Frankenstein (1998)

After creating the Hall of Fame body for GI Joe’s 12 inch ressurrection at mass retail, Hasbro utilized the new buck across of quite a few of its other lines. Everything from the relaunched Star Wars, to other licensed properties like Aliens and Street Fighter had GI Joe bones beneath its skin. Hasbro’s Universal Studios Monsters Signature Series was another one of the large scale lines that built upon Joe’s Hall of Fame skeleton.

Frankenstein–or Frankenstein’s Monster, to be correct, bears a strong resemblance to the classic film look, all the way to a portrait that bears something of a resemblance to Boris Karloff, albeit a more heroically sculpted version. Like the other toy lines based on the Hall of Fame body, all the monsters look more “pumped up” than their film counterparts. The result is a figure that’s more doll-like than the GI Joes of the 60s and 70s. Often with these film based toys, manufacturers need to obtain likeness rights. Such a situation accounts for the lack of a Lugosi Dracula in the same series.

Somehow over the years, my Frankenstein traded in his chunky right boot for something more pedestrian. I suppose that fits with his patchwork nature. Now that I think about it, I don’t recall ever taking anything off my figures after I bought them. Must be a factory error. Somehow that’s fitting too.