My Sidehshow UNIVERSAL MONSTERS Collection: SPECIAL HUGE UPDATE!

Gosh guys, I didn't realize that "bonus" candy cig box would get the attention The point of this section was showcasing My 8" Sideshow versions and of course the cool JITB UM as well. Did you like'em? I like them as much as the 12" figures.

Enjoyed looking at this thread again! Awesome collection Brandon!

The Metaluna Mutants are cool. I've never seen anything like that for sale anywhere. They must be rather uncommon, if not rare.

Lon Chaney as The Phantom in the Masque of the Red Death costume is particularly unusual! That one must be rare!

And Lugosi... not as Dracula, but as Ygor from Son of Frankenstein (my personal favorite among all the "classic" Universal Horror Films) - how cool is that?

I suppose most of these figures were relatively affordable when they were released, although I suppose some of the unusual ones are pricey on the secondary market today. Among new figures, it is unusual to see anything like this released as a "toy line." Today they would all be expensive "collector figures" with fancy packaging and several hundred dollar price tags.

I'm curious how you managed to acquire nearly complete sets of these figures back in the day. That was prior to Internet sales being as common as today, wasn't it? Did you have access to specialty shops that were willing to carry entire lines like this? Were you doing mail-order when it meant literally filling out an order form and mailing it in with a check? Did you attend a lot of conventions and shows?

Everywhere I've ever lived, specialty items like this have been extremely hard to find. Even comics and game shops that carried a few examples rarely had anything other than the more common types of figures. You must have had some good contacts, or you were wearing the soles off your shoes tracking these down. Must have been a fun, exciting time to be a collector: relatively affordable figures that you could actually find, as contrasted to now, when figures are expensive and released in extremely limited editions. Reading about some of your "adventures in collecting" - that is, what you had to go through to track these down and where you found them - would be an interesting aspect of the collection.

Also... are all these monster dudes on display now? Or do you rotate them out, or only bring them out during the Howl-o-ween season?

I apologize Brandon, I didn't mean to derail your post about the Universal Monsters
talking about candy cigarettes. They are great figures.

SCU - Yes, the Mutants are especially the vintage Colorforms version.

Yes, TMORD is and was kinda even then!

Yes, I was surprised then when Sideshow made Ygor, he was a welcomed edition as they never made him in any scale again!

Actually yes by today's pathetic standards. They came in a set 3 of which where like $45 to $60 a set back in the early 2000s...TMORD, The Mutant and The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man & The Bride were tough ones to find in a set...now you pay more than that for JUST ONE with or without shipping on eBay Oh no doubt, I am so sick and tired of today's offerings and the insane prices. I mean IMO its so ridicules how companies like Mattel & Hasbro are doing that crowdfunding gimmick and people just keep on submitting to it...for example, Hasbro is making a Star Wars Rancor for $300 You could get the vintage POTF 1 original version sealed for that same price and you could get the POTF 2 version sealed way less than that and IMO these are much better than this new stuff they've been putting out and I am so disappointed by Sideshow because they have become generic like so many companies and disregarded most of everything that made them My fave company back in the day when I got them Universal Monsters as they have raised their prices so much and making things that has already been made dozens of times...I mean McFarlane whom was My fave till Sideshow came along is doing the same stuff making DC figures and other stuff that has been made countless times and they cost so much...this is one of the reasons why I prefer vintage and older figures (and older stuff in general) and in fact, with certain things, people could get the vintage series' as some of them are actually affordable compared to today's sad offerings

On occasion I did do mail-orders and comic shops but I mostly just looked around the web, did My research, compared prices and who had the best service and stuff like that. It was always a win with the BBTS but there were many unfortunate defunct web stores I did business with too then but if you read My complaint when I the got the SSUM, I have had My fair share of bad transactions as well. Of course eBay & Amazon are also good ones that have helped Me down the road. Nope, never been to conventions, I have had some SDCC exclusives via Matty Collector and even had Michael Crawford from MWC (whom I used to guest review for years ago) pick Me up some MOTU exclusives at retail price with no fee!

Nope, just Me. I did all of the research and stuff on My own. Back then in the 2000s it was fun getting sets and stuff thru web stores, anticipating and getting them boxes & packages in the mail, FedEx & UPS but there was many times I kinda got bummed about it and wanted that toy thrill and seeing them in person even if it meant most of what I wanted was online only but it was just fun because even then I was old school! I always wanted to go to My local comic shop to have that thrill too despite his prices were a but high but he was nice and wanted to support him and see all of his inventory but his shop has been out of business for over a decade now Oh it was fun getting these UM and other stuff and all of these years later, its hard to believe it's been that long already and its kinda difficult to accept these times and how the companies are now, it just pains Me so much but the fact of the matter is, for Me I find the past better and IMO that's all that counts.

Actually its a mixture, I store them and sometimes display them when I feel like it and yes sometimes during the spooky holiday and that also goes for other spooky figures I have too!

Daryl - Gosh it wasn't that big of a deal, I just found it weird that everybody was only talking about 1 thing I posted and I was like did anybody see what else Posted That's all dude, no need to apologize. Thanks a lot Daryl

Thanks for sharing a brief insight in to your collecting processes "back in the day." It brought back some memories for me. I guess there was a pretty active online retail network in the early 2000s. That's when I started collecting a certain line of small figures, and I remember checking prices on various sites, and shipping costs, and trying to determine the best deals. There were a few really good companies back then that I found, with great selections, fair prices, and nice people running them, but almost none of them are around anymore. Tastes and trends change fast, and I suppose that smaller retailers couldn't afford to get stuck with unsellable stock as interests changed, so they eventually fell by the wayside. It was fun back then, with so many legitimate dealers to select from. Seems that today, prices and shipping are much higher, and there are fewer vendors, and nearly all the new releases are extremely limited editions. There's no waiting for reviews or in-hand pictures anymore, it's all about pre-orders and keeping your fingers crossed... and sometimes waiting for two or three years for things to be released.

Anyway, interesting look in to your collecting days. Thanks.

No prob and thanks, I like to talk history and stuff like this and if there's stuff for Me to complain about like that, I ain't afraid to either.

One more thing, NECA has there own line of UM and while they look great and have many cool display options and the norm for this whatever era, they are also IMO joining so many companies making stuff that has been made countless times and seems like they have lost their creative edge of what made them a top tier company back years ago like McFarlane & Sideshow and it just irks Me about it. If anybody isn't sure if they should get them, the way I look at this remake is they are almost as much as Sideshow's original ones, I would just shell out the few extra bucks and get these as IMO they look way better, from a better time and also Sideshow went the extra mile with this series, we don't know how far NECA will. That's My advise for somebody whom is thinking about getting them new figures by NECA

You tempted me in to spending money! I went searching for the spear gun that goes with the Black Lagoon set, and found one loose on eBay. It's missing the triangular tip, but I can probably fake something together. Wish it were full 1/6 scale instead of for 8-inch figs, but I think it will do for my purposes.

Gosh SCU Well. I had said earlier that I couldn't locate all accessories so The Creature also had a black net and I was unable to find it. Just lettin' you know he had more than just the harpoon gun

I just found this Sideshow stand and thought I'd show it. It belongs to the Wolfman hence the peg.