I’ve already given my rant about how the original Mez-Itz were great and the new ones, which are boring Mighty Mugg rip-offs, are yet another sad commentary on the decline of Mezco and the overall state of the toy industry. So instead I’ll just talk about these figures.
While Mezco had a slew of great licenses for Mez-Itz in the early 2000s, I think the generic lines, especially the Monsters, are my favorites. While they cover most of the Universal Monsters (with the painful exception of the Gillman, though Abe Sapien can double in a pinch), they aren’t actually licensed by Universal, so the characters are rather generic and don’t feature caricatures or likenesses of any famous actors (though Boris is a little suspect). This set includes the Mummy and Dracula.
You can’t really trademark or copyright a mummy, so while this figure doesn’t have Boris Karloff’s face, it’s, well, a mummy. Dracula is more interesting. He’s got the classic Bela Lugosi evening wear, but the head of Max Schreck of Nosferatu. It’s a unique look and I dig it.
The figures have some great articulation, with ball joints at the neck, shoulders and hips, a swivel at the waist, and swivels at the wrists. They stand a good head taller than Minimates and twice as tall as the new mini Mez-Itz.
I’m still trying to track down the rest of the Monster Mez-Itz…I need the Boris & Claude and Wolfman & Frankenstein’s Monster sets. But I’m glad to have found these, and I’ll be holding out hope that Mezco may bring the line back in its proper sculpted, articulated glory.
*If Clawful looks pissed, it’s because he’s wondering when the hell I’m going to review him.
Newton Gimmick
Nice, I just reviewed the Mez-Itz Pirates myself this week. These original style Mez-Itz were awesome and it's a shame they haven't made a comeback now that the whole mini figure/Lego style stuff is all the rage these days.
Mario
Well, one could argue that in this incarnation, Mezco ripped-off Medicom's Kubrick line. Just sayin'…
Poe Ghostal
Maybe, but Kubricks are still so blocky compared to these. And of course Kubricks, like Minimates, are \”inspired\” by earlier toys like Lego mInifigures and Playmobil.
ferris
Also Muggs themselves are a pretty clear rip-off of Kidrobot's Munny design… rip-offs make the toy world go round 🙂
Uncle Montork
The Dracula looks like a baby Hordak! 🙂