Review – dKillerPanda’s Monster Theater: Franky, The Bride, and Mummy

Recently, while browsing through one of Austin’s small shops that deals in designer vinyl, I ran across the “Monster Theater” box set from dKiller Panda, a cute site with lots of “goth” artwork. The box set, priced at $20, included three small vinyl figures, each about 4″ tall, and I loved two of the pieces enough to grab the set. (I originally looked at grabbing just one of the figures since he was in a smaller package for $8, but $20 for the three wasn’t a bad deal and they didn’t have the second figure that I really wanted by himself so . . . well, you know how it goes.)

The Bride

First thing’s first. The Bride is the one of the three figures that I was least interested in. It’s not that she didn’t look okay in the packaging, it’s just that — in comparison to the other two figures — she’s a little on the dull side. So before I even dug into the package I was biased against her, so keep that in mind as I proceed to say not-so-nice things about this toy.

The Bride is easily the weakest figure in the pack for one reason alone: she has problems standing up. The balance on the figure is off so the slightest tremor sends her to her face. Which is unfortunate, since it’s kinda a cute face; stitches, black lipstick, eyes that bulge out of her head, what’s not to love? As with the other figures in the set she’s in a fixed pose — no articulation — and the only detail on her torso is a keyhole. Otherwise, all of the detail on the figure is in the face. She’s just okay, and I certainly wouldn’t own her if she hadn’t been included in the box with . . .

Franky

I just love Franky’s square head and the way in which his eyes and mouth are positioned on his face. As with The Bride, pretty much all of the detail on the figure is in his face, but with Franky that detailing is fantastic. His wide-open mouth is set deep enough into the plastic that his teeth have a great 3d effect while the bolts on his head are as off-balance as the rest of his face, giving the figure an overall goofy — and friendly — look! Hanging around Franky’s neck is a key, no doubt to unlock The Bride so that he can capture her heart.

Unlike The Bride, Franky stands very solid and sits perfectly on the shelf (even as the dog runs past). Franky is easily my favorite figure in this set.

Mummy

BOO! I know, I know, that’s traditionally what a ghost says, but Mummy’s pose just begs for a word balloon next to his head so that he can shout out “boo” to all of us. With even less detail than the other two figures — what do you expect from a bandage-wrapped monster? — Mummy’s charm resides almost solely in his pose and his deep-set, open mouth. As with Franky, Mummy stands nicely on his own and isn’t prone to falling over whenever I look at him, so as shelf decoration he’s a perfect addition to my toy collection.

Closing Thoughts

This was my first encounter with dKiller Panda and — despite my dislike for The Bride — I’m looking forward to finding more toys by this designer. The back of the box showed three more figures — Nosfe, The Invisible, and London — and they look just as cute and scary as the better of the two toys listed above, which means that I’ll have to keep my eyes open for a box set that includes all three of them.

If you need a gift for someone who loves goth comics you may want to track down a copy of Franky. The other two figures aren’t quite as cute, so unless you just need all three of them I say stick with Franky and move on with life. His key won’t have anything to unlock, but since he doesn’t have any articulation at all it’s probably best not to tease him by placing The Bride just outside of his vinyl reach.

Philip Reed loves finding little vinyl toys, and he is even stupid enough to enjoy buying blind boxed figures. It’s definitely a problem in his brain and he really needs to get it checked out.