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PASSING JUDGEMENT

Llama Comics Reviews

Neca's Tim Burton's
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Series 6 Jack Skellington 

by: Matt of Steel 


It is hard to believe that this line has gotten to
six series before I grabbed a Jack Skellington. This could be because while there has been a Jack in every series he was always in an alternate form after the first series. 

Saw this guy in a Hot Topic and thought, "I'm too much of a fan of the film to not own this character ever."

Am I happy I bought this?  Keep reading...

PACKAGING:  
Your basic clamshell.  Easy to store for you mint-on-carders, but impossible to put back together once breeched.  It displays the items well and takes up just enough space.  The graphics are the same they have used for the series and work fine.
   SCORE: 4 out of 5

  EASE OF ESCAPE:
Clamshells are known for being difficult to tear into.  That is why I always have an Xacto knife on hand.  I cut a window in the back large enough to pull the inner tray out.  Then you only have six twist ties to deal with that are holding Jack in place.  His accessories are all form fitted to the tray making them an easy pop out.  About two minutes time spent on removal, not the easiest but far from annoying. 
SCORE: 4 out of 5

Jack in Box

 

  Jack out of Box

 

SCULPT:
 Same figure from Series 1.  Actually the basic same body from each series.  Hey why re-invent the wheel?  He works well.  Not the hardest thing to capture in a small plastic toy form.  Since the figure from the movie was actually an armature-based puppet you are basically making a smaller less articulated version.  Still this could have easily been messed up.  He's in total proportion with his movie counterpart.  His face (mouth especially) and hands (joints especially) are well done sculpt wise.  They could have skipped and had them simply paint the smile and finger joint lines but they sculpted them giving them the proper pop and weight they need. 
SCORE: 5 out of 5

PAINT:
Given that this figure is only black and white, they came quite close.  No cigar though.  I have customized a fair amount of figures.  I have dealt with the horrors of painting thin lines.  But I am a hobbist and these are professionals with machines.  While the lines never cross they do bend and skew at places.  Only noticeable if you look with the "critical eye of doomy doom" that I typically employ when passing my llama judgement.    Just good enough to not destroy the figure (like the purple movie Venom) but not beyond awesome. 
SCORE: 3 out of 5 

ARTICULATION:  
  Straight up the same as other Jacks.  They didn't break the mold, they just reused it.  Still it is a fair amount given his scarecrow-like build.  21 points in total if you are counting.  He has the double ball jointed neck thing I see sometimes.  It is jointed at the shoulders and at the base of the (literally) skull.  This works because only having a single ball joint would not have a llowed for much facial positioning, but allowing his neck to tilt adds to the characterizations allowed.

The joints are mostly solid.  Mine has a loose right elbow that won't stay fully bent (I can fix it but many buyers wouldn't know how).  Also the cut joints in general seem to be in danger of popping loose.  They don't match up fully flush on both sides meaning that there is an ever so slight angle in the arm and legs at that point.  A more advanced elbow joint would have fixed this like the ones that some of the Hasbro Marvel Legends are using.  

I rate articulation on both how effective it is in making and holding different poses.  But I also rate it on how it hides itself into the figure.  Perfect articulation would give us a statue like pose no matter how they are arranged.  Sometimes we get darn close, this guy falls in the middle. 

He does have some unique stances but he can't touch his own head.  His hips don't allow his legs to bend up enough to let him sit naturally in his chair.  I understand NECA isn't know for their articulation but they haven't even tried to update this guy in six series.  Come on.
  SCORE: 3 out of 5

 

  Jack joints


SCALE:
He sits about 7 inches tall (don't make me measure him) which works for his figures.  This also means that he doesn't look too odd next to 1/12th scale figures like DC Direct or Marvel Legends.   He was quite tall compared to normal humans in the movie.  

ACCESSORIES:
There are five accessories here: 
his desk, microscope, scissors,
chair, and display stand.

Well the display stand is pretty basic.  If he isn't using the chair he'll need this.  The scissors are fairly boring as he has nothing to cut, at least they have a joint so they function.  Too bad his hands aren't molded to hold them well.  His afforementioned chair is a perfect match the one in the film.  The way his coat tails are designed they kind of "clip" onto the chair which helps him from falling off.  You do have to get creative with the leg placement so he doesn't tip over though.  The microscope is nice to see as it oozes the unique Tim Burton design.  Lastly the rather elegant desk fits with the theme of the accessories well.  Jack looks good sitting at his desk (on my computer desk) with all of his trinkets.  I could have done with a little more accessories but this is a fine amount.

SCORE: 4 out of 5

 

 Jack accessories

CUSTOMING OPTIONS:
Um, yeah.  He's not a good base for much due to his limited
range in articulation.  The best thing to customize Jack
into is... another form of Jack.  The thing about this
character is that his uniqueness in design is on the level
of South Park characters.  Though if you are itching
for some kind of challenge, try molding his head and
sculpting alterations in the copies to give you the
many faces of Jack in this scale
 .


FINAL THOUGHTS:

So am I happy I bought him?  Yeah.  He hasn't blown me away, but it is an upper level piece in quality and design.  There is some paint
slop issues and a little bit of loose joints but mostly a well made figure that even though he is ever so thin... I don't worry about breaking.  If you missed getting normal Jack in series 1, this is
a fine version to fill the void. 
 

FINAL SCORE
(not an average)

4 out of 5

Oct 30, 2007

 

 Final Jack

 


DC Comics images copyright 2006 DC Comics or Respective Owner. Marvel images copyright 2006 Marvel Entertainment or Respective Owner.
All other images copyright 2006 Respective Owners.