Packaging - ***1/2
Clamshells are good. Clamshells with original movie poster art, attractive header, wonderful bio on the back, and properly displaying the figure in all its glory are GREAT! On the left you have a near-exact image of the original Army of Darkness theater poster blended in with the background, Ash cockily standing atop his thrashed car with his Shelia clinging to his leg. You get a nice header down below with the actual figure’s face describing what’s included, and of course the nifty bio of Ash on the back. However you’ll need a knife to free him and clippers to get those plastic twisties off. Other than that, it’s classic packaging we’re use to from NECA.

Sculpting - ****
Hot holy hell in a handbasket! You can instantly recognize this is Bruce Campbell, no guessing like you did with the Movie maniacs one. NECA has perfectly captured his pronounced ‘buttocks’ chin that defines Bruce better than any other company has. The hair looks wonderful and the soft plastic strands that hang over his face don’t look too thick. His eyes are very pronounced as well, not inset at all like most eyes on a figure. All the cuts on his face are in exactly the right place too, I snagged an old image of him from the movie and matched them up. Bravo NECA!

Ash’s whole body is textured to look like fabric while his cape has a different fabric cross-stitch look to it. Lift up the cape and you can see his shotgun sheath that’s permanently attached to his back. It’s done in yet another texture, leathery looking and with the ties and buttons on there. I’m particularly impressed with his pants! They have a perfect wrinkled look and the pockets on the side actually have depth to them, pooching out as well like they do on real pants when you move your leg. There’s defined seams on the outside and inside of the legs all the way down to the cuffs.

Ash’s trademark mechanical right hand is wonderfully sculpted and looks just like it did in the movie, plenty of texture and detail to the armor plating on the fingers and gauntlet underneath. There’s even a tiny hinge on the underside!

Why does Ash has a cellphone clip on his bandolier? After checking tons of movie screenshots I found that yes, there’s actually some sort of forked clip on there that serves no purpose that I can remember, but they decided to sculpt it on. That’s dedication to authenticity! 

The only nitpick I have with the sculpt is with his left hand. There’s a tiny seam running from wrist to thumb, and all the way down his index finger like a glove would have. It’s not flash, but a groove and looks fairly obvious at certain angles because of the wash applied to it. It’s not a huge issue and I didn’t even notice it till I started looking over the figure for this review.

Paint - ****
Four stars, four stars. While some of the other Cult Classics figures fall short, Ash exceeds in the paint department. The skin tone on his face, the stubble wash, and cuts in his skin are incredible. It looks like the prototype head on the package art with the one exception that he has more of a blushed tone between his eyes and on his cheek. This however adds to the lifelike look and is perhaps the first time where the paintjob on the actual product looks BETTER than the prototype! I really wasn’t expecting this. And his eyes… holy smokes, these are the coolest eyes I’ve seen in this scale. Bruce, er, Ash is cautiously looking off to the right slightly and you can make out all the sections of the eye, right down to the tiny white reflections in the upper left. They really bring the figure to life!

His shirt and pants are well painted with airbrushed shadows and brushed on highlights, very ‘ professionally done and with zero slop. The gauntlet hand is done with two different types of metallic paint with the palm-plate cover a lighter color. His left hand has a watch that’s been expertly painted and even the little hands are on there, one big and one little. His fingernails look realistic and aren’t too light. The bloodied gouges on his shirt are done well and the surrounding blood looks soaked-in, not heavily slopped on. Plenty of dirt and mud cake his pants and boots, sitting in all the right places as if he had just tripped and fallen in that mud-puddle! 

Tiny details include the D-rings on his boots painted and even the single button on the shotgun sheath, which is covered by the cape yet painted on with care. The clasp on his cape wasn’t painted silver but still looks just as nice in a dirty grey. Maybe he had some pigeons sitting on his shoulder…

Articulation - ***
If you were expecting a Marvel Legends style Ash you’re going to be disappointed because that’s not NECA’s style. However I’m not upset with the choices of articulation and what’s there works really well. Ash has a great ball-jointed head with plenty of range, especially the side-to-side tilt. He has ball shoulders, cut elbows, cut wrists, a cut waist, and cut ankles. The cut elbow on the left doesn’t give you too much range, but the right one does a good job of allowing you to give him a good variety of holding-things poses. The feet really can only be in one position or he’ll fall without the aid of his base. I’ll echo Mike’s statement that the ball-jointed neck is the pinnacle of these figures, breathing life into them. Without it, Ash would of gotten two stars instead of three.

