Super7 Universal Monsters Official World Famous Super7 Monsters! Creature from the Black Lagoon (Super She Creature) Glow-in-the-Dark Super7, 2018
Day #2,606: July 27, 2023
Creature from the Black Lagoon (Super She Creature) Glow-in-the-Dark Narrow for Entertainment Earth, wide for Super
Universal Monsters Official World Famous Super7 Monsters! ReAction Figure
Item No.: No. 81470 Manufacturer:Super7 Includes:n/a Action Feature:n/a Retail:$25.99 Availability: October 2022 Other: One of Many Sculpts
I was pitched the Creature from the Black Lagoon (Super She Creature) Glow-in-the-Dark from Universal Monsters Official World Famous Super7 Monsters! as an exclusive at work and I went "'kay." As one does. Funko did their take on the figure a few years ago with Super7, then Super7 did an all-new version a few years later, with chained and suited versions for the sequels. Then, not content to stop there, did another riff on the creature and this was the "skinny" one. Currently this mold is also sold both boxed and carded, in opaque green plastic. A wider mold also exists, clearly proving this must be their most popular monster since there are so many riffs on it. So far this is the only "World Famous" monster Super7 put out - I'm hoping we get new riffs on some of the rest.
This slim version is molded in glow plastic with green spray detail - how retro! - and a nicely painted face. Thanks to the paint, you can get a good look at the scaly texture on the fish suit. The scales are nicely sculpted with little thin claws, and the heads and legs turn really well. Thanks to the enhanced shoulders, the arms only go up a little bit. I should knock it, but I don't want to - the figure has a lot of personality with great sculpting, and the monster still looks cool standing around. I can even put this one in vehicles without a problem, so while it may not be precisely as functional as I would like? It gets the job done, and I think this is the kind of thing we'd have seen in the 1970s or 1980s. They weren't all perfect - some figures had a hard time holding their blasters, and some had problems sitting with their legs forward. Gilly, however, is fine.
The sculptor did a great job here. This was a low-run exclusive that as of my writing this, sadly, did not yet sell through. And that's a shame! I'm taking notes on this one because whoever sculpted it should be hired to do more creature and monster figures. Whoever painted it set a high bar - so many glow figures have just painted eyes or very limited details. This time, they made a decision to fully paint the mouth's interior complete with lips and teeth. The eyes are also fully painted, with the whites around them and a subtle spray on the gills to bring that out a bit.
It would be easy to just cast the figure in glow plastic and call it a day - but they didn't. This figure has more in common with some of the better designer sofubi deco, which is kind of a magic trick. For whatever reason, it is expensive and looks cheap - but I can't argue with the results. This looks sort of like a real old toy, despite the fact none of my old action figures looked quite like it. Maybe some of my dinosaurs did, though.
Given just how many Gill Man figures are made - particularly glow ones - you've got options. Heck, I don't even consider myself a monster collector and I probably have half a dozen or more Creatures from the Black Lagoon and I've got designs on a few more. Super7 did a great job here, and it feels more like a toy than the old Funko one. And the Funko one was good! While I do feel buying new flavors of old-style monsters is probably a drain on the wallet, there's something fascinating about seeing a design from 70 years ago reinterpreted time and again, despite coming from the same "looks like an old Kenner figure" mandate. I'm curious to see what they try next. (And yes I'm hoping it's Leonardo as the Creature from the Black Lagoon.)
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