MEGO Phantom of the Opera Masque of Red Death

I was strolling through Target when I came across this curious figure. It had that retro feel, and it’s a horror figure, so I bought it. The company MEGO has released several horror figures, including a regular Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Wolfman, Nosferatu… This Masque of Red Death is very arresting, with its red body, hat and cloak, sinister skull smile and very creepy eyes.

The head, arms, legs and body of the figure are plastic, while his hat is a soft plastic and his cape, shirt and pants are cloth. The cape simply fits over the head but can be removed, making him look like he’s wearing fancy red pajamas underneath. The eye sockets are grey with black pupils, and the way they’re painted, they appear to be following you as you turn the head. A very simple but fun gimmick.

The articulation is not as expressive as modern figures, but he’s still quite poseable. His head is on a swivel that can turn fully around. His elbows and knees are single jointed, his wrists are on a hinge and swivel that allow for lots of direction. His shoulders, torso and thighs are interesting, held in place by a strong rubber band. This causes his arms to fall back in place if you don’t twist them just right. Very retro indeed.

He stands 8 inches tall, so he’s much taller than imports such as S.H. Figuarts, Figma and Mafex, but he’s perfectly in scale with NECA horror figures, so that works out just dandy. He comes in a cool retro card with some info on the back of it. It reminds me of the 70’s VIC’s rubber Creature From The Black Lagoon figure I used to own as a kid, that also came on a card. My Dad probably bought me that toy about 3 times when I was young; he knew I loved monsters. There’s still an old photo at my parent’s house in an album that shows me with my brother and holding my rubber Creature toy. I loved that thing. This MEGO Phantom brings to mind those great memories.

MEGO Phantom of the Opera Masque of Red Death is a fun figure to own. His blood red clothes and skull face are irresistible if you’re a horror buff like me. Perhaps I’ll make him a scythe to complete his deathly look. He’ll definitely fit well on my Halloween display. If you love retro style horror figures and don’t mind his odd rubber band articulation, definitely pick him up.

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