First, I want to apologize for the condition of the toy that I’m going to review. I received this one from my mother (thank you mom) around 1984. It’s over 20 years old, so the condition may not be to good. But at least it’s still intact, eh.

First, I want to apologize for the condition of the toy that I’m going to review. I received this one from my mother (thank you mom) around 1984. It’s over 20 years old, so the condition may not be to good. But at least it’s still intact, eh.

Let’s start, shall we? This is a Clover made Gundam toy. Basically, it’s a windup toy with Gundam character. The Gundam itself is the RX 78-2 Gundam. The main character from the first Gundam.

It made mostly from ABS Plastics with tin covering for the body and kind of Iron plate for the shoulder and knee. The plastics is strong enough to withstand hard beatings. It had a shield that you put in the left arm and it’s made of tin and iron. Unfortunately, I lost it, so I can’t show it to you. I think it is about 75% plastic, 15% tin and 10% iron.

They toy itself had a blocky look. Although very uncommon these days, it is the standard for 80’s toys. But the blocky look is what attracts me (maybe some of you) to collect vintage toys. The sculpt and the paint although not Anime accurate, succeed in bringing the Soul of Gundam. It also had what vintage toys should have, It’s name written in the chest. The details are a far cry from today’s Gundam kit or figure, but, again, it is a vintage toy, so it’s forgivable. It has wheels in it’s feet for the walking mechanism. The wheels made of plastic.

The only articulation is in it’s arms. The legs and the feet only had articulation for the walking feature.

Considering the material, it’s not a Chogokin. But the love magnet of this toy is not the diecast part. As I mentioned before, it’s a wind up toy. So, after you turn the knob, watch as the mighty Gundam walks with glory across the battlefield (or your room). Beside the walking feature, it also has a shooting feature from the Bazooka that it carries on it’s right shoulder. It is supposed to imitate the Bazooka that Gundam uses in the Anime.

The bottom line… this is a simplistic toy that is what a toy should be about. Endless hours of play value. Imagine having it walk across the room, and stop just in time (there’s a lever to stop the toy) to shoot your enemies. Also it doesn’t disappoint us collectors. A truly must-have for toy enthusiasts or just Gundam fans.

The story of the strangest passion the world has ever known! A little late for Halloween, but I finally scored me a wind-up Dracula to complete the Universal Monsters set. Check it out!

Hey, people dig vampires. There's no doubt about it. Something about the tragic immortality they possess. Something about the obsession, the hunger. Something about the penetration and fluid transfer.

What?

The bite!!

Anyway, being a Romania native, it seems Bela Lugosi was born to play the titular Count in 1931's Dracula. Lugosi had a pretty solid resume under his belt by the time 1931 rolled around (including having previously played the grand daddy of all vampires on Broadway some years before), but it was Tod Browning's film that not only defined his career, but propelled him into a cental position with Univeral Studios.

Besides Dracula, Lugosi played some prominent and some not-so-prominent roles for Universal. In 1941's The Wolf Man, he made a marvelous cameo as the gypsy, "Bela", who delivered the warning of the dreaded werewolf. He played the more memorable of Frankenstein's hunchback assistants, "Ygor", in 1939's Son of Frankenstein across from Boris Karloff's last role as the monster, and 1942's The Ghost of Frankenstein across from Lon Chaney, Jr.'s monster. And, of course, Lugosi played the monster, itself, in 1943's Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man across from Chaney's reprise of the Wolf Man!

Besides his work for Universal, Lugosi has had some impressive roles like the Sayer of the Law in 1932's Island of Lost Souls, and some...not-so-impressive roles like the ghoul in Plan 9 from Outer Space! Probably his most acclaimed parts were those paired with Karloff...films like RKO's The Body Snatcher (1945) or the Poe adaptations, The Black Cat (1934) and The Raven (1935).

...But Lugosi's myriad roles aside, Dracula is the focus of this toy review!

