"Slasher:
Made from the bodies of their victims, the Slashers are Necromorphs with the sole purpose of creating more corpses. They relentlessly hunt the living, prowling in ventilation ducts and jumping out when least expected to eviscerate their prey. They possess a decentralized nervous system and can only be killed by dismembering their limbs."
Sculpt:
Having played the first "Dead Space" so many times, I was surprised at the accurate sculpt of the hideous Necromorph Slasher figure. Regardless of whether you've ever heard of Dead Space, let alone even played the game, this Slasher is one ugly mother in action figure form.
For those who haven't played any of the Dead Space video games or read any of the graphic novels, you can tell the Necromorph used to be human; just look at its receding hairline and (yes) its nipples. The ripped apart flesh with all the sinewy red "meat" is extremely detailed and looks so real that it sometimes makes me feel a bit sick. If you've come across any interviews behind the design of the Necromorph, you'll feel just as sick as I did.
The Necromorph's rib cage pokes through the almost-hollowed out flesh in the front of the torso, which you can follow all the way to the back where the spinal cord and the rest of the rib cage is now exposed. You can also catch a glimpse of the partially exposed (and mutilated) pelvis along with the partially exposed shoulder blades.
Probably due to the lack of space, the soles of the Slasher's feet don't have the "NECA 20XX Made in China" stamp (that stamp is now placed less noticeably on the back of Slasher's right leg). Instead, we have sinewy pieces of flesh detailed on the soles of the Necromorph.
The Necromorph seems to be much more smaller in comparison to Advanced Suit Isaac and Mining RIG Isaac. It could be due to the heavy armor, but that doesn't seem to be the case when compared with Advanced Suit Isaac (since the Advanced Suit is less bulky). Screenshots from the video game of Necromorphs taking a bite out of Isaac are either equal in size or slightly larger. Also due to its small feet, the Slasher has trouble standing even with the base. The base peg needs to be a lot taller and the Slasher's feet need to be wider.
*It would be really cool to see an alternate [Enhanced/Super] Necromorph figure, with the dark-colored flesh tones with the equally intimidating glowing eyes for this year's San Diego Comic Con.*
Articulation:
The Slasher is articulated with: ball-jointed neck, ball-jointed shoulders, swivel elbows, ball-jointed wrists, ball-jointed "claws", ball-jointed [extra] clawed hands (from its stomach), ball-jointed hips, swivel knees, and swivel ankles.
To maintain video game accuracy, NECA incorporated the "removable limbs" feature for the Necromorph figure. While this is a bit on the gimmicky side (also innovative), it works really well. However, the biggest issue I had with the "removable limbs" feature is to distinguish which limbs were actually removable. A little cheat sheet would've been helpful. I was able to safely pull off the Slasher's: head, arms, and legs with little or no trouble. I managed to even pull off the elbow (but I wouldn't recommend it; shoving it back in is a bit more of a hassle than the rest of the body parts). I have to mention the Slasher's "removable limbs" feature is a huge improvement over NECA's Resident Evil 25th Anniversary Zombie figure (although the Zombie's removable limbs came off easily, they were much harder to put back on).
The Necromorph wasn't endowed with any articulation in the waist. However, I did find a slight line that circled around the Necromorph (mid-torso), which neatly aligns with the spines in its back. The absence of any waist articulation is probably due to the cost of tooling.
However, with all that aside, this is still a highly-articulated figure that NECA tends to produce from time to time. I would love to see more articulated figures from them.
Paint Application:
Aside from a splotch of black paint on the right leg, everything is just fine. As expected, there are massive amounts of blood dripping from all over the place. This is a perfect example of how great sculpting and having the right paint application can make a figure look really really [disgustingly] good.
Accessories:
 |
| "Momma?" |
Not including the removable limbs, there's only one accessory: a glossy basic plastic base.
Packaging:
Due to the massive amount of space the Slasher figure took up, NECA resorted back to using the larger clamshell packaging (probably also used to prevent the arms and legs sculpt from being crushed), which works quite well. The background design of the packaging [of Advanced Suit Isaac's face] is nice, no doubt taken from the video game cover of "Dead Space 2". However, the background design from the first "Dead Space" action figure packaging with the shadows of the incoming Necromorphs is no doubt still the best package design.
Interestingly, the slightly enlarged photo of the Necromorph Slasher at the bottom left of the packaging shows a slightly pissed Necromorph with gaping eye holes.
Price:
 |
| ::angry Splicer yell:: |
I pre-ordered Isaac Clarke through CornerStoreComics for a total of $40.14 (this also included a Necromorph figure) and from an eBay seller (also purchased together with the Necromorph) for $34.42.
The Good:
* The highly anticipated Necromorph finally makes its appearance in plastic form!
* Extremely (and disgustingly) detailed Necromorph Slasher figure!
* Highly articulated.
* Video game accurate sculpt.
The Bad:
* Size of Necromorph is a bit small.
* Has trouble standing on its own from time to time, which limits the number of action poses.
* One accessory.
The Ugly:
* The long wait it took to finally get this figure in my grubby hands!
Score:
