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[NECA Review Roundup] Freddy, Jason, a Xenomorph, and ‘Predator’ Ships, Oh My!

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It’s time for another review roundup of awesome figures and toys from the badass folk over at NECA! I’ve got my hands on several items here, so this is going to be a bit of a long post, for which I apologize. However, since there are so many cool things, I feel like it’s 100% worth your time to read through it all and definitely my time to bring you my thoughts.

So, without further ado, here we go!


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‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors’ Ultimate Freddy

Let’s start with the packaging as that’s the first thing we all notice, right? NECA writes that the figure comes in a, “…collector-friendly deluxe window box packaging with opening flap.” If you’ve gotten any NECA figures in one of these boxes, you know just how cool they are. Rather than tear everything open and lose the cool presentation, you can open the front flap to present all the goodies inside. If you do decide to open it, it’s as easy as opening the top flap, pulling out the contents, and then enjoying your new figure. There is also a thin cardboard insert that you can take out and use as a backdrop for the figure, if you so desire. Personally, I like leaving everything intact so I can present the whole box.

Getting to the figure itself, it feels very solid and well put together. The paint job is fantastic, from the burnt visage of Freddy’s face to the eyelets of his shoes to the rivets on his glove. You can even make out the wrinkles in the palms of his hands, such is the level of detail that they’ve dedicated in creating this character. The articulation feels smooth in the shoulders, legs, hands, and head but not in the elbows, feet, or knees. I’m sure that with some time they’ll loosen up but every movement feels like I’m almost going to break it.

The accessories are, in a word, awesome! When you think of Dream Warriors, there are a few props or scenes that come to mind and NECA thought of them all! You’ve got the model Nightmare house that Kristen was building in the beginning of the movie, which is solid without being weighty. There are the hypodermic needle hands that were the demise of Taryn that can be swapped out on the figure. It comes with Freddy’s hat, which is easy enough to place atop his dome. There’s also Freddy’s head when he has the illuminated cross imprinted in his forehead. That accessory also has a “window” on the back of his head, so you could theoretically shine a light through to get the crucifix effect.

Lastly, and my personal favorite, is the Freddy marionette doll that appears before slicing and manipulating Phillip. I place that kill as the best in the entire Nightmare on Elm Street series, so I absolutely LOVE having this little fella!

Also included in the accessories is a new chest piece for Freddy, which tears open his sweatshirt and exposes his chest, which has several faces emerging from his twisted and gnarled flesh. While a very cool piece, I found it alarmingly difficult to remove the standard chest piece, almost to the point where I was worried that I was going to snap the entire figure into pieces. You have to be very brave and careful when swapping out the pieces as it’s somewhat alarming.

NECA’s construction and collection of accessories with the Dream Warriors Ultimate Freddy is astonishing. The hypodermic needles on the hands were a little bent but c’mon, they’re made of pliable plastic so of course they’re not going to be 100% straight! NECA strikes gold yet again!


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‘Friday the 13th Part 3: 3D’ Ultimate Jason

Next up on the list is the Ultimate Jason for Friday the 13th Part 3: 3D. Once again, I’ll start with the packaging, which has the same window box packaging as the Ultimate Freddy figure. What sets this one apart is that the front of the box is the poster from the film and it’s a lenticular card that moves and gives the illusion of 3D (check it out in action here). So, just like before you can decide how you want to display everything. The thin cardboard insert here is of the dock at Camp Crystal Lake, so you can get really moody and atmospheric with the presentation.

Just like with Freddy, Jason feels very solid and there is a lot of attention paid to his overall design. The blood splatters on his wrinkled green shirt look more subdued than the bright splashes on his blue/gray pants, his face looks grotesque and malformed, and the mask can slide right off, allowing you to position it how you like (providing gravity and balance are in your favor). The articulation felt smooth and even in pretty much every joint, aside from his right arm elbow, which was a little stiff.

The accessories are going to be the wet dream of every Jason fan as they’re nothing but weapons. Well, aside from a secondary head which bears the axe wound to Jason’s mask and forehead, which is awesome in its own right. But the weapons are just too cool to not gush over! You’ve got a monkey wrench, a blood-stained knife, a pitchfork that’s nearly as tall as Jason, his iconic machete, a large woodchopping axe, a fire poker, and the harpoon gun from the dock scene. Basically, if you want to position Jason with a different weapon each week, it’ll take you nearly two months to run through them all. If that doesn’t excite you, I don’t know what will.

