Review of the Wolfman - Lon Chaney
Ultimate Action Figure

Introduction

This last week, Target shoppers and NECA fans were treated to the 'haulathon', a joint venture between the two companies. NECA dropped a bundle of new and exclusive figures and Target gave them display space. Some Targets did this better than others, however.

One of these figures is the black and white version of the Wolfman. The color version has shipped to some areas already - but not mine. Since I'm leaning toward the black and white versions, I was quite happy to come upon this guy among the many cool TMNT figures.

He'll run you around $32, and should be at your local store now.

Packaging - ***1/2
This version uses the classic poster art, and it looks terrific. It's also fairly collector friendly, but you will have to cut some annoying plastic ties on the figure itself.

Sculpting - ****
There are a whopping three portraits included with this figure. There's the somewhat calmer Woflman expression he comes wearing; the snarling, angry Wolfman; and the human Lawrence Talbot, portrayed by the great Lon Chaney Jr.

While both Woflman heads are great, it's the Chaney sculpt that really impressed me. Remember, these are a 7" scale, so it's a fairly small head. They did a fantastic job capturing his likeness, especially the unique eyes and eyebrows. The tussled hair is finely detailed, and there's even some skin texture to add realism.

As I said, both Woflman heads look great. The close cropped fur is sharp and extremely detailed, the teeth are dangerous and deadly, and the two expressions work with a tremendous number of poses. Swapping heads is simple enough, although I did find they tend to pop off rather easily.

The various hands swap easily as well, and there's enough to create interesting poses for both the Wolfman and Talbot.

Paint - ****
The paint work is black and white, which means a gray scale palette of course. The smaller details are clean, and the edges between various shades are sharp and neat.

The human face has a bit of a five o'clock shadow, and the eyes, eyebrows, and hairline are all very clean. The werewolves have a nice dry brushing on the fur that really makes the detailing pop, and the skin, teeth, and eyes look great.

Articulation - Wolfman ***; Chaney ***1/2
The sculpted figure is designed to stand on the ball of his feet, making the articulation a bit more difficult to work with.

The heads are jointed at the torso and at the jawline, but because of the sculpt you won't get a ton of movement out of that jawline joint. The 'NECA' shoulders allow for decent mobility and don't ruin the look of the shirt sculpt, and the rotating hinge elbows and wrists should allow you to get most reaching, grasping, monster arm poses.

The waist can turn and tilt, at least a bit, and the hips work well with the cut calves, pin ankles, rocker feet, and rotating hinge knees to manage standing and running poses. However, don't forget those sculpted wolf paws, which want you to pose him up on the balls of the feet. While you don't have to use the stand to get him upright - see below - you'll need it to keep him that way for any period of time.

Accessories - ****
As I mentioned earlier, there's two additional heads to go with the standard wolf look, and that adds a lot to this score.

There's also three extra hands. He comes with his grasping wolf hands, but there's also a pair of grasping human hands, as well as a tight grip right human hand. These swap easily.

To complete the human appearance, there are two feet as well. The wolf feet pop off at the cut calf joint, and the human feet pop right on very easily. Since the human feet can rest flat on the ground, they actually improve the articulation and posability a bit.

Also for his human self is the famous cane with the family wolf's head handle. And since the wolf needs something too, there's a large trap which an be closed over a leg for full effect.

Finally, there's a small black foot stand. It will come in quite handy when using the werewolf feet.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
This is a really fun figure with a lot of different display possibilities. Swapping the heads, hands, and feet is easy, so going between the human and werewolf versions is something you're more likely to do over time.

Value - **1/2
The NECA 7" stuff is around $30, slowly edging up. I'm cool with it right now, but if we start to see prices at $35 or more with any regularity, this score will take a hit.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. Everything is quite sturdy, and I had no worries about breakage or damage.

Overall - ****
This figure is a fantastic follow up to their earlier Frankenstein Monster, and has me anticipating the upcoming Mummy even more. While the color versions look great, I think I'll be sticking with the black and white releases for my display.

I'm also going to do something I almost never do - I'm going to pick up a second so I can have both the Wolfman and Talbot on the shelf. The figure is good enough to deserve a double dip.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ****
Articulation - Wolfman ***; Chaney ***1/2
Accessories - ****
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - **1/2
Overall - ****

Where to Buy 
This guy is available as part of the Target Haulathon, but there's other options if you're local store doesn't get any. Online options include these site sponsors:

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other versions of the Wolfman include the Diamond Select, the Sideshow 12", and the Mezco based on the more recent film.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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