Lincoln International Hunchback of Notre Dame

Poor misunderstood Quasimodo, not really a monster and actually a good guy if you think about it but in a child’s eyes, he looks like a monster so he must be one. lincoln probably chose to make this figure because he was also an Aurora model, out of the three companies producing Monster figures, only Lincoln made a Hunchback. The figure is inspired by the Lon Chaney portrayal but there are subtle changes to it to keep it nice and copyright-free.

It is now largely believed that The Hunchback of Notre Dame figure as part of the second wave of Lincoln International Monsters and added to the line in 1976 along with Phantom of the Opera.

Lincoln International Solid Box Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback is the easiest figure to find packaged, it should come as no surprise that the character didn’t sell as well as the other more identifiable monsters. Even the solid box which is generally quite rare can be had with a little patience.

Carded Lincoln International Hunchback of Notre Dame

Above is a “A” card or sometimes referred to as “US Card” Hunchback of Notre Dame. 

The Hunchback and Phantom cards are the only ones with copyright symbols (both stating the year as 1975) which adds credence to the idea that they were second-wave figures added to the line.

The card back is an obvious copy of the US cards and the figure is a “B” style variant as mentioned in Toy-Ventures magazine issue 3.

Above is an “A” version or as some call it the “US Version” which is inaccurate as this version was also available in the United Kingdom as well.

There are only minor differences in the A and B Hunchback, mainly the B version has a lighter colored head.

Due to the fact that the Phantom of the Opera was later in the series, there are no variations or running changes reported to the A versions and essentially there are only two styles of the figure, the A and the B.

Hunchback of Notre Dame really has a hump in the form of a little throw pillow strung to his back, which is actually some nice attention to detail for Lincoln.

Here is a close-up of said booties, as I recall as a child they made it hard for him to stand.

The history is sketchy but sometime after Lincoln produced the Monsters, Tomland reused the head designs for a series of four action figures as well as some mini monster figures. The color schemes had changed but the figures kept that same kooky style they always had.  

Above is the Tomland Mini Monsters Phantom, they did not produce an 8 inch counterpart.

If you worked for Tomland toys or Lincoln International, please contact us, we’d love to know more about either company.