If you’re a Jason fan, this may very well be your new favorite figure. The packaging alone is a great conversation starter, not to mention all the cool treats contained within.


Cinemachines Season 2 – ‘Predator’ Lost Tribe Ship, ‘Predator’ Scout Ship’, ‘Alien’ Narcissus

Each of these ships came in a small-ish box, definitely smaller than the packaging of the Ultimate Freddy or Jason figures. They also immediately have a solid weight to them, as though they are designed to take a beating. The packaging has a mechanical feel to it, as though it could itself be made of steel and glass. It gives the impression that you’re getting something powerful.

Each ship comes with a clear plastic base that is incredibly easy to assemble, considering it’s only two pieces. I had a DUH moment when I realized I snapped the spine to the base only the base was upside down. One glance and I knew what I’d done wrong. I’d say that NECA should include instructions but that would only prove how stupid I am, so I’m glad they let me figure it out on my own. The base also has a mount that moves back and forth, allowing you to position the ship at your preferred angle.

The Predator Scout Ship is a two-tone ship of gray and brass/gold. The top is mostly smooth with a few ridges towards the back. The bottom has a front that is textured almost like snakeskin while the back looks far more insect-like. The combination, for some reason, reminds me of a Predator warrior, which I’m guessing is the point.

My only complaint with this ship is that it’s a little front heavy. Therefore, when it’s mounted on the base, it’s easy for it to tip forward and suddenly slam down, making the ship face straight up and down rather than appearing as though it’s in flight. Aside from that, it’s a very cool little ship!

The Lost Tribe Ship is far more interesting looking. It looks like a ground beetle and it has loads of detail work on it, from the exhaust ports and fans to the plentiful ridges. Using dark gray with gold and brass detailing, the paint job is great. It’s spiky, it’s vicious, and it looks like it’s meant to cause pain. It also holds on the stand much more sturdily than the Scout Ship. I can position it at any angle and it holds steady without tipping forward or back at all.

The Alien Narcissus is an interesting beast. It’s obviously the most manmade looking of the ships and has the little flourishes and tons of details that you expect to see on something designed for a sci-fi movie. Just think of the top of the Millennium Falcon, with all those little bits and bobs that look cool but seemingly have no purpose to a layman, and you’ll get the idea. If you were to cut a line right through the middle of it, you’d almost think it was a mirror image of itself. There are a few details here and there that separate the left from the right but that’s basically what it ends up looking like.

The ship only uses gray and black colors, although I have a few random dots of red and the thrusters are filled with a light blue, much like the color we saw at the end of Ridley Scott’s film. It looks like a ship that has been on several journeys, worn and dirty but still intact and ready to perform.

The weird thing I want to bring up is that it’s hollow. I knocked on the ship and it’s clearly two pieces slapped together. This wouldn’t be something to note except that the Predator ships are 100% solid sounding. I knocked all over them and couldn’t find one spot where they sounded hollow, unlike the Narcissus. That’s not saying it’s a bad thing, just something of note.

The last thing I’ll mention about the Narcissus is that on my copy, the hole where you insert the base was a bit small, so I really had to struggle to push it in even a little bit. I managed to get it on but I would’ve liked it to be a bit more on the post.

Overall, these ships are very cool presentation pieces and I’m sure younger crowds would get a lot of fun playing “space wars” or something similar with them. Obviously the Predator Lost Tribe Ship is the standout model but each offers their own charm.


‘Alien’ 1/4 Scale Translucent Prototype Suit Concept

Okay, this is a big fucker. I mean, it’s 1/4 the scale of a Xenomorph, so you’ve gotta realize that it’s going to be a large figure. The box itself is easily two feet tall and the figure, nearly that tall, is imposing in the packaging, it’s yellow-ish translucent skin reminiscent of the color of its acid blood.

Getting the figure out of the box is, to put it plainly, a pain in the ass. There are tons of twist ties and they’re thick, so undoing them and feeding them through and around the figure is not easy. Get ready to take your time doing this as there are more than a few and it gets a little awkward at points. Still, the reward is worth the investment, so don’t give up!