The tin wind-up toy reviewed here was produced in 1992 by "Mike Company", a US-based Univeral Monsters licensee recently renamed a year earlier from "Robot House". I've been told by Jay at Robot Island, a dealer of fine tin wind-up toys, that Robot House was granted the license to the characters and then contracted Billiken Shokai of Japan to manufacture the toys. Billiken--perhaps more famous for their high-quality, realistic vinyl tokusatsu kits and figures--are NO slackers when it comes to tin. And that quality clearly shows in these toys.

Along with Dracula, Robot House produced tin wind-ups of Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, and the Gill-Man (the Creature from the Black Lagoon).

Killer box--though I miss the neat artwork from the previous releases.

Now, I have to make the disclaimer that I don't normally "collect" tin walkers. As I'm fond of saying, I "buy what I like"...and that tends to be a little bit of everything. I only have about 10 tins and I bought them simply because I thought they were beautiful toys--they're not vintage or anything...and I really don't know much about the tin "MARKET".

This box has a cool coffin motif and the cross on top is actually a cut-out, through which you can see the black nylon bag the figure is wrapped in.

I'm not too sure what constitutes an "outstanding" tin because I simply haven't seen enough to be able to judge what "outstanding" even is! The first four monsters will run you around $40-50 on the aftermarket. While the Mummy is becoming more and more scarce, the Gill-Man appears to be the most plentiful. Dracula, unfortunately, will run you around $125 easily. I don't know if that's a "lot" for a non-vintage (well...16 years old) tin walker, but I will say that based on the sheer quality of these pieces, it's worth it.

This piece is great, much like the others from this line. The lithography is top notch, even if a bit simple. It does a great job of conveying Dracula's dapper evening attire. The printing on the tin is flawless and works perfectly with the cape and vinyl parts.

And speaking of his cape, that's one part the other figures in the line obviously lack. And it happens to be gorgeous. It's made of two pieces of nylon (or some similar synthetic fabric): black on the outside and red on the inside. Toys with capes often turn me off because they're usually some awful fabric that is too stiff to drape realistically or has a fuzzy texture that otherwise makes the toy look like a toy. Alternatively, capes for toys are sometimes actually made from a piece of molded plastic or rubber...which admittedly looks great, but is obviously static and not very interesting.

This cape, however, succeeds: the nylon is cut to drape and wrinkle in the right ways to look realistic enough, while maintaining a nice smooth sheen. It's tough enough to be handled without worry, but supple enough to move freely when the toy is walking. The only thing static is the collar, which is painted vinyl.

Next, the vinyl parts, themselves, are nicely rendered. The head and hands seem to be cast black vinyl with the pale white skin color painted directly on with no priming (well, perhaps a black primer). You can just barely see some black showing through in some spots on the skin where the paint is thin. This effect is actually really cool! It's very subtle, but it lends to the "undead" look.

As for the sculpt of the face, itself, I dig it. It doesn't quite look exactly like Bela Lugosi, but it comes pretty close and looks good for a toy, in general. Lugosi's strong nose and wrinkes on his cheeks and chin come through nicely, but I think they could've done the eyes better. The eyebrows are a bit high (lending to a shocked sort of expression...rather than a menacing one). Also, I think the eyes should be darker and squintier...meaner-looking! Still, I'm not dissatisfied.

Next up are the hands. Just like all of the Robot House/Mike Company Univeral Monsters tin wind-ups, these are superb. Easily just as much care went into their sculpt as went into the faces. The detail is great and, again, in some spots where the paint is thin on the flesh, the black base starts to show through. This unevenness ends up looking very "realistic"...for a dead guy. Also, the ring on his left ring-finger is nicely-done.

Again, this toy looks great overall. The dark colors and overall design aesthetic flow nicely between the vinyl parts, the cape, and the tin body. The simple style of the artwork on the tin complements the basic shape of those parts, but doesn't clash at all with the realistic sculpt of the head and hands. I also like how the bright red on the inside of the cape contrasts well against the dark body, giving it some visually-interesting definition.

Anyway, not a whole lot more to say about this piece. I think a video review wouldn't help too much seeing as how it's a tin walker. You wind it up...and he walks as the arms swing back and forth. The winding action is nice and smooth and the movement is brisk--if a tad noisy.

