Soon afterwards, it was announced that a sequel to House of 1,000 Corpses- The Devil's Rejects- was already in the works. Well, after a somewhat successful toyline run- though the toys DID leave quite a bit to be desired- NECA picked up the license to both Zombie flicks, and pleased fans world over with their initial release of the Suncoast Exclusive Captain Spaulding figure, and a regular line several months later to follow it. A while back, they released the 18" Spaulding, and now, the Devil's Rejects figures are available at most specialty stores. 

Now, before I DO continue this review, there's one thing you have to understand about me, regarding Captain Spaulding: after seeing the first movie, finally, Spaulding became one of my life's inspirations, as disturbing as that may sound to you. I have become a serious fan of the character, and have decided to buy every Spaulding figure that's made- the only other one I really need, now, is the SDCC Devil's Rejects two-pack, otherwise I'm good. 

Now, when I saw the initial press releases of the new Devil's Rejects figures, I thought to myself ".um.that Spaulding figure looks.REALLY REALLY boring". Well, after seeing the movie, and deciding it is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite movies, I naturally had to immediately buy some merchandise- that includes the toys. And my first choice was naturally my life inspiration from the series, SPAULDING! So, here we go:

Packaging - ***1/2
On an initial view of the packaging, it doesn't look all that exciting. If anything, the packaging to House of 1,000 Corpses figures looks far better. Well, I guarantee you you'll see it in an entirely different light as soon as you see the movie. The card insert art is very specific to the overall theme and plot of the movie, and as far as I'm concerned, works great showing it off. The figure and accessories can be clearly seen thru the blister, which is always important. And to make things even better, the back of the card features shots of all the other figures, as well as a nice biography of the character. Trust me when I say, as a huge fan of Captain Spaulding, I was more than overjoyed to read up on one of my life's 
inspirations. Very inspiring. Of course, considering how "evil" his character is, it's also very disturbing, but still, very inspiring, regardless. Folks, THIS is attention to detail.

Sculpting - ***1/2
"Yeah, they sculpted him dead on in his clown make-up", you ask, "but could they REALLY do it just as good, if not better, as him without his makeup, just an overweight old guy with era-appropriate clothes?" 100% YES! This figure is absolutely mind-blowing. He looks PHENOMENAL. He isn't sculpted in a major action pose or anything like that. More like a relaxed, yet concerned- slightly troubled- middle aged man- and that's JUST how he's SUPPOSED to look. From the wrinkles on his forehead, and the scraggliness of his beard, to the shirt with the sculpted holsters, and his apparently polyester pants. To even his shoes, just everything looks- well, PERFECT! THIS is Johnny Lee Johns, AKA Cutter, Captain Spaulding. But more importantly, this IS Sid Haig, and THAT'S something ya just can't improve on. And since I did in fact get carried away on just how freakin' great the figure is sculpted, lemme just quickly jump back in and say, yeah, his accessories look great, too.

"So why not a full 4 stars?", you may ask. Well, it's because of how his arms were sculpted. Yeah, he's not posed even in a "sort-of" action pose- you really gotta fiddle around with the articulated joints put into his arms to get him into a pose where it really takes any advantage of the accessories he comes with, unless you'd prefer to just have in the main pose I put mine in- in my case, it's Spaulding, so it's good enough for me. FOR ME, he doesn't need to be in any kind of action pose- as long as he's just standin' there, lookin' cool, that's just fine by me.

Paint - ****
Now, here's where things got slightly easier for NECA- basically, RATHER than painting a figure of a clown in a "sort of" action pose, they basically had to paint a figure of a Southern middle aged/elderly man wearing a white shirt, polyester pants, and old brown shoes. Not only did they do it right, they did it PERFECT! From the graying hairs on his beard to the "dirty" looking white shirt, to those damn tan polyester pants, and the old brown shoes, it looks absolutely perfect. 

Ok, ok, yeah, it appears there IS some MINOR paint bleed around his collar, but for some reason it really doesn't look like paint bleed, so I'm just gonna go ahead, and assume it's supposed to be some minor blood stains, and call it good. NECA still even kept the "love" and "hate" tattoos on his hands, and the weapons are perfectly painted, too.

