The Re-Animator is one of those films that, if you saw it at just the right age, will stick with you for years. The movie is loosely based on the short story “Herbert West: Re-Animator” by H.P. Lovecraft. The film follows medical student Dan Cain and his bizarre roommate Herbert West, who claims to have found the secret to bringing the dead back to life. The Re-Animator helped to turn both Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton into horror film icons. It’s a campy and bloody film with some extremely dark humor, and truly spectacular gore effects. If you’re into 80’s horror films, and have never seen the movie, I can’t recommend it enough.
NECA brings fans a new retro Mego style figure based on Herbert West from the film. The figure is available in stores now. It includes multiple accessories from the film, including a severed Dr. Hill head and the reagent. Toyark sponsor Entertainment Earth sent along the figure. After the jump, check out my thoughts on the figure and a full photo gallery.
Related Entertainment Earth links: Herbert West Figure, The Fog Captain Blake, All Horror Items
The Re-Animator – Herbert West 8″ Scale Figure by NECA
Pros
- Great accessories
- Feels like a return to Cult Classics
- The severed Dr. Hill head is perfect
- Hand can correctly hold the syringe
- Solid articulation
Cons
- Paint on the Herbert West head sculpt is a bit cartoon-ish
Overall
The Herbert West figure comes packaged in the standard clamshell packaging used for many of NECA’s Mego style releases. The backer card features art by Justin Osbourn on the front. Horror fans may recognize the art, as it was used on a popular Fright Rags t-shirt design in 2015. The back of the card shows a few photos of the figure and the accessories. Herbert West includes the severed head of Dr. Hill, a bloody shovel. a bloody pan, a syringe filled with reagent, a bottle filled with reagent, a pocket protector, and a reanimated cat.
This release is so close to being a perfect retro cloth release. NECA was able to give fans a true cult classic style release, packed with cool accessories and an eye-catching package design. The accessories themselves are all spot on to what you’d want in a Re-Animator release. This is an especially packed release for the format. The syringe and bottle of reagent were a given. Including the bloody and gruesome severed head of West’s nemesis, Dr. Hill, was a really fun addition. The severed head sculpt looks spot on, with a fantastic base sculpt and excellent paint work. A blood soaked medical pan is also included, perfect for displaying the severed head. Even the shovel used to decapitate him is included. The cherry on top is Dan’s reanimated cat, broken, bloody and guts spilling out. You even get a pocket protector, which slides into the lab coat pocket of Herbert West. Articulation is decent, as it uses the standard 8″ scalee body found on nearly all of NECA’s Mego style releases. Range of motion isn’t hindered by the cloth outfit, which includes a lab coat, and a shirt and tie.
The initial prototype shown for the figure was pretty much perfect, with a nearly uncanny likeness to Jeffrey Combs on the hand painted head sculpt. For the most part, the sculpt itself is still quite strong. But the paint work here comes in a bit more cartoon looking, especially compered to the packed in severed head. Black paint around the eyes is a bit thick, and the lip color is a bit too bright and sharp edged. None of this was a deal breaker, as this is still easily the best Herbert West figure to hit shelves. The accessories alone make it worth picking up, especially for fans looking to add bloody elements to a horror-themed diorama display.
Check out a selection of highlight photos below. After that, you can see the full photo shoot.
Some of the backgrounds featured in pics below are from Extreme-Sets.com. Enter code TOYARK at checkout and get 15% off your order!
NECA Re-Animator – Herbert West 8-Inch Scale Figure - Toyark Photo Shoot
I should have gotten 2, the one I did get is still blistered an on the wall. I know the MEGO style NECA figures don't do it for everyone but I really like most of the ones they've done so far. Almost October, almost time to rewatch the Re-Animator.
Fucking SWEET photo gallery, Joe, and by your review I can tell that you're a real Re-Animator fan as well. Big ups to you.
