I saved opening the recently-bought (but not released) The Mole People figure until he showed up on Svengoolie a couple of years back. It was a movie that had some decent sets and costumes, but you're sitting through a lot of really long sequences of people climbing and nailing spikes in walls before you get to the subterranean slave race. While the figure does a good job of replicating the general form of the creatures, it's not correct - and the figures from other companies all look a little different. This 3 3/4-inch figure gets it slightly wrong while also giving the hands and head better painted detail than a real old action figure would have had. I like it - but I am biased to like figures when squeezed through this filter.
The Mego figure is green, Sideshow made an 8-inch figure that looks really close to this one - but it has a hump on its back, which Super7 left off. The 3 3/4-inch ReAction Figure's pose is just some guy standing around, which is arguably fine - but the pose is also better than what Kenner gave us. It exists in a weird place that's sort of retro, and sort of not - with eyes and a mouth that seem to look a little different on each figure or collectible I've seen. Looking at old posters and photos doesn't help either - this was a black-and-white movie, and most color photos seem to be colorized.
The movie's abrupt and frankly unpleasant ending asks the question "Why not remake this movie?" That's probably not a bad idea - a lot of Universal's monster movies are stone-cold classics, while some are largely unknown for good reason. The premise is sound, there's some good casting. It delivers on the promise of mole people. There's a Marilyn Munster-esque blonde lady as a "freak" in an underground civilization of pale people, and it even has some blood in it. But the main reason to watch this movie is to scope out some nifty middle-aged dudes in creature masks.
Since he lacks the hump and the designs of the mole people monster products are inconsistent, it's hard to really say if this is an authentic figure or not. It doesn't quite match the Ed Repka painting on the packaging. The nose is different, the eyes are different, and the colors are different. So really, all I can say for sure is that the mask is pretty good (despite having far too much painted detail) and the mole mitts are also pretty great - but also have a lot more painted detail. The claws are decorated, but there's an extra wipe of paint on the gloves and head - you'd never see that kind of detail in the old days. Here, it looks pretty good - but it starts to make this seem more like a modern figure. I like a cool creature, though, and this is a cool creature.
The head turns well and the arms swivel well too, with legs that easily kick forward to put him in a vehicle. It's a functionally very good figure, with big hands you can use to cut or hit your other figures. I wouldn't recommend doing that, though, as you may knick the paint off his claws. Aside from the hands and head, the figure is completely unpainted. The brown plastic is almost translucent in parts - if you hold the shoes up to the light, you'll see what I mean. It's an interesting choice, and that unpainted, simple body is probably the main thing that sells it as "retro." There are some tattered elements to the clothes, and the boots are nothing special - they did a good job keeping it simple here.
Odds are the ideal customer for this figure is people who never open their figures or people who don't know this movie. As with many of these creatures, it'd be right at home with Star Wars aliens in any display you may have. The sculpting is very good, the pose isn't too dynamic, and it certainly doesn't look boring. I found one for $15 and, despite having no accessories, I'd say it's probably worth it at that price. I wouldn't make this figure a priority, but if you've already got a Mummy and a Metaluna Mutant and a few others, why not buy one of these? There are so few awesomely weird creatures in current lines that should have them (lookin' at you, Star Wars and Star Trek) so mining classic horror toys is a good way to get a fix. It also gives you an excuse to check out more monster movies. As with weird movies, this toy's charm is probably self-evident. If you see it, and you like what you see, you should go order one.
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