By
Dave
A
Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
isn’t just my favorite Nightmare
movie, it’s one of my all-time favorite horror movies.
While
I am pretty much always a merchandise chump, it gets even worse when
Freddy Kruger and this movie in particular are involved. Here’s a
recent example:
I
need a new office chair. Mine is probably fifteen years old and just
isn’t very comfortable, not to mention the fact that it’s falling
apart. I could easily get a really
nice new chair that would last possibly a decade or so for under
$250. But I don’t want to spend $250 on a freaking chair.
I
don’t want to spend a
hundred bucks
on a chair.
Last
Wednesday Death Waltz records released a vinyl box set of the scores
from the first seven A
Nightmare on Elm Street
movies:
It’s
incredible and I want it. And I really
had to think a
lot
about whether or not I was going to order it.
Obviously
that is stupid and ridiculous.
It’s
also ridiculous that I bought this quarter scale version of a figure
that I already own, especially given the issues I had with the
original.
Overall it was good, though; just not perfect. But as soon as this
one showed up in Toys R Us I wanted it. I knew I didn’t need
it, but I’d look at it with its bent up front door and crazy
security wires (not pictured, obviously) every time I stopped by. It
was a giant Freddy from Dream
Warriors
and it was something I didn’t have. And didn’t need.
On
top of all of that, I already have the 18” Freddy that McFarlane
released sometime last century (probably for the obscene MSRP of
$39.99). It’s barely poseable and the sculpt isn’t as realistic
as this one, but it does have a voice chip and is still undeniably
badass.
At
one point I thought it had been sold – we’re talking about a few
months, here – and I was annoyed that I hadn’t bought it. I felt
good about not spending the money, but bad about not having this
Freddy. Then, the other day, it was back in the new collector’s
section.
Apparently they had just moved it while they were redoing
things. I grabbed the huge box, held it up over my head in victory,
and ran to the cashier before anyone could stop me.
Maybe
it didn’t go exactly like that, but you get the idea.
FIRST
GLANCE
Whatever
else you might say about them, NECA’s quarter scale figures are big
and impressive in person. The paint, in particular, is excellent and
all of the sculpt stands out so much more than on the 7” scale
stuff. This figure has weight and presence.
PACKAGING
Freddy
comes in a massive window box with a cut-out door on the front that
opens to reveal Freddy and the (sparse) accessories. Toys R Us has to
put security devices on things at this price point, which is dumb
because there’s literally no way someone could sneak this out of
the store. As a result the door has been bent back from people
actually wanting to see the product inside but not being able to open
the door fully thanks to the security wires.
Side
Note: I asked about a discount for the damaged box, but the lady said
that NECA products are basically on consignment in Toys R Us stores
and they can’t do that. That explains why new product is so
sporadic. I’ve known for a while that a NECA rep puts their stuff
out, but I didn’t realize that it wasn’t even part of TRU’s
regular inventory.
The
box has a bunch of broken mirrors on the back that are a callback to
a scene in the movie, as well as a brief synopsis. I still hold out
hope that we’ll get figures of the actual Dream Warriors one day
(we won’t).
The
bottom of the box features creator credits for the figure, which is
one of the coolest things NECA does.
LOOKS
I
always have trouble finding Robert Englund in the likenesses on
Freddy toys. Sometimes it’s just differences in the makeup –
Freddy’s look varied greatly from movie to movie and Englund’s
face comes through more and more as the franchise goes on – but
sometimes I feel like the shapes are just a bit off. This one really
nails the profile, but from the front it isn’t quite
great.
Otherwise
the head is nauseatingly wonderful. We’re all so used to Freddy’s
burned appearance by now that we just take it as what he looks like.
But this figure does a good job of reminding me that he’s covered
in twisted, melted flesh. The sculpted detail of the burned skin is
incredible and the glossy paint on top just adds to the realism. It
almost hurts me to look at it.
The
other details of the face capture Freddy’s haunting visage, even if
it isn’t overwhelmingly Englund’s. The eyes are set deep into
their sockets, with sculpted ridges to suggest his skull. The dark,
sunken flesh around the eyeballs is gruesome. Freddy’s rictus grin
is well done, with each nasty tooth sculpted and painted.
In
order to look impressive in the box, the figure is packaged with the
“Chest of Souls” option attached. This is where having the larger
scale really matters. Each of the faces has character and a specific
expression and the paint is next-level stuff. On the smaller figure
this feature was troubling, but here, at ¼ scale, it’s downright
disturbing. My only complaint is that the colors don’t seem to
match the head quite right, but it’s subtle and not something
that’s going to bother me on the shelf.
The
knit and wear on Freddy’s sweater is also more noticeable here.
There’s so much fine detail in the knit and the holes and dangling
portions work very well. With a fantastic clean (filthy) paint job on
top, the trademark red and green sweater looks the best it ever has
in toy form.
Freddy’s
gloved hand is – like the sweater – the best I’ve ever seen it.
