Tag Archives: leatherface

Oct 31 2018

Savage World (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre): Leatherface by Funko

The day is finally here, my week long Twitter #HalloweenCountdown has reached Halloween, and I haven’t managed to get through nearly as much new stuff as I wanted. How the hell did I used to find the time to do five reviews a week? Nonetheless, I’m not going down without a fight and I’m back this afternoon to check out another one of Funko’s Savage World Slashers. Who will survive? And what will be left of them? Let’s find out…

Yes, Funko decided that they weren’t filling up those landfills in New Jersey fast enough with all the Pop!s and WobblerZ and Dorbs and whatever the hell they make, so now they’re shipping horror movie slashers with He-Man figures. What idiot buys this stuff? ME!!! And here is the obligatory packaged shot. You get a good look at the figure if you want to hang him on the wall carded. Otherwise, it’s time to do some slashing of your own to get him out because this card-and-bubble is decidedly un-collector-friendly.

And despite the Masters of the Universe makeover, there’s no doubt who this is supposed to be! Funko took all the key points of old Leatherface and did some tweaking, but the results are pretty damn cool. His shirtless upper body advertises his impressive new physique that makes me wonder just what them boys are putting in all that chili he eats. He’s got a sculpted apron with some wear and tear, as well as stitching, and it’s accessorized with a hook on a chain that girds it around his pinched waist. Toss in some splattered blood and the result is c’est magnifique.

I’ve pointed out my appreciation for the little details on the other two Savage World figures I reviewed and the same holds true here. Leatherface actually has a sculpted furry loincloth layered under his apron, which is pretty cool. He also has the furry barbarian boots with the stitching up the backs, and his right left arm features a long leather glove.

While Freddy’s portrait was a bit of a reach, Leatherface falls more in the Michael Meyers camp in having a pitch-perfect head sculpt. The DIY human-hide mask is haphazardly stitched and his real skin is peeking out around the mouth and eye holes. I also dig his crazy black hair.

Leatherface’s right arm is fitted with a contraption that would make Ash Williams proud, and that’s a medieval-looking chainsaw grafted onto the end of his forearm. This is where most of the liberties are taken with this design, but it looks great and I really dig it.

There’s even an extra attachment in the form of this goofy wooden mallet. Hey, that people meat don’t tenderize itself, amiright?

While I’ve been enjoying all of the figures in this line quite a bit, I’m going to have to rank Leatherface here as my favorite so far. They really did a nice job adapting the character to this ridiculous format. Sure, he’s clearly Leatherface, but he also looks like some crazy medieval butcher out of one of those B-movie Sword-and-Sandals flicks. So, maybe this is just a nonsensical license-mashing cash-grab on Funko’s part, but it’s hard to deny that they’re putting some real love into it.

And that wraps it up for my #HalloweenCountdown, but I’m not quite done with the spooky stuff for the week, because tomorrow starts my #HalloweenAfterParty where I’ll try to squeeze in a few more horror-themed reviews before the end of the week!

Oct 25 2010

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: 1:6 Scale Leatherface by McFarlane

I wanted to do a few things for Halloween week. I mean, I’m already going to watch a different favorite horror film every night this week and eat half of the bag of bite-sizes Snickers that I bought for the trick-or-treaters, but I aslo wanted to throw out some Halloween themed toy reviews. Unfortunately, I don’t have all that many horror themed figures, which kind of surprised me, since I’m such a fan of the film genre. Once upon a time I had a whole bunch of McFarlane’s horror creations, but not so much these days. So I figured, I’d just do what I can. Let’s go right for the jugular, with the biggest and most impressive horror piece I have left. McFarlane’s giant tribute to Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

I’ve had this guy for quite a few years now, so the packaging is long gone. I do remember it came in a huge window box, which I probably would have saved. But this figure, or statue if you prefer, usually gets tossed into a storage tote along with my assortment of spook-decor after Halloween is over. I tend to give McFarlane a hard time because they spent a long time trying to pass off semi-articulated statues as action figures, but this 1:6 scale Leatherface is standing proof that McFarlane new how to craft a great looking statue… er, figure… whatever.

The figure itself is simply amazing. All too often, we’re used to seeing these large scale statues turn out to be just soft, hollow rotorcast. Not Leatherface, here. He’s a hundred percent solid plastic. If I threw Leatherface at your head, it would most certainly hurt like a bastard. He’s got all the heft of a nice chainsaw. Although his shirt and apron are actually separate rubbery plastic, which you can feel come away from the core body. Every inch of this sculpt is pure love. The skin mask almost looks like it’s removable, and there are a ton of wrinkles in his shirt, apron and trousers. Even the rings on his fingers are present, and of course, Leatherface is classy enough to wear a necktie along with his mask made out of human skin. It’s just an all around freakishly great likeness. The chainsaw is pretty huge and it is fully removable from Leatherface’s hand. It’s also chock full of detail, especially around the blade and the controls on the handle.

The paint apps are nothing to sneeze at either. Granted, this isn’t a bright and cheery figure, but there’s a ton of excellent detail work. The individual stripes on his shirt are painted on, and the wash on his mask, particularly around the eye holes is fantastic. The dried blood on the chainsaw is just the icing on the gore cake. There could be some slop here and there, but truthfully, this guy is so nasty, how would you even know?

As expected with McFarlane, this figure has just a few points of articulation. His head can turn and he has swivel cuts on each arm. He’s basically designed to be holding the chainsaw aloft in one hand, although you can have it facing outward or turn it back in toward himself. I think I would have preferred him holding it in both hands, or perhaps even above his head like he’s doing his trademark chainsaw dance. But this is still a decent enough stance.

McFarlane also went all out with the backdrop. Leatherface comes with a base that is nicely sculpted and littered with bones and an old rusted skinning knife. There’s a gallows that towers above him, which comes with a couple of hooks and a winch with a real tattered looking piece of twine rope. There’s a nice delapidated wood grain texture on the gallows, and it just adds a ridiculous amount of height to this whole display. Oh yeah, the set also comes with an extra severed arm that you can place whever you like, or just save it for later to snack on.

I seem to recall Leatherface retailing for around $29.99. At least that used to be the price point of these bigger McFarlane pieces. I’m pretty sure I got this guy at Spencer Gifts during one of their post-Halloween sales and I don’t think I paid more than $15 for him. Either way, he’s well worth the money. A lot of work went into bringing this guy to life.

In retrospect, it’s funny I own this and not a big Jason or Freddy Krueger, because Leatherface is my least favorite of the Big Three of slasher horror icons. Of course, that’s probably a compliment, since I can sit back and laugh at Jason and Freddy’s antics, but the Texas Chainsawmovies are just fucked up and uncomfortable to watch. And that’s what true horror should be about. Either way, the reason I hung on to this as long as I had is because it’s just so damn impressive and no doubt an example of some of McFarlane’s finest work, before they turned into a company that now seems content to just churn out sports and Halo figures. Sigh.