as anxious and belligerent as life on his own, has gravely predicted that some dreadful form of combat would inevitably take place between our world and that of someone else.

And Man was right."

"Nightmare" was an episode of the classic science fiction program "The Outer Limits" and aired during the first season, on December 2, 1963 to be exact. The episode featured a young Martin Sheen as an Earth soldier captured by an advanced race of aliens from the planet Ebon (pronounced with a soft "E", like "Eh Bon") and separated from his fellow soldiers for questioning.

In 2002, Sideshow Collectibles (then still known as Sideshow Toys) released a series of 12" figures to commemorate the classic program. In addition to the Ebonite Interrogator, there were the Zanti Misfits from the episode of the same name, Ikar and Ikar's Soldier from the episode "Keeper Of The Purple Twilight", Gwillm Griffiths from the episode "The Sixth Finger" and The Helosian ("O.B.I.T.") and Andro ("The Man Who Was Never Born"), who were sold together as a set.

Originally, I didn't care too much for the box art for these figures, but over time I'm come to like it a lot. It's simple, but really evokes the feel of the show. The front lid opens and a ton of information about the episode (a synopsis, production notes, cast and crew) is printed on the inside front cover. Across from that, the figure is visible throw a plastic window as it rests in it's tray.

As with most of these types of figures, a fully poseable generic doll body is used along with character specific designs for the head, hands, costume and accessories. I can't say enough about the sculpt of the head of this one. It is PERFECT. This guy looks like he stepped right out of your TV screen and onto your shelf. Even the paint applications on the head perfectly highlight the ridges of the creatures skull without being distracting or overstated.

The hands are also well done and are molded specifically to hold the characters included accessories. The interrogation wand fits snugly in the left hand while the right hand can hold the mind control device.

The costume is simply but effective. A plastic collar circles the neck and a black outfit, highlighted with light purple, covers the rest of the body. The wings of the are large and exaggerated, running literally from the ankles to the wrists, but are an effectively spooky addition.

If the figures fails anywhere, it's because the stand (included) cannot really wrap around the figures waist without compressing those wings against the body. The back of the costume can be unbuttoned so that you can insert the metal clamp around the waist under the costume, but you have to really pull it down a bit farther than it goes naturally to do it. Still, I think it's the best way to display it and if it stretches out the costume too much over time....well, so be it.

I really like this figure and am glad it never really shot up in price. I got mine for about $10-$15 on Ebay not long ago, along with the Gwyllm Griffiths (review forthcoming). I would highly recommend these to any monster or sci-fi fan.

The Ebonite Interrogator was limited to 5,000 pieces.

1978- Battlestar Galactica:
"The original Cylons were a warlike reptilian race that were eventually overtaken by their own technologically advanced androids. After the 1,000 yahren Great War, The 12 worlds of the humans also fell before these renegade unfeeling machines."

The original Battlestar Galactica ran from 1978-1979 (I have blocked out the 1980's episodes, as hopefully you did). The Battlestar Galactica movie and later series, released on the heels of Star Wars, broke ground and inspired a generation. It was easily in the top ten of my favorite childhood shows and I gravitate towards anything that bears its name and/or design. Majestic Studios released a 12" inch figure; however, this review involves Amok Time's release (I believe the cloth materials and the skirt are the only main differences I could find when researched).

The doll comes in nicely designed box which flips open to enable a viewing of the figure and accessories. In addition, it is covered with nostalgic graphics from the TV series. The Cylon Commander lies in a plastic tray with a stand, dagger, blaster, and blaster rifle. You may notice my blaster has a worn, grey, and scratched look. Honestly, I loath a weathered look if not universal (notice only on one of three pieces is used looking). Also, until I noticed it was on both sides of the blaster, I thought it was done during shipping and not by the manufacturer.

I paid 38 USD including shipping on Ebay and while that was a deal compared to Amok Time's web page...I would like to go back in time and [ahem] slap myself. The figure is a doll wrapped in black cloth with little bits of chromed plastic velcroed to it. Check out the silver version review, it is a bright shiny day next to my dark cloud. For the record, Sanjeev's review is informative, enlightening, and distinguished (he is an all-star reviewer and I am a novice at best). I just disagree on the inherent value of this figure...I created this review as a yin to his yang for perceptive collectors.

