Lemax Spooky Town - FRANK'S SALON
This Halloween season I thought I would shine a little light on something that is, to be honest, a little out of the norm as something I would usually tend to collect. It wasn't until this year (2023) that I really ever took notice of the whole Spooky Town village building hobby, and the amount and selection of houses/scenes they've created.
Each year, Lemax releases a variety of new additions to their Spooky Town collection, and todays spotlight looks at FRANK'S SALON, released all the way back in 2008. While some of the newer buildings/houses are made of resin, the older ones are porcelain and tend to be a little more fragile and more difficult to keep in great condition throughout the years. Standing about 8.5" tall, 7" wide, and about 5" deep, the overall look of the building is an amalgamation of an old castle and a gothic styled house similar to something like that of The Munsters or Adams Family homes. This combines for a really unique look to a hair salon. Great design.
Probably the two most eye catching features that Frank's Salon has are the large laboratory like electrodes protruding from the open roof that boast a really striking lightning lighting effect and thunder soundtrack, it makes for a very effective visual. The second of what I would consider as key visuals, are the large bay window (front) and window on the side of the building. Other than the overall aesthetic and theme, the primary thing about these that I find the most appealing are the indoor scenes. They just always look so comfy and you just want to be able to go inside to their little world of what's happening in them. Here we have a warmly lit yet gloomy scene of Frank himself holding some scissors, doing a little work on the Brides famous hairdo.
The other notable features are the Frank's Salon logo/sign blazoned upon the bricks on the front of the shop. With combined spotlighting, it's a little more subtle, yet still very visible.
There are also two other forms of signage that come as separate pieces which are simply plugged into holes on the side of the building. A Frank's Salon flag/banner and a dangling pumpkin for a little splash of Halloween I suppose, and another banner on the opposite side of the building that displays a list of monster themed services that Frank specializes in.
The final mention would need to be regarding the soundtrack. It's an organ theme with thunder/lightning, the sounds of screams, grunts, and scissors in action overlayed throughout. Every so often Frank chimes in with random sayings such as... "Shall I take some off the top?" and another that is mostly unintelligible to me but mentions cutting hair. While the soundtrack is of course a nice feature that come with some of these houses, it can be turned down, but does become rather irritable and repetative after only a few minutes. So having numerous houses with sound as a feature running at the same time would not be something I plan on utilizing all that often.
So all in all... I would say that the features and elements of Frank's Salon combine really well and make a very visually satisfying piece and would come highly recommended to those who collect or build Spooky Town villages or even if you collect Frankenstein/Halloween themed items.
Check out the video to see FRANK'S SALON in action!
SPECS
Description: Green lights shine on front walls left and right alternately
Approx. size (H x W x D) 8.46 x 6.77 x 5.63 inches 21.5 x 17.2 x 14.3 cm
Year Released: 2008
Made of: Porcelain
Product type: Sights & Sounds
Control switch: Volume Control and Power Switch for all functions.
Electrical: Adaptor included
Current:This unit will draw approx 310mA
Village: Spooky Town