I agree that this release is pretty much perfect, aside from the paintwork on Herbert's head, the quality of which varies wildly from figure to figure. It's not at the level of NECA's typical Mego-style releases, but if you look long and hard (like I did) you can find some that are MUCH better than others.
Question, Joe...I know you've said this previously, but where is that desk in your photo shoot from again? Was it from a Gotham figure?
Also: if you want a fun prop for a Re-Animator dio, go on ebay and buy one of the Anchorman Mego-style figures (they're in the same scale as the NECA stuff). You can get one for, like, $9.99 + free shipping. They all come wearing business suits (Brick Tamland's works best). Just remove the head and you have a perfect body to use to re-create the death of that filthy plagiarist, Dr. Hill:
The desk is from the DST Edward Nygma from Gotham.
I love Re-Animator. I saw it at a way too young age. Hehe. But it’s when I saw it again in the mid 90’s that I really got into it.
Never saw the movie, but did read Lovecraft's serial stories.
I can't wait to get this figure. I preordered it along with the NOES accessory pack and they'll ship together, so I have a while to wait.
Yeah, I got the idea and after looking around for the right figure I found that the Anchorman Brick was perfect and really cheap. Here's a link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/LOOSE-BeeLi...rd!11793!US!-1
To remove the head you need to take off his jacket and shirt. There's a small screw or two on his back that you have to unscrew to open his torso and the head just comes right off. Screw it back up, re-dress him, and you're good to go.
If anyone is interested, NECA has re-released the Herbert West figure with an improved paintjob and some minor upgrades. I loved the retro West figure, but the poor paintjob on the head sculpt has always pissed me off...it was never up to the level of the rest of NECA's retro figures. The poofy shirt collar and shitty tie were also mild annoyances.
Well, NECA has improved Herbert's face paint with this re-release massively (no more crooked derpy eyes), and they also gave him a new shirt with a normal-looking collar and a more realistic-looking tie! The lab coat looks better now, too. Pretty much all of my complaints about this figure have been addressed.
Comparison pic below (old release on the left, new release on the right).
The paintjob on Dr. Hill's head is improved now as well, and Herbert's shoes are a glossy black now. Also of note is that Herbert's body is normal flesh-colored now, as opposed to the weird brown-ish color of the original (see the forearms of the original figure on the left). Everything else is otherwise pretty much the same.
FYI: You can tell the re-release from the original because Herbert's pocket protector is black now.
Well, NECA has improved Herbert's face paint with this re-release massively (no more crooked derpy eyes), and they also gave him a new shirt with a normal-looking collar and a more realistic-looking tie! The lab coat looks better now, too. Pretty much all of my complaints about this figure have been addressed.
Comparison pic below (old release on the left, new release on the right).
The paintjob on Dr. Hill's head is improved now as well, and Herbert's shoes are a glossy black now. Also of note is that Herbert's body is normal flesh-colored now, as opposed to the weird brown-ish color of the original (see the forearms of the original figure on the left). Everything else is otherwise pretty much the same.
FYI: You can tell the re-release from the original because Herbert's pocket protector is black now.
What a BIG difference!
Especially that different body color, what were they thinking?!?
I don't have that figure but I'm curious what happens with people who have the original? Can they send it to NECA for swapsies or do they have to try sell it off for a loss?
It had always pissed me off because I felt the original figure had such potential but they screwed it up with the piss-poor paint and poofy shirt. So glad NECA re-visited this and made it right.
Yeah, it's happened multiple times when NECA re-releases a figure and the paint job is noticeably better (or sometimes worse). It comes with the territory.
One of the reasons this happens is because they don’t have to cover tooling or pattern costs with a re-release like this. Since those cost are already paid for, they can spend more time and money on refining the paint application.
Picked up the upgraded Herbert West today. The new paint job does look good in hand. Guess the old one is going in the bins for now.
Full Thread: Re-Animator Herbert West by NECA - Toyark Gallery
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