Castlevania Select Series 1 Figures by Diamond Select Toys – Toyark Photo Shoot

In 2017, an animated adaptation of the popular Castlevania video games debuted on Netflix. A second season followed in 2018. The series took many of it’s elements from Konami’s Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which greatly expanded the lore for the series. After his wife is accused of witchcraft and burned alive, Count Dracula wages war on Eastern Europe. Trevor Belmont, a disgraced monster hunter, becomes the latest Belmont to face off against Vlad Dracula Tepes. He is joined on his quest by magician Sypha Belnades, and Dracula’s own son, Alucard.

The new figures by Diamond Select Toys represent the first Castlevania figures since NECA’s line from 2007. Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades, and Alucard each stand about 7″ tall, with roughly 16 points of articulation. They include character specific weapons and accessories, as well as multiple interchangeable parts. Castlevania Select series 1 is in stores now, with a second series on the way. Our friends at Diamond Select Toys have sent over the figures. After the jump, check out my thoughts on the new series, and a full photo gallery of the figures.

Castlevania Select Series 1 Figures by Diamond Select Toys

Pros

• Fantastic looking sculpts
• Each figure has a large selection of swap out hands
• Trevor is jam packed with weapons
• Nice paint work
• Solid articulation
• Hands and portraits swap out very easily

Cons

• Sypha’s articulation is negated by the outfit
• Trevor wasn’t packed with Grip hands
• Figures don’t include features from original solicitation images

Overall
The Castlevania figures are packed in the book-end style Select packaging that DST is known for. The back of the packaging showcases the figure, as well as a bio for each character. The figures sit in a plastic tray, with a number of ties holding them in. Trevor includes six sets of hands, a long sword and sheath, a short sword and sheath, a bucket, a whip, and a chain whip. Alucard includes two swap out heads, a sword and sheath, a blue flame sword, and six sets of hands. Sypha includes four sets of hands, and an additional left and right hand with magic effects.

With the new line being based on the animated series, the figures take on a much more streamlined, anime-inspired look. Thankfully, this doesn’t mean the figures lack in details. The sculpts for each figure are quite excellent, and basically look like they stepped right out of the series. Texture work, especially on Trevor’s outfit, has some nice intricate work. Portraits for each look spot on as well. Paint work here is bright and clean. There’s little to no noticeable paint bleed anywhere, and detail lines are crisp. Each figure includes a number of swap out hands, which pop off and snap in with no issues at all. While some are a bit too similar, it does give fans some great display options. Alucard also includes a swap out portrait, and I was able to change those out without needing to heat up the neck joint. Articulation is decent, and none of the joints had any paint locking issues. Joint quality was good as well, and nothing felt overly loose or felt like there would be snapping issues. Of the three, Trevor features the most accessories. Having two types of sword and both iconic whips makes for some fun posing and display options. The others include appropriate parts, as Sypha mainly relied on Magic, and Alucard really only used the sword in the 1st season (which these figures are based on).

I did run into a few things that tempered my excitement for the figures a bit. When originally shown at conventions, and in the original solicitation images, both Trevor and Alucard had double jointed elbows. However, the final figures do not. Trevor has also been shown with a cloak, and rolled up versions of both of his whips, which would have been mountable to the hooks on his hips. None of those are included in the final release, and I couldn’t get the whips to sit on the hooks long enough to get a photo. Heating them up may allow them to be rolled more tightly. Sypha’s fully sculpted robes hinder her articulation, especially in her legs and elbows. The plastic used is fairly solid, so there’s not much that can be done there outside of removing the top layer of her cloak. My Trevor Belmont did not include a set of standard grip hands. I had to cut off the throwing knives from two of them, but they did hold the weapons without issue after that. That may be an isolated issue, but I’m not sure.

In the end, this is a solid start for the line. Fans of the series should be fairly pleased with the final products. The figures look excellent in hand, and each release includes a good amount of parts and accessories. The next assortment adds some much needed enemies to the line, including Dracula himself. Look for that wave to hit this summer. You can check out a selection of images below, and the full gallery after that.