It’s not like I had low expectations, but sometimes a figure comes along that waaaaay exceeds what I’m expecting out of it. Chucky is that kind of figure. While there’s nothing about it that is what you could call “revolutionary” in terms of action figure pizzazz, it just nails what it needs to be and do.
Killer dolls were nothing new when Child’s Play hit theaters in 1988, but Chucky had that certain ingredient that had permeated horror/slasher movies of the ’80s: a winking, sarcastic edge to the killings. Chucky was a boogieman in the vain of what Freddy Krueger had quickly become. In short (no pun intended) he was almost a kinder, gentler killer, one that you almost found yourself rooting for, because he had more personality than the drones who existed solely to get carved up.
Quick with a one-liner, leaning heavily on jump scares and an ability to rack up an impressive body count for such a diminutive guy, Chucky cemented himself in the pantheon of ’80s/’90s horror icons. But while some of those other guys have been rebooted or forgotten, Chucky just had a brand new installment in 2017.
You just can’t keep a good doll down.
I haven’t owned a Chucky figure since McFarlane’s Movie Maniacs figure. That figure was very “McFarlane,” in that it was mainly a poseable statue. What a difference a couple of decades have made.
Chucky is a small figure, but to counteract the complaints about “paying full price for half a toy” that you sometimes hear about toys that are on the shorter side, he is absolutely loaded with stuff. I can’t remember the last time I bought a domestic toy that had this many accessories and options. I have to be honest, I saw him when he was unveiled, said “Yep, I want him” then pre-ordered him as soon as he went up, and didn’t pay much attention afterwards. I knew I wanted to add him to the collection, but I figured he’d be the standard type of figure that came with a knife or something, and that would be that. I was truly surprised with just how many killing devices he came with. Sometimes it’s nice to be surprised by things.
First off, let’s get the articulation out of the way. Damn, this doll is articulated. Much is of it standard NECA-styled articulation:
- swivel/hinge elbows and knees
- ball hips hidden underneath rubberoverlay-styled overalls
- ball-jointed neck
- ball-jointed ankles
- ball-jointed wrists
- and it seems like there’s a joint underneath his overalls, but it’s pretty hindered
So overall you’ve got a very articulated little doll-type figure. The articulation is impressive, but it’s what he comes with that really push him over the edge.
First off, he has four heads. He has his original “Good Guy” head, which somehow manages to be the creepiest head of them all. It’s supposed to be sweet, innocent and innocuous, but it hits all of those notes just a little off. It kind of looks like it’s staring right into my soul and will swallow it whole. Sure, the others are “Chucky-er,” but this is the head I’d be scared of in the middle of the night.
It also has the standard Chucky head, with trademark snotty expression. This is the default look I’ll be going for with him. It just screams “Chucky” to me.
In addition, he also comes with his scarred/stitched up face, and then a face with half of the skin missing, exposing the surreal “is it live or is it Memorex” blood underneath. All of these heads kind of make me want to re-buy this figure four times. But that’s nuts. So nuts it almost makes a certain amount of sense.
For hands, he comes with open hands, weapon-gripping hands, and one hand for his gun. Yes, he comes with a gun.
Speaking of accessories, he comes with what I’m assuming is everything he has ever killed anybody with in all of the movies. Maybe not, but good grief he comes with a ton of implements of mayhem, each one cooler than the last. He comes with the folowing:
- Hammer
- Baseball bat
- Yardstick
- Straight razor
- Gun
- And four types of knives.
That is a lot of different ways to kill things.
He holds all of them nice and tight, so there’s no slipping. The pistol is the only thing he doesn’t really hold perfectly, but I guess that’s understandable given the nature of his itty-bitty hands.
He also comes with a completely separate, swappable lower right arm, for when he lost his hand and taped a blade to the end of his wrist. So yeah, this toy is nuts.
He might be a little larger, but he even scales well next to other NECA figures.
**I’m editing in something I missed here. In addition to all the other things that make this toy pretty awesome, he also comes with an unfolded Good Guys box in a little baggie taped to the inside back of the package. In my haste to get to the sweet sweet toy and ditch the packaging, I would have totally missed it, as you can see in the comments section. It’s size appropriate and adds just a little extra something to the figure. Very nice inclusion, NECA!
What I’m saying is if you’re a fan of Chucky, you should already have this figure, and if you don’t have this figure, you need to get this figure. They were not kidding when they called this “ultimate.”
Now make a charred/burned Chucky also, please and thank you.
You can pick this figure up at Big Bad Toy Store