The leather portion of the glove nails the texture and color. The
metal plates vary in color – as they should – and the blades are
just the right length and shade of silver. I’m not sure how I feel
about the material NECA used. It’s a very soft plastic and the
blade on my figure’s index finger was bent badly by the way it was
packaged. However, it straightened itself out as I was taking
pictures, so I can’t be too upset. I suppose flexible blades that
retain their shape (somehow) are better than rigid ones that might
break off.
The
left hand matches the twisted, melted sculpt of the rest of Freddy’s
flesh. The blackened fingernails are a nice touch.
Freddy’s
trousers are pretty much par for the course for NECA’s releases.
They’re as good as such things could possibly look. The crotch
piece is less diaper-like than when NECA first started using this
sort of thing. It basically looks good now. The knees are weird and
aren’t my favorite, but at the same time I don’t have a better
idea.
No,
the only real problem with the legs is that the wires used to hold
the figure in place inside the box cut into the plastic and left
indentations and rubbed paint off. Not
acceptable. And yet some portions of the figure were
protected with insulating plastic between it and the twist ties.
Baffling.
The
boots are dirty and worn and look great. I love the extra sculpted
detail on the toes that depicts the dents and wear of age.
ACCESSORIES
Freddy
comes with his hat, an undamaged sweater piece, and an extra head.
NECA
nailed the hat. The shape, aging, and fit are spot-on.
The
head has light piping to simulate the cross burning through Freddy’s
head at the end. I wish the translucent insert was tinted yellow. I
think it would look a lot better. I actually prefer this head to the
default head. Fortunately, the hat fits on this head just fine and
covers up the cross, so you can just use this one on the shelf as a
yelling Freddy:
If
you look closely, you can see that there are even burning holes on
this version to accompany the cross, but they’re subtle enough that
you can still get away with using this as your default. Nice touch,
though.
The
heads swap out easily once you realize the mounting peg just has a
ridge on it and not a ball, so you can simply twist the heads off.
The
sweater pieces are the failing that this figure shares with its
smaller counterpart. They look
great, but don’t fit on particularly well. Both the Chest of Souls
and the regular piece leave noticeable gaps around the torso of the
figure:
I
suspect some work with a heat gun could fix this, but as I’ve said
many, many times – I should not have to make adjustments to a toy
for it to work properly. Especially
not one that costs a hundred bucks.
If
the pieces fit properly, they’d look fantastic.
I
can’t help but be disappointed that this figure didn’t at least
include the syringe hands that the smaller one did, but in NECA’s
defense this isn’t “Ultimate Quarter Scale Freddy”. It’s not
competing with the “Ultimate” figures, just the other quarter
scale ones.
FUN
NECA
has come a long way since I
reviewed their quarter scale Batman.
Freddy feels much sturdier and I wasn’t nearly as concerned about
breaking his joints. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t careful, but
everything just moves more smoothly. I didn’t have to force any of
them.
From
my review of the smaller version:
“Freddy
has ball joints at the head, shoulders, waist, and hips. The knees
and elbows are hinged with swivels at the top. The hands are on
barbells and have a very tiny degree of motion, but mostly just
swivel. Same goes for the feet except that they’re restricted by
the trouser legs. Which is fine.
The
elbows don’t have a ton of bending range. They can’t even make it
to ninety degrees. The knees bend a little deeper, but without ankle
joints there isn’t much point.
The
head isn’t actually so much a ball joint as a peg on a stick. It
swivels just fine, obviously, but doesn’t have a whole lot of range
otherwise.
But
you do still have a whole heck of a lot more posing options than most
other Freddy Krueger action figures, and plenty of interactive
accessories. The removable hat is awesome enough, but once you add in
the hands and head and chest options you’ve got a veritable
plethora of options for playing with ol’ Fred.”
Mostly
all of that, but with a few differences – this one has a ball joint
at the base of the neck, so there’s a lot more poseability there.
The hands also have a bit more range, just by virtue of larger ball
sockets that are a bit more forgiving before they pop off. The elbows
also seem to bend slightly more deeply.
For
such a large figure, Freddy has tons of useful articulation and is
balanced very well. The accessories that were included add to the
figure’s play value, so ultimately this is much more than just a
big thing to stand on your shelf.
OVERALL
In
the end, I was much more satisfied with the 7” Ultimate Freddy. I
like this one. A Lot. But it doesn’t have the voice chip gimmick of
McFarlane’s version or the accessories of the small one. It’s
cool, but the size is nothing more than a novelty.
Unless
quarter scale figures offer something new (like the electronic
Predators or Iron Mans) or are characters unavailable in other scales
(like the movie Turtles), I don’t think I’ll be getting any more
of these.
Having
said that, the quality is better than good and if you’re into big
stuff, you might dig this Freddy a lot more than I do. I’m going to
leave him on a shelf for a while, but he might end up on the “sell”
pile.
3
out of 5
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