Thereby, forgive my diatribe and bias...it does look "cool" from far away and to other collectors it may be a "gem" in their collection. I will endeavor to end on a positive note. I liked the box.

This item is the rarest, the most expensive, the most sought after and generally just the greatest robot ever made, anywhere, by anyone. It's that good.

You know I love carnival machinders. And you know I love Jumbo Machinders. And you know I love plush dolls. So when I heard that there was once a Jumbo-sized carnival machinder made out of plush, I just couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true. But I had to have it. And finally, after years of searching, I've finally managed to track one down.

This beauty is 24" tall and greatly resembles the most common carnival machinder, the 12" Super Robot. It's plush body is marvelously accented with hand crafted details that really make this one shine above all other toys in my collection.

And it looks as good going out as it does coming in....

I don't have any kids. But I'm quite certain that if I had to choose between this and my first born, I would choose this. Every single time.

Courtesy of Amok Time Toys, it's a frakin' Cylon review!

...As the Reimagined Series draws to a close this month, let's take a moment to appreciate what has come before...

Established toy retailer, Amok Time, has been involved in producing their own toys for some time now, and we're proud to have had the chance to review just a handful of them on CDX. About a year ago, when they announced that they were going to produce a series of 1/6 dolls from the classic 1978 television series, Battlestar Galactica, in their MONSTARZ line, I flipped!

I grew up watching the original BSG in syndication, and I always loved the Cylon's mechanical shock troopers, the Centurions. Their uniform, chromed look and menacing reciprocating red eye put them way ahead of Star Wars' Stormtroopers in my book! Oh, and their monotone robotic voice? Killer! Eat your heart out, Soundwave!

Granted, these dudes were just about as foppish as Stormtroopers: sure, they looked cool...but with a gun, they couldn't hit the broadside of a Basestar! But, hey, what can ya do? If Centurions were actually capable of taking out main characters effectively, you'd have...well...SciFi Channel's Reimagined Series.

The figure comes in a very nice, lidded window box shown above. The cardboard is thick and the graphics are glossy. The cover stays shut with the help of a couple velcro patches, and opening it reveals the doll, stand, and accessories, along with a brief synopsis of the first episode of the show on the inside of the lid.

Once you crack this sucker open, you have to wrestle with a few twist-ties and a couple clear elastic bands...and you've got yourself a 12-inch scourge of the galaxy!

In all its chrome toaster glory, the Centurion is exactly what you'd frakin' expect. Shiny. Menacing. Tough to photograph. ;)

This toy looks superb! Essentially, what we have is a typical-quality 1/6 ball jointed doll (BJD) wearing a stretchy black nylon suit. This suit has several velcro connection patches sewn onto it. The chrome armor bits slide onto the limbs or attach to these patches. And, oh, is that chrome gorgeous!? Some sprue bits are visible on the edges of the armor pieces, but it's very minor.

The boots and hands are molded in a very dense, but slightly flexible hard plastic. The sculpt detail on them is perfect. The arms feature flexible, ribbed sheaths around the elbows and chrome guards around the upper- and forearms. The legs have similar shiny vinyl covers that fit over the upper legs. Chrome armor bits rest over the calves, on top of the boots.

The backpack looks great--it perfectly captures the somewhat hunched appearance these soldiers had in the original show. Also, hanging from the back of the belt is a metal skirt brilliantly mimmicking the chainmail worn in the show. I swear, my girlfriend has earrings made of this stuff!

Now let's look at the accessories. First, the figure comes with a nice doll stand. Unfortunately, it's not adjustable: the support bar and flexible metal "tongs" are set at a height just above the Centurion's belt. That's fine, though--these dudes weren't exactly spry in the old show!

Honestly, the stand isn't even all that necessary. The figure has very solid hip and knee joints (and no ankle joints at all!), so he's very stable.

Next up, we have the weapons. The most common Centurion weapon was their rifle: a dopey-looking affair with a clear, light-up "barrel" at the end. This rifle, along with its short bayonet, is reproduced very nicely in this scale. The plastic is very matte, with a tiny bit of speckled silver applied to make it look worn. The barrel is, indeed, clear plastic.

The pistol is very similar in style and finish to the rifle--only no clear plastic tip...it's painted silver. The chrome sword is really just ornamental-only. I vaguely remember a Centurion drawing its sword once in a classic ep, but I always just assumed they were there to intimidate the Cylons' fleshy enemies. And appropriately enough, the handle on this toy version is far too narrow to fit in the doll's hands!

