Review – Metaluna Mutant

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The Diamond Select Toys Metaluna Mutant (buy at Entertainment Earth*, buy at Amazon.com*) is just one of several Universal Monsters action figures that the company has released over the last two years. What’s kinda sad, though, is that as often as I look at the line this is only the second toy in the series that I have actually purchased.

I really should buy more of them.

Spectacular Sculpting

The Metaluna Mutant is one awesome monster design, and Diamond Select Toys’ action figure representation of the character is as much fun as I could have hoped for. From the clawed feet and hands to the brainy head every detail is wonderfully executed, with my favorite bit of work being the texture on the armored plating of the torso and the raised veins on the arms and head. And at about 8.25-inches tall there was enough space to work with for the details to extend to the eyes and we even get a few cloth folds in the pants of the design. A+ sculpting job.

Articulation

The t-hips with hinges and obstructed swivels — the legs swing forward reasonably well, but back movement is quite limited by the sculpt — start to give the toy some great leg movement and that carries through with cut thighs, hinged knees, and swivel ankles. The only complaint I have is that when you have hips like this guy you really need ball-jointed ankles to take full advantage of the hip articulation.

The upper half of the toy has far less articulation than the lower half, but I suspect that kinda mirrors the original rubber costume design. The head seems to be a swivel — Michael Crawford speculates in his review of the toy that there may be a ball-jointed neck, but he’s right when he says the head only swivels side to side — while the arms are ball-hinged in two points. There’s some sort of shoulder articulation, but the design of the shoulder piece eliminates any real movement from those shoulder joints.

Overall the articulation is decent for a Diamond Select Toys release and appropriate for what’s essentially a poseable statue.

Paint

Nicely done paint apps that really bring out the sculpt are always appreciated, and the Metaluna Mutant does not disappoint me when it comes to the paint. A dark blue wash over the light blue plastic brings out a lot of the details and the red veins are neatly painted with very few rough spots. Even the clawed hands and feet get a dark wash to help the pieces look like they have some depth. What’s really nice is that the eyes were hit with a glossy black which contrasts great with the flat colors used on the rest of the toy.

Balance Issues

It’s a good thing that a small base was included with the Metaluna Mutant (buy at Entertainment Earth*, buy at Amazon.com*) because it has a tendency to lean forward whenever I stand it up. I think that if the ankles had been ball-jointed I could more easily get the feet flat to help balance, but even then there’s a lot of weight up top; the toy has a very high center of gravity and that’s giving it some problems standing without the base.

Closing Thoughts

Even with restricted arm articulation and balance issues I’m going to say that the design and paint of the Metaluna Mutant (buy at Entertainment Earth*, buy at Amazon.com*) are so incredible that I will be buying another toy in this series. Diamond Select Toys often makes toys that feel to me more like articulated statues than action figures, but when the sculpt and paint apps are as excellent as they are on this toy then I can live with that.

This one’s definitely recommended if you find the photos neat and like the design. Just don’t expect your Metaluna Mutant (buy at Entertainment Earth*, buy at Amazon.com*) to strike too many impressive poses . . . but maybe that’s just fine for what’s really a representation of a guy in a very uncomfortable rubber suit.

Philip Reed now needs to find a good home in the collection for this toy. Clearly, as we can tell by the last pic, this toy must stay with the Iron Maiden action figures.