I
wanted to do something special for the first toy review of this
year’s Halloween coverage. While there are plenty of new horror
toys on the market thanks to companies like NECA, Mezco, and Funko,
you can find reviews of that stuff everywhere
(which is not to say that I won’t be reviewing some of that stuff
here – after all, nobody else is me). I decided to dig into my toy
archives and review an old favorite.
Sort
of.
Resurrection
of Monstress
is a toy line that was produced by Yellow Submarine. Like many of
Japan’s cooler lines it was not based on any specific license, but
on the ideas of the designers. Each figure is a sexy anime-style lady
version of a famous monster, though the characters are a bit more
involved than that.
While
we didn’t receive the full line at my store, we got a few and one
of those was Franken Steela. And I am not one that can pass up an
action figure of a sexy, mostly-nude Frankenstein lady.
The
figure I’m reviewing today isn’t that
figure that I bought back in 1997 (or so). I still have that one,
though some of the parts are broken due to the number of times I’ve
moved since then. Today’s figure is a variant version that I
recently acquired thanks to an incredible deal from
BigBadToyStore.com.
The bright, vibrant color scheme of this figure fits the tone of the
line more than the one I bought the first time around.
Also,
it glows in the dark, so yeah – I’m probably ending this thing
with a perfect score.
FIRST
GLANCE
I
love the design because it incorporates elements of the Bride with
elements of Frankenstein’s monster himself. The blister card is
jam-packed with cool accessories, which is a good thing given the
figure’s almost complete lack of articulation.
This
is another case where I have to adjust my expectations slightly. This
is not a toy for posing and having fight scenes with other figures.
This is a display piece for putting on your shelf and feeling cool
about. It’s almost kind of more of an art thing.
PACKAGING
Franken
Steela comes on a big ol’ blister card, like many of the Japanese
figures from back in the day. While this is my favorite form of
packaging, this did become problematic once the figures had been
hanging around for a few months. The weight of the figures (and
accessories) would almost always pull the blister away from the
cardback and we’d have to staple it back on. This, of course,
leaves the product in a state that nobody wants to pay money for.
That means that tons of the import toys got marked down to almost
nothing on clearance. Which is when I would buy them.
Benefits
of being an opener.
The
figures and accessories are displayed nicely, so the cardback art
doesn’t have much work to do. It features an illustration of
Franken Steela that looks more like pop art than Manga. The back has
bios for each of the characters. The card is super glossy, so I had a
really hard time getting a decent picture of this figure’s bio.
Here it is:
Franken
Steela
Sculpted
By Takayuki Takeya
The
year is 2000ac.
Victor
Frankenstein’s last bloodline Guielle Frankenstein has created a
new being from the brains of intellects around the world and
stitching body parts from various super models. Steela has born into
the world destroying the castle with her right handweapon “Electra”.
Height
190 cm
Weight
70 kg
This
might be my favorite toy bio ever. Imagine if this guy had written
all of the Masters of the Universe Classics bios:
Skulllehead
From
Mountain of Snakes Skullehead controls his favored instrument “Ram
Havoc” to utilize Biting Face, Hair Demon, and Gran Sushi in defeat
of Thunder Nipples and his adjacent Master of the Universes –
Prince Mustache, Manatarms, and Plant.
I
would buy a book of those.
LOOKS
Obviously
the first thing anybody is going to notice about this figure is how
naked it is. And how the specifics of the nakedness are covered by
metal plates bolted directly into the flesh of the creature. It’s
kind of a weird, almost American sensibility –
“We
can’t show nipples!”
“Uh,
then how about we just nail some steel pasties onto her boobs?”
“Oh,
well sure – that’s fine. Wait – what about her vagina? We can’t
just put a plate over that. It would be inhumane.”
“We’ll
nail a plate on her stomach and her back and stretch some fabric
between them.”
“Great!
As long as they’re not naked Toys R Us will carry these for sure!”
This
review has made me sad because it has, for the first time, made me
contemplate those aspects of the figure.
I
am never reviewing anything from the Tortured
Souls
line.
Steela’s
head sculpt is important for carrying off all of the mutilation
because she doesn’t look victimized. She has a sort of smirk rather
than looking victimized at all. The sculpt also reflects the pop art
sensibilities of the cardback, so it captured the artists’ vision
nicely. While the sculpt is excellent, the paint is remarkable –
much better than most American figures. The placement of the colors
is perfect. Steela deserves a close look because she may seem fairly
monochromatic, but there are an amazing number of colors on this
figure.
