I thought I would kick off Halloween month with my favorite recent purchase, the NECA Toony Terrors Vampira. In 1954, model and actress Maila Nurmi found her niche in Hollywood and became the first late night horror host as Vampira. Her look was modelled after Snow White's Evil Queen, Dragon Lady, and Charles Addams' macabre matron (later named Morticia Addams in 1964 - who ironically by then was taking cues from Vampira). Vampira was also the character model for Maleficent in 1959. And obviously, she was major inspiration for Elvira in the 80s. However, for me Vampira was a character that only existed in static imagery. But just last month I watched Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space for the first time and was mesmerized by Maila and her famous character. My fascination with Vampira was piqued and literally the next day I found this figure. She has had very little (if any) merchandise produced but NECA and Super7 are making up for lost time. Let's check out Vampira below!
Vampira is only articulated at the shoulders and neck.
Based on the gravity-specific sculpt of the cloth at her elbows, this hands-raised position is the intended pose.
Vampira comes with a cool skull accessory.
The skull has a hole in the bottom. Her hands are not in a position to hold the skull, so when I saw this hole I thought it might swap onto her neck. But I could not remove her head easily. Perhaps the hole is just for lessening the bulk of the plastic. Or perhaps it fits on one of the NECA head stands.
Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!
Here is Vampira with 2021's Toony Terrors Elvira. This line desperately needs a Morticia and Lily Munster.
Cheers!
The Toony Terrors line have a different look I never thought I'd care for but they are cool in my opinion. I know who Vampira is but not that familiar with her. I do like the figure and it seems to do Vampira justice. Great post.
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