When A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors was released in theaters, it completely reinvigorated the franchise. While Freddy’s Revenge was actually more successful at the box office than the original release, it left a lot of horror fans unhappy. The third film was a refocusing of the story, bringing back Heather Langenkamp’s Nancy Thompson and adding a surprising dose of humor to go with the thrills. Freddy Krueger was no longer just a nightmarish murder, but now a darkly funny nightmarish murderer. Fans responded in kind, making the movie, when originally released, the highest grossing of the Nightmare series by a wide margin. Subsequent released would go on to surpass Dream Warriors’ box office total, but they owed much of their success to the third films course correction. Many fans will name Dream Warriors as their favorite (or favorite outside of the original) film in the series. The Freddy Krueger makeup used here became the default look for Freddy, as well as offering other iconic variations, such as the Chest of Souls.
NECA has taken their assorted version of the A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors Freddy Krueger and mashed them up and retooled them into their new Ultimate Freddy Krueger. This releases includes two interchangeable heads, swappable chests, alternate syringe hands, the paper mache Elm Street House and the puppet Freddy. We grabbed the figure from Toyark sponsor Dorkside Toys. We have 90 photos and a review. Read on to check them out.
Related Dorkside Toys Links: Ultimate Dream Warriors Freddy, NECA New Nightmare Freddy Krueger, All Freddy Krueger Collectibles
A Nightmare On Elm St. 3 – Dream Warriors Ultimate Freddy Krueger 7″ Scale Figure
Pros
- Lots of fun accessories
- Great way to combine together multiple figures
- New articulations works well
- Interchangeable chest is a nice touch
- Both head sculpts are excellent
Cons
- Elbows could use more range of motion
Overall
Coming in a collector friendly flapped window box, the Ultimate Dream Warriors Freddy Krueger features the classic poster artwork for the front of the box. The artwork for the many Elm Street posters, by artist Matthew Peak, are some of the most iconic horror movie posters ever created. Having that as the basis for the packaging makes a great display piece on its own. The sides and back of the box showcase a few photos of the included figure. The front opens to reveal the figure inside and a larger photo of Freddy. The figure itself, along with the numerous accessories, are on a plastic tray, held down by a twist tie and some tape. As with all of the Ultimate Edition figures, the box allows for the figure to be opened and placed back in for storage.
For this release, NECA went back to the assorted A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors Freddy’s they’ve done. While those releases all used the same base figure, there were some major accessory and mold differences, especially when it comes to the Chest of Souls version. Thankfully, they have already devised a way to swap out chest pieces for retail releases with their previous Terminator: Genisys and Ultimate T2 T-1000 figures. With that out of the way, NECA decided to essentially throw everything the kitchen sink in here. There are two very different head sculpts included, a set of interchangeable syringe hands, a removable hat, a smaller Puppet Freddy and the paper mache Elm Street house from the opening of the movie. As has become custom, NECA also went in and added articulation to the lower body. That’s a lot to get for under $25.
The actual sculpt is essentially the same as the previous releases from a few years ago. Then, and now, the sculpts were excellent. NECA has always had a knack for Freddy sculpts, and this one nails the iconic look from the film. The intricate burn marks on the face and hands are wonderfully detailed, and work in tandem with the realistic cloth-like texture of the sweater and the more subtly detailed texture on the pants. The hat is made of a softer vinyl, giving it some flexibility when positioning it on the two head sculpts. Articulation is good here, with great movement in the neck, shoulders, waist, hips, knees and ankles. The one spot that could have used a bit of extra movement is the elbows. Being able to bring the glove or syringe hands up to the face would have allowed for a few additional classic poses. Not a deal breaker though. The new articulation in the legs is excellent and is on par with the changes made to the New Nightmare Freddy. Paint work is probably the most impressive part of the figure. Freddy has a brighter red and green on the sweater and more naturalistic colors on the burned skin and glove. The eyes on both head sculpts are handled well, with no oddly placed pupils. The layered paint work here gives a very dirty look to Freddy’s burns. It never feels overdone and adds to the creepy look of the figure.
If you’re a Freddy Krueger fan who isn’t into NECA’s Mego style releases, then this is the figure to get. While the 1st Ultimate Freddy featured his debuting look in the original Em Street, his changes for part 3 became the enduring look of the character. There’s a lot to love here and plenty of ways to display the figure. You can see a few highlight photos below, with a gallery of 90 photos after that.
CompaniesNECA
CharactersFreddy Krueger
Scale7 Inch