"Hideous Half Man, Half Beast Who Terrorized Millions!"

Here's another Sideshow 12" monster that I put off getting for some reason. From the 1935 motion picture classic, it's Henry Hull as the Werewolf Of London.

Similar to the 8" Invisible Man, this figure here depicts the character wearing a robe. Somehow the effect doesn't seem silly, though. In fact, I like it. I'm glad that they chose to portray the character in a different outfit than what was already used for the 8" version. The robe and the rest of the costume beneath is well constructed and I really like the color. The belt on the robe can be displayed tied or untied, depending on your own preference.

As we've come to expect from these figures, there is a full range of motion in all the limbs and torso and the sculpt of the face is perfectly in tune with the character from the movie. In fact, I think the likeness here is one of the best in the line.

The concealed limbs are molded in brown plastic so in the off chance that some of the arms become exposed, it matches the brown hair on the hands pretty well. But there's little chance of that anyway as the length of the robe's arms should be sufficient to accommodate most poses. Since I've been quick to rake them over the coals in the instances where they've gotten this wrong, I wanna make sure I give Sideshow props for getting it right here.

The Werewolf of London comes with several accessories. First, there is a test tube rack that can hold 6 removable clear plastic test tubes. Additionally, there is a flask that he can even hold ok.

Although it is not mentioned on their website, the doll also comes with a replica of the mariphasa plant, just like the smaller version did. Lastly, you also get a small pair of eyeglasses. However, I would recommend that you just leave those in the box. There is really no way to actually use them with the figure and they are extremely fragile. Mine broke nearly as soon as I got it out of the box. I was able to glue it back together ok, but since they don't do anything anyway, I wouldn't even risk bothering with them. Unlike most of the other 12" monster figures, this one doesn't come with either a base or a stand. You'll have to provide one of your own.

This figure was limited to 1500 pieces and comes in the now familiar 12" doll box that replicates the original movie poster art. As it was one of the last 12" monsters released by Sideshow, there is no corresponding black and white Silver Screen Edition, just this regular release. It's a fine figure and worthy of your collection, but prices for it seem to be going up. Released at $40 just a few years ago, you'd be lucky to get one for under $100 now.

This was an interesting choice for a Premium figure on Bandai's part, Grand Pope Sion is more or less an off screen character and what few seconds of flashback he does appear in does not look like this.

This was an interesting choice for a Premium figure on Bandai's part, Grand Pope Sion is more or less an off screen character and what few seconds of flashback he does appear in does not look like this. I believe he is meant to look like he does in the manga (there are sometimes subtle color changes they make in the transition to animation.) Thus the dark robe and different helm than in the TV series.

The Pope was formerly the Gold Saint Aries Sion who served in Athena's last Holy War with Hades 243 years earlier until he was promoted to the task of Grand Pope of Sanctuary (The role of authority in place of Athena between incarnations.)

From Wikipedia:

“After Athena had once again reincarnated into a human infant, Sion began preparations for the inevitable war. He understood that, with old age, his own time would soon be up, and therefore needed to choose a successor for his seat. With the exception of Sagittarius Aiolos and Gemini Saga, all of the gold saints were too young and inexperienced to take up the responsibilities. After a lengthy time of consideration, Sion eventually settled on the Gold Saint of Sagittarius. While Aiolos was not as powerful as Saga, Sion felt confident in his choice because he knew of Aiolos' undying loyalty to Athena.”

“Unfortunately, Sion was confronted by Saga in regards to his decision shortly after the announcement. It seems Saga felt discontent at Sion's choice, and demanded an explanation for it. Sion revealed that, while he acknowledged that Saga had a heavenly reputation and was the more powerful of the two, he could not help but sense something terrifyingly dark within the Gemini Saint. It is at this point that Saga confirmed Sion's suspicions, and assaulted the weary Pope with a deathblow.”

All of this happens in very short flashbacks and Sion is only really glimpsed in a few quick shots. So while Sion will reappear during the Hades arc, resurrected as a servant to Hades, it's an odd choice for a mail in premium.

