It's certainly no surprise that we've gotten every sort of action figure, statue, bust, board game, puzzle, and trinket of these cultural icons. Tonight's review covers the latest in the mini-bust category, from a company called X-Plus. Most action figure collectors know X-Plus from their work on the Harryhausen 8-inch figures, and now they are expanding into a series of busts based on the classic Universal Monsters. They also have a bunch of statues and wall plaques lined up for the Alien and Predator license this year.

The first series includes Frank, Drac, Wolvie and the Mummy. There are the normal, colored versions that retail for $60 each, and there's a special set of "silver screen" versions (painted in shades of black and white) that were at the San Diego Comic Con, also for $60 each. Tonight's review covers The Mummy "Silver Screen" version. I picked this one up in hopes that it would fit in nicely with my Sideshow Universal mini-busts, since they didn't do a Mummy.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can always reach me at mwc@mwctoys.com. If you enjoy this review, take a minute to check out my other site at Michael's Review of the Week, and let me know what you think. Now on to the review!

"The Mummy mini-bust by X-Plus"

X-Plus has plans to continue this line, but hasn't announced yet what additional busts they have planned. We can only hope for a Creature from the Black Lagoon!

Packaging - ***1/2
These come in a sturdy window box, just like I like. It's the best packaging for mini-busts, as it allows you to see what you're getting, and yet still keeps the bust safe. The only negative here is that the bust was wrapped in a plastic bag, which defeated some of the purpose of the window. It was tough to make out exactly what the bust looked like through the rather dense plastic wrapping.

However, the box is attractive and sturdy, with a nice spooky appearance. It's blue, a nice change from the overused yellow either that Universal has been so bound and determined to use for every aspect of their licensed product over the last few years.

Sculpting - ***1/2
Of the four busts, I was most impressed with the quality of the Mummy sculpt. It's extremely detailed, and the proportions are very good. Unfortunately, because it is from the waist up, rather than from the chest up, it doesn't fit in particularly well with the Sideshow busts, but it's still damn fine looking all on it's own.

There's actually more detail here than there was in Jack Pierce's famous makeup, worn by Boris Karloff. Each individual wrap of bandages stands out clearly from the others, and the wrinkles, bone and dried flesh of his face is far more realistic.

If I were grading the other three, I'd lump Frankenstein and the Werewolf together as not quite as nice as The Mummy, but still worthwhile, with Dracula being my least favorite and the likeness being off the most. It seems like Lugosi can be such a tough nut to crack.

Paint - ***1/2
This version got the silver screen treatment, exclusive to the Comic Con. The regular version has a lot more variation in color.

The paint ops are solid, especially the work on the eyes. The wash brings out the details, although a little more variation in color between the flesh and the bandages would have been nice. The color version has the flesh a little darker than the bandages, and this looks quite a bit better than the solid grey you see here. To be fair though, this consistent color across the entire body and flesh is much closer to what was actually on screen in the original black and white film.

Design/Quality - ***1/2
All the busts share some common traits in their design. They are taller than most mini-busts in this scale, because they are from approximately the waist up, rather than from the chest up. They also all have one arm attached, one missing, although which one it is varies. The Mummy has his right arm still attached, across his chest.

The design is solid, capturing the look and feel of the old movie, and expressing just the right amount of creepy foreboding. The bases on all four match the source material, and the Mummy rests on a pillar covered in heiroglyphics. It's a well thought out design, and of very high quality.

Value - **
The one area that these take a hit is price. At $60 each, they are at least $20 each higher than most competing mini-busts. While the quality is fairly good, remember that the Mummy was the best of the bunch, with Frank a very close second. At this price, I can't see people buying the entire set, and that's too bad, since they don't go particularly well with the Sideshow versions. Can you tell I'm disappointed about that?

Overall - ***
If the price of these busts was closer to $40, The Mummy would be ***1/2, and I'd rank Frank and Wolfman at ***, with Dracula bringing up the rear at **1/2. Unfortunately, the price point pulls another half star off of the Mummy, and I'd assume that had I picked up the other three, I would have felt the same way. X-Plus is doing some nice work here, and I really do hope that we see some of the other classic monsters in the series, particularly the Creature from the Black Lagoon. But I'd wait on some of them if you're considering picking up a complete set, as you might get them at a discounted price.

Where to Buy -
You're local comic shop might pick these up, but your best bet is on-line:

- Entertainment Earth has pre-orders up for this one to ship in September.