The Wolf Man--and Lon Chaney Jr.--Join Wave 3 of Limited-Release Mego Figures (Updated)




Last week, I posted about two monster figures (Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster) that have been included in the recent relaunch of the Mego toy company. Based on what I found online, it looks like the Wolf Man is poised to join the other Mego monsters, even without the official blessing from Universal.

The new Wolf Man figure is technically not Universal's Wolf Man. It is the "Screaming Werewolf", although the clothing and head sculpt look very similar to Lon Chaney Jr.'s version of the monster as it appeared in the classic Universal monster movies. Furthermore, Chaney Entertainment, which is devoted to the cinematic work of both Lon Chaneys, is listed prominently on the back of the figure's packaging. All I can surmise was that Mego was able to work out an agreement with the Chaney estate to release a figure based on Chaney Jr.'s iconic role without having to involve Universal, something along the lines of what Mego did with the Lugosi estate for the recent Dracula figure. I'm assuming that Mego tried to do the same thing for its Frankenstein Monster figure but couldn't reach an agreement with Boris Karloff's estate, but I can't say for sure whether this actually happened.


Left to right: The front and back of Mego's "Screaming Werewolf" figure.


I can see why Mego is looking to put a unique spin on its collectible merchandise, but it still feels odd to see Universal monster figures being released without the official Universal monster license. I don't know which monster figures Mego plans to release in the future, but I'm guessing that Mego is approaching more estates of deceased movie monster actors at this very moment.

UPDATE, 11/2/2018: It turns out that there's more to this Wolf Man figure than I originally thought. It turns out that the words on the figure's packaging--"Face of the Screaming Werewolf"--is a title of an actual movie from 1965 that starred Lon Chaney Jr. as a werewolf character. From what I've read about this film, it's an incoherent mess: Produced by Jerry Warren, it edits together two pre-existing Mexican films (La Casa del Terror and La Momia Azteca) and throws Chaney into the mix as a werewolf mummy(!). I understand why a hokey film production would hire Chaney to play a werewolf in order to pull in Chaney/Wolf Man fans, and now it appears that Mego is pulling a similar stunt so it can release a Wolf Man figure without having to get permission from Universal. Well played, Mego.


Here's the poster for Face of the Screaming Werewolf.
The "NEW" label is extremely misleading.



Related Products:

Universal Monsters The Wolfman 3 3/4-inch ReAction Figure Mad Monsters Series 1 Human Wolfman Action Figure Wolfman 16 oz. Geeki Tikis Mug

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