The figure is a Generation 2 body with all the usual points of articulation that I have come to expect from a Saint Cloth Myth figure. The figure itself is made of plastic with die cast metal feet. The feet are the only parts of the release made of metal, all of the other accessories are plastic.

The robe, is of course, made of Cloth and features excellent detailing. The trim on the sleeves and down the front is all embroidered, a nice touch considering this is a low run figure. Bandai really does spare no expense in the detail on these figures.

Other than the helmet, collar and alternate head; Grand Pope Sion is pretty light on accessories. What he does come with, and one of the reason I wanted to scoop him up, is 13 of Bandai's stands for the Saint Cloth Myth line. An item that, as of this article, appears to be either back ordered or sold out everywhere. The idea for including the stands was to display the Grand Pope with all 12 of Athena's Gold Saints. Bandai was also nice enough to include a sticker sheet as well with the names of the Gold Saints, Grand Pope Sion and all 5 of our main characters, the Bronze Saints.

I'm glad I grabbed him when I did as I plan on getting Sion in his resurrected form, so paired with that release it will display nicely in my collection. With that said, this one is for Saint Seiya completest only. Everyone else will want to pass on it. Should you want to add Grand Pope Sion to your collection you can get yours at Angolz.com. A quick, short video is below for your viewing pleasure.

The Lord of the Underworld reborn into my collection. It's another Premium release from the Saint Cloth Myth line; Hades Shun. SPOILERS WARNING. This article gives away important plot twists that happen late in the Hades Arc OVA's.

SPOILERS WARNING. This article gives away important plot twists that happen late in the Hades Arc OVA's.

From Wikipedia:
“In Saint Seiya, as in the Greek mythology, Hades is the Underworld god, and as such, incarnates into a human being. Every 243 years Hades can enter the world of humans, and fight against Athena for control over the world. However it is said that Hades is too fond of his own body which was born by Chronos and Rhea. He cares so much of it that he keeps it locked in a chamber in Elysion so it doesn't get damaged, only to start using it when he has taken control over the world. To fight the sacred wars against Athena, Hades has to take control of the purest human being born at the time of his incarnation. During the previous Holy War in 1747 his avatar was a boy named Alone, and now more recently it was Andromeda Shun.”

“In one of the biggest plot twists of the series, Shun is revealed to be the human incarnation of Hades, God of the Underworld, in the same way Saori Kido is Athena, Goddess of War and Wisdom, and Julian Solo is Poseidon, Lord of the Seas. Although Shun himself was initially unaware of this fact, the soul of Hades became dominant once Shun lost the childhood pendant that bound his body with the god's, and the Hades soul was united with Shun's body during the close encounter in Hades' room after the death of the Lyra Saint.”

“Eventually, it took the boiling blood of Athena herself and the goddess' encouragement to give Shun the strength to separate Hades from his body once and for all. When Shun awoke in Seiya's arms moments later, he once again donned the Andromeda Cloth and was ready to return to action.”

Hades Shun is a Premium release in the Saint Cloth Myth line which means that it was a mail in offer in Japan. Luckily for those of us outside of Japan retailers like Angolz.com get limited amounts of them for sale outside of the Japanese market. Premium figures tend to be characters that don’t feature die cast armor in their design or are less popular so Bandai does a smaller run to fill the pre-order than calls it quits. Giving the die-hards a character they want while not leaving Bandai with lots of surplus of less popular characters.

He doesn’t come with much in the way of accessories but the one of the few he does is very impressive looking, Hades Throne. Unlike the Pope’s throne that came with Gemini Saga/Pope Aries, Hades Throne is molded in different colors with intricate sculpting all over it. While it is made of plastic the throne is truly befitting of the Lord of the Underworld and has quite a presence on the shelf.

Attention to detail doesn’t stop with the throne; Hades Shun’s outfit is exquisitely detailed and looks really nice. Bandai really makes me wish they did Star Wars characters in this scale out of cloth. Their outfits look “just right” with the cloth looking natural instead of bulky and goofy the way a lot of cloth accessorized figures do.

