NECA GITD Retro - BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!

Universal Monsters  -  SDCC Retro GITD Bride of Frankenstein - NECA 2025

The 70s and early 80s were a dark time for female action figures. Despite some iconic ladies in pop culture like Wonder Woman and Princess Leia, they had almost no merchandise. You could fit all the female action figures in existence into a shoebox (I'm excluding soft Mego figures). With Universal Monsters, it seems there was always toys around (notably from AHI and Remco), but the Bride was always excluded. In fact, I believe (with the exception of an old Aurora model kit) she was never represented in plastic until 1998 when both Hasbro and Sideshow released figures. The TMNT April O'Neil as the Bride (1994) has such notoriety, because it was the first time her image (even in homage) was in action figure form. Since 2023, NECA has been gifting us with Remco-styled redeco's of the Ultimates figures on vintage cards. I had assumed this line would be limited to the original 6 Remco characters. But then we were surprised by the inclusion of The Invisible Man, Nosferatu, and of course, the Bride.

NECA Ultimates - BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!

Universal Monsters Ultimates -  The Bride of Frankenstein - NECA 2023

I don't know why I waited two years to open this figure. I was very excited to get her back in 2023 and faked an appointment to leave work midday when my local toy shop posted that they got her in. But then time got away from me and I never circled back to her until I picked up the SDCC GITD version of her this Summer. She is really a great action figure. I especially love a Bride figure when there is an alternate mummy look to display, I think the last mummy head included was way back with the 1998 Sideshow figure. When I first saw this NECA Ultimates Bride, I was confused by her brown hair. I always assumed her hair was black in the (black and white) movie and every piece of Bride of Frankenstein merchandise I own sports raven hair with a shock of white hair. But I've come to terms with the fact that the true color is auburn (Elsa Lanchester's natural hair). Plus I really like how it pairs with the off-white color of her robes and her brown-hued makeup. She looks great. Let's check out the Bride below!

Hocus Pocus - THE SANDERSON SISTERS!

Funko Minis - Disney's Hocus Pocus - Five Below Exclusive - Funko 2025

Hocus Pocus is a movie that was almost completely off my radar until very recently. It was released in 1993, when I was in high school, but I was only vaguely aware of it. I gather that it flopped at the box office but gained a massive cult following through continual airing on the Disney Channel and Freeform in the three decades since (neither of which channels I has access to until the last 5 years or so). I even worked at video rental stores for many years and we just didn't stock it. I was forced to watch it a few years ago for the first time. This was by friends who had a deep nostalgia for it from their childhood. Without that wistful slant, I honestly wasn't a huge fan. It was very over-the-top and silly with caricatures I found too childish (and I am very immature). But that said, I was glad to finally see this cult hit. I loved the colorful design of the Sanderson Sisters as well as the actors playing them. I've wanted to add them to my collection in some way, but none of the product so far felt quite right. 

POP Funko - MELANIE DANIELS!

POP! Movies #1788 - Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds - Melanie Daniels - Funko 2025

The Birds had a powerful impact on me as a child. My Dad loved Alfred Hitchcock and we would always tune in to his (often wildly inappropriate for kids) films when they aired on TV. The Birds was always my favorite. But ironically. this was because I loved birds so much. You might think that a bird lover would hate a movie where all the birds are portrayed as violent unpredictable antagonists, but I was fascinated. I also loved the open-ended mystery of the attacks (fun fact: years later they discovered that the real-life incidents that inspired the film were caused by toxic algae). But when I was a kid, I was left wondering if my birds might suddenly attack me, too. The star of the film was Tippi Hedren (mother of Melanie Griffith and grandmother of Dakota Johnson). Her character, Melanie Daniels, was beautiful, smart, and mysterious and really made the movie great. In 2008, I missed out on a Barbie of The Birds. This Funko Pop 17 years later finally let's me add a piece memorabilia to my collection. Let's check her out below!

Five Nights at Freddy's - TOY CHICA!

