While browsing at Target, I took a stroll by the action figure section, as they usually have a fresh stock of horror related merchandise for Halloween. They had several NECA figures, including Frankenstein, Doctor Loomis and Laurie from Halloween II, and an Alien figure. Then I saw this NECA Misfits The Fiend, so I had to have it. A skeleton dressed in a grim reaper hood, what's not to love? Everyone who's familiar with the Glenn Danzig fronted punk band The Misfits knows that they incorporated a lot of horror imagery into their music and promotional material. Their mascot, The Fiend, is actually a character from an old 1940's serial called The Crimson Ghost, about a super villain who is trying to steal a top-secret weapon known as the Cyclotrode X, which could disable any electrical device it comes in contact with. Anyway, there are 2 variants of this basic Fiend figure, a black cloaked one, and the red one, which is the one I purchased.
The Misfits Fiend is dressed in a red cloth robe and cloak with hood. He has black skeleton hand gloves, and a skull face. His feet are simple black boots. The front part of his cloak that comes over the shoulders has bendy wires in it, to allow more room for the arms to be posed in an upward position. The hood has bendy wire in it as well. As for accessories, he only comes with an extra right hand that's molded in a holding pose, with a small golden candelabra with 3 lit, dripping candles in it. The box he comes in has a clear window in the front to see the figure, as well as a cool drawing of him in the front, with the Misfits logo.
The Fiend's articulation includes head on a ball peg, waist swivel, ball joint arms and thighs, jointed elbows and knees, wrists and ankle swivels. Because of the robe that goes all the way down to his legs, it will impede the range of motion for his legs, but the ability to kick far forward and to the sides is there. He can easily sit and kneel, as well as a variety of classic ghoulish poses. He's not as expressive as other NECA figures, but what he has is good enough.
Underneath his robe he has a plain black plastic body. You can remove the candelabra from his extra hand since the fingers are soft plastic, and other things can be placed in it, such as knives or various other weapons. His head is only sculpted and painted in the front; the back of it is molded in smooth black.
Like I stated before, The Misfits got him from the 40's serial The Crimson Ghost, which is available to stream on YouTube, in both the black and white original and a special colorized version. I sat and watched it recently, finding it very entertaining and enjoyable. It was one of those serials where each episode ended in a cliffhanger. For example, the hero's car falling off a cliff and crashing into the jagged rocks below. And then in the next episode, you would see a clip of the hero jumping out of the car before it went over the edge. Silly stuff indeed. The Misfits had a song named The Crimson Ghost, and the video for it showed clips from the series. He was quite a memorable character, his costume looking rather ghoulish, and spouting funny dialogue where he would explain the details of his evil schemes.
Final thoughts? The figure is very cool, and a must have if you're a fan of either the Misfits, who made the character a popular part of pop culture, or even the older serial, of if you just enjoy owning a creepy, skeletal ghoul figure. He also reminds me of the zombies from the Italian movie Burial Ground, or the ones from the Spanish Blind Dead series of films. He's pretty rad, and he fits right in with the rest of my horror collectibles. I know that NECA made another Ultimate Fiend figure that comes with much more accessories, so if you wish, you can hunt that one down. I'm quite happy with this one.
Here is a link to the series The Crimson Ghost on YouTube. Check it out if you wish.
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