First off, allow me to welcome you to the Toybox! A new section where we will discuss and talk about some of the great things that lurk around in our collection that wouldn't be showcased in any other article. Think of this as a sort of "catch-all" for any and everything interesting we want to share from our personal collection. Without further ado, lets get started...
When it comes to movies, it doesn't get much better than horror. Especially slasher films... Guts, gore, nudity, vulgarity, and a total plethora of memorable movie monsters and hideous villains to boot! Horror is the genre that pushes the boundaries of both viewers and the industry, there's nothing quite like cuddling up in a blanket and watching your choice of serial killer devastate a local neighborhood.
However, Friday the 13th (1989) for the NES conjures up no such imagery. Powered by one of the most iconic movie monsters of the last 40 years, the game is plagued by mediocre controls, difficult mechanics, and quite possibly some of the worst map design to ever be green-lit for a video game. Behind this infamous trash heap is the New Jersey-based company LJN a company with a very long standing history in creating some of the worst games to launch during the era of the NES and SNES.
As with anything that lives in infamy, there is a cult following that quickly ensues. The exposure grows and people start to become attached to it. One of the best examples of the game getting launched into that "cult status" in the modern era would be by none other than the legendary James Rolfe. His halloween series of AVGN videos ended up covering two of LJN's horror games. One of which was Friday the 13th. From there, it's circulated around various other gaming circles in homages and tributes. Like the notably purple NES skin in the Friday the 13th: The Game (2017) and Mortal Kombat X (Click to View Image).
Funny enough, another New Jersey company would pick up the some pieces of the legacy that LJN left behind with Friday the 13th. National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) is a company that produces high quality collectibles based around entertainment media. They have the rights to a ton of licenses; which has allowed them to take some retro IPs and turn them into very unique and awesome collectibles that no other toy maker has tapped into. I'm most specifically referring to their Reel Toys line which features accurately detailed figures and toys based around movies and video games.
Take a look at the gallery below, there's just countless figures to choose from and they all look spectacular! Funny enough, if you pay attention to them a decent majority of these are from pretty crummy games with some obvious exceptions of course.
Needless to say, I've spent countless days window shopping these figures on Amazon, eBay, and a ton of other sites. However, the whole "buying things online" proved to be a solid deterrent for a while. I prevented myself from burning a complete hole in my wallet until eventually I came face to face with one while browsing at Slackers in the local mall. After that, all bets were off and I was inevitably sucked in to buying one.
Thus, we now come full circle to the previous story and where I am now. The figure I bought was none other than Jason Voorhees. Granted he's not the one I wanted the most out of that series (that honor belongs to Mr. Freddy Kruger), I just couldn't bring myself to say no.
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And I can simply say I do not regret it, as I expected from the tireless hours of researching these figures they are high quality from top-to-bottom and do not disappoint in the visual department. Funny enough, there's also an audio department as well. The box has built in speakers that play the Cabin Theme from the game, unfortunately, the batteries were dead and I have yet to replace them. From the five or so seconds I could get the dying batteries to muster up, I thought it sounded pretty good at least. *shrug*
As with any collecting hobby, it starts to turn into an obsession. So I've begun hunting down the rest of the line out in the wild. As life would have it, I recently struck gold again. This time at Grumpy Bob's Emporium based out of Maryville, Illinois. Hidden away in this treasure trove of a store was some truly awesome figures including the MegaDrive Megatron that I've been hunting for years (the asking price was too steep, so I had to pass). Tucked away on a high shelf was the Batman NES NECA figure and without missing a beat, I scooped it up and took it home with me to pair with Jason.
So, if you happen to find yourself itching for a cool set of toys to collect, I wholeheartedly recommend NECA's "Classic Video Game Series" of figures. They are fantastic and make a great display piece with their prominent art on the boxes.
Next on my list is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade NECA figures... They come at a steep price, but considering that it's my favorite arcade game of all time I see the wallet spontaneously combusting in a few months. Until then, these two are more than enough to get me started.