Five Nights at Freddy's - Toy Chica (Jump Scare Action) - Jazwares 2025

It surprises me that the first Five Nights at Freddy's game was released just eleven years ago. I feel like I've been seeing these character designs and toys for decades. And the genre of innocent-turned-twisted jumpscare games that were seemingly influenced by this franchise is overwhelming. In the beginning, I wasn't a huge fan of that bulky character designs. I was frankly shocked to learn that Chica was female. It wasn't until much later that the female FNAF characters actually looked female. This is one of those tricky scenarios where I try to not limit my appreciation of the female form to only svelte hourglass proportions. But when you have anthropomorphic animatronic characters with bulky genderless bodies and faces (or even decidedly male bodies and faces) the decision to finally include some stereotypical feminine traits is very appreciated. This figure is little odd since essentially naked except for a bib and underwear, but I thought she looked pretty fun. Let's check out Toy Chica below!

Toony TV Classics - J.B. FLETCHER!

Toony TV Classics - Murder, She Wrote - Jessica Beatrice Fletcher - NECA 2024

Murder, She Wrote is an iconic show from my youth. I didn't have cable in my early years and it was a staple on one of the four television channels we had access to. It started when I was 6 years old and ended when I graduated High School, so it was quite literally a constant presence in my formative years. But the funny thing is, for zero reason, my siblings and I hated it. We would be gleefully watching the A-Team or Knight Rider but would utter a collective groan when that tinkling piano music began and a waving Angela Lansbury glided by on her bicycle. But as an adult, I find it quite comforting. Jessica Fletcher is a famous crime fiction writer who constantly gets pulled into real life murder investigations in her sleepy town of Cabot Cove (or when on the road for book signings - a frequent occurrence). This Toony Classics figure is the first non-horror Toony figure I've purchased (although she's kind of an honorary spooky character). She is delightfully kitschy and I can't wait to see what characters NECA makes next.

Bendy and the Dark Revival - AUDREY!

Bendy and the Ink Machine (Dark Revival) Wave 1 - Audrey - Jakks Pacific 2024

Jakks Pacific seems to have cornered the market on video game action figures. Their Nintendo (Mario) and Sega (Sonic) figures have been staples of the toy aisles for a decade. So it was interesting to see the first wave of Bendy figures last year. In short, I was unimpressed. The female character is the first assortment was Audrey, a new character introduced in 2022's (delayed) Dark Revival sequel game. This figure had awkward-looking articulation, a (too) blank expression, and glossy paint job that looked cheap. This was especially interesting because the last Bendy figure I purchased was this same character in a 2019 Wave from PhatMojo, which looked great (albeit with limited articulation). Luckily Jakks Pacific kept improving with every successive wave and the current figures on the shelves (Wave 3) look great. But, still, I think this figure is surprisingly lackluster from such a well-seasoned company (which is a shame since the character is pretty cool). Let's check out Audrey below!

Bendy and the Ink Machine - TWISTED ALICE!

Bendy and the Ink Machine Wave 2 - Twisted Alice - Jakks Pacific 2024

The first time I became aware of Bendy and the Ink Machine was when I stumbled across a PhatMojo figure of Twisted Alice way back in 2018. This figure didn't look very good. You could see that the articulation was awkward and the paint apps were horrible (there was a running change later with much better paint) but my curiosity about this new toy company and the intriguing creepy horror game these toys were based on inspired my purchase. In researching the game, I fell in love with the idea of a video game set in a haunted/abandoned animation factory. A lot of the characters in the franchise have both retro and modern design variations. The retro designs resemble early Disney and MGM styles and don't often get the grotesque treatment. But the modern versions tend to be decaying with dripping ink and violent tendencies. This figure is a great example of that. From some angles she looks like a sexy slinky diva, but from other angles she is corrupted and distorted. It's a pretty creep effect.

Bendy and the Ink Machine - ALICE!

