Super7 Universal Monsters Creature from the Black Lagoon ReAction+ FigureSuper7, 2025
Day #2,941: November 20, 2025
Creature from the Black Lagoon O-Ringy Dingy
Universal Monsters ReAction+ Figure
Item No.: No. 80343 Manufacturer:Super7 Includes:n/a Action Feature:n/a Retail:$20-$25 Availability: October 2025 Other: A fairly modern sculpt for a retro format with bright colors
For a movie made long before I was born, it is consistently fascinating to see new takes on Creature from the Black Lagoon action figures with no real remakes or reboots. This 2025 ReAction+ Figure from Super7 riffs on Hasbro's 1980s G.I. Joe figures. The articulation is nearly identical to the very earliest swivel-arm figures down the swivel-only neck movement. His back also lacks a promised screw hole, so anyone looking to replace the rubber o-ring down the road may be, well, screwed.
The figure's feel matches old G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero fairly well, with hard hands (rather than the pliable post-2000 releases.) The paint and design are very good. With no special costume elements to paint, the monster turned out pretty much as well as one might hope.
Gill Man has a pretty great sculpt - not as "retro" as the first Kenner Star Wars-esque Creature from the Black Lagoon ReAction Figure [FOTD #2,815] from 2018. That one was unpainted except for the head and a light wash on the body. Our new green pal adds paint to his claws, belly, gills, eyes, and mouth. Gilly has painted yellow fins on the back, too, which stand out pretty nicely. The figure has Joe-sized foot holes, but has no means to hold an accessory or a backpack hole or anything like that. The head is very much a modernized, correctly proportioned melon that doesn't feel super duper retro but given the light deco and the articulation it works.
Each eye has three colors of paint. Old Joe figures usually had one or two. Looking at the few monster figures in the line, they typically had one - the Lunartix Empire aliens had black eyes. The creature ha a nicely sculpted torso, lots of scales, and a level of detail I would say is a little soft. Old figures tended to have some harsh cuts, but other than the fins he's a little smoother. Even his warts are a little less severe than the 2018 sculpt, smoothing him out a bit as we've been seeing in a lot of retro figures across multiple manufacturers.
Funko's first attempt at a Retro Creature was a very simple figure. Super7's take felt very much like something that Kenner could have made in the 1970s. Super7's O-Ring figure feels superior to anything the Joes may have encountered on their o-ring adventures. It does a good job balancing the hard feel of old figures and a very specific kind of articulation with modern deco expectations. While the head is a little too good, I like what they did. The lips aren't bright red, and it looks good. The eyes are a little lively, which breaks the magic spell of "you found an old toy" cast by how the body looks and feels. I'm going to guess most people buying this figure will leave him carded and not mingle with their other toys, so this may not matter. It's a collectible, not an art project, but I'm always partial to figures that look and feel like they fell out of a time warp - getting a new childhood-adjacent toy is my jam.
The sculptor did a bang-up job here. The figure seems to have come from a great design that was engineered with Joe-style joints, complete with screws, o-ring, and metal pins. If you've ever played with a Hydro-Viper or Torpedo figure, he's very similar. The hands are positioned menacingly, thin enough so you can see through the plastic webbing between the fingers. He's very easy to pose and the Hasbro-esque articulation lends itself well to monster poses.
The hips do not quite have the full range of old Joes. You can probably get him to sit in most vehicles, but the legs don't quite swing 90 degrees forward, nor do the feet fit in some of the very small slots in some cockpits. I had no problems getting him into a H.I.S.S. IIb or an Adventure Team ATV, but the H.I.S.S. gunner turrets were too small and the H.I.S.S. III driver's seat was a little awkward. Still, he'll fit in most things.
It is unfortunate that price increases resulted in $25ish 3 3/4-inch O-Ring figures and $28 6-inch Hasbro figures, but that's the economy in 2025. Heck, Jada's monster figures cost about the same and were huge, detailed buggers - but you're buying this kind of figure for a very specific reason. I'd be much more excited to buy more of these guys at a lower price, and at $25 it's gotta be special. It's special. Of the first wave of these monsters, this is the best one. Get it if you have some SCUBA figures to annoy. I look forward to seeing if we get Frank and the mummy.
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