And to make things even BETTER for this category, they couldn't possibly have done the paint WASH any better, either! His forehad looks a bit shiny, but it actually works very well for the figure- his skin basically has sort of a clean shine on him, and it looks really good. But it gets better considering HIS CLOTHES DON'T! That's right, they couldn't possibly have pulled this category off any better than they apparently did- his clothes look old, dirty, and wrinkled, and his forehead and arms look a bit shiny. And now that I think about it. Considering the part of the country that this movie takes place in, y'just can't improve much more on this! It's just that perfect! 

Articulation - ****
Based on the sculpt he was given, his articulation is overall very generous, for the type of figure offered on the specialty market. He has, from what I could tell, 10 points of articulation- three of which are ball jointed. Neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, waist, and ankles. Now, I know 10 really isn't a lot, but again, based on what's being given here, it works really well for the character's sculpt, and just for the character, PERIOD. My only real nit here is that, once you fiddle with the joints to loosen them up to pose him, some of the joints( at least on mine) were REALLY loose- I knew they wouldn't pop off or anything, but they didn't feel as secure, really. So that's just something you'll want to watch out for. Otherwise, once again, well done NECA.

Accessories - ***
He comes with a pistol and a shotgun. I've already mentioned how well they're sculpted and painted. Yet somehow, I wish a few more accessories could've been thrown in. I'm not really sure exactly what could've been added to him, as he really didn't have much else in the movie, but considering how much we got with the figure from the first movie, I figured NECA could've figured SOMETHING out. Regardless, they work with the figure, and that's what's important.

Fun Factor - *
I'm just adding this in this particular review cause I always see Mikey ( the almighty lord, and master of this website) adding this category into reviews, when I always somehow miss this category, so I figured it was time to start putting it back into my reviews, again. 

I don't see kids having too much fun with this figure- it's an old overweight guy with some guns. Plus, this movie series ISN'T for kids in ANY way, shape, or form, so naturally, I'd immediately question the sanity of ANY parent letting their kids have this toy, and weigh the pros and cons of calling the Dept of Social Services on them. Either that, or just tell everyone in the neighborhood with kids to keep away from them...

Value - ***1/2
I paid $12.99 each at Spencer Gifts. I'd say I got a great value on these figures, though you might still be more inclined to shop around a bit more. I also saw them at Hot Topic for $13.99, but I have a feeling they'd still be even slightly cheaper at Suncoast- since I don't live near one, anymore, however, I'll likely be doing a lot of my toy shopping for specialty market items at Spencer's from now on( though I CAN still buy stuff at a SORT OF nearby Sam Goody, and my friend will still be picking SOME stuff up for me at Suncoast). And naturally, check online, as I'm sure plenty of online retailers will be carrying these, as well.

Overall - ***
Face it, I love this figure because I love Captain Spaulding, and I loved the Devil's Rejects. But I can assure you he ISN'T the most exciting figure ever made. In fact, unless you worship Spaulding the way I do, I doubt you'd really find this figure that interesting. He looks great, and any fan of the movie will want it, but compared to how great Otis, Tiny, and Baby look, this guy is a tad bit boring-looking. That, and he's a little skinny on the accessories, sort of. Regardless, it's a damn fine figure of the fan favorite character of the movie series, and any fan will be honored and thrilled to own him. As for you other horror buffs, I recommend just pickin' y'selves up the All-American Captain Spaulding from Series 1.

And below, check out all three main Spaulding figures!

Score Recap:
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpt - ***1/2
Paint - ****
Articulation - ****
Accessories - ***
Fun Factor - *
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy:
These are popping up at Hot Topics and Media Play/Sam Goody, along with various online stores:

 - Killer Toys has the complete set of four figures for $45.

- CornerStoreComics has the set for $47, or the individual figures for $12 each. They also have some of series one from the House of 1000 Corpses still available.

- Oh My God, Cheap New Figures Online has the individual figures for just $11 each.

- Amazing Toyz only has a handful left at $12 each.