Sometimes it takes years, even decades for a pop culture movie, television show or cartoon to get the action figure or collectible treatment. In fact, some of the most geek popular shows and movies never get licensed products. So you can imagine how unusual this is for a movie that's just now hitting DVD and Blu-ray and one that didn't get a theatrical nod to have actual products released...

Follow up:

Trick r Treat is a film written and directed by Michael Dougherty, based on his own short film Season's Greatings. The film was originally completed and ready to distribute for Halloween 2007, but pushed it to 2008. Then, they dropped it entirely for 2008, and a new distributor had to be found. Then Warner Brothers backpedaled and put it back on the list for 2009, but as a direct to DVD release. Which leads us to our fantastic Trick 'R Treat week here on the Bid.

I won't even get into why this film didn't get its day in the sunshine playing nationwide in the theatres because there is nothing we can do about that now. We are left with it on the rental shelf and DVD and Blu-Ray and you know what that is fine with me, as long as this film is in the hands of true horror fans all will be well because the community knows what the true gem they have.

We're reviewing this now because although this figure has been available for over a year it really doesn't mean much until you actually see this film. Something we hope you've done by now or at least will do this weekend. :-) Also this is the figure you will win if you win the pumpkin carving contest, so why not right?



The movie looked so good, that two companies picked up the license to produce collectibles before it was ever released. Sideshow and NECA both planned for the main character, Sam, to make it into action figure form.

We looked at Sideshow's a few months ago, and now NECA's is in the spotlight due to the release of the film.

You'll pay around $13 - $15 for this guy, depending on the retailers.


Packaging - 5 out of 5

NECA has stayed with the clamshell packaging, which works great for specialty market figures. You'll have to carve Sam out, but that's just what he's hoping for.

NECA also included a photo of the character himself on the front, instead of just shots of the toy. I always consider that a plus.


Sculpting - 3 1/2 out of 5

I really like the unmasked look of Sam and NECA did well at capturing his features well. Of course, it's really the masked version that's his signature look, and the unmasked version is supposed to be the 'surprise', but there's something off about the round burlap head. In fact, that's the problem - it's too round. It looks like there's a balloon under there, rather than a slightly roundish pumpkin-like head. It's a minor quibble, because the burlap detailing and button eyes make up for it. But it's what holds the figure back slightly for me, and I'll probably display this version with the unmasked head.

The body is a fairly straight forward sculpt, but the selected pose works well. He stands great on his own without the display stand if you prefer, and the stance works well with a number of head and arm poses.

The body is made from two pieces, front and back, that are then assembled. That means there's a seam down both sides, but they added a slightly scalloped edge to the seam, which makes it look like a sewn edge! That's a nice touch, and helps mask the seam a little.

He's designed to fit in with other 7" scale monsters. He's smaller of course, coming in at about 5 1/4" tall. Without having seen the movie, he seems a *little* tall, but I'm not going to complain, because I think at any shorter statue, he'd look far less imposing. I can sacrifice perfect scale this time for a better shelf appearance.


Paint - 4 out of 5

The character should look like a small child in costume on quick glance. But on closer inspection, something should seem...off.

They've used the paint to accomplish that, but adding dirt and wear to the footy pajamas. There's also a nice color and look to the burlap bag, and they used a wash to bring out the fine texturing.

Most of the fine detail work is on the pumpkin head. The color is quite good, and the detailed stitching and eyes look as good as the far larger Sideshow version.


Articulation - 2 1/2 out of 5

The articulation here, particularly with the unmasked head, is better than it might look at first glance.

He has a ball jointed neck, but that joint really only works fully with the unmasked head. Obviously, the bottom of the bag around his shoulders restricts the ability of the head to tilt, but it still turns fine.

He also has a ball jointed left shoulder, bit it's the single pin type often called 'NECA style', since they have used it so often over the years. It's a little limited, but it does work well enough for this style of figure and doesn't break up the sculpt too much.

Both wrists are cut joints, and the right elbow is a cut joint too. But the left elbow is actually a pin joint, and can move forward and back...slightly. The sculpt restricts it quite a bit, but it still adds a bit to some arm poses.

There is no body or leg articulation. The body is actually hollow, and as I mentioned in the Sculpting section, there is a seam down both sides where the front and back is attached.

There's a little clumping on the skin tone of both hands, and the work on a couple of the patches on the clothing is a bit sloppy. But overall, it's a much better paint job than we've seen on specialty market figures in this price range in some time.


Accessories - 5 out of 5

Sam comes well equipped, especially for a specialty market figure. We've seen the number of accessories shrink over the last year with most horror figures, so it's nice to see him with multiple goodies.

There's the swappable head of course, and I prefer his unmasked pumpkin version for the reasons explained in the Sculpting section. The heads swap easily, and both look as though they belong when they are in place.

He also comes with a small display stand, but you don't really need it. He stands great on his own, but you can pop him on the pegs of the stand, and it looks like he's outside on the ground. The base also has a couple indents for the pumpkins.

Speaking of the pumpkins, there are two. Actually, they are jack-o-lanterns, not just pumpkins. One of the rules of Halloween that Sam enforces is 'never blow out a jack o' lantern', and one of these two is shooting fire up out of the top quite convincingly. In one of the photos, it will appear as though the lantern lights up, but it does not. That was merely a well placed light creating the effect of a light up feature, and I thought it looked cool. The flames are translucent. But not having it light up is a bit disappointing, since NECA already gave us a light up jack o' lantern back with the old Halloween boxed set, and another one here would have really been cool AND film specific. This flaming lantern is actually right out of one of the movie stills.

Sam has a candy bag too, but I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. It appears as though it should rest in or over his hand when it sits on the ground, but it doesn't quite reach. Still, the sculpt and paint are good, and you can use it as a background piece.

For his hands, Sam has two weapons. He has a knife buried in an open candy bar for his right hand, and his deadly lollipop in his right. Both fit tightly and look great.


Cool Factor- 5 out of 5

He's a creepy character. Sam is a fun unique new character that will hopefully make it into the Trick 'R Treat sequel, yeah I said it. And you collectors and fans of the film, this is a no brainer. You probably have it already but if you don't you need to pick one up.


Value - 4 out of 5

No great shakes on the price, but you are paying about the normal going rate and getting enough to make it worth it. Two and a half stars here means that the Value is pretty much average, and won't effect my overall in either a positive or negative way.


Overall - 4 out of 5

Over the last six months, we've seen a lot of specialty market figures that disappointed, usually due to cutbacks on paint, but sometimes from weak sculpting as well. It may not be the perfect representation of Sam but it's damn close and for the price you can't beat it. Sam is a nice return to the level of quality you should expect from this price point and style.

Because this movie is such an instant classic and sure to become a cult favorite we can't see a good reason to not suggest you picking up this figure. Sam's a great guy and he deserves a spot on your shelf.

Now onto some pics...

source mwctoys.com and horrorbid.com