Bandy Wave 3 - Bendy and the Ink Machine - Alice Angel - Jakks Pacific 2024

It's been a solid five years since we've seen Bendy figures in stores. I still have not played any of the games, but I enjoy the concept and characters designs. From the start, I have wanted a really classic-looking Alice Angel toy. There's something about her innocent Betty-Boop-esque appearance paired with her devil horns and creepy horror-game setting that always appealed to me. At some point in the recent past, the license has changed from PhatMojo to Jakks Pacific. In a similar fashion to the trajectory of the PhatMojo figures, the Jakks products started out kind of shaky, but have improved with each wave. This Alice figure is from Wave 3 and is pretty great. Mine had the slightest production issue where one of her knee joints isn't firmly nested in its socket (and won't go in further) but it's a small issue that I can likely correct later. I haven't heard any news about future Bendy waves yet, but knowing Jakks, there are probably move waves in the works. Let's check out Alice below!

G.I.Joe Classified - PYTHONA!

G.I.Joe Classified Series #172 - Cobra-La Pythona (NYCC) - Hasbro 2025

As a kid I was always mimicking the cartoon characters I idolized. It wasn't necessarily blatant or intentional. I wouldn't hold a stick aloft and shout "By the Honor of Grayskull" or anything so obvious. In fact, I think it was largely subconscious. I went through a phase where I couldn't pass a broomstick without performing some type of acrobatic vault. I realize as an adult I was mimicking Diana from Dungeons & Dragons. I once leapt off a dresser fully expecting to glide across the room to my bed a'la Princess Peach in Mario II (I was on crutches for months), and most disturbing to my young classmates, I went though a phase in 1987 where I chased kids around the playground with worms and slugs acting out all my Pythona fantasies. The opening sequence of G.I.Joe the Movie (1987) features the mysterious Pythona stealthily infiltrating the Cobra Terror Drome with a menagerie of gross biological weapons: electric eels, shellfish, tentacled larvae-like things, exploding spores, and her own acid-tipped claws. 

Super7 Reaction+ O-Ring - PYTHONA!

G.I.Joe: The Movie - ReAction+ O-Ring Action Figures - Pythona - Super7 2025

I think Pythona was the character that first made me realize the desparity between male and female action figures in the 80s. When G.I.Joe the Movie first air on TV (serialized) in 1987, I tuned in and taped it every day that week. The first episode seemed dedicated to this new intriguing character named Pythona. It wasn't long before I saw toys at the local Hills department store dedicated to the movie. There was a 3-Pack of Cobra-La characters, including Golobulus, Nemesis Enforcer, and a Cobra-La Royal Guard. It seemed like a blatant mistake to exclude her considering she received more screen time than any of the others. So, despite my love for all things. Cobra-La, I never got this set. It just seemed like an incomplete roster without Pythona. Like the Fantastic Four without Sue or the Power Rangers without the Pink and Yellow Rangers (both of are common toy exclusions). But who could have guess that 38 years later that Pythona void would be filled so spectacularly. Let's check out this beauty below!

Toony Terrors - BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!

Toony Terrors - Universal Monsters Series 2 - Bride of Frankenstein - Neca 2025

I'm pretty obsessed with the Toony Terrors line from NECA. I can admit that most of the male figures are not to my liking. True to the line's name, they looks a bit too cartoonish and silly for me. But there is something about the way that NECA treats the female characters that really appeals to me. The first figures I picked up, the Grady Twins, don't even look "toony." I thought that was a fluke, but then the next figures I bought, Elvira and Vampira, were also pretty great. I tend to focus on retro characters so I skipped M3GAN, Ghouliana, Wednesday & Enid (Netflix), Hocus Pocus, Nadja (WWDITS), and Lydia, Astrid, & Dolores (Beetlejuice). That is a lot of female representation in a relatively short time. I feared I wouldn't ever get another classic lady to add to my collection. But eventually they announced this amazing Bride of Frankenstein. Now I just need Morticia Addams and Lily Munster to complete my classic spooky Femme Fatales. Fingers crossed for both of them. Let's check out the Bride below!

World's Smallest - BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!

