NECA Nightmare on Elm Street Ultimate Freddy Krueger

NECA 30th Anniversary Ultimate Freddy Krueger Review

I’m no Freddy Krueger, but I’m sure he could come up with a smart-ass quip about looking for the “Ultimate Freddy Experience.”  There have been countless Nightmare on Elm Street figures made in the last thirty years with NECA, McFarlane, and Mezco probably making up the bulk of them.  We’ve seen a pretty large variety of figures picked from countless memorable scenes throughout the franchise’s history.  But NECA wanted to make the quintessential Freddy Krueger: the original 1984 version of Robert Englund as the iconic dream stalking demon.

The ultimate Freddy experience also includes leg articulation!  Yes, I believe this is the first Freddy Krueger action figure with functionally articulated legs.

Ultimate Freddy Krueger comes packed in a window box similar to the ones NECA uses for their 8-bit variant figures.  The front flap displays the original movie poster artwork, and when opened you can take a peak at Freddy and all of his accessories.  It’s a very collector friendly box since you won’t damage it taking him out; the figure is held in by one single twist-tie.  He comes packed with three heads (serious, smiling, and missing face), a hat, Tina’s face, Nancy’s phone with Freddy’s tongue, and an alternate hand.  Quite a value for the $20 asking price.

So it appears as though the purpose of this “Ultimate” line is to take an iconic character (because I don’t believe they are going to limit this to horror movies, especially if the figures do well) and make the quintessential version of them.  I didn’t buy any of the recent Freddy figures, but it looks as though this one is a completely new sculpt.  The upper body is segmented into two parts and then covered up by an overlay of his signature striped sweater.  He then has ball hips at the legs, followed by knee and ankle cuts as well.  They made an interesting sculpt decision to have his waist cocked down on his left side.  He looks fine standing straight up, but the sculpt really shines when you put the left leg out a bit in a sassy pose.

Three heads is always better than one.  But let me warn you, slipping those heads on the neck peg the first time is tough!  Get a good grip on that body and apply a ton of pressure to slip that head into place.  If it’s really giving you a problem stock a screwdriver or something similar to that and roll it around in the neck peg-hole.  Heat works too; just something to loosen up the head’s plastic a bit.  Once on though, they are great.  The smiling and serious face work very well as general Freddy expressions.  The skull head is very scene specific but I like it quite a bit.  Speaking of scene specific, Tina’s face slips right on to the serious face and stays there.  You also have the option of a hat since it’s removable.  Tons of options are available, which is great.

While extra articulation is great, it can also come with added quality concerns.  I’ve been messing with Freddy for a couple of days now and so far everything still feels strong.  No breakages have occurred, and also nothing feels overly loose or fragile.  Even the claws have some give to them so you shouldn’t have to worry about any snaps on that front either.  From a QC standpoint this Freddy lives up to his “Ultimate” moniker.

I’m not the biggest Freddy or Nightmare on Elm Street fan out there.  This figure did get me excited though, so once it came in I happily gave the movie a watch again.  For about $20 you would be silly to pass on this, even if you only have a passing interest in the character.  The execution is perfect and the accessories capture most of the best sight gags in the movie.  Even if you keep things carded, the window box with the poster artwork is fantastic.  Oddly enough there isn’t much to say, I’m very satisfied with this figure and I can’t wait to see what “Ultimate” figures NECA plans to do in the future.*

* – By the way the next Ultimate figure is Leatherface. 

NECA Nightmare on Elm Street Ultimate Freddy Krueger

NECA’s 30th Anniversary Ultimate Freddy Kruger can be had at your usual stores that carry NECA stuff: FYE and Toys “R” Us.  Or you could always try Amazon and just have it shipped to your house.

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1 thought on “NECA 30th Anniversary Ultimate Freddy Krueger Review”

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