"A Monster Science Created - But Could Not Destroy!"

Quite possibly the most iconic movie monster of all time, Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster.

What can be said about Boris Karloff? This man was an actor clearly ahead of his time. Previously, I had only know him from his brilliant portrayal of this iconic monster from the 1931 film, Frankenstein. Recently, however, Nekrodave got me to check out the films Val Lewton did for RKO Radio Pictures. Karloff played prominent roles in many of these films, and he simply shined with the sheer depth and breadth of his range. His villains were dynamic and complex. Catching him in these films only enriches the experience of seeing him in Frankenstein.

And what a film Frankenstein is! Karloff is at once tragically human and chillingly inscrutable. Most of all, though, he is absolutely convincing in this role...even though he has virtually no dialog! The combination of Karloff's acting, the wonderful production value of the film, and of course, Mary Shelley's classic tale result in this--arguably the most famous monster movie of all time.

And Karloff's Monster is the subject of this review.

The tin wind-up toy reviewed here was produced in 1991 by a company called "Robot House", a US-based Univeral Monsters licensee. I've been told by Jay at Robot Island, a dealer of fine tin wind-up toys, that Robot House was granted the license to the characters and then contracted Billiken Shokai of Japan to manufacture the toys. Billiken--perhaps more famous for their high-quality, realistic vinyl tokusatsu kits and figures--are NO slackers when it comes to tin. And that quality clearly shows in these toys.

Along with Frankenstein's monster, Robot House produced the Wolf Man, the Mummy, and the Gill-Man (the Creature from the Black Lagoon). In 1992, the company was renamed to "Mike Company", when they produced a similar Dracula wind-up with a slighty different style of packaging.

Not bad box art, but a tad cartoony.

Now, I have to make the disclaimer that I don't normally "collect" tin walkers. As I'm fond of saying, I "buy what I like"...and that tends to be a little bit of everything. I only have about 10 tins and I bought them simply because I thought they were beautiful toys--they're not vintage or anything...and I really don't know much about the tin "MARKET".

I'm not too sure what constitutes an "outstanding" tin because I simply haven't seen enough to be able to judge what "outstanding" even is! The first four monsters will run you around $40-50 on the aftermarket. While the Mummy is becoming more and more scarce, the Gill-Man appears to be the most plentiful. Dracula, unfortunately, will run you around $125 easily. I don't know if that's a "lot" for a non-vintage (well...16 years old) tin walker, but I will say that based on the sheer quality of these pieces, it's worth it.

This is a good-looking toy--there's no question about it. This was my second purchase from this line of Universal Monsters tins by Robot House/Mike Company (right after the Gill-Man). I hadn't yet committed to getting the whole line at this point. I first wanted to have these in-hand before making the decision. Once I received this toy, it really wasn't a tough call.

The lithographed print on the tin is brilliant. The impression of the clothing is artful and creative, while not being needlessly hyper-realistic. The colors printed nicely and the color choices are excellent. The Monster's clothes look nice and disheveled and the overall look of the piece is very appropriate given the dark atmosphere of the film.

Aside from the lithographed tin body, we have the dry-brushed vinyl head and hands of this toy. The face looks pretty much like toy-perfection to me. I mean, that's Boris Karloff as the Monster! The black and white film has us perhaps more used to a deathly pale look for the monster, but I think the sickly green color they chose for his skin was a great choice. Also, a similar greenish yellow was used for the whites of his eyes; together, they contribute to his unnatural pallor.

Next are his hands. Good, but not as well-rendered as his face. I like the sculpt a lot, but I think their are two problems with the paint application. First, it appears as though they're not dry-brushed, but instead, a very dark stain/wash was used. As a result, the small indentations in the sculpt appear like tiny black pocks on his skin. His hands didn't look that bad in the movie. Next, his fingernails. Umm...red nail polish? Really??? Hehe...well...these things happen! Just like the Mummy's awkward-looking eye, a detail brush, some acrylic paint, and a few minutes'll take care of that!

