In 1978, Lorne Green became the inaugural member of the Pantheon of Plastic.
One year later in 1979, he was joined by the second inductee into this prestigious panoply of plastinated personalities. Ladeez and gennelmen, I give you the 1979 Inductee… Boris Karloff!
Boris Karloff (inducted 1979)
(Boris Karloff’s IMDB entry)
Karloff is unusual for the Pantheon of Plastic for two reasons – he had passed away long before his induction, and his two iconic plastic-commemorated roles were nearly fifty years old when the action figures were released. But action figures they were, and so Karloff can add PoP membership to his voluminous CV!
Frankenstein’s Monster, Frankenstein
(Movie, Universal, 1931; figure released 1979 by Remco)
Jack P Pierce was responsible for the distinctive look of the Monster, but Karloff was enthusiastic about the makeup, offering to remove his bridgework to give the monster freaky cheeks. It was a combination of Pierce’s wizardry and Karloff’s unnerving performance that made this such an iconic role, worthy of being turned into a plastic figure to stomp around the sandpit with a generation of little kids.
Karloff once played baseball wearing full Monster make-up. Buster Keaton was the catcher. Read about it, and see the photo, here.
The Mummy, The Mummy
(Movie, Universal,1932; figure released 1979 by Remco)
Another Pierce/Karloff joint. Imhotep! But does anyone really care about Imhotep? Really? This would’ve been a way cooler movie if they’d gone by the original idea of making it about Cagliostro. That dude was crazy.
I had that Remco glow-in-the-dark Frankenstein’s Monster figure. He glowed in the dark, and you could push a button in his back to make him give you a hug (I think he was supposed to be crushing you, but it seemed like a hug to me).
I loved him so much.