Exclusive First Look at NECA’s Hellraiser Ultimate Pinhead Figure – Toyark Photo Shoot

In 1987, Clive Barker unleashed a modern horror masterpiece in Hellraiser. The film is far more complex than a simple slasher or monster film, as the Cenobites are almost background characters. Their short time on screen, and Pinhead’s articulate and intelligent demeanor, only made them more terrifying. In fact, Pinhead is never named in the film. At the time, he was known, officially, as the Lead Cenobite or Hell Priest. The effects crew simply began referring to the character as Pinhead, and it stuck. Clive Barker himself was never a fan of the name, as he felt it was undignified for a character of his stature. In his own follow up novels, the character was referred to as Hell Priest. However, horror fans have taken to the Pinhead name, and the character has become one of the most recognizable horror creations of the late 80’s.

The film itself centers around Kristy, a young girl moving into a new home with her father and step-mother. When they arrive, she comes to realize that Frank, her uncle, is hiding out their. Frank, having escaped hell after opening a puzzle box that summons the sadistic Cenobites, requires blood sacrifices to make himself whole again. When Kristy accidentally solves the box herself, she summons the Cenobites, who plan to take her to their domain. Kristy attempts to strike a deal, leading the Cenobites to her uncle in the hopes they will take him instead.

Thanks to our friends at NECA, we have the first in-hand look at the new Pinhead Ultimate 7″ Scale Figure. Pinhead begins shipping to retailers in early 2020. It’s NECA’s first new 7″ scale Hellraiser figure in about 15 years. After the jump, you can see a full photo gallery and review of the highly anticipated figure.

Hellraiser – Pinhead Ultimate 7″ Scale Figure by NECA Toys

Pros

• Fantastic new sculpt
• Excellent head sculpts
• Great paint work
• Solid articulation
• Wired skirt is a nice touch
• Heads and hands are very easy to swap out
• Lament Configurations look great

Cons

• Pins do feel a bit large

Overall
Pinhead is packed in the standard flapped window box that is used for all of NECA’s Ultimate Figures. The front features great artwork by artist Justin Osbourn, who does a ton of horror designs for Fright Rags. The art itself appeared on a Fright Rags shirt back in 2017. The back features a few photos showcasing the figure and accessories. Pinhead include two swap out portraits, multiple interchangeable hands, a regular and a solved Lament Configuration (puzzle box), and assorted blade weapons.

I missed out on the original Pinhead, and the entire Hellraiser line from NECA when it hit in 2003 and 2004. The line was fairly comprehensive, featuring a number of Cenobites from the film, along with a skinless Frank, among other releases. While the original line lacks the modern articulation of today’s NECA releases, the figures are considered some of NECA’s best of the time. Fans will be expecting a lot of any new Hellraiser releases. I’m happy to say, fans should be quite pleased with this new Ultimate Pinhead Figure.

The figure is an all-new sculpt, with full articulation, swap out parts, and a few accessories. The figure and head sculpts are excellent, and look to be a nice improvement over the original releases when I compared it to photos of the classic releases. The portraits look pretty spot on to actor Doug Bradley. The outfit features intricate sculpt work throughout, giving it a life-like leather look. The figure has well over 20 points of articulation, including double jointed elbows, making poses from the film quite easy. Joints on this figure were tight, but not paint locked. They held their poses without issue, and the figure has a nice weight to it, and never tipped over while shooting. Paint work here is top notch, with a very glossy black used for the costume, and multiple paint layers used for the portraits, hands, and bloody tears in the flesh. Areas like the eyes and mouth have clear and crisp color transitions, with no paint bleed that was apparent.

As soon as the figure was announced, fans wondered how they were going to be able to swap out the head sculpts. The pins on the head are fairly prominent. While they are definitely large in comparison to the film version, there’s not much more you can do short of using metal pins here (which can present a whole host of issues). However, in hand they look perfectly fine. To my surprise, the head sculpts swapped out far more easily than I expected. The pins themselves are actually a softer plastic, so there’s no fear in snapping them off the head sculpts. Also, NECA made the peg connection just loose enough, so that almost no force is required to remove or snap on the head sculpts. The same can be said for the hands, which swap out far easier than most other figures. I never once had to break out the hair dryer, which I had at the ready, especially after seeing how glossy the black paint was.

Pinhead has a fabric skirt here, and the bottom has a very thing, very flexible wire inside. It had the same feel as a grocery store twist ties, which allowed me to keep the skirt from interfering with the feet as I posed the figure for the photos. The included blades can all attach to a thin string that hangs off of Pinhead’s waist. Pinhead includes grip hands, which allow him to hold the weapons as well. he two Lament Configurations are surprisingly well detailed, with printed on details. Both a standard box, and a completed puzzle are included.

This is a really fantastic release from NECA. The figure looks great in hand, has nice articulation, great paint work, and some really nice accessories. Fans will be pleasantly surprised by how easy parts swap out as well. Check out a selection of photos below, and the full gallery after that.

Some of the backgrounds featured in pics below are from Extreme-Sets.com. Enter code TOYARK at checkout and get 15% off your order!