Mini Monsters | Vintage Action Figures

Dracula – Mini Monsters by Remco

Halloween is almost here so what better way to mark the occasion than with an absolute classic horror film action figure from what has to be one of my favourite vintage lines – the Remco Mini Monsters.

This version of the most famous vampire of them all, Count Dracula as played by Bela Lugosi in the 1931 film Dracula, was issued in 1980 as part of Remco’s 3 ¾ inch action figure series. These figures may have been small, but they really were perfectly formed with all six Universal Monsters – Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Phantom of the Opera – bearing extremely accurate movie likenesses.

Frankenstein Monster – Mini Monsters by Remco

Universal Monsters action figures, it seems, will never go out of fashion. Only this week the Intertubes were buzzing with news of the latest Diamond Select retro cloth Dracula and the Mummy figures, which are set to hit stores this Autumn, following the success of the Wolf Man and Frankenstein last year. These new figures are highly reminiscent of Remco’s 9-inch Universal Monsters from 1980, of course, which spurred me to share another classic Remco action figure from the same year – the Frankenstein Mini-Monster. At 3 ¾ inches, these figures were pint-sized plastic Universal Monsters released in conjunction with the larger figures (hence the “Mini” moniker), but have arguably become even more popular than their larger counterparts and have enjoyed almost continuous adoration from monster movie and action figure fans ever since.

The Phantom of the Opera – Mini Monsters by Remco

So here it is folks! The final post in our Halloween series for 2010 and one of my favourite horror film action figures and another Universal Monster movie classic – The Phantom of the Opera as played by Lon Chaney. Issued as part of the Mini Monsters line by Remco in 1980, this 3 ¾ inch action figure may be small, but it has one of the single best movie likenesses of all time. It features one of the earliest of the Universal Monsters – so early, in fact, that the 1925 version of The Phantom of the Opera, was a silent horror film. Chaney’s intentionally horrific, self-applied make-up, has been perfectly reproduced in this figure – a flattened nose, flared nostrils and jagged teeth in a mask-like deformed face. It’s an absolute gem of an action figure!

Creature from the Black Lagoon – Mini Monsters by Remco

I’m a huge fan of classic Universal Monster movies and consequently have a real weakness for any Universal Monsters action figures I happen to find. Luckily, these film characters have been revisited by toy manufacturers time and time again over the years and there are plenty of them out there for collectors to get their fangs into!

The Mini Monsters line is one of my absolute favourites – at 3 ¾ inches these were small, but perfectly formed, action figures that actually carried strikingly good movie likenesses.