Still, these flaws are minimal when set against all the good points this toy has to offer. The quality of the tin parts' lithography and the sculpt and paint apps on the vinyl parts are top-notch. The design and color choices make for a great piece that simply looks brilliant overall.

Anyway, not a whole lot more to say about this piece. I think a video review wouldn't help too much seeing as how it's a tin walker. You wind it up...and he walks as the arms swing back and forth. The winding action is nice and smooth and the movement is brisk--if a tad noisy.

"Not since the beginning of time has the world beheld terror like this!" ...My favorite Universal Monster of all time, the Gill-Man...The Creature from the Black Lagoon!

Dames.

It's always dames, isn't it?

There you are: a perfectly peaceful monster, hanging out doing monster stuff. Then some pretty girl strolls by...and you're pretty much all done at that point. Just give it up. You're gonna die...probably horribly.

Okay, sure, the basic plot of 1954's The Creature from the Black Lagoon is all that terribly original (*ahem*...1933's King Kong), but I've always been fond of underwater-themed robots and monsters. For example, the only mecha I like from Gundam are the wacky aquatic Zeon robots from the original series and some of my favorite Toho kaiju are the mutated creatures from Yog: The Space Amoeba. And my all-time favorite Universal Studios monster? You guessed it!

But my fondness for watery beasties notwithstanding and despite the lack of innovation in terms of plot, I think the true appeal of the Gill-Man comes from the execution if not the concept. The Creature is an evolutionary throw-back, a sort of missing link in humanity's evolution. Only this is no bigfoot! The Gill-Man is obviously an amphibious version of ourselves--only savage and monsterously strong. Certainly part of what made the film so popular was the how good the monster actually looked. Anyone can tell that King Kong was stop-motion animation; the Gill-Man, however, was visually actualized by actors in perfect costumes.

Ricou Browning played the creature in all of the flawlessly-rendered underwater scenes. Not only did he look totally natural swimming in the costume--effectively using the webbed hands--but there were no air-bubbles coming from the suit to betray the air-breathing actor. Next, Ben Chapman played the creature in all of the scenes on land. Here, again, the costume performed admirably. Covered from head to toe in the seamless suit, even false eyes were used to complete the eerie ensemble. Even the Gill-Man's gills puffed in and out in a subtle motion that added to the creepy realism. All in all, a very convincing monster...and the subject of this toy review!

The tin wind-up toy reviewed here was produced in 1991 by a company called "Robot House", a US-based Univeral Monsters licensee. I've been told by Jay at Robot Island, a dealer of fine tin wind-up toys, that Robot House was granted the license to the characters and then contracted Billiken Shokai of Japan to manufacture the toys. Billiken--perhaps more famous for their high-quality, realistic vinyl tokusatsu kits and figures--are NO slackers when it comes to tin. And that quality clearly shows in these toys.

Along with the Creature, Robot House produced Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy. In 1992, the company was renamed to "Mike Company", when they produced a similar Dracula wind-up with a slighty different style of packaging.

Not bad box art, but I would have preferred a sunny swamp scene in the background.

Now, I have to make the disclaimer that I don't normally "collect" tin walkers. As I'm fond of saying, I "buy what I like"...and that tends to be a little bit of everything. I only have about 10 tins and I bought them simply because I thought they were beautiful toys--they're not vintage or anything...and I really don't know much about the tin "MARKET".

I'm not too sure what constitutes an "outstanding" tin because I simply haven't seen enough to be able to judge what "outstanding" even is! The first four monsters will run you around $40-50 on the aftermarket. While the Mummy is becoming more and more scarce, the Gill-Man appears to be the most plentiful. Dracula, unfortunately, will run you around $125 easily. I don't know if that's a "lot" for a non-vintage (well...16 years old) tin walker, but I will say that based on the sheer quality of these pieces, it's worth it.

I think the whole look of this piece is fantastic. This was actually the first of these Universal tins that I ran across while browsing eBay for Creature merchandise. Not even being all that passionate about tins, once I got a good look at the quality of the lithography on the tin and the sculpt and paint of the vinyl parts, I was sold.

