Oh, the world of boutique action figure lines! Intellectual properties you may not even have known existed, details you never knew you needed, and accessories, accessories, accessories make for some fancy toys! And don’t forget those small production runs! Buy it NOW before it sells out!
One of the masters of this style of figures is Mezco Toys.
Several years ago, I saw a friend on social media post some pictures of Mezco Toyz One: 12’s Doc Nocturnal and my mind went racing! Who is this guy? Why is he so cool!? How is he so perfectly pulp hero looking, yet NOT an actual pulp hero!? WHERE CAN I GET ONE!? Well the only place to order one was the Mezco Toyz website and they were lonnnng sold out! To eBay! Oh… That’s awfully expensive!
Two things happened soon after; I became addicted to Mezco One:12 action figures and, against my better judgement, to Pay-in-4 plans! Don’t worry! I’m OK now! (Mostly.) Anyway, I got my Doc Nocturnal. Now who was he going to fight!?
Well it so happened that Mezco had recently released their second One:12 Nosferatu action figure, Silent Screamers: Nosferatu – Symphony of Horror Edition. I promptly went back to eBay and started making bids!
Calling the figure Nosferatu is an interesting choice. Although that is the title of the film, the character’s name is Graf (or “Count”) Orlok. “Nosferatu” is not an actual word and is believed to be a misinterpretation of either the word “nesuferit,” or “necuratul.” Respectively, these words mean “the insufferable one,” or “the unclean one” in reference to the Devil. While Nosferatu – Symphony of Horror Edition and its predecessor are obviously based on the original Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror film, they are very stylized interpretations. The main head sculpt is slightly elongated and, without losing any of its horror edge, a bit cartoony. Mezco’s first version of this figure featured muted colors to give it a “black & white” feel while looking like something that exists in the real world. This version opts for a little more color by giving Count Orlok (often referred to as “Nosferatu,”) a blue skin tone, a red hanker-tie neck wrap, and red eyes that give the figure an even more sinister appearance. Other than that, it’s clothing is completely black whereas the original version had more of a grey or faded-looking frock coat. I don’t own the original figure but, in side-by-side photos, these colors make this version much more visually striking.
The figure mostly has typical Mezco One:12 articulation but the shoulder movement is limited by the padding in the coat. In various incarnations, the character is never really shown raising his arms high and you can still get many classic and even imposing poses out of the figure so I don’t consider that to be a big deal. The chest, waist, knee, and wrist articulation are excellent and the figure stands pretty easily on its own. The neck articulation is also pretty good. He can’t look down very well, but the figure already seems to be looking down a little when the head is completely forward anyway. Now some may say, “I’m paying over a hundred dollars for this thing so everything should move!” In the end, only you can decide what’s “worth it.”
The figure has quite a few accessories but unfortunately foregoes the coolest one that the original figure came with, a coffin! I really wanted that coffin, but the blue skin, red eyes and the alternate heads were just too cool. We’ll get to those heads!
Nosferatu comes with a coachman’s hat, a cloak with detachable collar, two wolves (non-articulated), an “eerie mist FX,” a lantern, 3 bats, 6 rats, 3 pairs of hands, 3 heads, and one melting hand. He also includes the typical Mezco display base and post. The hat and cloak are cool and create a lot of possibilities, especially in regards to photography. The lantern is neat and has some nice detail. The wolves are pretty sinister looking and cool, but some articulation would’ve been nice. The mist FX piece is lame. Sorry. It looks cool in the promo pics but in hand, not so impressive. Unfortunately, they’ve really milked this piece too. The melting hand is awesome, and it brings us back to the alternate heads. Along with the neutral expression head, he’s got one that looks as if he’s about to bite someone, and while that could have been kept simple, the sculptor decided to make it look like Count Orlok is in the middle of some sort transformation, the facial features becoming more animalistic. Is he turning into a bat? A wolf? I have no idea, but it sure is scary! The second alternate head is probably the coolest accessory of the whole set. Yaknow the whole thing about vampires and sunlight? No… I don’t mean the ones in logging towns who sparkle! Anyway, yeah. The set includes a head sculpt depicting Count Orlok’s face burning away in his final moments! This, together with the melting hand are what really send this figure over the top!
There are MANY Nosferatu/Graf Orlok figures on the market (including a third Mezco Toyz “Black and White Edition”) but for my money, Silent Screamers: Nosferatu – Symphony of Horror Edition can’t be beat (even if a coffin would’ve been nice)!
That’s it for now! Happy Halloween! Have fun trick-or-treating, and don’t get sick on too much candy!