NECA Texas Chainsaw Massacre 40th Anniversary Ultimate Leatherface

“Who will survive and what will be left of them?” the tagline from the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre asked. It came out 1974, four years before Halloween established the rules of the slasher genre, and is unflinchingly brutal. Don’t waste your time on the six remakes and sequels. The original didn’t need expensive special effects to scare the s#@$ out of people. Accept no substitute.

 

NECA feels the same way I do about the film, and it shows in the quality of their NECA Texas Chainsaw Massacre 40th Anniversary Ultimate Leatherface action figure. Starting with the packaging—it’s incredible. The front flap has a painting of the famous hook hanging scene with the aforementioned tagline.

 

I’m not as enthused by the back, though it does seem like they genuinely posed the figure those ways without glue, stands, or photoshop, which so many companies use to make their figures look better.

Pull open the front flap for one more photo—the best of the bunch and a window with the figure and its accessories. Right from here you can tell how incredible it is. NECA did some marketing, I’m sure, but all they needed was this window flap after that cover and this figure should be flying off the shelves.

You can see all of the accessories but on in that last shot—but here’s them out of the package.

There is: a mallet, a meat hook, cleaver, teeny-tiny knife, an interchangeable head from one of the sequels (though I’m not sure which after comparing it two photos), and of course, a chainsaw. The apron is removable from the figure, making it an accessory as well. It’s tied on around back. Here’s a picture of him without it.

And a picture with the head interchanged.

In terms of sculpt, both heads are the high points. The first head strongly resembles the character it’s based on. It has some great detail, especially with the mouth and eye cutouts. His face sticks out underneath it. Great work. The tie is also great, as well as the grooved stripes of his shirt and the openings of his jeans (although I honestly can’t imagine Leatherface ever buying anything).

The paint accentuates the incredible sculpt. There’s dust painted onto the bottom of his pants because Leatherface lives in a dry area. There’s a splatter of blood thickening as it goes down, implying the story of a murder recently committed. The same blood is one his wrists as well, pretty much as I remember it spraying in the movie. But honestly, I could go all day finding more small details to prove the point and nothing would be more effective than picking up the figure yourself and being impressed.

Last but not least is the articulation. He’s got:
-a ball joint head
-ball/hinge shoulders
-swivel wrists
-swivel waist
-ball/hinge hips
-ball/hinge knees (though they don’t turn well, but do you need that?)
-ball feet

He moves better than he needs to. Half of Leatherface’s scariness is his size and his persistence. He’s not quick, judging by both times the main character of the first film, Sally Hardesty, out runs him. But he doesn’t stop coming. He’s a mountain of a man ready to kill anyone who breaks into his house and he’s not going to stop in that pursuit until you’re driving away.

If you hadn’t guessed before this, I think this is an amazing action figure that NECA is giving away for the SRP of $35.99. I highly recommend buying it for yourself or as a gift for a horror-loving friend. You will not be disappointed.

You can get the NECA Texas Chainsaw Massacre 40th Anniversary Ultimate Leatherface for $23.38 (sale price) from Oldies.com or for $63.99 from Walmart.

UPDATE: This figure is sold out on Oldies, and Walmart has jacked the price up on the ones they have left.  However, if you want to score one of these figures, you can still find them on Amazon for $29.35, and course, you can always take a quick trip over to eBay and try to score one of these NECA 40th Anniversary Leatherface action figures.