Restaurant Collectables: The Mummy: The Animated Series 2002 KFC

The Mummy series of films proved to be huge hits and with any big successful movie there are the inevitable cash in's be it sequels, prequels, spin-offs or an Animated series! Or in the case of this particular franchise (A loose remake of the 1933 Universal classic) all of the above but it is the subject of the short lived Animated series that is going to be the focus here. The series came after the second Mummy instalment 2001's The Mummy Returns became a huge box office hit and received decent reviews overall and even spawned a prequel (The scorpion King) a couple of years later! The series follows the O'Connell family from Returns as they journey around the world searching for the "lost Scrolls of Thebes" which hold the spells that can separate the Manacle of Osiris from its user (Rick and Evy's son Alex) or enable the user to control the world as the once again resurrected Imhotep intends! As is usual for an animated series based on a movie series the show borrows certain elements from the films it is  based on but forms its own continuity. The show ran for two series from 2001-2003 but wasn't particularly well received and therefore fairly short lived with many feeling it to be inferior to the movie and ultimately forgettable and despite an improved third series the show just couldn't find it's audience and was eventually canned!


In the USA Taco Bell released a set of five different action toys based on the series back in 2002 some of which were available in the UK through KFC though the sets varied slightly! over here we got the same Rick and Alex figures and also a puzzle shaped as a pyramid that Taco Bell in the USA put out along in addition to a completely different version of Evy and a Imhotep figure in place of the Manacle of Osiris! Here we will take a look at the KFC set that was available back in 2002 in the UK and Europe:

Rick's wheelie motorcycle : The dashing American adventure seeker has battled real life Mummies and lived to tell the tales! He met his future British wife Evy after one such adventure goes awry and the two embark on an expedition to Egypt in search of the ancient "Book of the Dead" resulting in the accidental awakening of evil high priest Imhotep! They then had son Alex who is now a teenager and accompanies them on their quests which takes the family around the world in search of the lost "scrolls of Thebes" whilst being perused by the vengeful Imhotep!     

Rick comes complete with 1930's style motorcycle which when revved up speeds along doing a wheelie! The toy overall is pretty nice looking and fun in particular the figure itself  though sadly it isn't detachable from the bike which is far more simple looking is decent enough well enough also for addition play you can attach Alex's sidecar to this bike!

Evy's Book of the Dead: Former librarian Evelyn dreamed of the day she would  become a respected Egyptologist before she met future Husband Rick and embarked on an adventure of a lifetime! She now lives out her dream along with her aforementioned spouse and their teenage son, searching the globe for ancient artefacts always looking for new adventures and historic discoveries!


Even at first glance this toy looks pretty impressive featuring Evy seated on some ancient ruin surrounded by symbols! The main body of Evy Herself is identical to the figure Taco Bell released in the US but this UK version has her legs crossed in a seated position whilst holding the"Book of the Dead". Overall this is quite nicely detailed little toy with cleanly applied paintwork and what's more has a pretty interesting gimmick....

As alluded to above this figure has a really fun action feature if you will which transforms this already great figure into a fun game you can play! Simply turn the dial at the base of the toy which will randomly determine which button will activate the light up feature then taking it in turns each person will select a Symbol to press until the "Book of the Dead" Illuminates and if it does so on your turn you lose or win depending on what the aim of the game is! 


Alex's Sidecar: Arguably the real "star" of the Mummy series is Alex who is most closely followed throughout the shows, he is also usually the catalyst to the main action often placing his family in tricky situation but usually comes through for his folks in the end!

This is one the best figures in the set and looks especially great when coupled with Rick's motorcycle Alex himself is a great representation of the animated character and he even comes with a Mummy Minion clasping at the spare tire at the back of the sidecar which can be launched off when the button on the front of the car is pushed!   

Imhotep Awakening: As the main antagonist in the first of the Mummy movie instalments it is no surprise to see him "resurrected" for the show! Imhotep posses many mystical powers and abilities among them being able to command long dead Mummies to do his bidding as he is hot on the heels of the O'Connell family as they search the world for long lost artefacts!

Imhotep is presented here in his mummified form as he awakens from his slumber in his sarcophagus! Both figure and Sarcophagus are very nicely detailed and look fantastic despite the only paint application being the red eyes on Imhotep! The action feature is that the figure will "rise" from his coffin when you push a button under the base of the sarcophagus!  

Each figure is supplied with a bio card of the respective character which features both information on the character in question and a brief summery of a selected episode also included are instructions on how to use your toy and which other toys are available in the set!   




Though the animated series itself may have been somewhat lacking in certain aspects these promotional tie-in toys based on it are surprisingly good! Granted some of the toys are better than others but overall this is a nice, fun, well made little set of collectables, by no means spectacular mind you but still thoroughly decent little collection of figures that fans of the Mummy franchise will no doubt want to own!