My wife used to give me grief over a Puppet Master Blade figure, claiming it freaked her out. Now I’m giving myself grief over having this Freddy.
Admittedly, the Blade figure from Full Moon Toys was about scale with the actual characters, and it was so well made. It eventually disappeared and I just left it at that. Maybe he ran off on his own, or maybe the wife got tired of me leaving it in odd places around the house. That’s right, long before Elf on a Shelf I was playing Blade in the Bed. But when it comes to Freddy, I have a kind of…phobia, I guess. I never got the chance to watch the movies except for Dream Warriors, and I don’t remember much except Freddy scaring the hell out of me. The other big scaries from that time didn’t bother me, even though I’ve never watched any of those either. Just based on common knowledge of the others, you didn’t have to worry about Jason if you didn’t spend any times in cabins on lakes. I had no magic cube to worry about Hellraiser.
Freddy got you in your dreams, man. Everyone has to sleep. Not fair! Especially since my Junior High was on Elm Street.
So when NECA sent this along for review, I wasn’t sure if I should. I’m not an expert when it comes to horror movies, obviously. But a work buddy of mine is and you should have seen the glimmer in his eye when I mentioned I had received this. So I figured I can look at this from a toy standpoint and then my friend can have his first adult-oriented action figure.
The packaging is nice. It’s been a while since I’ve opened a clamshell, and I didn’t realize it was resealable. So even you carded types can check out the figure and then put him right back in his plastic prison. Best of both worlds, baby!
First impression, the sweater looks clunky, but after some playing around I got used to it. In order to get that authentic sweater look it had to be knitted so there was no way around the thinker look of the material. The pants, on the other hand, are just about perfect for this scale. Thin, the material threads are tiny, and it doesn’t look bulky. The shoes are sculpted and look great with a slight paint wash to make them look dirty.
The main draw of the figure is head and hands and good grief, NECA sculpted the hell out of these.
First up is the main head.
Just disgusting, and that’s not a bad thing. The paints complement the sculpt perfectly. The eyes are painted looking to the right, but it adds a lot of personality.
The alternate head is just plain insane. Here, the brain is exposed and it is both nasty and mesmerizing. The open mouth is just crazy, with the paint apps making the teeth look rotted and the tongue almost lifelike. Ew.
The figure in package sports a hand with the claws on it, no gloves. I’m assuming this is movie-accurate to the second installment of ANOES (is that a thing?) but like I said, I’m no expert.
But I am familiar with the iconic glove, and is rendered beautifully here.
The claws on both of the hands were a little warped from the packaging but straightened out fairly easily. But look at the paint apps on the gloved hand — there is probably more paint here than on the head, or at least more contrast between the metallics, leather, and skin.
Finally, just as iconic, is Freddy’s hat.
Pretty basic, but unlike a lot of hat accessories out there, this one fits both heads great. No gap, it sits down where it should, and it stays on fairly well. It doesn’t lock down but it’s snug enough.
I’ve never messed with any other offerings in this scale, so I was unfamiliar with the articulation points. NECA says this body is an upgrade from previous versions, with added biceps and improved thighs. There is no articulation in the torso, which doesn’t bother me much, but ankle rockers here would go a long way. You can check out the full rundown in my video review.
Overall, I’m impressed by how well the whole piece comes together. It’s almost like a mini-human in the display, if that makes any sense. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few things that could be improved, like the material of the sweater and some side-to-side in the ankles, but I really am surprised. I should have gotten that Ash from Army of Darkness back when I was on the fence about it.