One thing to note about the sword, however, is that there's a peg right at the guard (on the opposite side shown in the pic above) that fits into a hole on one of the chrome plates adorning the Centurion's belt. With the chrome coat, the peg is WAY too thick to fit into this hole--I had to scrape off the chrome coating with a hobby knife to get it to attach properly. No biggie.

Next up, articulation! Unfortunately, this is probably where the toy loses the most points. If you're familar with BJDs, they can get a bit fiddly...especially with a lot of clothing/accessories attached to their bodies. The Centurion is no exception.

The shoulders can achieve a wide range of motion, but they're a tad looser than I'd like. Sometimes, when extending out one arm, and then adjusting some armor that's out of place somewhere else on the doll, the arm will flop back down. That's par for the course with BJDs, however. They're not so much meant to be played with as much as posed and put back on your shelf.

Anyway, when you're not shaking the thing around, the shoulders keep their pose fine. The elbows fare less well, though: those bendy vinyl sheaths aren't that bendable. The elbow joints are fine, but they're not strong enough to resist those sheaths flexing back to their original shape.

The wrists and neck just rotate: no ball-joint.

There is a double-jointed waist, but it's a bit awkward underneath all the armor (again, a flexible vinyl sheath) and the belt. It can get floppy at times, but it's not much of an issue.

The hips have a fantastic range of motion, and they're really sturdy. They have detents, but they're very coarse...so, when clicking the legs forward or backward at the hips, they rotate through quite a distance before locking into position. The knees are strong as well, and also have wide detents. Unfortunately, much of this added articulation is wasted because of one major omission: ankle joints. So, if you place the legs in any kind of action pose, the feet won't be flat with the ground and the figure won't be able to stand.

Sure, you can use the doll stand, but remember: its height can't be adjusted, so either the legs have to be more or less straight enough to reach the ground, or your "action pose" will make it look like it's flying! Again, these dudes weren't known for athleticism in the old show, so I'm not really all that bothered.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this figure. My only criticisms were regarding the articulation, but the reality is that this toy has all the flexibility of your typical BJD. And besides, you can easily achieve all the "classic" Cylon poses with no problem! Still...I may try to figure out a way to replace the elbow sheaths with something more flexible. Adding just that small amount of articulation would do wonders for posing the Centurion with its weapons.

If I could magically have my way, I'd have worked electronics into this toy. I'd add a red LED mounted on a tiny motor in the head to replicate the reciprocating red eye. Second, I'd definitely add a sound chip that played back classic Centurion lines in that crazy modulated voice! Ah, to dream...

Anyway, in the final analysis, this is one of the few toys of the classic BSG Cylon Centurion that actually features chrome armor and looks as fantastic as these guys did on the small screen. For that reason alone, you should pick one of these up from Amok Time Toys today!

BY YOUR COMMAND!

The last piece of my Sideshow 12" monster collection.

It's always nice to be able to complete a collection, be it a run of comics, a vintage line of toys or some modern releases. And this past Christmas I lucky enough to be given this 12" Hunchback of Notre Dame toy, completing my collection of Sideshow monsters. I don't have all the different color variations and things like that, but I'm not interested in those. Just one of each monster released is good enough for me.

This figure is based on the character of Quasimodo as portrayed by the great Lon Chaney in the 1923 silent movie classic The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

This was the last one I got because it's just not one of my favorite characters and on top of that, it's a pretty easy one to find. Furthermore, the price on this one has been pretty consistently low (about $30-40) so there just was never any urgency for me to pick it up. As so often happens in cases like that though, now that I have it, I love it.

As with all Sideshow 12" figures, the Hunchback comes in a full color box with opening top lid and clear plastic window inside. I'm not too big a fan of the artwork on the front of this one, though, as it features Esmeralda more prominently than Quasimodo.

The toy is very well articulated, allowing a wide range of motion to strike some pretty unique poses.

The clothing is very well done, with several layers to add depth. The shirt is nicely tied off with faux rope and the belt strapped on and actually adjustable. In addition to his regular costume, accessories include the crown, robe and sceptre of the "King of the Fools". With the last entry in the line, they finally got it right by giving the toy a hand than can actually hold it's accessory!

