SIDESHOW TOYS' JASON VOORHEES 1/6 FIGURE (FRIDAY 13TH PART III)

The world of 1/6 scale figures is a strange one. A worldwide web of people manufacturing relatively small runs of custom headsculpts, clothing and accessories. Amazing works for the most part. Collectors banding together to get the figures that they always dreamed of without a company paying the big bucks for the licence.

A niche market in an already niche market of adult collectables, for the last decade or so Sideshow Collectables have been arguably the biggest name in the game providing US & UK distribution for other companies as well as  producing their own products.

The rise of the Far East Companies such as Hot Toys, Medicom and Enterbay in the past 5 years has been meteoric with the quality of the figures and sculpts taking immeasurable leaps forwards with realistic skin texture, body builds, paint jobs and the tailoring of the outfits getting better all the time.

However, back in the early 2000's there was only one place to go for your one-sixth fix. Sideshow Toys.

In 2003 Horror fans like myself nearly wet our pants with excitement when the announcement was made that Sideshow would be releasing figures under a 'House of Horror' banner. One of these figures was my own personal dream figure. A figure of Jason Voorhees from Friday 13th Part III.

This was the movie that introduced the iconic Hockey Mask look to the world, a watershed moment for modern horror and also, capturing the last wave of the older technology, shot in 3-D. Old school red/green 3D and featuring many 3D tricks that add to the fun of the movie when watching in in good old 2D with friends. To this day I have never seen it in 3D but imagine it to have been a fantastic experience at the time.

As a younger man this was one of the very first horror films that I was able to see and therefore holds a very special place in my heart.

The price of this figure was $40.00 which now in the days of 1/6 figures costing upwards of $200.00 almost seems like a giveaway and to me, as I hope to show you, the figure can still hold its own among even recent releases.

Put together on the Sideshow 'Big Boy' buck the figure stands at just over 13 inches tall with the bulk added by way of padding underneath the costume.

This doesn't look anywhere near as bad as, on paper, it should and gives the figure, to the eye, the correct shape and build for Richard Brooker's onscreen appearance as Pamela's little boy.

This was also something that I feel was lost on the subsequent releases of the incarnations from the other movies. None of them, bar the Freddy vs Jason release had the imposing build that this masked marauder needs.

Decked out in a blood spattered workshirt, boots and pants with the trademark machete and hockey mask. This figure is the ultimate in iconic representations of a character. The tailoring on the clothing is still really good showing the care for the figures that used to be de-rigeur for Sideshow.

 

Adding to the 'look' of Jason from the movie is a pair of sculpted hands that really capture the way the hands are held by the actor adding a subtle yet awesome dimension to the ‘realism’ of the product.

Under the mask however is where the figure truly comes alive with an excellent sculpt that is easily comparable to the most up to date figure releases.

The hideous, disfigured form of Jason is where this figures truly shines and the facial expression is perfectly captured, taken from the reveal in the last ditch attempt at escape from the third act of the movie.

The figure originally came with a specific ‘Part 3’ stand but I long ago changed it out so that all of my Jason’s were on uniform stands. However, it was the standard sideshow type stand as you see pictured below enabling you to grip the figure around the waist for steadiness and hide the holder underneath the clothing.

This was, quite simply, Sideshow hitting their stride before the game-changing days of the Star Wars license acquisition when they still retained the feel of a ‘garage workshop’ but married that up with a look and a corporate environment that was all their own.

Nearly a decade later it remains one of my all-time favourite pieces in my collection and is still one of the more sought after figures from Sideshow’s past on the secondary market.

Pick one up if you can find it…it’s worth every penny but it’s unlikely you’ll find one at retail price these days.