Count Dracula Vintage 9 Inch Action Figure - Remco (1980)
From 1974 to 1976, Azrak-Hamway International (aka AHI) had their own line of 8 inch, cloth outfit, Universal Studios Monster action figures, that were heavily inspired by Mego's similar figures in the 1970s. The figures were fairly cheaply made, and were obviously imitating Mego's figures, but unlike Mego's figures, these were officially licensed from Universal Studios, so they were actually able to get closer to the likeness of the characters from the movies. In 1980 and 1981, AHI revisited this license through their child company Remco, producing a series of 9 inch Universal Monsters figures with cloth outfits. Aside from being slightly bigger than their original figures, these all had an arm closing action feature when you pressed a button on their backs, it sort of made it look like they were grabbing ahold of their victims and crushing them to death.
The 1980 Dracula figure's face is nicely sculpted, although it looks closer to Frank Langella or George Hamilton's Dracula than Bela Lugosi. It's body looks quite a bit bulkier than Bela's, as well. His vest, medallion, and tie are screen printed on to his shirt, similar to the Mego Mad Monster Dracula. He also has a black cape with red lining, like the Mego version. One nice feature is that his cape has loops on it that fit over his wrists, so that when you activate his arm crushing feature, he actually wraps his cape around his victim along with his arms, which definitely has a great "Dracula" feel to it.
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