Wolf Man vs. Dracula

The specious enmity between vampires and werewolves has been explained in various places (e.g., Maverick-Werewolf), so I won't go into it other than to say that it seems like another instance of stan culture spreading into mainstream belief.

Many people say that the rivalry was popularized by the film Underworld, but it has been present in film since the days of the classic Universal Pictures monster movies. A Wolf Man vs. Dracula film was even proposed, but never came to fruition (though elements seem to have been incorporated in the House of Dracula).

Creepy #7 Feb 1966
Cover by Frank Frazetta

To go along with this theme, there are two new sets from Dark Alliance that bring us figures of vampires and werewolves.

The Vampires set consists of 48 figures in 12 poses.

The figures include Vlad Tepes, three classic Dracula-style vampires, and a very elusive Orlok-style nosferatu.

I am particularly fond of the nosferatu, but I felt some of the other face sculpts were a bit lacking. It would have been nice if they could have made more variation by perhaps replacing one of the caped Dracula vampires with the version from the Francis Ford Coppola Dracula film.

Bram Stoker's Dracula, 1992

The next group of figures are of three vampire brides, and a prospective vampire bride (I think).

The third vampire bride figure from the left looks like she may have been modeled after Marishka from the Van Helsing movie.

Marishka

The final group of figures are what I assume are lesser vampires, though the first figure from the left may be a human servant of some sort, while the third may be another nosferatu.

The figures can also double as zombies, given their poses and the torn clothing(?) on the two figures to the right.

The WereWolfes [sic] set consists of 40 figures in 10 poses.

The first two figures are Gabriel Van Helsing and Anna Valerious from the 2004 film Van Helsing. The third figure looks like a classic Lon Chaney-style Wolf Man.

The sculpts are good representations of the characters, though I don't think Kate Beckinsale really has legs that long.

Kate Beckinsale in Hollywood with Dolls Kill
Extreme Appetite for Destruction Platform Boots

The next group of figures are human sized werewolves.

The bases on these figures (and many of the others) were all warped for some reason. For expediency, I just shaved the bases to allow the figures to stand, but I'll have to fix them to be more level later on.

The final set of figures include a couple of giant werewolves, and two crouching werewolves.

Overall, both sets are quite nice, though I have to admit that I now have more vampires and werewolves than I know what to do with. However, if you still are looking for other vampire and werewolf figures, see my post from 2009.

Flying elephants

The film Dumbo is the story of arguably the most famous flying elephant in popular fiction.

I've read somewhere that Dumbo was used as inspiration for the art design of the 5th edition Hollyphant (also used for the Baldur's Gate 3 video game).

The original Hollyphant from the AD&D Monster Manual 2 (1982) is described as a miniature mammoth with wings.

The design for the Baldur's Gate Hollyphant moves the wings forward and above the ears (which have also become wings).

Various other instances of flying elephants are described at ShukerNature, the oldest of which comes from the Indian subcontinent.

The Matanga Lila (purportedly dating from at least the time of the Mughal Empire), tells a story related by the hermit Pālakāpya of how elephants lost the ability to fly.

      Formerly elephants could go anywhere they pleased, and assume any shape; they roamed as they liked in the sky and on the earth. In the northern quarter of the Himālaya Mountain there is a banyan tree which has a length and breadth of two hundred leagues. On it the excellent elephants alighted (after flying through the air).

      They broke off a branch (which fell) upon a hermitage place, where dwelt a hermit named Dīrghatapas. He was angered by this and straightway cursed the elephants. Hence, you see, the elephants were deprived of the power of moving at will, and came to be vehicles for even mortal men.

As far as I can tell however, the flying elephants of South Asian mythology are not described as having wings, although I did read one instance of a Pālakāpya story, which related that elephants had four wings prior to being cursed by Dīrghatapas (but no primary source was given).

The D&D Icons of the Realms Hollyphant (Adventures in Baldur's Gate #20) is the only miniature of this creature that I know of.

Another creature that is described as a white elephant with wings is the Hua-hu Tiao (花狐貂) from a chapter in the Investiture of the Gods. The beast is imprisoned in a panther-skin sack kept by Mó Lǐshòu (魔礼寿/魔禮壽), one of the Four Generals of the Mó Family (魔家四将).

The romanization Hua-hu Tiao is transcribed by the Dunning-Kruger Google Search AI as 桦胡雕 (birchwood carving), though the related mythological information it provided was largely correct. The actual hanzi characters however, are 花狐貂 (sometimes translated as flower marten, or purple fox marten).

I've only looked at the lianhuanhua versions of the story, and the text typically states that the creature turns to the size of a white elephant (while also sprouting wings).

The Huahudiao eats Ma Chenglong (or is it Yang Jian?)

I have not found a single picture from a Chinese source showing the Huahudiao looking like a winged elephant. They are typically depicted as mustelids, or even feline.

My plan is to make a representation of the beast using the Reaper Giant Weasel (Dark Heaven Legends 03897) as a starting point.

The miniature seems to be sized closer to a baby elephant than an adult elephant, but that's fine. I just need to find some wings that look good with the sculpt.

Linear-A Jason and the Argonauts

Linear-A has just released a couple of kits based on the 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts, best known for the visual effects created by Ray Harryhausen.

The recent 3D printed Linear-A sets have been expensive, and these are no exception. The Hydra, Golden Fleece, and Skeleton Army set (LA136) runs about US$45, while the Talos and Crew set (LA121) runs a whopping US$70.

I went ahead and bought the Hydra set because of the skeletons, but passed on the Talos set due to the price.

I've seen some talk claiming the high prices are due to licensing, but I doubt that is the case. I see no markings on the packaging crediting the Ray Harryhausen Film Library or Columbia Pictures.

In addition, similar products such as the Oxus Civilization and Jesus Story sets released at the same time are similarly priced.

With regard to the Talos set, it includes two multi-part Talos models, but it's not clear how big they are.

In any event, options for sofubi and polystone Talos figures exist from X-Plus, and come in 8", 12", and even 20" sizes.

The 20" Star Ace version is prohibitively expensive for most people, but the smaller figures can be found for around the same price as the Linear-A set.

The box for these sets are quite large compared to their normal boxes.

The largely empty box makes the contents seem rather meager though, given the price.

You can actually fit four of the regular sized Linear-A boxes inside, with room to spare.

Anyway, the two human figures in the set are King Aeetes with his basket of Hydra teeth, and Jason poised to fight the Hydra or Spartoi.

I feel that the figures are actually better scaled than the previous Linear-A sets that I have reviewed, which I felt were on the big and bulky side (particularly for people of antiquity).

The Hydra from the set is a faithful representation of the creature from the film, and the size is quite reasonable.

The other figure on the left is a Mage Knight Hydra, which I wrote about along with other Hydra miniatures in another post.

The Golden Fleece is also quite reminescent of the one from the movie, although the tree is on the bulky side.

The painted Golden Fleece on the left is produced by Crocodile Games.

Jason v. Hydra clip

Of course in actual Greek mythology, it was the Colchian Dragon guarding the Golden Fleece (which I have written about here), instead of the Hydra.

Last up are the skeletons (or Children of the Hydra's Teeth) which are printed in green resin, and quite faithful to their appearance in the movie.

The skeletons may seem frail if you are used to metal or injection plastic skeletons, but they are accurately proportioned. My main peeve though, is that they count the skeletons rising from the ground as three separate poses.

Star Ace Children of the Hydra's Teeth
(Statue, singular)

Argonauts v. Skeletons clip

Overall, I'm satisfied with the set I purchased. I'm not sure if I will buy a lot of these 3D printed Linear-A sets in the future, but we'll see.