The whole outfit is cloth with the collar, shoulder pieces and belt made of plastic. The chain and pendant he wears is made of die cast metal, another nice attention to detail here - the chain is actually linked.

While Andromeda Shun is one of my least favorite characters in Saint Seiya, I have become a big enough fan of the series that I did want a Hades Shun to decorate my Saint Cloth Myth shelves (plus he would be nice to display with the fully armored Hades that is likely at the end of this year or beginning of next) and I wanted to be sure to grab him before he was no where to be found.

The figure’s body is a standard 3rd generation type with over 40 points of articulation. Not that articulation matters as Hades Shun’s brief appearance takes place with him sitting in a throne and not doing much other than sulking and looking dark.

For those who are into the armor aspect of this line will want to pass on Hades and non- fans of the show will have no interest unless you have a burning need for a cool throne to accessorize other toys you have. For fans of the show, Hades is a nice addition and I look forward to pairing him up with his fully armored incarnation in the near future. You can get your Hades Shun the same place I did, Angolz.com.

No series of Halloween decorations would be complete without the lord of the vampires!

Despite having a friendlier than normal look for a vampire, I like the Dracula Motion-ette. It might be one of my favorite Dracula items in my collection so far (next to my 42" lawn ornament of course!). In fact, I like it much better than the more popular 24" Dracula/Vampire motionettes that were released by Telco and other copycat companies. The costume is simple but elegant and does not restrict movement of the arms, which can be posed by bending the interior wire armature.

The hands seem a bit over-sized and each finger has black, pointy fingernails. The head sculpt is nice and there is a subtle touch of red on the otherwise purple lips. Perhaps his slight grin is a result of contentment after feeding.

Dracula actually measures about a half inch short of 17", making him the shortest of the smaller series of Motion-ettes. But it's a minor difference. Speaking of minor differences, I think the color of the skin is slightly different, more blue-ish, from the first release to the next. But I only have this series two specimen and haven't seen a series one up close. Either way, they are nearly identical and I can't say one looks better than the other.

As with all the 17" Motion-ettes, Dracula has a small compartment in the base that takes two C-size batteries and he features movement, light and sound.

This toy is full of massive fail.

I had high hopes for both the AV-0 Peacemaker, and the Mecha Action Series in General, but CM’s has let me down yet again. For the price, this is an absolutely atrocious action figure.

The AV-0 Peacemaker comes from the anime Mobile Police Patlabor. I think it squared off against the griffon in the OVA series, but my memory is a little hazy on that.

The whole idea of this toy was that it was an affordable alternative to the Brave Gokin toys. Mecha that weren’t popular enough to warrant the full gokin treatment could be rendered in the same scale and look, only in plastic. This Peacemaker is the same size and scale as the other Patlabor Brave Gokin toys, and they even share a similar cloth joint system. Unfortunately, that’s where the similarities end.

This toy is full of massive fail.

The plastic used on the outer coverings feels cheap, and unfinished. It almost has a rubbery feel to it. The inside of the joints uses a harder plastic, but that is irrelevant because you can’t seem to pose this thing without popping the joint out. And since the joint is covered with cloth, you can’t see it, which makes popping it back in a pain in the ass.

That is unless the cloth decides to separate from the body like this, then it’s its easy to put the joint back in.

They did include several accessories, but none of them are executed quite right. A small handgun is included that stores in a compartment below the left side of the chest. The gun BARELY fits in there, and when it does you have to really jam it in. After that though, you will find that the door hangs open. There is no clip to keep it closed.

The left arm features an opening panel that opens up to reveal the compartment for the stun stick. Included is both the full size and shortened stun stick, but the space for the stick is too large, so it just sort of falls out.

The shield looks pretty nice, and is attached in two places. First, the pegs on the arm secure midpoint on the shield, and the front of the shield is supposed to secure to a special hand that has a molded on handle on it. Well, the shield is hard plastic; the hands are rubber and molded poorly, thus the hand wont stay attached to the shield.

