Following four series of 7″ scale horror figures, Mezco expands their Cinema of Fear line in smaller form. Three horror icons kicked off the 3 3/4″ scale line – Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Leatherface.

Packaging – 8/10

While some manufacturers are going with larger, excessive packaging (have you seen Mattel’s Avatar figures?), Mezco scales things down a bit with some of the smaller action figure cardbacks you’ll see on the market. The color scheme fits the theme perfectly, offering a dark theme with red logos and highlights, and some original Mezco graphics beneath the figure. Each figure has its movie logo, adding character and individuality to the packaging. The only thing that’s missing is a little artwork or photo snap of the character in action, but the smaller cardback is a fair enough trade-off for this. The figure is fully showcased in a static pose, leaving little likelihood of the rubberlimbing that can occur when figures are cooped up on odd positions for extended time.

Sculpt – 9/10

When you’re talking about horror legends such as the three aforementioned characters, attention to detail is top priority. Mezco hits the nail on the head as much as anyone could in this scale, sculpting a great amount of detail into each figure. Crinkles in clothing, Freddy’s burns, Jason’s mask…all highlights in the finished product that could have easily been overlooked in this scale. The figures are, in general, nicely proportioned and good for both static poses and action shots. Leatherface is the only one that falls out of this category – his apron is sculpted for his bent legs to nest into it, and posing him in a vanilla stance makes the protruding smock look a bit goofy. The high articulation is also pulled off in such a way that the appearance isn’t drastically affected with one exception – there’s not a lot of distinction in where Jason’s shirt meets his pants, and the combination of this and his hip articulation create a very bizarre looking belly/lower torso.

Paint – 8/10

For such small figures, Mezco again delivers in the area of paint application. Each figure has his own degree of layering and shading, primarily in the forms of Freddy’s skin and Leatherface’s smock. And the blood! Yes, there’s blood everything, all over Leatherface, covering Jason’s weapons and on each figure’s display stand. Some of the smaller more intricate details do have a little runover. The cuts on Jason’s unmasked face could have been better confided to the cuts themselves and not the surrounding areas, for instance. My Leatherface had a couple of random green spots in his hair, obviously some slop from the application of his mask paint. Freddy was the strongest of the trio in my case, again with wonderful layering of his skin, a certain degree of dirtiness to his outfit, and great applications on his sweater and glove.

Articulation – 8/10

The smaller scale that these figure offer doesn’t do anything to take away from articulation – if anything, articulation is better in these figure that a lot of 6/7″ scale figures! Jason sports 18 points of articulation – a ball joint head, swivel-hinged shoulders and elbows, swivel hands and feet, a swivel waist and ball-joint hips. Leatherface is given two extra points, with a hinge on each hand to better support his chainsaw. Freddy has two fewer points, having no articulation to his feet, but adds a point with a hinge on his left hand. Even with foot articulation, it doesn’t help the figures get into too drastic of poses. Regardless, these small figures beat out the DCU figures and are close to the likes of the Marvel Universe and G.I. Joe in posability. One thing to watch out for – Leatherface’s extra hand hinges seem to be problematic. I saw a couple that were offline and had a small gap, creating a sloppy appearance.

Accessories – 9/10

For the most part these figures are given exactly what they need – various cutting tools to butcher their prey. For starters, each figure has a blood-spattered stand to help keep them upright. The stands aren’t necessary – they all stand very well on their own – but are nice touches regardless. Jason comes with his trademark machete and an ax as well as a removable mask. Leatherface comes with his trademark chainsaw and a hammer. Freddy comes with his trademark glove (not an accessory, but part of the sculpt), a removable hat and…a garbage can? OK, I don’t exactly get that one, but what else can you give Freddy? Certainly one of his weird, smaller incarnations would have been more desired. One could argue that more weaponry could have been included, but the basics are all here.

Play/Pose – 7/10

Kids probably won’t be doing a lot of playing with these, especially at their price tag ($9.99 each), but if they were they’d have a lot of fun with the high articulation and overall fun factor of playing with murderous madmen. Collectors will find increased value in these due to their posability and accessories that allow a bit more diverse of display options over their larger counterparts.

Closing Thoughts

One might look at the $9.99 price tag on these and gasp, but the reality is that up until recently 3 3/4″ across the board are approaching this price range. Star Wars is a steady $7.49 from store to store, Marvel Universe is over $8.00 pretty much everywhere, DC Infinite Heroes range from $4.99 to $6.99, and G.I. Joe only recently plunged from $7.99 to $5.99 (and no doubt only to clear some movie stock off the shelves in anticipation for 2010). If nothing else, the price will be what keeps collectors away, not the quality. Collectors such as myself that appreciate the art of 3 3/4″ figures will find these to be terrific additions to their small-scale collection, albeit a bit more expensive than most other lines.

MY RATING:

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Freddy Krueger

 

Jason Voorhees

 

Leatherface