Accessories - ****
No Chainsaw?!?!? That’s the first thing people are saying when they pick up this figure and notice his trademark chainsaw hand-attachment isn’t there. But ah, Neca went for total movie authenticity here. At this point where Ash dons his blue tunic and horse-blanket cloak, he doesn’t put the chainsaw on his hand (or lack of) and uses the mechanical hand for the rest of the movie. Had they done the torn-shirt version when he first showed up, then the chainsaw would have been a necessity. 

What Ash does come with is an absolutely beautiful alternate ‘stretched’ head where in the movie the Necronomicon books opens up and sucks him in, and as he escapes his facial-features are stretched. That look is perfectly captured with the alt head and I laughed when I put it on the first time, it looked so cool. The paint on it seems a bit orangey tho, and doesn’t perfectly match up with the regular head. Tho once it’s on you really can’t tell and it could be the lighting from the fiery vortex inside the Necronomicon he was being sucked into.

Ash also comes with the Necronomicon itself, bound in human flesh, written in blood, yadda-yadda. Well hell (oops, pun) this thing looks just like how it did in the movie, right down to the teeth on there! The binding looks great like stretched flesh, painted with an aged look. The teeth are painted too, a nice bone color. I wish NECA gave us different copies of the book because in the graveyard scene Ash finds multiples. One flies, one bites, and one has the portal in it that stretches his face. Ah well, maybe NECA will make a graveyard boxed set with the altar and all the different books eh?

The Boomstick looks, well, just like a shotgun. It’s sculpted with great detail and a nice wood-grain paintjob. It doesn’t cock open however but Ash can fit his index finger perfectly inside the guard and on the trigger, the gun looking great in his hands. The last accessory is the cool graveyard base complete with tombstones, skull, and those horrible skeletal hands that beat the tar outta him. It’s painted with the same detail as everything else, and that’s top notch. Ash doesn’t need the base to stand but it helps.

Fun Factor - ***
If your kid knows who Ash is, then pat yourself on the back, you rule as a parent! Ash is in several video games and comics now, so if they haven’t watched the movie kids could still recognize his character and have fun with him. Tho he’s not super articulated, he’s still durable enough to fight off Skeletor. For us grownups, we’ll have fun posing him on our desk and swapping heads. He’s more of a static-pose figure like the other Cult Classics but still fun to mess with.

Value - ***
Eleven to fourteen bucks is the staple for these figures but for the amount of detail, attention to movie authenticity, and overall baddass character, I didn’t even feel the bite. You’ll end up paying more than that for the Movie Maniacs figure on Ebay and way more for the little Palisades feller. Army of Darkness has a cult following that shows no sign of stopping and I’m very tempted to keep a few of these for friends or future investments. You’re getting a strong license here.

Things to Watch Out For:
Check your paint job! I ordered one from hot topic’s online store but also saw two instore later, each with varying paint jobs. One had way more blush on his face particularly the nose as if he had been hanging around with Robert Downy Jr. for the night. Another had really dark blood patched on his shirt. So make sure you snag a good one. Other than that, nothing else.

Overall - ****
Yeah I could of given him the three and a half stars and called it another Cult Classics figure, but Ash here stands out. It’s rare when a figure impresses me more than the prototype and doesn’t let me down in expectations. It feels like the time waiting and money spent were worth it. Not even Ash’s accessories had problems and while he didn’t come with the chainsaw, I can understand and respect NECA’s decision not to include it. 

Army of Darkness fans are gonna love this figure and he’s defiantly –the- Ash figure to display on your desk or shelf. I hope NECA makes a larger version of this figure or some sort of boxed set. The AoD license is a strong one and an Ash vs Evil Ash set would rule! If you’re a fan, don’t pass up this figure, that’s all the warning I can give ya.

This is Jin Saotome saying thanks for checking out the review and look forward to more! 

SCORE RECAP:
Packaging: ***1/2
Sculpting: ****
Paint: ****
Articulation: ***
Accessories: ****
Fun Factor: ***
Value: ***
Overall: ****

Where To Buy:
Online options include:

- CornerStoreComics sells singles at $13, the set of four for $44, or the set of five at $55.

- Time and Space Toys has the figures at just $12 each, sold individually!

- Alter Ego has a case of 14 figures for $167, if you and some friends are looking to go in together. That's just $12 each.

- YouBuyNow has the individual figures at $13 each.

- Killer Toys has the singles for $12 - $14 each, and the set of four for $49.

- Amazing Toyz sells singles at $13 each, or the set of five at $55.