Once you’ve got your figure detached from the box, you then have to attach the back pieces, of which there are five. At first, I was confused about the four spouts but the I looked at the connectors and the openings on the pieces and realized they were shaped differently, so assigning them to the right post became easy as cake. However, getting them on required a lot of effort and strength, all while pressing against its chest and hearing those terrifying plastic creaks that owners of figures know and fear.

Once I got those back pieces on, I was able to sit back and appreciate just how marvelous this design is. The amount of detail is unbelievable and the attention to every part of the body is mind-boggling. There really isn’t a limb or section that doesn’t appear to have a ton of love and effort put into crafting the finest result imaginable.

The box boasts over 25 points of articulation, which is completely believable. Just on the arms you’ve got the wrist, elbow, upper arm, and shoulder, which is eight spots right there. Then there are the legs, the head, the body, etc… It all allows the figure to be posed pretty much how you want, although I will warn you that balancing it is not easy. A difficulty I had was getting the inner mouth to pop out. I ultimately needed to use needle-nose pliers to grab it and pull it out. Once I managed it though, it really made the figure pop all that much more. After all, that’s one of the coolest features of the Xenomorph, right?

While I absolutely adore this figure, it’s got a couple of flaws. The left leg isn’t straight, so that probably contributes to the balancing problems I mentioned last paragraph. That being said, with so many points of articulations, I found ways to make it work. Next there is a weird bump on the clear banana dome towards the back left. It’s almost like the piece melted a bit during production and they said, “Screw it. Stick it on anyways.

Overall though, this is an absolutely stellar piece. It is imposing in its size and you’ll definitely have your friends jealous…or terrified!

Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

Movies

SCREAMBOX Investigates UFOs and Extraterrestrials: Several Documentaries Streaming Right Now!

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As someone who is obsessed with UFOS (or more recently known as UAPs) and the concept of extraterrestrials, I love a good documentary. Sightings have been on the rise since the 1940s, with the atomic bomb seemingly acting as a catalyst for new visitors. But what are these UFOs/UAPs? Is there an explanation or are they simply beyond our explanation? Why are they here? Who are they? How much do our governments know? The questions are endless and so are the documentaries that attempt to uncover the secrets behind decades of sightings and alleged confrontations.

Whether you’re a seasoned viewer or new to the rabbit hole, there’s always a handful of interesting documentaries to get your neurons firing and leave you with sleepless nights. SCREAMBOX is investigating with the addition of several docs, all streaming now on the Bloody Disgusting-powered service. Here’s the breakdown:

Aliens (2021): Beam into this unidentified streaming documentary for a glimpse into Extraterrestrial life. Aliens are hypothetical life forms that may occur outside Earth or that did not originate on Earth.

Aliens Uncovered: Origins (2021): Before Area 51, hidden deep in the desert, the military discovered a hidden gem that helped them create Project Bluebook.

Aliens Uncovered: ET or Man-Made (2022): The crash of Roswell wasn’t meant for New Mexico. In 1947, a neighboring state had 3 major sightings that were swept under the rug.

Aliens Uncovered: The Golden Record (2023): In the late 70s, the US government launched a message to our distant neighbors.

Roswell (2021): This high-flying documentary examines the July 1947 crash of a United States Army Air Forces balloon at a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. Theories claim the crash was actually that of a flying saucer, but what is the truth?

Also check out:

The British UFO Files (2004): Since the 1940’s the British Government has been investigating the Flying Saucer phenomenon. High-ranking military and government personnel, speak out for the first time, offering unique eyewitness accounts and inside information.

Alien Abductions and Paranormal Sightings (2016): Amazing Footage and stories from real people as they reveal their personal encounters of being abducted by Aliens.

And do not miss Hellier (2019): A crew of paranormal researchers find themselves in a dying coal town, where a series of strange coincidences lead them to a decades-old mystery.

These documentaries join SCREAMBOX’s growing library of unique horror content, including Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, Here for Blood, Terrifier 2, RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop, Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, The Outwaters, Living with Chucky, Project Wolf Hunting, and Pennywise: The Story of IT.

Start screaming now with SCREAMBOX on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Prime Video, Roku, YouTube TV, Samsung, Comcast, Cox, and Screambox.com.

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