NECA Creature From the Black Lagoon

[dragon53]

NECA is releasing an action figure of the prehistoric Gill-man from THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON.
A black and white version will be released later.

LINK: https://necaonline.com/2023/03/universal-monsters-7-scale-action-figure-ultimate-creature-from-the-black-lagoon-color/

[Over9K]

Sculpt and colorway is nice... shame the articulation isn't up to snuff and you can't do a true swim pose.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

I bought this movie a while back but haven't watched it yet. I'll have to see it before I say I'm interested in the toy. It's an overlap of interests of mine since the film is popular with Tiki enthusiasts as well. The figure looks good, though.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Awesome! I'll be picking him up, this is last of the main Universal Monsters left aside from The Phantom, to make I think? I have all the previous ones:

Frankenstein Monster
Frankenstein Monster Black and White
Wolfman
Wolfman Black and White
Mummy
Mummy Black and White
Dracula
Dracula Black and White
Invisible Man
Bride of Frankenstein

They also have playsets for The Mummy, Dracula, and Frankenstein so far.

It's going to get really fun when they get to other characters, Dracula's Brides, Maleva, The Phantom as The Masque of the Red Death, ect..

[dragon53]

Many years ago, I bought the Diamond Select Creature From the Black Lagoon with the Julie Adams figure. Apparently there were complaints about the Creature's inaccurate paint scheme, so Diamond later released a second version. I took the Creature Version 2 and combined it with the Julie Adams from Version 1 figure for my own display.
I posted a photo of the NECA version to compare. Since the movie was in black and white, and the few color photos from the movie are really old, I'm not sure if the Diamond Version 2 paint is more accurate than the NECA version's paint, but NECA is usually pretty accurate.

Diamond Select Version 1




Diamond Select Version 2




NECA version.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I have the DS V1 myself, you never get figures of the humans usually so I had to get it. It is VERY bright and shiny green though.

Neca looks good to me though I am used to seeing the more mossy green in artwork.

There are a few color pics from Creature so my guess is that is what they used:

[dragon53]

BLADE-OF-THE-MOON:

If I get the NECA version, I will have three versions of the Creature. Like the Namu Mosasaurus Version 2, I'm sitting on the fence about buying them.

[dragon53]

Here are some more color photos---the shades of green certainly vary from photo to photo.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

BLADE-OF-THE-MOON:

If I get the NECA version, I will have three versions of the Creature. Like the Namu Mosasaurus Version 2, I'm sitting on the fence about buying them.

I have the Marx toys big plastic solid color figure, the DS V1, the Jada ( which I've actually sold ) and a life size bust piece. I do also have the replica of the Creature's fossilized hand. It's pretty cool.

[Shane]

I am definitely getting this. I'm a creature head. I have a pretty huge Creature collection, and there's no shortage of cool Creature stuff out there.

But this one has the potential to be the definitive version.

[Doug Watson]

I am definitely getting this. I'm a creature head. I have a pretty huge Creature collection, and there's no shortage of cool Creature stuff out there.

But this one has the potential to be the definitive version.

S @Shane that is a cool fact I did't know about you . The movie came out the year before I was born so I have grown up a Creature lover. I got to meet Ben Chapman (who played the Creature on land in the first film) a year before he passed away and he signed my copy of the Filmbook/script. Nice guy too. I have of course the DVD, the original 1963 Aurora model (that I reacquired on eBay stripped and ready to be built), Aurora Monsters of the Movies CFTBL MIB, Marx Creature figure, the Horizon vinyl model kit, the Diamond Select V1, and the Diamond Select bank. If you don't have the Horizon Model kit and you want a definitive version I'd recommend getting one off of eBay while you can. You will pay a premium but the sculpt is fantastic. You will have to build it unless you find a built up one. The Diamond Select Bank is also a really nice sculpt and the biggest in terms of scale.

You can count me in on this one too. The colour is little off, Ben told me the skin was moss green but the sculpt is nice. I love how it poses so realistically the Diamond Select ones just don't match it. I don't remember the hands bending like that but they look dramatic.

[Faelrin]

I'll probably have to pick this up at some point. Was always one of my favorite monsters growing up (despite being born in the early 90's. You can thank my dad for introducing me to all the classic Universal monsters). Was wondering when they would do this one. Still behind on the wolf man as well, which was another one of my favorites.

[dragon53]

DOUG WATSON:

Is the Diamond Version 2 or the NECA version closer to "moss green"?