Unfortunately, the crown itself doesn't fit on the head too snugly and you basically have to rest it on there and pose the toy so it doesn't fall off. The crown is made of a very flexible plastic, maybe even a thin rubber, but it's just to small to fit over the head. Not a huge problem though. It will stay off if you just put it on after posing it.

An adjustable stand with the title and an image of Frankenstein in the Universal Monster logo on the base is also included.

This figure was limited to 2000 pieces. A black and white "Silver Screen Edition" was also released in even smaller numbers. That version was limited to just 500 pieces.

"All good people are asleep and dreaming.."

The original "Outer Limits" has always been one of my favorite tv shows and it's really something of a mystery why I don't own more merchandise from it. Until recently, the only things I had were both figures from the Zanti Misfits, both by Sideshow Collectibles. In addition to the Sideshow figures, there's also a really cool vintage board game that I'd love to have, among other things.

This set features two 12" figures from the episode "Keeper of the Purple Twilight", which aired on December 5, 1964. The story concerns an emotionless alien who comes to Earth to learn about humans. He manages to somehow take a scientist's emotions (in exchange for knowledge of how to build an incredibly destructive weapon) because he thinks that things like love and hate are energy sources. Honestly, outside of the nice alien designs, I thought it wasn't one of the best episodes I've seen. It's up on YouTube in 6 parts...

Perhaps the thing that I like most about this episode is that it is the source of a sample found in Skinny Puppy's song Tin Omen. It may sound weird, but one of the things in life that makes me happiest is to be just chillin' out watching some movie or tv show when suddenly you are surprised with a sample that you've heard plenty of times but never knew where it was from. Sure, these days I'd bet there's all sorts of places online where you can find out where they are from, but I still love that surprise. (If you didn't watch the clips, it's right at the beginning of part 3.)

Ok, so enough about the show and the song and whatnot. Now the toys.. Both figures come packaged together in a 14" square box with a lid that swings open to the left to reveal the toys resting behind a clear plastic window. On the back of the lid you will find a synopsis of the episodes, along with production notes and cast and crew credits. Furthermore, there's several pictures from the show and even a picture of Ikar kicking back reading an issue of "Famous Monsters Of Filmland"!

The first figure, Ikar, is the main antagonist of the episode and features a distinctive design with pointy ears, a large bulbous head and a trio of gills for a mouth. The design was quite popular and was used as the inspiration for one of the cantina band members in the original Star Wars.

The hands of Ikar have really long figures, but the figure features an odd choice. The left hand has separated, flexible fingers, but the right hand has all the fingers connected to each other. I have no idea why they would bother to make it like that.

As you can see, Ikar also has the gun that he helps create in the episode, but it's not easy to get him to hold it properly. You basically have to just rest it in his hands and hope it doesn't fall out.

The second figure, Ikar's soldier, is basically a modified version of Ikar. It has the same body, feet and clothing, but has a different head and hands. The soldier is meaner looking and not just because his hands look like sharp metallic claws. He's also got an angry look in his eyes, whereas Ikar himself looks almost cute.

Both figures feature standard articulation for a 12" doll, except for Ikar's soldier, who has a really thick neck that doesn't allow for any significant movement. Ironically, even though the entirety of their bodies are covered by their clothing, the flesh colored figures are painted green to match the heads around the edges. Not the whole body, just near the ends of the clothing. Wish they'd done that for all their figures...

Custom adjustable stands featuring the Outer Limits logo, the name of the episode and the name of the character are included.

If you're a fan of science fiction and 12" figures, these Outer Limits monsters can be found at a good deal on the after market. Although this set originally retailed for $70, I think I got mine for about $22 on Ebay. Now I just gotta get off my butt and get the rest in this series, not to mention the Twilight Zone figures (of which I have none as of yet...)

"A Mate... For The Monster!"

So the guy I got my Mummy from also had this Bride Of Frankenstein, which I'd also put off buying, and I figured I might as well save on shipping. So, here she is, the penultimate figure in the completion of my 12" Sideshow Monsters collection. (I still need the Hunchback and then I'm done!). Naturally, the Bride of Frankenstein hails from the movie of the same name, released in 1935 as a direct sequel to Frankenstein.