This toy cost 6500 yen which really is not that much different than the Brave Gokin Ingram, and that was amazing – lights, tons of metal, solid as hell. This? This is crap. I feel so let down by it. Sure, it looks nice on the shelf, but the second you try to pose it it all goes to hell. To top it off there are TWO versions of this toy - a unit 1 and unit 2, the only difference being the marking on the shield and shoulder. Oh, and you don't know which one you are getting until it shows up at your door.

The AV-0 Peacemaker is for Patlabor completists only. I'm getting angry just thinking about it.

http://www.hlj.com/product/CMS65182

In this review I am covering both the actual Aries Mu release and the newest Appendix released for this character. By itself the Aries Mu release is OK, but combine it with the Appendix and this figure really shines. He may look feminine but he is anything but. HEAVY SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES ARE WITHIN. You have been warned.

HEAVY SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES ARE SPREAD THROUGH OUT THIS ARTICLE. If you are watching the series and haven't gotten to the end of the Hades Inferno arc STOP READING. You will spoil some of the more dramatic and important events of the series. Seriously... I can't emphasize this enough. For the rest, read on.

From wikipedia :
“Mu is very soft spoken, with a scholarly-like personality; his demeanor is very tranquil and logical, almost as if he is a professor of the Sanctuary. Various official translations of the manga and anime, as well as Mandarin language Saint Seiya fans, tend to refer to the character as 'Lord Mu' or 'Mister Mu'. He is good friends with Taurus Aldebaran, and is very respectful to the 243 yr old master Libra Dohko."

"Before the start of the series, Mu removed himself from Sanctuary after suspecting that his mentor (and then-Pope), Aries Shion, had been quietly assassinated. He relocated to Jamir, a mystical land that only those with a high level of either psychic or Cosmo power can enter. From here, Mu severed all ties to Sanctuary and lived a life of solitude with his apprentice, the young psychic Kiki. It wasn't until years later, when he met Dragon Shiryu and Pegasus Seiya, that he began to become involved in the affairs of Sanctuary again."

"Throughout the manga and anime series, Mu is the man to go to when a Saint needs his or her cloth repaired. Although every individual Cloth has the ability to regenerate itself after a battle, a hands-on restoration from Mu is needed if a cloth has been severely damaged to the point of death. In normal cases, 1/3 of a person's total blood supply is required for Mu to begin work right away. “

From wikipedia :

“Mu arrives in the Virgo temple, and prevents Seiya and others from helping Virgo Shaka, saying that this was Shaka's final wish, but is shocked to see that Saga, Camus and Shura have just killed the Gold Saint Virgo Shaka with the Athena Exclamation, the forbidden technique. Saga, Camus and Shura charge up another Athena Exclamation - threatening that they will do it again if anyone stands in their path. Mu reminds Saga, that there are also 3 Gold Saints standing in their path. Mu combines his powers with Leo Aiolia and Scorpio Milo to use Athena Exclamation against them. The clashing powers of two Athena Exclamations destroy the Virgo temple apart."

"Eventually, the combined power of these two attacks was deflected by Dragon Shiryu (in the anime, it was by the combined power of all 4 Bronze Saints). Athena beckons the two parties to stop fighting and come to her at her palace. Athena tells the fallen Gold Saints that they no longer have to suffer and commits suicide (secretly invoking the 8th sense as told by Virgo Shaka in his petals he sent her) and it was then that Shion's true intention was revealed: they came to Sanctuary as Spectres to tell Athena of the God Cloth, and that the only way to defeat Hades was to enter Hell alive using the Eighth Sense - the ability to go the realm of the dead while having the will to live.”

In this review I am covering both the actual Aries Mu release and the newest Appendix released for this character. Released in 2005, Aries Mu was one of the first Gold Saints released in the Saint Cloth Myth line and suffered from some design and quality control issues that the series in general has improved over time. The Appendix release gives you extra parts and pieces to correct these problems while giving you a very important accessory, Virgo’s prayer beads.

The original release of Mu featured a chest piece that looks just a bit too bulky and a head sculpt that is pretty blah looking. Mine has his Lemurian marks (the two dots on his head) off center- an issue that plagued most of the manufacturing run. The armor included in this set can be swapped out with the main figure to give him a slimmer look. As you can see in the pictures above the difference is subtle but noticeable.

