Review of Pennywise 1990 - IT
Ultimate Action Figure

Introduction

I'm not generally against sequels, prequels, remakes, or re-adaptations. I've never understood why a fan of a character or fictional world would not want to see more stories (sequels and prequels) about something they enjoyed before, and there are several good reasons to remake and re-adapt stories. Some of the best films ever produced fall into this catagory - did you know the Maltese Falcon is a re-adaptation, and it was done just 10 years after the first? There's some interesting back story around censors as to why it was remade so soon...

Anyway, there's lots of good reasons to remake or re-adapt a movie or show. The very best reason? Because the story itself is a great one, but the first (or second, or third, or in the case of Wizard of Oz, ten) attempt(s) simply sucked. That would be the case with movies like The Thing, or The Fly, or IT, first adapted as a television mini-series in 1990.

The story is a great one...until the very end. While I love Stephen King, he often has a problem wrapping up a story, and this one was certainly an excellent example. But his greatest strength is the development of his characters, and when you get great actors to flesh them out, things can turn out fantastic. Think Green Mile, or Misery, or The Mist, or Shawshank Redemption, or The Dead Zone, or 1408, etc. etc. etc. But when they cheap out, think of his stories as simply horror, and get B-listers to handle the characters, things can go very, very badly.

The television adaption of IT was an interesting example of this. They went with known TV names, like Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, and John Ritter. While these actors were fine at handling relatively two dimensional tv roles, a story like this required much more, and they fell short. You can blame the director too - behind every bad performance is a bad director.

But that wasn't the case with every actor - they also had Tim Curry. His creepy portrayal of the clown Pennywise will forever remain a hallmark in the King film legacy. I will say that Bill Skarsgard did the role proud in the new film, but fans will forever love the original Pennywise.

NECA has produced a couple versions of the new Pennywise, and now they are following that up in their Ultimate series with a Tim Curry version as well. This guy has just started shipping, and will run you around $25 - $30, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***1/2
I like the use of the classic film graphics, particularly on the cover of the flip lid. It's generally collector friendly too, but there is one twisty tie and a couple pieces of tape, largely unnecessary.

Sculpting - ***1/2
You get a total of four different head sculpts with this figure, and they are all excellent.

He comes wearing a frowny face, telling you clearly he's annoyed. And that's not a good thing. At all. The skin texture looks good, and the work on the detailing of the clown hair is excellent.

In the box you have a happy face, although when he's happy it's not necessarily a better situation for you. His mouth is wide, and while the teeth exhibit stereotypical serial killer dental hygiene, they aren't the pointy fangs...yet. The happy expression extends to the eyes as well, and if you didn't know better, you might think he was a nice guy...who doesn't know how to brush.

Then we get to the third portrait. With wide eyes and a wide mouth, he's clearly ready (and very happy about it) to bite your face off. The teeth are pointed, and the great detail work continues in the hair, mouth, and skin.

The final portrait removes all doubt. With wild eyes, fanged teeth, and the left side damaged (thanks to those meddling kids), it's clear you're about to be dead. This scarred version has the most detail of course, and will probably be the one I settle on for the long term display.

I like the work on the body, thanks to plenty of textures and minutia, but there is something slightly wonky about how the leg sculpts and the articulation come together. And while I generally don't stare at the crotch of an action figure, the slight camel-toe is bugging me.

He's not as big as the Skarsgard version, coming in at almost exactly 7" tall.

Paint - ***1/2
The overall paint work is solid, with straight, clean eyes on all four portraits (except where they aren't supposed to be, like the wild, crazy left eye on the scarred face), great looking Bozo hair, and lots of detail work on the gross teeth and shiny tongue. Even the triangular makeup on the eyes and the thin eyebrows change position as the expression changes, adding to the realism.

My one nit, and it's a fairly minor one, is with the red lips. The edges, particularly on the upper lip, tend to be sloppy. It's better on some portraits than on others, but it's worth noting.

Articulation - ***
There's plenty of joints, but the sculpt does tend to restrict a number of them.

The biggest issue for me is the ball jointed neck. The ball on mine is very deep inside the collar and torso. Swapping heads is tough, and once you do, the head can't do a lot of tilt or lean.

There's rotating hinge shoulders (NECA style, where the look of the sculpted shoulder isn't sacrificed), rotating hinge elbows, and rotating hinge wrists. The hands swap easily, and natural arm poses are possible.

The rolling torso joint works fine, and the ball hips and rotating hinge knees allow for decent stances, including some walking poses. The ankles aren't the greatest however. There might be a ball up in there, but the long pants makes anything more than turning the foot impossible. I couldn't get any real rocker or forward/backward movement out of them.

Accessories - ****
This is an 'ultimate' release, which means NECA loads him up with extras.

Even so, it's unusual to get three additional heads to go along with the one attached.  That alone boosts this score through the roof.

But that's not it. He also has five additional hands. He comes wearing some wide hands, and you can swap in a gloved right to hold the balloons, a gloved right to hold the boat or the noise maker, and a gloved pointing left.  Or you can go with the 'monster' hands, a scaly, clawed set. Swapping is pretty easy, and I had no fear of breaking anything during the process.

Unlike the modern Pennywise, this version has a bunch of balloons - seven in total. They come in a nice assortment of colors, and can fit in the intended hand. Four of the seven in his hand at one time seemed to be the magic number, any more wouldn't fit and any less allowed them to slip. The 'strings' on the balloons are wire of course, allowing you to pose them as you'd like.

Georgie had a boat the first time too, and this one matches the old newspaper version nicely. There's also a noise maker - remember those? I sure do - that he can hold in his gripping left hand.

That's quite the bundle, well worth the $30 price tag.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
With lots of great accessories, decent articulation, and FOUR different head sculpts, this guy is sure to be one you return to over and over again. My only complaint is around how hard it is to swap heads, but that should get easier with time.

Value - ***
I upped the value score slightly here, since you're getting a ton of goodies with this guy, even for an 'ultimate' release. Even better, some stores have him for as little as $26.

Things to Watch Out For -
You'll need some heat to swap heads, at least the first few times. Otherwise, you should be good.

Overall - ***1/2
While the original mini-series is pretty awful, it does have its bright moments anytime Pennywise is on screen. Curry made the role, and in some ways it made him. I'll still love him most as Frank-N-Furter, but his Pennywise will remain one of my all time favorite horror monsters.

I do hope we see an exclusive of this guy at some point, because I'd really love a more extreme head with the mouth extended. Considering how much NECA loves their convention exclusives, I can't see it not happening.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth is at just $26.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I covered the 2017 exclusive Pennywise, as well as the regular release 2017 Pennywise in recent weeks.

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

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