It's kind of ironic that I should end up getting both of these figures at once since they are the only two in the line that both come almost entirely wrapped up in bandages and it's interesting to see how the two figures compare in this regard. One would think they would be pretty much the same, but they are really not. The Bride figure has much more maneuverability in the limbs than the Mummy does. I'm not sure if this is because the fabric used is more flexible (hey, it hasn't been in a tomb for thousands of years!) or if it's due in part to the smaller arms used for the female figure. Maybe it's a combination of both, but either way, you can pose this doll much easier than the Mummy.

The face sculpt by Mat Falls is a bit weird to me. Looking at it without comparison, I find myself thinking that it doesn't look like the the Elsa Lanchester Bride that I remember, yet when you compare it to the images on her on the box, it's actually pretty spot on. The paint details on this figure are particularly good. Notice the individually painted eyelashes.

The gown is HUGE and covers everything except the head and arms. It is tied behind the head and it looks like you could pretty easily undo it and remove the gown. Once exposed, you'll see that most, but not all, of the figure is wrapped up. The hips are not wrapped much, but there is a white undergarment instead. I'm not off-hand if that's the way it was in the movie, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume so. Either way, you're never gonna see it on display anyway, assuming you display it with the gown on.

Included accessories are some laboratory equipment, a heart and a stand. The heart goes in the jar and the other two pieces can connect via the wires, but be careful. The tab on one of them broke almost immediately on mine. Which kind of stinks because I never display that stuff anyway and I only attach it to take a picture for this review. See the sacrifices I make for CDX?!?! ;)

Naturally, as usual we get a nice box featuring the original poster art for The Bride Of Frankenstein with some still images from the movie on the back.

Box Front

Box Rear

In and of itself, Sideshow's 12" Bride of Frankenstin figure is a nice doll, but I wanted it mostly to have a complete set of the classic monsters. I mean, if you've got Frank, you gotta get him his bride!

"It comes to life!"

I'm sure I've said it more times than you care to hear, but my favorite Universal Horror picture as a lad was The Mummy. So, which 12" Sideshow monster did I never get around to buying? Why, the Mummy naturally! Too bad too, because it ended up being one of the most expensive in the line, with prices around $150-200 not being unusual. Fortunately, I was able to get a decent deal on mine from a seller who didn't really seem to be in touch with the going rates, as he had this and The Creature (another desirable, high priced Sideshow figure) both up "Buy It Now" for $90 each. Still more than I think it's worth, but I decided to take the plunge and get it.

I found the Mummy to be a pretty disappointing figure. The sculpt of the face is fine, but the rest of the figure is just too hard to pose. It's actually wrapped in gauze from head to toe (ok, more like from neck to foot, but you get the idea) and while that is pretty cool in terms of being screen accurate, it almost completely elimates all the articulation you normally enjoy in a 12" doll. You can move the head around pretty good and raise the arms to almost 90 degrees with the body, but not much more than that. The elbows will barely move now nor will the legs. Now, I know that you barely see him in the movie and that he wouldn't be terrible dynamic in his movements anyway, but I just found it somewhat disappointing.

Granted, what you lose in articulation you gain right back with how cool those wrappings look, particularly the end pieces hanging off the right arm and trailing behind the left leg.

The accessories here are few, but nice. Just like with the 8" Mummy, you get a replica of the box containing the scroll of Thoth and the scroll of Thoth itself. However, this time around there is no stone tablet. The box is nicer than on the smaller version, with heiroglyphics added to the top lid, a row of stars around the middle of all four sides and the figures along the edges have greater depth to them, in addition to being painted gold. If I had any complaint at all with the box, it might be that it looks a bit too new.

The Scroll of Thoth is very nicely done and seems to be the exact same one that comes with the 12" Ardeth Bey. It's very different from the 8" version though, with a far greater amount of detail placed into the writing.

While the figure itself is "ok", I think this time around the box is my favorite part of the ensemble. The original poster art for The Mummy is among my favorite Universal Monster posters and it is lovingly recreated for the front lid of the box of the figure, with minor modifications of course. The back of the box has a closeup of the Mummy's face and the interior of the lid features a listing of the cast and crew of the movie.

Box Front

Box Rear

The Mummy is limited to 3,000 pieces and is a good figure, but not great. It's definitely worth having in your collection, if for no other reason than to have a complete set of 12" Sideshow monsters. But I can't really recommend paying the going rate for it. If you can, wait until you find a good deal, like I did. Or better yet, hopefully you got one for it's initial $40 price tag when it came out!

"They Threatened The World Until Some Hep Youngsters Took Over!"