The new pieces also give you the range of motion to display him in a signature move from the end of the series as well; the forbidden technique- Athena's Exclamation.

Included in the Aries Mu box:

• Mu (Generation One Body)
• Armor Pieces- Helmet, Chest Plate, Shoulders, Biceps, Forearms, Waist Pieces, Thigh Armor, Leg Armor
• Cloth Repair Tools
• Statue Base

Included in the Appendix box:

• An Aries Mu mini bust. Includes Two Heads, Chest, Arms and Pedestal
• Chest Armor
• Arm Gauntlets
• Wrist Extensions
• Shoulder Armor
• Virgo’s Prayer Beads

When you combine the two releases you have a far more attractive figure to display with a better range of motion. The original release is decent with the exception of the head sculpt but the Appendix really makes it shine. However the Appendix parts are all plastic while the same pieces are diecast in the original release, something to keep in mind when you make the switch if diecast content is of the utmost importance to you as a collector.

I really like the combined results of this figure and the Appendix. If you’re a fan of the series take the plunge and get your Aries Mu AND Appendix, you won’t be disappointed. I am not sure I can recommend this to non fans but your mileage may vary if you like the armor design. In general, Saint Cloth Myth figures are always a high quality release. If Aries isn't your cup of tea find a design you do like and give one a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I get all of my Saint Cloth Myth at Angolz.com and you can too. Act fast though as figures have been selling out as I review them.

Video review is below:

While I didn't care too much for the Frankenstein Motionette, I think his Bride makes up for any of his shortcomings.

While I didn't care too much for the Frankenstein Motionette, I think his Bride makes up for any of his shortcomings. Much like the Wolf Man, the Bride Of Frankenstein captures more of the essence of the character than the actual look. And frankly, I'm surprised at how much I like the look of this one. It has a sort of faux gothic punk, "I got this at 'Hot Topics'" sort of vibe working. And yet, I like it anyway.

The Bride of Frankenstein was added for the second series of 17" Motionettes along with the Mummy and so far as I've been able to tell, these seem like the two rarest of the set. While Frankenstein looks sad and weak, The Bride looks completely maniacal. She looks like she could kill you with one look of those wide, bloodshot eyes.

Telco could have easily taken the easy way out with her costume and just had one long cloth draped over her, but she does have a sort of gauze shirt on underneath that adds just that extra layer of depth. The hands have molded bandages on them and the left index finger is painted red at the tip. I'm not sure if this is supposed to depict blood or what, but it adds just the right drop of color to the otherwise all white ensemble.

Same gimmicks as the other Motionettes; moving arms and head, light up eyes and sound effects.

Let’s just say it up front. Thanatos –God of Death is the Saint Cloth Myth figure you will wish you had picked up when you had a chance. This figure is already sold out in most places but Ken over at Angolz.com bent over backwards to get me one of these guys and the trouble is very much appreciated. Read on for all the details.

Damn is this box big! The package is in the standard Saint Cloth Myth book style box but is thinker and longer than the biggest Saint Cloth Myth I have previously handled and that is what I would expect after getting to know the quality and caliber of the Saint Cloth Myth line, besides it’s not every day Bandai releases a God Cloth. Heck, even the trim detail on the box is printed in a silver foil to mark the occasion.

Thanatos is the God of Death, a villain from the Saint Seiya OVA series, The Hades Chapter – Elysium and hands down one of the best character designs to emerge from the series to date. Thanatos and his twin brother Hypnos stand between our Heroes and rescuing the imprisoned Goddess Athena. Thanatos only appears for 4 episodes but his short appearance is wrapped up in one of the most dramatic developments of the series, Pegasus Seiya’s Bronze Cloth evolving itself into a God level Cloth (coming soon from Bandai for the Saint Cloth Myth line :).)

The basic figure of Thanatos is much like the previous releases in the Saint Cloth Myth line - over 40 points of articulation, made of plastic with the feet being die-cast metal. The face sculpt is excellent and a great likeness of the character from the cartoon.