And speaking of the tin, the colors and style are perfect as far as I'm concerned. As with the other Universal tins, the art style is far from photo-realistic, but not too exaggerated or cartoony. It produces almost an impressionistic look for the toy that makes it unmistakably recognizable as the Gill-Man. The use of darker green striations across the lighter green base create a nice scaley effect. Also, the addition of gold scales and frills also works well with the gold used on the vinyl parts and serve to mimick the glinty wet look the creature had after coming out of the water onto land in the movie.

Besides the tin bits, the vinyl parts--the head and hands--are just as well-rendered. These parts are hollow and very lightweight, but they are also very stiff unlike your typical sofubi ("soft vinyl").

Unlike Robot House's Wolf Man and Mummy, I find the face of the Creature flawless. The surface detail is gorgeous. There doesn't appear to be any dry-brushing, but the green vinyl is over-sprayed with gold along the flared ridges of the gills. Also, red paint was air-brushed onto raised bumps and ridges on his skin; these details complement the red of his lips and tongue well. Also, the silver used in the eyes matches the sort of dead "fish-eye" look of the Creature from the movie.

Next up is my favorite part of the toy: the hands. Again, unlike the others in the series, there's no dry-brushing used here--it's all air-brushing. The green vinyl matches the color used on the tin brilliantly, but a light spray of gold paint was used on the palms and backs of the hands. Also, the claws were painted in a dark bone color and raised details on the palms of the hands were painted red. That the manufacturers even bothered to paint details on the palms of the hands is just astounding! If that isn't "quality", I don't know what is.

Again, this toy looks great overall. The colors flow nicely between the vinyl parts and the tin body, and the style of the artwork on the tin ties the simple shapes of the body to the realistic sculpt of the head and hands.

Anyway, not a whole lot more to say about this piece. I think a video review wouldn't help too much seeing as how it's a tin walker. You wind it up...and he walks as the arms swing back and forth. The winding action is nice and smooth and the movement is brisk--if a tad noisy.

Hired goon, Kharis, of ancient Egypt is back from the dead. It's been about 3000 years. 3000 loooong years. ...Watch out, ladies!!

Now, here's a little digression into film and classic monster history: this toy is not of the original Mummy!

Much like with many campy, mass-marketed horror productions, it certainly wasn't beneath a studio to rehash, rewrite, and regurgitate a popular screen icon for the sake of making the crowds cheer. Don't believe me? Look how many Frankenstein's are out there! ;)

The same is true of the Mummy. But here's an interesting case. The original 1932 film, The Mummy, showcased yet another cogent performance by none other than Frankenstein's own Boris Karloff. Is there any way to get enough Boris Karloff??? Probably not...but I digress...from my own digression...

Now, Karloff played the pharaonic Egyptian prince, Imhotep, in a tragic tale of cruel love. Though far and away the most frightening Mummy film ever, the inimitable Karloff plays a brilliant, but decidedly un-monsterlike villain. The next four sequels, however, were filmed 8 years later and actually deal with a different being entirely: the far more monsterous mummy, Kharis--the ever-living guardian of Princess Ananka. Confused yet? Well, it gets better!

The first of the Kharis films was 1940's The Mummy's Hand, which was arguably more humor than horror; in this film, Tom Tyler played the "first draft" of Kharis. The next three films--1942's The Mummy's Tomb, and 1944's The Mummy's Ghost and The Mummy's Curse--served to refine the creature...no doubt propelled along by Lon Chaney, Jr's takeover of the title role. Fresh off the set of 1941's The Wolf Man, the new star was ready to define yet another iconic monster.

Tyler's Mummy seemed an odd juxtaposition of physical traits. The corpse was supposed to be extremely well-preserved...to the point where two characters even commented on his nice complexion...just before he came back to life! Also, Tyler was a body builder in real life. In skin-tight wrappings, he made for a pretty athletic-looking monster! Still, his eyes were blackened out during post-production and the writers gave him a gait that was zombie-esque, at best. He was just too...healthy...for that--much like Karloff's short post-resurrection scene (still in his wrappings).