All
of the Franken-bits are slightly exaggerated and the placement is
definitely about giving the figure a remarkable profile. The bolts on
the shoulders and neck aren’t just sitting there – they look like
implants. The sculpt and paint work together to great effect. The
same goes for the stitching, which is particularly notable. The
individual stitches are small and neat, not the huge rectangles we’ve
come to expect from horror figures. And the paint in the scars and
crevices adds so much to the look. There are appliances on her chest
and back that seem designed for some sort of spinal support. The
front one is much sleeker and feminine, while the back is a thick set
of plates with a large bolt in the middle (which is used to affix the
figure to the included operating table). All of the metal pieces have
a dark wash to give them an aged look.
Steela’s
bandaged arms and legs are obviously nods to the design of the Bride.
I like the black color and the studded rings added. Again – a lot
of thought was put into giving this figure a striking profile. I love
the detail on the exposed left leg – all of that stitching wasn’t
necessary, but the designer wanted one more point of interest.
The
boots are insane. They’re massive platforms in true Frankenstein
style, but with huge bolts and spikes on them because why not?
The
body of the figure features two different colors – half is my
beloved glow-in-the-dark green, while the other half is painted a
non-glowing standard green. Initially this kind of annoyed me because
why the heck would you ever paint over glow-in-the-dark plastic? It
almost seems like a sin. But once you turn the lights out and see how
eerie the effect of that patchwork glowing is, it’s worth it.
ACCESSORIES
SO
MANY THINGS!
I
think that this figure has more accessories than anything else I’ve
reviewed. Steela comes with an operating table, a bolt necklace,
forceps, a scalpel, a hypodermic needle, her “right handweapon
Electra”, a skull, a brain, a rat, a beaker, and a flask.
The
skull is glow-in-the-dark plastic and has painted bolts sculpted on.
The brain looks fantastic. The sculpt and paint job are outstanding.
I like that the texture of the bolts is so different that they appear
to be separate pieces. The brain fits nicely into the cavity in the
top of the skull.
The
rat has the same multi-colored design as Steela, as well as some
bolts and stitching, all as detailed as the main figure. I’m
surprised it’s as cute as it is rather than being either more
macabre or cartoonish.
All
of the surgical instruments are surprisingly straightforward. The
detail of the meniscus on the beaker and flask is a great touch. I
also dig the green fluid in the syringe – it reminds me of
Re-Animator.
The
necklace and “Electra” are both glow-in-the-dark plastic.
“Electra” fits snugly over Steela’s right hand.
I wish it
covered the whole hand, but what are you gonna do? The necklace is a
little weird. On the older figure it is more clearly a necklace, but
on this one it looks like it’s supposed to be electricity.
But it
glows in the dark, so whatever.
The
table looks incredible. The sculpt is precise and detailed and the
paint wash creates a beautiful rust effect. The table pivots on the
stand, but doesn’t have a device to keep it in a horizontal
position, which is my second biggest gripe about this toy. My biggest
gripe is that the pegs that attach the sides of the table are a soft
plastic that, over time, will tear apart. That’s what happened with
the older figure. So if you buy one of these, don’t just turn the
sides to move them. You have to actually remove them from the table
and re-insert them in the position you want.
The
top of the table features some old-school mad science gizmos as well
as some glow-in-the-dark electrical effects. The two long bolts can
attach to a couple of different points on the figure, though they
work best with the shoulders. I have to admit to being surprised that
they aren’t designed to attach to her metal pasties.
Steela
comes with a ton of beautiful accessories that are well thought out
and fun.
FUN
Speaking
of fun, those accessories are pretty much the source of it. Steela
herself has three points of articulation – neck and shoulders.
There’s not much to do there. The figure does interact with some of
the accessories, and some of the accessories interact with each other
– you can put stuff in the beaker – but that’s it. Once you’ve
figured out how you want to display the table and the stuff, you’re
pretty much done with this one.
But
again I want to say – this isn’t an Avenger or Batman. It’s a
cool display piece that will enhance your “Weird Toys” shelf.
OVERALL
I
do believe Franken Steela was close to forty bucks back when we had
her at Hot Topic. I think I paid around ten for that first one I got
on clearance and that BigBadToyStore
deal
nabbed me seven
different Resurrection
of Monstress
figures for sixty bucks. So what I’m saying is that for the prices
I’ve paid, this figure was absolutely worth it. She looks fantastic
and is probably quite a bit different from most of the toys you own.
This
is a unique action figure based on a concept from someone’s brain
rather than a comic book or movie. That alone makes it special. I
highly recommend you buy yourself one, or just get that set from
BigBad while they still have them.
4
out of 5
I bought the Wolfinica and Phanteana figures because they were both packing musical instruments and for years they were on a shelf with Animal and Dr. Teeth from the Muppet Show,Bleeding Gums Murphy from The Simpsons,and a few members from Kiss Psycho Circus in a bizarre looking orchestral display.It was a collecting phase that kind of came and went,but I still have the figures in storage.
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