Review of Jason Voorhees - Friday the 13th Part 2
Ultimate Action Figure

Introduction

Last week was another Friday the 13th, a day important enough in human culture to spawn a ton of movies. In fact, there isn't another day that's not a holiday that has received this sort of treatment. And the king of all this is Jason Voorhees.

While his fellow 80's horror icons have gotten their share of love when it comes to action figures, Jason certainly is number one. Perhaps that's due to the simplicity of his design. Perhaps it's due to the changes that he went through from movie to movie, with his mask and underneath. Or perhaps it's just because he's a freaking cool slasher, as slasher's go. In any event, every version has been immortalized in plastic at least once, most several times over, in multiple scales and styles.

Tonight I'm looking at the 'ultimate' version of Jason from Part 2, manufactured by NECA. This guy will run you around $30 at most retailers, in line with the other figures in the 7" scale Ultimate line. I got mine from Fun.com, where he's $35.

Packaging - ***1/2
A nice use of the poster graphics, and a very sturdy, collector friendly design highlight this package. While the in box collector can still get a good look at the figure and accessories by opening the flap, the open collector can easily remove the figure and accessories without any damage to the box.

Sculpting - ***1/2
The figure comes with two portraits - one in the mask, one uncovered.

Remember your Voorhees history? In the first film, it wasn't Jason at all of course, but his mom, Pammy. But at the end of the first film, he rises up to exact his revenge at the death of mommy dearest, setting the stage for part 2. In this film, he's still finding himself, trying to create the right 'look'. He starts out wearing a white sack over his head, stolen directly from the earlier movie The Town That Dreaded Sundown. Of course, this eventually gives way to the iconic hockey mask, but the initial look sets this film apart from the rest.

They do a nice job with the folds and wrinkles, creating a realistic 'bag' out of plastic. The eye is visible underneath, and the shape of the bag matches the expected facial contours below. By the way, swapping heads is easy and painless.

The second unmasked head has a lot more detail, but is probably less likely to be used by most collectors. It has his deformed, grotesque face, with missing hair and scarring. There's a ton of excellent detail work here, with a very good skin texture and realistic damage.

He stands just over 7" tall, fitting in pretty well with the rest of the Ultimates.

Paint - ***1/2
The quality of the paint work is best exemplified by the unmasked head, where there's a ton of detail and critical color. The skin tone looks great, and small minutia like the eyes and teeth look amazing. There's a wash on the skin that brings out the texture, and a similar wash on the bag adds to the realistic look of the sculpted cloth.

Fashion-wise, Jason is in his 'country bumpkin' phase, wearing overalls and a plaid shirt. The details here are excellent as well, including the plaid pattern and small buttons, but I don't love the slightly glossy finish they went with over the clothing. A more matte look would have been more realistic, but it's a minor nit.

They've added some blood here and there, particularly on the hands, but he isn't splattered in an extreme way.

Articulation - ***
The Ultimate figures always sport decent articulation, and you should be able to create some menacing poses with this guy.

Obviously the main portrait, wearing the bag, will have a restricted neck. You won't get much tilt or lean here, but the unmasked head makes good use of the ball joint.

The shoulders, elbows, and wrists can manage one and two handed poses with the weapons, and they've done a great job hiding the joints within the sculpt. This is true with the legs as well, where the hips, knees, and ankles work far better than I expected. The ankles are a little restricted by the pant cuff, but you can still get some decent medium depth stances and keep the feet flat on the ground.

Hiding these rotating hinge joints and maintaining a good range of movement is harder than you'd think, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the result on this figure.

Accessories - ****
One of the strengths of the Ultimate line is the range of useful accessories.

Jason has that second portrait I mentioned, which is always a huge plus in this category. Swapping the heads was easy.

He doesn't come with any extra hands, but the pair he is wearing are both gripping designs. This makes sense, since you're going to load him up with hand weapons in any pose.

And he has plenty. There's a large knife, a machete, a spear, an ax, and of course, a pitch fork. These can all be handled in one or both hands, and the arm articulation allows for good two handed poses with the longer weapons.

But that's not all! He also has the severed head of his dear, sweet mother, which is a key plot point in the movie. The sculpt and paint work are excellent, giving it a very mummified - mommified - look.

There's also a raging campfire, done in two pieces. The softer translucent flames fit on top of the wood and rock base. It looks great, and is one of those useful accessories that can go with him, or with another figure on your shelf.

Fun Factor - ****
Thanks to the well designed articulation and the plethora of weapons, this is a really fun figure to pose and repose over time. He's great to add in with the rest of your Jason's, and you can create some great dioramas with the right victims.

Value - **1/2
The ultimate figures from NECA have been in the $30 range, depending on the retailer, for quite a long time now. It's in line with most other high quality plastic figures in this scale from other manufacturers.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. Of course, you'll want to take a little care with the thin, long handles on a couple of the accessories, but I had no worries about breakage while I was working with them.

Overall - ***1/2
Fans of the character and films should be very pleased by this release. It's a unique look, and they've created an almost seamless appearance with the design of the articulation. There's plenty of extras to allow you to create your own personalized look on the shelf, and you can swap it up with some regularity.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ****
Fun Factor - ****
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
I received this one from Fun.com, where you can find quite a few of the latest releases from NECA and others.

Related Links -
I've reviewed a ton of Jason's over the years, so you'll want to hit the search page to find them all. But recent versions include the NECA part 5 version, the Mezco One:12 version, and the Sideshow sixth scale figure.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

Enjoyed this review? Be sure to head back to the main page to find thousands more just like it!