[Gwangi]

I might have to get this one. I don't collect Universal Monsters but I do watch the films and I have a particular fondness for the Gill-Man.

[Doug Watson]

DOUG WATSON:

Is the Diamond Version 2 or the NECA version closer to "moss green"?

The photo that Blade of the Moon posted in post # 5 is the closest to the description that Ben gave me. So the DS version 2 is close but too light and bright. The NECA is a darker richer green at least in the photos but what they do better than the DS is they have variation in the colours. The DS 2 is one solid colour if you look at Blade's photo you can see the belly scales and other scales on the limbs are a slightly different colour and there are coppery highlights that the NECA seems to have. Also Ben said the lips weren't bright red they were more mauve, in that case both the DS 2 and NECA get it right. One other neat fact he told me was when the creature opens its mouth that was the inside of Ben's mouth and his tongue that you see.

[Doug Watson]

DOUG WATSON:

Is the Diamond Version 2 or the NECA version closer to "moss green"?

I should have done this on my computer instead of my phone. I went back and looked at the DS 2 and there is variation in the scale colours and looks like some coppery highlights but I am only going by the photo I have DS 1 not DS 2 so I don't know what it looks like in hand. By the photo I still think it looks too light and bright but it is mossy.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I am definitely getting this. I'm a creature head. I have a pretty huge Creature collection, and there's no shortage of cool Creature stuff out there.

But this one has the potential to be the definitive version.

S @Shane that is a cool fact I did't know about you . The movie came out the year before I was born so I have grown up a Creature lover. I got to meet Ben Chapman (who played the Creature on land in the first film) a year before he passed away and he signed my copy of the Filmbook/script. Nice guy too. I have of course the DVD, the original 1963 Aurora model (that I reacquired on eBay stripped and ready to be built), Aurora Monsters of the Movies CFTBL MIB, Marx Creature figure, the Horizon vinyl model kit, the Diamond Select V1, and the Diamond Select bank. If you don't have the Horizon Model kit and you want a definitive version I'd recommend getting one off of eBay while you can. You will pay a premium but the sculpt is fantastic. You will have to build it unless you find a built up one. The Diamond Select Bank is also a really nice sculpt and the biggest in terms of scale.

You can count me in on this one too. The colour is little off, Ben told me the skin was moss green but the sculpt is nice. I love how it poses so realistically the Diamond Select ones just don't match it. I don't remember the hands bending like that but they look dramatic.

All  I need now is an affordable 1:1 scale full body piece lol  I'll have to get a pic of my Creature display for you guys.

I took this shot last year with my DS figure. 



Dr. Serizawa went looking for Godzilla and found something..else..

[dragon53]

DOUG WATSON:

Thanks for the info.

Since two men (Ben Chapman and Ricou Browning) wore the Gill-man suits, I wondered if there were two different suits----and I found there really were two different suits. Bob Burns owns the heads of both and are in the video (link below) at 2:02 elapsed time. I posted a screenshot from the Youtube video.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4-Dyda39eQ



Ben Chapman's head prop is the bigger one (left) and Ricou Browning's head prop is the smaller one (right). It appears that Ricou Browning's head piece green is similar to NECA's green.

[Doug Watson]

DOUG WATSON:

Thanks for the info.

Since two men (Ben Chapman and Ricou Browning) wore the Gill-man suits, I wondered if there were two different suits----and I found there really were two different suits. Bob Burns owns the heads of both and are in the video (link below) at 2:02 elapsed time. I posted a screenshot from the Youtube video.

I have Bob Burns' book "It came from Bob's Basement" and in it he says his Ben Chapman head for his full suit was pulled from the original mould but wasn't the original head. I don't think any of the original heads survived. Actually Ben told me he went through 6 suits during the filming. Ben was 6'5" and Ricou was 6' that is why there is such a difference in size.
Here is a shot of one of the original suits that Ben had on his web site. He didn't say who owned it and it was deteriorated but he said the colours were still pretty good.

[dragon53]

DOUG WATSON:

Thanks for the additional information.

Since I have the two Diamond versions, I was looking for a justification to buy the NECA version---and Bob Burns's collection showing Ricou Browning's darker shade of green might be that justification.

Speaking of books, many years ago on one of the movie forums, a forum member was selling a book about the making of THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON with signed copies by Julie Adams. I was tempted, but I didn't buy one---now I wish I had.


Also, this is another photo I found.