Review of Michael Myers - Halloween
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

Halloween is just around the corner, and it's time to re-watch the greatest slasher film of all time once again - Halloween. While the film wasn't the father of all modern slasher movies (Black Christmas gets the honor), it was certainly the first to break through to mainstream audiences. And it deserves every bit of the accolades it receives - it's a truly classic horror movie.

As with all classics, it spawned a series of sequels, some good, some not so good. Unlike some other franchises, Michael's look didn't vary a ton, but it was slightly different from film to film. ThreeZero is producing a new sixth scale figure of Michael Myers, and they are basing it on the not so great 6th film in the series, The Curse of Michael Myers.

ThreeZero has just released the figure, which runs around $150 depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***
Nothing too exciting, but the exterior is a rather unique and stylish take on the movie poster itself. Inside, the figure and accessories are held safe in a single plastic tray. While they did use some of the sticky clear plastic to hold the accessories in place (and no, it's not 'tape'), it's relatively collector friendly.

Sculpting - ***1/2
It's important to remember that this is based off Curse, and in each film he looked a little different. It's also worth remembering this is ThreeZero, and they tend to add a little of their own creativity to any design.

We all know the story of the mask - it's a Captain Kirk Halloween mask, re-purposed for the film. Looking at several stills from this particular film, I think they've done an excellent job with the facial structure, including the shape of the nose, jaw, and overall face.  The eye placement looks good, and the underlying face - yes, there are eyes behind the dark holes, as you'll see in the photo in the Paint section - is set deep enough behind the mask.

The rooted hair is terrific, and can be smoothed down completely, or fluffed up and messed up as you see fit.  His hair was all sorts of wild in various stills and in various films, and at times it was fairly well coifed too. You'll have no trouble working with the hair to get a look you like, and I futzed with mine multiple times during the shoot. I prefer something between completely smooth and utterly wild, but your mileage will vary.

The biggest question for me revolves around the texturing on the mask. It is VERY rough, all the more obvious in macro photos than in hand. I used several close up stills to decide on whether this was appropriate or not, including this side shot, this front shot, and this 'standing over you with an ax' shot. These all show that the surface of the mask was not completely smooth, but rather textured and pocked. I think it lends to the creepy factor.  However, I do think they went a smidge overboard with this version, giving him a little more texture than I like. It's a minor nit - he only lost a half star for it - but it is my one real complaint.

It is important to note that it's less noticeable in hand of course. It shocks me how many people have trouble discerning the difference between macro photos and in hand results, where the figures are much smaller. It's often necessary to over do detail to make it look correct in hand, but photos can create a different impression.

There's one other visual issue that contributes to the loss of a half star. The hands are done up all burned and scarred, and the sculpt is quite good. I'm not a Halloween expert (the sixth movie is really only memorable to me as an early Paul Rudd vehicle), but I'm pretty sure he was burned up by Loomis at the end of the fifth flick. It would make sense that he'd have burned hands in chapter 6...but I have to admit that I don't remember it to be the case.

In any event, the burned hands look good when the arms are down so the sleeves can cover the un-sculpted wrists. When the arms are at higher positions, the sleeves pull back and show off the clean, skin colored wrist pegs, and it ruins the effect.

Paint - ***1/2
There's not a ton of paint detail, but what's here is super clean and neat.  The hidden face looks good through the eye holes, with no bleed and crisp, lifelike eyes. The mask itself is an off white, with a slight wash to bring out the texture. The eyebrows look good, but the lips - while very clean - are a little darker than I like.

The hands are painted up appropriately for the damage, with a nice look to the scarred skin. It's a little dark, and with the lighter wrists, it can create a 'glove' effect however. A highlight are the dirty boots, with some very realistic wear and tear created by the paint application.

Articulation - ***
On some ThreeZero figures, the tall, lanky body creates an odd look. Here, there's no issue. The heavy overalls create a realistic size for the body, and the torso and limbs are bulky enough to look right at the larger scale. They added padding to the t-shirt to give him some upper body size, a smart move. He's a good height too, coming in at 12 1/2".

The neck is restricted by the mask of course, but you can still get a little tilt and lean to go along with the turn. Many of the joints are ratchet style, including the shoulders and elbows. That's important, since the metal knives are fairly heavy.

The boots are less restrictive than you'd imagine, thanks to the very soft uppers, but he still doesn't have quite as much ankle mobility as I'd like.  They also needed to do something to tighten the wrists, like they did with the elbows and shoulders, because they tend to flop and spin when the knives are being held.

But overall it's a solid body, with no real reason to swap it out for something else.

Accessories - ***
There's not a lot here, but the weapons are well done.

He comes with two sets of hands. A relaxed grip set he comes wearing, and a tighter grip set for working with the weapons. These all have their own wrist pegs, and they swap easily.

The small hand ax isn't particularly exciting, but it's nice to get an extra that wasn't listed on the original marketing document.  He also has two of his trademark kitchen knives. One of these is clean, while the other is blood splattered. Both have real metal blades, making them a bit heavy.

Outfit - ****
This isn't a complex outfit, consisting of just the overalls, boots, and t-shirt. But it is a textbook example of doing a simple costume beautifully and realistically.

As I mentioned earlier, the underlying t-shirt is padded a bit to provide some additional bulk to the torso. It works great, and was a smart move on their part.

The overalls are made from high quality material, and everything - from zippers to pockets to the collar - is in proper scale. The best part is the wear and dirt, an area where ThreeZero really shines. They are one of the best in the business when it comes to making clothing (and armor) look worn and damaged, and Mikey here is the perfect example.

But it's really the boots that blew me away.  The lower shoe is a great sculpt, with a leather upper and real shoelace that look amazing. It's a shame to cover them up with the pant legs! Again, the wear and tear is great, and the detail work is really outstanding.

Just because a costume seems simple doesn't mean you should do it cheaply or unrealistically. They've captured this outfit perfectly, and I'm impressed.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
Solid articulation with decent accessories make this a figure you'll pose and re-pose, especially around this time of year. We now have several key icons of 80's horror, and a good Leatherface would make things pretty complete.

Value - ***1/2
At just $150, this guy is a much better value than the majority of the current sixth scale market. They get lucky of course, needing no human portrait, and they do a great job with the costume, mask, hair, and accessories.  For this price point, he can't be beat.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.

Overall - ***1/2
We have gotten sixth scale Michael's before, but not since the overall quality of the market shot upward. It's terrific that several companies are providing new versions of these classic horror icons, at a quality level that can stand on the same shelf with other modern releases.

It's also great to get a character like this from a company that doesn't automatically charge $230 no matter the character or the license.  Michael Myers is not the sort of figure that requires the level of detail and sculpting to justify that sort of price point. Of course they could have thrown in more extras, but deadly weapons in sixth scale aren't that hard to come by.  Instead, releasing a character like this at $150 is a much better, more sensible alternative.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has him at $150 with free shipping.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Another recent horror release was Sideshow's Freddy, as well as ThreeZero's Jason and Pinhead. This isn't the first sixth scale Michael Myers either, as Sideshow did one back in the day.

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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