By
Westley Smith
What is it about the Friday the 13th figure line that is so attractive to countless people around the world? Is it the love of the Jason character? Fond memories of when we first saw the hockey-masked maniac slashing up victims in the theaters or on VHS? Or is it owning a small piece of film history that we all love so deeply and MUST have it on our shelves as a keepsake from times long past?
Whatever the case, Jason/Friday the 13th is a hot seller in the toy market with no signs of slowing down, so I thought it would be neat to go back and look at some of the Friday the 13th figures that have been created over the last fifteen to twenty years. I will only focus on the highly detailed figure line(s) from Friday the 13th and believe me there are a lot.
As a kid, I would have killed for a Jason Voorhees figure. I remember playing with my G.I. Joes and wanting a 3 ¾ inch Jason to slice and dice his way through countless Joes – I was a morbid little kid (whatever!) - but I had to settle for a G.I. Joe with a mask (similar to a hockey mask) and pretend he was Jason. Hey, it worked and I had fun!
But back in the 1980s and early 1990s times were different and horror figures were something relatively unheard of unless they were in model form. Models were not all that fun, and if you were a kid, you couldn’t play with them with your G.I. Joes.
All of that changed in 1998 when McFarlane (creator of Spawn) released the first set of 7" Movie Maniac figures aimed at the teen and collector market. The Movie Maniac figures were as highly detailed as the other McFarlane toys, including their Spawn line, and were fully poseable with arm, hand, leg, feet, and head articulation. First up in their Movie Maniac line was: Michael Myers, Leatherface, Sil, Patrick, and (drumroll please) Jason Voorhees!
SCORE!
Finally there was a Jason figure that could be used for something other than just sitting on the shelf to look cool and scary, but otherwise useless as it was not poseable.
The first 7" highly detailed Jason figure was billed as Friday the 13th: Jason Voorhees. Though McFarlane’s figure hinted that it was pulled from Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday and included the backer with the Jason Goes to Hell movie poster, the figure really didn’t resemble Jason from the film. What we got was kind of a hybrid Jason that has never been seen in any of the films.
McFarlane's Friday The 13th
Jason Voorhees
It is rather cool that McFarlane’s Jason Voorhees isn’t like any of the other figures out there today, and can stand alone as a one of a kind and isn’t directly linked to the series of films. They would also later create Uber Jason from Jason X.
McFarlane's Jason X
Jason Voorhees
Now the floodgates were open as sales for these highly detailed horror figures sky-rocketed and every toymaker jumped on the horror bandwagon to create their own line of horror figures, and you better believe that Friday the 13th (Jason himself) was included in all of these upcoming lines.
Let’s start with the reigning king of Friday the 13th figure line as of right now: NECA. Over the past fifteen years NECA had been producing high quality figures of licensed brands such as Alien(s), Predator, The Terminator, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street, etc. It is no surprise that they got their hands on the Friday the 13th rights too, and they have produced some of the best Jason figures out there today and it all started with their Cult Classics Line.
Let’s start with the 7” inch plastic figures:
Friday the 13th: Part 2
Double pack Jason and Mrs. Voorhees and shrine playset.
Friday the 13th: Part 2
Jason Voorhees
Friday the 13th: Part 3
Jason Voorhees
(2016 edition)
Friday the 13th: Part 3
Jason Voorhees
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Jason Voorhees
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Two variations of the figure - one with double headed ax (bloody) or machete (not bloody).
Friday the 13th: Part 6: Jason Lives
Jason Voorhees figure and box.
Friday the 13th: Part 7: The New Blood
Jason Voorhees
Freddy vs Jason
Jason Voorhees single pack figure and double pack including Freddy Krueger.
Friday the 13th (2009)
Jason Voorhees
NES Jason Voorhees and musical box
Friday the 13t: The Final Chapter (2017)
As NECA has begun to branch out of just producing 7” inch figures, they also started including a line of retro figures as well. Though they are not as highly detailed as the Sideshow Collectable’s figures, they are still very well made and the detail on each figure is high quality.
Friday the 13th
Mrs. Voorhees and Jason retro figures
Convention Exclusive.
Friday the 13th: Part 2
Jason Voorhees Retro Figure
Friday the 13th: Part 3
Jason Voorhees retro figure.
Friday the 13th: Part 5: A New Beginning
Roy Burns (imposter Jason) Retro Figure.
Friday the 13th: Part 6: Jason Lives!
Jason Voorhees retro figure.
NES Friday the 13th
Retro Jason figure
NECA also released several ¼ scale Jason figures as well.
Friday the 13th: Part 7: A New Blood
18" Jason Voorhees
Freddy vs Jason
19" Jason Voorhees
Friday the 13th (2009)
18" inch Jason Voorhees
MEZCO Toyz created their own line of Friday the 13th figures and were as detailed as NECA's. They introduced their own line of horror figures in the 2000s called "Cinema Of Fear".
Friday the 13th: Part 3
Jason Voorhees
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Jason Voorhees
Friday the 13th: Part 6: Jason Lives!
Jason Voorhees
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
Jason Voorhees
A more accurate representation to the film than the McFarlane version.
Friday the 13th (2009)
Jason Voorhees
There were two different versions - bag and hockey mask.
Mezco also released a 12" Friday the 13th (2009) figure and a 3 3/4 inch figure in that time.
Friday the 13th (2009)
12" inch Jason Voorhees
Friday the 13th
Jason Voorhees 3 3/4 inch
Recently, a 3 3/4 retro figure line was released from ReAction Figures that threw back to toys of the 70s and 80s such as the Star Wars line.
Friday the 13th
Jason Voorhees 3 3/4 inch figure from ReAction
Sideshow Collectables line of Friday the 13th sixth scale figures are probably the most detailed (not to mention the most expensive) and they also feature the only representation of Jason from Jason X before he becomes Uber Jason in the film.
Friday the 13th
Mrs. Voorhees
Friday the 13th: Part 2
Jason Voorhees
Friday the 13th: Part 3
Jason Voorhees
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Jason Voorhees
Friday the 13th: Part 6: Jason Lives!
Jason Voorhees
Friday the 13th: Part 7: The New Blood
Jason Voorhees
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
Jason Voorhees
Freddy vs Jason
Jason Voorhees
Jason X
Jason Voorhees
There are a ton of other figures to talk about that have been created over the years, (bootlegs, POP!) some I may have even missed in the above sections, but these are the ones I know about, and at least for myself and some collectors, that I feel need to be concentrated on as they are the figures with the highest amount of detail for your money and collectable enjoyment.
Let us hear what some of your favorite Jason figures are.
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