Chaney's creepier performance as the more consistently-undead(?) Kharis is the Mummy's depiction most resonant with folks. Though sorta relegated to being more of a hired goon--albeit, an undead one--Chaney's slow, inexorable beast marked the final refinement of the monster. By the time he took over, much more facial make-up was added. The decomposition effect was was really convincing--his right eye was entirely destroyed and basically appeared rotted shut. And since Tyler started the decrepit right arm bit (though it looked perfectly healthy!), they wrapped up Chaney's right hand so that it looked like an atrophied stump. Oh, and that zombie-esque gait? Chaney pulled it off with sheer brilliance!

It's this Mummy that stands out most prominently in the hearts and minds of monster fans of all ages. And he's the subject of this toy review!

The tin wind-up toy reviewed here was produced in 1991 by a company called "Robot House", a US-based Univeral Monsters licensee. I've been told by Jay at Robot Island, a dealer of fine tin wind-up toys, that Robot House was granted the license to the characters and then contracted Billiken Shokai of Japan to manufacture the toys. Billiken--perhaps more famous for their high-quality, realistic vinyl tokusatsu kits and figures--are NO slackers when it comes to tin. And that quality clearly shows in these toys.

Along with the Mummy, Robot House produced Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, and the Gill-Man (the Creature from the Black Lagoon). In 1992, the company was renamed to "Mike Company", when they produced a similar Dracula wind-up with a slighty different style of packaging.

Great box art!

Now, I have to make the disclaimer that I don't normally "collect" tin walkers. As I'm fond of saying, I "buy what I like"...and that tends to be a little bit of everything. I only have about 10 tins and I bought them simply because I thought they were beautiful toys--they're not vintage or anything...and I really don't know much about the tin "MARKET".

I'm not too sure what constitutes an "outstanding" tin because I simply haven't seen enough to be able to judge what "outstanding" even is! The first four monsters will run you around $40-50 on the aftermarket (though the Mummy is becoming more and more scarce); Dracula, unfortunately, will run you over $100 easily. I don't know if that's a "lot" for a non-vintage (well...16 years old) tin walker, but I will say that based on the sheer quality of these pieces, it's worth it.

Isn't this piece gorgeous? The lithography on the tin is pristine. The style is wonderful: effectively conveying the "feel" of the recently-revived Kharis in his mummy wrappings, while not being overly detailed or needlessly hyper-realistic. I dig that a lot.

Besides the tin bits, we also need to discuss the vinyl parts: the head and hands. These parts are hollow and very lightweight, but they are also very stiff unlike your typical sofubi ("soft vinyl").

Similar to Robot House's Wolf Man, I find the face of the Mummy to be nice, but a little off. The surface detail is gorgeous and the dry-brushing with two shades of greenish brown is perfect. I think the hang-up for me is the eye. I kinda dig the sideways glance, but the red just doesn't go with the whole look of the toy--it just seems so out of place. Still, a detail brush, a little acrylic paint, and a couple minutes of work'll tidy that right up! ;)

Next up are the hands. As with the other figures in this line, the hands for the Mummy are superb! Again, the sharp sculpt and quality dry-brushing combine gorgeously.

And not only do we have the strangling left hand, but we get the decrepit right hand from the later Lon Chaney films as well.

The piece looks great overall; the look and feel is excellent. On this piece, more so than the other Robot House/Mike Company monster tins, the head and hands look very different from the rest of the body. While the body is completely wrapped, the head and hands are bare. This stark contrast actually works very well with this toy. It boils down to the selected colors. Instead of looking great in spite of one another, the head and hands and the body complement each other nicely because the darker basecoat color and the lighter highlight color used for the head and hands are both used in the litho-ed print on the tin parts. And remember, color selection isn't automatic--this is based on a black and white film!

Anyway, not a whole lot more to say about this piece. I think a video review wouldn't help too much seeing as how it's a tin walker. You wind it up...and he walks as the arms swing back and forth. The winding action is nice and smooth and the movement is brisk--if a tad noisy.

Yep, Sanjeev's back writing reviews! And just in time for the Halloween season, we have the first in a line of gorgeous tin wind-up Universal Monsters: The Wolf Man!

In 1941, The Wolf Man launched Lon Chaney Jr.'s career out from under the shadow of his father, Lon Chaney Sr. (of The Phantom of the Opera fame)...even if it did sorta doom him to generally b-grade horror flicks...

Still, The Wolf Man is a classic and Lon Chaney Jr.'s performance nothing short of excellent. There's no question that this film and the legacy it created--of merchandise as well as sequels--make the titular monster, the Wolf Man, one of the most influential characters of all time.

The toy reviewed here was produced in 1991 by a company called "Robot House", a US-based Univeral Monsters licensee. I've come to learn from Jay at Robot Island, a dealer of fine tin wind-ups, that Robot House was granted the license to the monsters and then contracted Billiken Shokai of Japan to manufacture the toys. Billiken, perhaps more famous for their high-quality, realistic vinyl kaiju/tokusatsu kits and figures, are NO slackers when it comes to tin. And that quality clearly shows in these toys.

Along with the Wolf Man, they produced Frankenstein's monster, the Mummy, and the Gill-Man (the Creature from the Black Lagoon). In 1992, the company was renamed to "Mike Company", when they produced a similar Dracula wind-up with a slighty different style of packaging.

Perfect box art.

Now, I have to make the disclaimer that I don't normally "collect" tin walkers. As I'm fond of saying, I "buy what I like"...and that tends to be a little bit of everything. I only have about 10 tins and I bought them simply because I thought they were beautiful toys--they're not vintage or anything...and I really don't know much about the tin "MARKET".

I'm not too sure what constitutes an "outstanding" tin because I simply haven't seen enough to be able to judge what "outstanding" even is! The first four monsters will run you around $40-50 on the aftermarket (though the Mummy is becoming more and more scarce); Dracula, unfortunately, will run you over $100 easily. I don't know if that's a "lot" for a non-vintage (well...16 years old) tin walker, but I will say that based on the sheer quality of these pieces, it's worth it.

The lithographed print on the tin parts is flawless. The style is clearly not meant to be photo-realistic, but at the same time, it's not too cartoonish or exaggerated like a caricature. The details are great--like the folds and tears in the clothing, the seams and buttons on the shirt, and the belt.

The other thing I love about the lithography on the tin of this piece is the feet. All of these figures have the same sort of blocky feet, but check out the great detail of the print here:

Ironically, there are too many toes! In the film, when Larry Talbot transforms, he loses one for some reason!

The other thing to talk about regarding these toys is the vinyl parts: the head and hands. These parts are hollow and very lightweight, but they are also very stiff unlike your typical soft vinyl.

Of all of Robot House's Universal Monsters tins, I probably find the Wolf Man the ugliest. They, of course, took some liberties with the colors they chose--I would have gone with a much darker brown overall to match the look of the film, and the super-blood-shot eyes are a bit much for me.

Still, once again, the quality of the paint applications is quite high. The head is very nicely dry-brushed to bring out the sculpt. I also kinda like how his head is slightly tilted backwards like he's sniffing the air as he stalks through the woods!

The best part, though, is the hands. You'll hear me say this for pretty much all of Robot House's tins. The detail here is superb. The dry-brushing with a dark basecoat really makes them look all grimy and killy!

A nice touch Robot House did specifically with the Wolf Man was that they added an extra vinyl piece for his shirt collar--the head rotates separately from it. Not anything ground-breaking, but it demonstrates a real respect for the subject and a desire to make a quality toy.

Anyway, not a whole lot more to say about this piece. I think a video review wouldn't help too much seeing as how it's a tin walker. You wind it up...and he walks as the arms swing back and forth. The winding action is nice and smooth and the movement is brisk--if a tad noisy.

Clearly, the appeal of this toy is the subject and how great it looks. The wind-up gimmick is almost secondary!