When Thanatos is not being the God of Death and killing stuff (because being the God of Death it’s what you do), he spends his downtime wearing a robe and playing his harp for all the cute Nymphs of Elysium and in usual attentive Bandai detail they include the robe and harp for your display.

While all of this is nice, it is the full armored figure most folks are interested in and this one is a beauty! Whether you are a fan of Saint Seiya or not it’s hard to deny this collectibles presence on the shelf. The figure is about 50% die-cast and 50% plastic. Normally die-cast content is higher in a Saint Cloth Myth figure but the figure is so large it wouldn’t stand if they made more of it die-cast.

The Chest, arms, legs, cod piece and hip pieces are all diecast. The skirt details, helmet and wings are plastic. The wings do pivot and rotate as well as able to fan out. The wings are beautifully designed and really make this display stand out. The figure does stand on it’s own without support with the wings on full display but to keep balance display options are limited. Bandai makes an aftermarket stand for the line you might want to consider getting when purchasing this figure if you want to display him dynamically.

Now most Cloth’s will form a statue of the Constellation they are aligned with but the God of Death is a bit different, the statue is basically just the Cloth on display on a “dummy” body and not an actual object or item. As of now this is how I have the armor on display because the “dummy figure” locks into the base allowing the wings to be fully out, giving the piece a very dramatic look.

There is not much else to say about this fine piece other than get it! It meets the usual high quality of previous released Saint Cloth Myth figures and looks absolutely stunning. Fan of the show or not I am totally recommending you get one if you can, you will not be disappointed.

Full video review is below…

I think old Frank here is probably my least favorite of the Telco Motionettes.

Although he's arguably the greatest of the Universal Monsters, I think old Frank here is probably my least favorite of the Telco Motionettes. Although the character has much greater depth than just a shambling monster, the sculpt on this one strikes me as being more pathetic than sympathetic.

The one pictured here is the second series 17" version. The first series had a greener complexion and probably looks a bit better for it. I do like the costume though. It's a nice dark shade of moss green (although I just noticed my pics tend to make it look more brown-ish. Trust me, it's green) and there is some padding underneath to give the figure a bit more girth.

The arms are very poseable and the chain is an attractive feature, although it's a little bit silly since it's attached to his sleeves, not his arms. But hey, this is just a Halloween decoration and not exactly intended to be the world's greatest, most accurate Frankenstein figure.

Like the rest of the Motionettes, there is a housing for 2 C batteries in the base and the figure moves his head and arms when activated. His eyes light up and he makes noise as well. All the Motionettes, including Frankenstein, came packaged in cardboard boxes with clear plastic windows on the front.

Another Telco Halloween decoration, the Wolf Man is the closest thing in my collection to a Muppet!

Even though it's a far cry from looking anything like he does in the movie, I really like the look of this figure. Although the sculpt of the face is somewhat simple, it does have an elegance and personality to it that is appealing to me. I love that they added so much hair to this thing. It's got a really wild look on the one hand, but it also sort of reminds me of a Muppet, too!

Although some might consider it excessive, the hair protruding from his sleeves and pant legs is another nice touch. But honestly, it sort of makes me wish I had a nice, creepy looking scarecrow one. Telco did release a scarecrow in one of their earlier batches of Motionettes, but it's more cute looking than scary.

This Wolf Man figure has much more poseability in the arms than the Creature did. You can actually bend the arms to whatever pose you want basically, as beyond the vinyl hands the arms are just a flexible wire armature.

You know what else is great about this one? That bright yellow shirt! It's a welcome change in a genre dominated by gloomy blacks and greys. It's the closest thing to sunshine that the Wolf Man will ever get anyway...

You get the same features here as on the other Motionettes...light up eyes, moving arms/head and sound effects. The sound is much more appropriate to the character this time around, too. 17" tall to the top of the head, it actually looks more like 18" with all that hair standing up. The Wolf Man was included in both series' of 17" licensed Universal Monster Motionettes, but I don't think there's any significant difference between the two. My favorite part of this thing? I got it for a measly $5 on Ebay! When the last time you bought a Japanese robot for $5?* ;)