World's Smallest Universal Monsters - Bride of Frankenstein - Super Impulse 2023

I have a huge backlog of Bride of Frankenstein figures to open and review and I'm finally going to try and get through a lot of them this month. I've had this World's Smallest figure for a few years and thought "Oh, this will make for a quick and easy post" (I've been really busy with work and travel lately so easy is good). I thought the size and lack of poseability would equate to speedy work. But alas, the photos were all blurry and it took several sessions to get them halfway decent (and I'm still not satisfied). But at least I finally got the ball rolling. Now I only have to find the rest. The NECA Ultimates is not exactly small so it can't be too hard to unearth in my basement, but the other Reactions and smaller figures may be quite a challenge. In that sense, it's really surprising I was able to find this microscopic figure first. I'm actually pretty much a completist with the Super Impulse action figures. But it's rare to have a female in these assortments. So I'm glad the include the Bride in the first Universal Monster set.

Court of the Dead - GALLEVARBE (NAGA)!

Court of the Dead Wave 2 - Gallevarbe (Eyes of the Queen) - BossFightStudio 2024

I'm taking a leap of logic and labeling this version of Gallevarbe as a Naga. I base this purely on the lack of a final fluke fin on her tail and the sculpted reptilian scales on her shoulders. On the flip side, her written description and water effect accessory makes me think she might be another aquatic form like her Death's Siren figure. Either way, I'm mentally making making a Mermaid/Naga distinction in my head. This Eyes of the Queen version of Gallevarbe actually looks better than the Death's Siren version (in my humble opinion). Something about the color gradients and the headsculpt just appeal to me more than the mermaid form (which really surprises me as a mermaid loyalist). Plus they both have a sinister creepy vibe which made them perfect for October. I'm also curious to put the BFS parts-swapping intent to the test with these figures. I might just combine all my favorite parts into my ultimate sea witch. I'll add pics if I do. Let's check out Gallevarbe, Eyes of the Queen, below!

Court of the Dead - GALLEVARBE (DEATH'S SIREN)!

Court of the Dead Wave 2 - Gallevarbe (Death's Siren) -Boss Fight Studio 2024

This figure was a rough one for me. Overall I love it. But I am super squeamish about gory or zombie-like toys. It's a completely ridiculous mental thing. But after I hold a Walking Dead action figure or any superhero "blood-splattered variant", I feel odd and immediately feel compelled to wash my hands. On the other hand, I love mermaids. Especially if they're evil. Reading Mermaid Forest back in the early 90s was a formative event for me and happy pretty mermaids have played second fiddle to the wicked ones ever since. Luckily, the gory/decaying parts of this toy are a rich pink color against the dark green of her tail, so my brain registers it more as a natural skin pattern rather than open wounds. This Gallevarbe character can change shape and was given two pretty awesome figures in Wave 2: This Death's Siren mermaid figure, and the Eyes of the Queen naga figure I will be reviewing next. I'm hoping for a larger mermaid in the new 1:12 line next. Let's check out Death's Siren below!

POP Funko - HALLOW'S EVE!

POP! Marvel #1560 - Marvels Strange Tales - Hallow's Eve - Funko 2025

I'm a spineless weakling. I broke my Funko Pop collecting parameters by picking up a modern character. I typically try to limit all my Pops to nostalgic Comic, Movie, and TV characters from my 1980's youth. But I have a strong fondness for Halloween and this time two years ago I fell head over heels for the new Spider-Man villain, Hallow's Eve. So when I saw this Pop in Gamestop last week, I couldn't resist. Hallow's Eve is a longtime civilian character in the Spider-Man universe. Janine Godbe was simply Ben Reilly's love interest for nearly 30 years of comics before she was swept up in a storyline involving Limbo and the Goblin Queen, and emerged as Hallow's Eve. I would describe her as a sympathetic villain and a great lead character. She has a bag of cursed masks that imbue her with the traits of that mask character, often with corruptive effects. Her stories are a lot of fun and I can't wait to start re-reading her TPB tonight, it's my annual October tradition. Let's check out Hallow's Eve below!