Doll-A-Day 2023 #201: The Ultimate Chucky Figure

   Okay. Take a close look at this one, because it's something I'm sure you'll never see from me again: a doll from a horror movie! 

I don't do this type of horror movie normally. My taste in horror movies generally runs to your old classics, like 1945's "Dead of Night", 1941's "The Wolfman", and 1931's "Dracula",  (And don't get me started on how much I love "Mark of the Vampire" until that ending screws things up.), with the random modern movie like 1978's "Magic" and 1983's "Something Wicked This Way Comes" thrown in. I only occasionally stray into more gory territory for special things like the original  "An American Werewolf in London". (It was scary, and funny.) I don't do slasher movies. (Although I do love a good Jack the Ripper book or movie, like 1979's "Murder by Decree".) I'm sure most of you will agree that the last thing you want to be thinking about as you go to bed, in a house full of dolls, is an evil, murderous doll. (But I do love the 1975 TV movie "Trilogy of Terror", and the list of my favourites, above, includes two, count 'em, TWO movies about 'live' ventriloquist dummies.) 

  But "Child's Play", a horror movie from 1988, about a murderous doll, possessed by the spirit of a serial killer, was always too much for me. I actually tried to watch it once. I had to keep flipping channels when it got too scary, and coming back. I'm not sure I finished it. Fuzz was always scared of Chucky, the possessed doll, without ever seeing the movie. That's one reason I ever looked at today's doll in the first place. While shopping once I pulled the package off the shelf and joked to Ken. "I'm going to get this for Fuzz for Christmas." But then I opened the flap and actually looked at the doll. He was cute! 

He is four inches tall, and I joked to Ken that he was just the right size to be a friend for Fuzzy the Doll. 

  I discovered I wouldn't really have minded owning the good version of Chucky included in the set. But I didn't want the other heads, and I definitely wouldn't have paid the $30plus for it. 

  The set is made by Neca, which does some really good figures.

 

It's recommended for ages 17 & up, just like a movie.

There were some really well made miniature accessories in the set, but while I wouldn't have minded the little hammer, or the yard stick, or maybe even the miniature version of the clear front box the doll came in in the movie, I don't need a bunch of tiny murder weapons. This set originally also came with several knives, a gun, a straight razor, and a baseball bat.

Just like it says on the box.

Okay. So why do I have this Chucky then? Because I found this box at the bin store on $1 day, and thought it was some of the accessories advertised on the sides of the box. I thought, those will be neat little miniatures. I didn't know that the sides of the box are just reproductions of the sides of the doll box from the movie. 

Those sets aren't really available. 

  The back of the box shows what the back of the movie doll's box looked like, and a bunch of gross pictures of the doll inside this box.

After toting the box around in my cart for ages while I shopped, I finally opened the front flap and found that it was actually the doll I had seen at Target, the cute little guy. 

So I was pleased. For $1, I'd get him. But he did come with an extra head I didn't want.

Even if it is well made.

Because the doll originally came with four heads in all. This one has longer, straggly hair, because, according to what I read, the voo doo spell the killer used to put himself in the doll's body would, over time, cause the doll to become more human, thus the doll got a receding hairline, etc, like the real guy had.

 

The regular head has a sort of side part bowl cut.

His heads pop on and off easily, but hold tightly.

 It's a ball joint, so he can turn his head, and tilt it.

  I can't speak as well of his hand joints. He came with 3 extra hands too, but I only got the two on the body, and I found that his hands didn't stay on as well as his head. 

They kept falling off.

But then, I guess your head is more important.

He's very  jointed.

And he can stand well on his own.

Officially he's supposed to have 'over 20 points of articulation', but I'm only counting 13. What am I missing here?

One thing he can't do very well, is sit down.

That seems to be at least partially due to his overalls. They're a rubber overlay piece and the crotch ends in that point. It seems to be in the way of his legs pulling up any further so he can sit down all the way. I guess horror movie villains don't spend a lot of time relaxing.

  His overalls have all the pictures printed on them, just like the ones in the movie.

They even have tiny 'buttons'.

  He also has red tennis shoes.

And they look just like My Buddy shoes! Read on.

  And let me say this one more time: Chucky was NOT based on That Kid! Chucky's look was (very obviously) suggested by the My Buddy doll. The screenwriter of the first movie, Don Mancini claimed that his inspiration for the movie was 1980's consumerism, and marketing directed at children. He also named the early 80's Cabbage Patch craze, Freddy Kruger from "Nightmare on Elm Street", and the movies "Poltergiest", "Magic", and "Trilogy of Terror", along with the Talky Tina episode of  The Twilight Zone! (Umm...yes I did mention two of those movies...) He also said he was left wanting to make a movie about a killer doll after reading "The Dollhouse Murders" by Betty Ren Wright! I do still have to do that one for the Doll Book of the Month Club.

  That's it for today. Sorry if I creeped anyone out. See you tomorrow for something less horrific!