Let’s not bury the lead, if you have a fondness for Vincent Price, this figure needs to be at the top of your wishlist this season. It’s been at the top of mine since NECA announced it late last year. Fortunately, I was able to bring Vincent home just in time for it to make a late run at my Figure of the Year list.
A horror and camp icon with an unmistakable voice, the incomparable Vincent Price appeared in more than 100 films during his lifetime. However, this Master of Horror wasn’t just an actor of stage, radio, and screen; he was also an art historian and gourmet cook! Celebrate his unique legacy with this 7-inch scale Ultimate Vincent Price action figure. It comes complete with three interchangeable heads and neckties to mix and match his iconic looks throughout the years. (It’s like three figures in one!) Other spooky accessories include interchangeable hands, raven with alternate “perch” forearm, skull, black cat, candlestick, teacup and saucer, cigarettes, cookbook, and a stack of records.
For me, a child of the 80s, Vincent Price was a curious old man that welcomed you into his world of weird with a wink and a smile. A creepy version of Mr Rogers that delighted himself in the reactions he was able to pull out of others. I knew him more for his late night talk show appearances and Thriller than for anything else he had done in his illustrious career. Tim Burton cast Vincent perfectly as The Inventor in Edward Scissorhands. That weird marriage of macabre and whimsy with heart. That’s the Vincent Price I remember. NECA not only delivers that version of Vincent, but 2-3 others as well. The swappable necktie, bow tie and ascot accessories work really well and the likenesses on the head sculpts are spot on.
I love it when figures force me to take a deeper dive on a subject I didn’t know much about previously. Vincent Price does just that. Vincent was a foodie long before Stanley Tucci tasted any part of Italy. He wrote four cookbooks. NECA has included a mini version of Cooking Price-Wise his fourth and final culinary offering. You also get a stack of records including Witchcraft Magic Vincent’s spoken word album. A perfect spin for your next spooky season.
I’ve always said the best G.I. Joes come with animal companions. This real American hero born in St Louis, Missouri comes with two! A raven that you can perch on a swappable forearm as well as a decent Thackery Binx stand in if your Hocus Pocus display needs a black cat. Both animals look great and provide for some fun display options. I’m choosing to take advantage of the “I give zero fucks” side-eye head sculpt and one of the loosies that NECA packed in. I can only imagine they were kind enough to pack in multiple cigarettes in anticipation of carpet monsters everywhere snatching them up the moment Vincent takes a tumble off your shelf.
NECA just put out an updated checklist of their Classic Monsters Collection, which Vincent Price is a part of. This is one of the best lines out there. One that I’ve reviewed numerous times throughout the years. You can’t go wrong with any of the Universal Monsters. Most of which can be grabbed at damn near any Target or Walmart if you’re in need of a last minute gift idea for a vintage horror fan. The Hammer Dracula is also starting to show up on more store shelves if you need a more bloody holiday offering. The latest checklist also features a preview of my next highly anticipated figure: Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing from Horror of Dracula.
Another notable figure on the updated list was an exclusive I thought I had missed out on, the Glow in the Dark Creature from the Black Lagoon. NECA made this previous San Diego Comic Con exclusive available as part of their 12 Days of Figures promotion and I jumped at the second chance to add Gill Man to my collection. I still remember buying the original Remco Creature at a local discount store. The black and white image on the card and that 3.75 inches of glow in the dark plastic grabbed my attention and started a lifelong love affair with the character. Once I had the NECA version in-hand, I felt like I was instantly transported back to the moment I pulled that figure off the pegs all those years ago. A Harry Potter port key that sucked me through time and space to a time where nothing else mattered other than the fact there was a lizard man somewhere out there and I needed to know everything about him. Toys have a weird way of doing that. Its why I still love collecting and writing about what I love.
Thanks for reading! Happy Holidays!
