With Halloween just over a week away I wanted to make sure I got at least one more review posted during this month where we celebrate all things monster. And what is more appropriate for Allhallows Eve than the human skeleton? A fixture of any respectable display of Halloween decorations. Of course, the human skeleton is not really a monster. Unless it’s animated! Today we’re looking at a model of one of the skeletons featured in 1963’s Jason and the Argonauts. With special effects by the legendary Ray Harryhausen, Jason and the Argonauts is widely hailed as one of his greatest achievements in stop motion, with the battle between Jason and a skeleton army being one of its highlights. The four minute scene took four months for Harryhausen to complete.
In the movie, Jason and comrades fight seven skeletons, spawned from the teeth of the Hydra. In 2001, X-Plus produced a set of these skeletons, all in different poses and made of cold-cast resin. Some carry spears while others carry swords and shields. The skeletons are numbered A-G and the one I have is “Skeleton A”.
Skeleton A is posed in mid-stride, hunched over with his sword thrusting forward. The sword and shield are separate pieces and fit into the skeleton’s hands. The shield has an additional prong that wraps over the wrist but that doesn’t stop it from frequently falling off. The skeleton stands on a brown, dirt textured base.
The skeleton’s mouth is open, and he has a menacing, furrowed brow, like what we see in the film. He has a lot of expression for just being a skeleton. The skeleton is as anatomically accurate as you could expect with a figure of this size, standing only 3.25” (8.25 cm) tall. Of particular note are the individually discernable vertebra, ribs, sternum, and hand and foot bones.
In the film, each skeleton has a unique symbol on their shield. Some of these are callbacks to other Harryhausen films and include a giant octopus (It Came from Beneath the Sea) and Ymir (20 million Miles to Earth). It’s hard to tell what’s on this one but it is film accurate. It looks like the face of a samurai warrior but that would be odd to include in a film about Greek mythology.
The shield is painted black with the symbol being gold and white with what appears to be a red tongue. The shield is ringed in white with gold bands. The sword has a silver blade and gold hilt that is decorated with ruby gems. The guards curl up like horns at their tips. The skeleton is painted with a blend of dirty browns. Appropriate, since the skeletons literally rise up from the dirt.
Being made of resin, it goes without saying that the X-Plus skeletons are rather delicate and not actually toys be played with. But if you’re an adult collector, and a Harryhausen fan, they’re well worth seeking out. This and the other various skeletons are no longer in production and can be found on eBay for about $40-50 each.
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