Review of Leatherface
Texas Chainsaw Massacre sixth scale figure

Introduction

The seventies were known for many things, but for horror fans, it was the rise of the slasher icons. While many consider the 60's film Psycho the grandfather of the genre, the 70's gave us The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Black Christmas, Halloween, and of course, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The concept proved so appealing to the masses, other icons were quick to follow in the early eighties, like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street.

All of the big boys of the genre - Michael, Freddy, Jason, Leatherface - have gotten more than a few sixth scale releases. But many of these were 10 or more years ago, before the big jump in quality that changed the industry. Companies have slowly been revisiting them, and I now have a good Freddy, Jason, Pinhead, and Michael on the shelf together. But what about Leatherface? Where's the love for him?

ThreeZero to the rescue! They also produced the recent Michael Myers and Pinhead figures, and they are following it up with Leatherface.  He's just started shipping, and will run you around $160 or so, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***1/2
Nothing too fancy about the box, but I do really like the cover art, with the Leatherface figure reflected in the eye of a victim.  It's all collector friendly of course, and it's fairly sturdy and well made. There are no instructions, but none are really needed with this guy.

Sculpting - ***1/2
We all know the story: this dude wears a mask over his head, front and back, made from somebody else's face. It's gruesome, and not really the best look for a Tinder profile pic.

The exact look varies from film to film, but ThreeZero has captured the nasty realism in all its glory. The front and back are sculpted as two pieces (although nothing here is removable), with a strap around the neck to hold the pieces together. The stitching, skin texture, scarring, and flesh deterioration is extremely well done, and the wild mane of hair can be adjusted to your liking. The good thing about this character is no matter how messed up the hair is, it looks great.

Underneath the mask you can see the eyes and mouth of the killer himself. They are pretty deeply set, but with the light angled just right you'll get a clear view.  The lips are pulled back to reveal his teeth, and the sculpt here could be a little sharper, but the eyes are very realistic and life-like.

This is a large figure, as is appropriate, coming in almost 13" tall standing fully upright. They've added some length to the legs - more on that in a minute - to get this extra size.

Paint - ***
The paint work is reasonable, but I'm not quite sold on the coloration of the decaying skin. It's a little dark for me, and they hit it pretty hard with a wash. That does bring out the texture nicely, but it also darkens it up even more.

Under the mask, the eyes look fantastic, and the lips and gums are quite realistic. The teeth are a little sloppy, although some of that can be attributed to poor dental hygiene.

Articulation - **1/2
I'm not a big fan of the underlying body used by ThreeZero, and the skin on the arms and the fat suit under the clothes tends to make it less posable.

The ball jointed neck has some tilt and lean, but it's a bit less than the best articulated figures out there. The shoulders work well, but the thick skin on the arms does restrict the elbows and even the wrists to some degree.

The fat suit allows some torso tilt and crunch, and the hips, knees, and ankles work well. While he's wearing cowboy boots, you can still get some rocker movement.

Because he's taller than most figures, they added this height in the legs. That's pretty realistic - most tall people have longer than average legs.  However, they added it below the knees, making the legs a little weird.  The knees are high on the legs, and when they are bent it can look odd under the pants.

Accessories - ***
He doesn't have a ton of extras, but he has the critical items.

There are four extra hands to go with the two open poses.  He has a tight grip left and right, a gripping right designed for holding the chainsaw handle, and a wider grip left. They swap pretty cleanly, and there's a couple extra wrist pegs just in case.

And yes, there's a chainsaw. Getting it in the hand can be tough - the hands are very hard and tight.  The bottom edge of the handle is thin, making it possible to break it if you're not careful. The sculpt and paint work on the chainsaw is excellent, and the scale is just about perfect.

He also has a meat hook that can be used to hang a victim, as in the original film.  And in case he needs to make a further point, there's a very large hammer. The blood spatters on the hammer are realistic, and it fits neatly in the tight grip hands.

Outfit - ***1/2
One of ThreeZero's greatest strengths is their weathering and dirt effects on their costumes. Once again, they nail it.

The outfit is pretty simple, including the pants, belt, tie, shirt, and apron.  All of it is dirty, worn, and bloody.  The effect is extremely realistic. It also matches the on screen look quite well, especially with the shirt and tie.

Under the shirt is a padded fat suit, giving the figure more bulk and pudge. It's a good look, at least in this situation.

The apron is made from a crisp, stiff material. The blood spatter makes it even stiffer, but again, this is pretty realistic.  It ties around his back, and fits extremely well.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
This guy is going to look fantastic on your shelf next to those other icons of slash. He looks great in or out of the apron too, giving you some options in the display.

Value - ****
Most sixth scale figures run $220 - $250 these days, and even lower end companies are charging $200.  This guy will only run you around $160 or so, depending on the retailer, and that's a fantastic price.  There's a few nits you can pick, sure, but he's well worth the price and then some.

Things to Watch Out For -
I mentioned how thin the lower section of the chainsaw handle is, and you'll want to take a lot of care inserting it into the hard hands. Otherwise, you should be good to go!

Overall - ***1/2
ThreeZero has done solid work on their horror licenses, and I'm really glad I picked this guy up. I wasn't going to - I didn't think I really needed another Leatherface. But with the improved brotherhood of horror icons on the shelf, I realized any older version would look woefully outdated. This guy can hold his own with any of the others, and at a price point that goes down easy.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has him for $168.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Leatherface figures include the old sixth scale version from Sideshow, and the smaller stylized version from Mezco.

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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