The last entry in the first wave of B.F.F.F. International monster figures is this set of 3 aliens from "Invasion Of The Saucer-Men". Unlike the previous releases, from I Was A Teenage Werewolf and I Was A Teenage Frankenstein, these figures are not 12" in height. Instead, they are a more Mego-like 8" tall, to better represent the little green men of the movie. Unfortunately, although they are smaller, they really do not have the proportions of the creatures from the movie.

This has been a point of contention with some collectors and I myself am sort of on the fence about it. On the one hand, yes, I do wish that they were more accurate to the movie. But on the other, I can't help thinking that if these were vintage toys, no one would complain and would in fact hunt them down like dogs. I guess the difference is that vintage toys were made for kids to play with and therefore accuracy was less important than with these modern toys designed to be admired by the adult fan. You're mileage may vary. At the end of the day, Saucer-Men are cool and I'll take whatever I can get, I guess.

Besides the poor proportions on the bodies, I think I like most everything else about these figures. The visible portions of their bodies are well sculpted and the paint is mostly pretty good. The only place I find it to be lacking is on the head of the "red" alien, where it looks a bit amateurish. Instead of trying to add some depth of color there, I think they probably should have left well enough alone and just went with the flat color.

I think the green headed aliens look better, despite, or perhaps because of, their simpler paint jobs.

Actually, the "red" alien might be cause for some concern in general. I could be wrong, but I don't think there was ever any mention of any of the aliens being that color. Perhaps they just wanted to include one that was a bit different simply for the sake of variety, and honestly, I'm ok with that. I don't mind them taking a little artistic liberty, if in fact they did. Lord knows the world of Japanese kaiju does so since I collect those too, I'd be a bit of a hypocrite to complain about it here. But some may not like to see it.

The costumes of the characters are pretty neat. The majority of it is just a flat black one-piece suit, but the necks and wrists are layered with some golden glittery "feathers" for a pretty cool looking effect. Each suit has a zipper down the back if you need to get at the body beneath. If you do, you'll notice why the alien bodies are not exactly like in the movie. It's no surprise that it's a cost cutting measure and these bodies are from pre-existing figures. The copyright stamped into the back of the toys says "2001 7thsttoys.com Made In China"!

Although I didn't bother taking pictures of each figure holding it, each one does come with it's own weapon. You can position it in the hands to hold it, but none of them can actually grasp it with any stability and there's no way to attach it either.

These figures come in a large box with the original poster art on the front. The box measures 16"x 13" x 3" and the lid opens up just like most 12" figure boxes. Two original lobby cards are pictured on the interior of the lid.

One thing to be aware of in advance is that mine did NOT have any plastic ties around the figures. I just assumed there would be and instinctively flipped the tray over to start untying them and all 3 figures just dropped out onto the floor!

The set comes with 3 doll stands to help you display the figures in your collection. Each stand has "Invasion Of The Saucer-Men" printed across the base.

Overall, I'm happy with this set. Some might argue that it's a bit overpriced at $79.99, but considering the limited production run (only 500 pieces) from a small company and the fact that you get 3 toys in one set, I can live with it. If the poor proportions on the bodies is just too upsetting to you, then I would suggest you get the recent statue from Ultratumba Productions instead, unless you just must have a toy instead of a statue. If that's the case, then... well you're screwed.

He was called The Creeper, The Brute Man and the Hoxton Strangler.. but now we just know him as Rondo...

The first figure I saw Amok Time advertising on their site was this 12" figure of Rondo Hatton and I gotta admit, although the face was familar, my knowledge of the man was limited. I had a vague idea of who he was from a memory of always seeing VHS tapes of House Of Horrors or The Jungle Captive where I used to buy my movies. But honestly, although I always meant to buy those ones, it seemed there was always something I wanted a little bit more and I regret to admit that I still haven't seen them to this day. But I used to love watching the old Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (the Holmes and Watson, for my money) on one of the public broadcasting stations here in Boston (Channel 64, WGBH, I believe it was) and so there's a pretty good chance I did see him in 1944's The Pearl Of Death when I was little. But if so, the details of the man faded from memory and now thanks to Amok Time, Rondo is back in the spotlight. From the back of the box:

Rondo Hatton was born on April, 22nd 1894 in Hagerstown Maryland. Before Hollywood, Rondo served in the National Guard to pursue a military career. He was stationed in France during WWI. There, he was exposed to poison gas, hospitalized with lung injury, and was medically discharged from the service and given a pension. Now living in Florida, it was after his military service that he developed acromegaly. Acromegaly is a hormonal disorder that most commonly occurs in middle-aged men and women. The name "acromegaly" comes from the Greek words for "extremities" (acro) and "great" (megaly), because one of the symptoms of this condition is abnormal growth of the head, hands and feet. This unfortunate affliction gave him his unique appearance. While shooting in Florida, a Hollywood director saw Rondo and thought that he had a face that was meant to be in pictures. Moving to Hollywood from Florida, Rondo was given a string of mostly uncredited bit roles. His uncredited acting luck changed when he was cast for the role of the "Hoxton Creeper" in Universal's The Pearl Of Death (1944). This was the start of the Rondo most remember, a skulking, shadowy figure nicknamed The Strangler, Creeper or Brute Man. From these roles a star was born. Unfortunately, due to health complications from acromegaly, namely heart disease and diabetes, Rondo passed away far too early, February 2, 1946. From his short Hollywood career his legend grew thru the classic monster renaissance of the late 50-60s.

The Rondo figure comes packaged in a nice box with opening lid and window box interior. The box art is beautifully painted by Rainer F. Engel* of Nightmares In Plastic magazine. When the box are was initially revealed, I remember feeling a bit underwhelmed by it, but as time has gone one I've come to like it more and more. I think it just took a little getting used to since I'm so accustomed to having the old poster art on these boxes. The interior of the lid features a nice image of the toy. In fact, if you look closely, you will see that the painting wraps around the lid and serves as the background for both the painted image of Rondo on the cover and the photographic image of the toy inside!

But perhaps best of all might even be the interior tray that holds the plastic that the figure is packed in. Check out this awesome image of the shadow of the Creeper!

That blew me away when I saw it. It's so representative of the style of thriller made back in the day. I only wish it was much bigger so that you could really use it as a display backdrop for the figure.

Anyway, about the figure. I am really, really happy with it. In fact, it's surpassed my expectations. I figured I would get it just to add that variety that by now you know I love, but in person the toy really stands out. First, the sculpt of the head and face is PERFECT! One of the very best of any 12" doll I have. It looks great from all angles and the attention to detail is striking, from the wrinkles in the forehead to the veins in his temple. The nose looks like it's been broken and entire face is hard. This is a guy you don't wanna mess with!

Rondo comes with two different hats that he can wear as well. One is tall than the other and the smaller one has a sort of belt molded onto it. They both look good, but I tend to prefer the smaller one.

Rondo's clothes are also extremely well done and are bulky enough to provide that intimidating mass that gave his characters such a frightening appearance. His outer jacket has two buttons to open/close it and I think these might be my only "complaint" with the figure. The buttons are actually sewn in there! Although this detail is to be commended for it's realism, I worry that at some point I might break the string that attaches them and it can be a bit difficult to get the buttons through the holes on the other side. A snap button would have been easier, but that's just a personal preference on my part. Most people would probably applaud the extra effort that Amok Time has taken here. Heck, he even wears a real belt that has been expertly cinched off rather than one that is just snapped on!

Here's something else that I noticed and at first I thought was a flaw, but I'm not sure it is. Both lower arms can be separated from the upper arms quite easily. At first I thought it might be broken, but then I realized that even though they can come loose, the lower arms are actually attached to the sleeves so that they do not come out of the clothing and off the figure altogether. This makes me think it was intentionally done as a way to provide more flexibility in the arms. Some flexibility was lost due to the bulky clothes I mentioned earlier so this seems like a really neat way to compensate for that!

Lastly, Rondo comes with his own 12" doll stand with his name on the base. It's a real treat to have these figures come with stands. These kinds of figures are cool, but it's a pain to have to buy them and then go buy stands separately so their inclusion is a real plus.

Rondo Hatton is gone but not forgotten. Every year, the best in horror films, comics, tv and other media is celebrated with the Rondo Awards, as voted by the fans. I think you can expect Rondo himself to compete for a trophy for "best toy" this year. You can get your 12" Rondo at AmokTime.com.

*Rainer is also a fellow member of the Universal Monster Army and his magazine is based on the book he co-wrote with Jorg Buttgereit, director of a little film called "Nekromantik", from whence my nickname came!