Why I was/am very disappointed with Neca's Ultimate "Jason Lives" figure
 

I know the figure came out a year and a half ago, but I've been thinking about it recently, and they seriously dropped the ball on this figure.
Neca first revealed their Retro/Mego version of "Friday the 13th- Part 6: Jason Lives" Jason in the winter of 2015. It was the first time they released a Retro version of a Jason before an articulated plastic version. It came out pretty well. After the reveal, lots of fans began asking Neca for a plastic "Ultimate" version of the figure on their Twitter page, and within about five months, the company had one on display at SDCC '15. It was clear from the get-go that this figure didn't measure up to their usual quality. I don't know if it was rushed, or if they had budget issues, but it's a very heavily flawed figure.

Let's start with the mask:

Attachment 42877

The mask released with the Retro/Mego version came out pretty good and is generally movie accurate in terms of the shape and cut of it. The eye holes could have been shaped a little better, and the red chevron on the forehead is a little off, but it gets a passing grade. The Ultimate version's mask on the other hand is just an abomination- truly the worst part of the figure.
˚The shape is completely off. It's too ovular, and not round enough.
˚The area over the mouth is flat from the bottom of the nose to the chin and not rounded like the Retro version.
˚The holes that were drilled into the mask are too big, and the ones around the mouth aren't in the right spot at all (particularly the two holes that are supposed to be close to the exposed buttons.)
˚Unlike the Retro version (and every other Jason mask Neca's ever made), the mask has no shading, it's just one mono-tone color. Most figures don't have any shading in the mask straps either (a small minority of them do).
˚The axe wound on the top of the mask is partially carved into the facade of the mask, and isn't even the right shape.
˚The red chevron on the forehead is the same as the Retro, but isn't movie accurate.
˚The shape of the eye holes are the same as the Retro, but they don't quite convey the menacing look depicted in the movie.

I don't know what happened with the mask. As far as the head under the mask, it's easy to tell that Neca took the Retro head and scaled it down in size to fit the 7" Ultimate version. I talked to Randy on the Neca Twitter page once and he told me that they use a 3D Pantograph to convert figures into different scales, so I'm assuming that that's what they did here. The head actually came out very well. It's nicely sculpted and painted with plenty of shading and detail. It looks as good as the Retro version. I don't know what happened when they scaled down the mask from the Retro format to the Ultimate scale though, but something went terribly wrong.

Next I'd like to analyze the shirt/torso.

Attachment 42878

The second thing that leapt out to me was how poorly the shirt piece is molded around the shoulders. Typically these rubber shirts are tight around the shoulder sockets to give the appearance of a smooth transition from the torso to the arms/sleeves. The gap in the shoulder socket is an eye sore, there's no way around it. It's mainly the left shoulder. The right one isn't perfect, but isn't as bad.

The lack of shading in the shirt and pants is another big issue. Without proper shading, the figure looks completely flat and has no character. They also should have filled in the holes in the shirt black.

Attachment 42879

The Mezco version of this figure was well shaded. Look how much better the paint job on the shirt is with the different shades of green and the subtle dirt stains.

Attachment 42875

The shoes on the Ultimate version also don't have any shading. They look flat and boring compared to the Retro version.

Attachment 42874

People may accuse me of knit picking on this one, but it drives me absolutely nuts that they reused the forearms from the Part 3 & 4 Jasons. Those Jasons had short shirt sleeves with exposed wrists. Part 6 Jason had long sleeves that covered his wrists (probably to save the make up department time so they didn't have to paint the actor's wrists like the head).

Attachment 42882

I can see how some people might not think this is a big deal, but it's this level of attention to detail that usually sets Neca apart from other companies. One good example is the fact that Neca's part 3 Jason has different upper arm sculpts than part 4 Jason. Part 3 Jason's upper arms are thicker and more muscular. That's not a trivial detail either. It's things like this that make Neca, Neca. If you're going to sculpt different upper arms for part 3 Jason, why not sculpt longer sleeves for part 6 Jason? When you over-look details like this on a figure, and you do it several times, it adds up and the final product is sub-par.
The fact that the paint job didn't include any shading in the mask, shirt, pants, or shoes makes me think that Neca had some kind of issue that got in their way. What makes them special is that everything they typically release is a labor of love and they go balls out and don't over-look any details. It's hard to believe that they would let so many things go on this without a good reason.
Ultimately, I plan on bringing this to their attention, as I would like to see them rerelease this figure at some point in time and correct the mistakes I've highlighted. I'll include a poll as I'm interested to see what you all think. If enough people agree, I'd like to Tweet it at Neca. They're always receptive to feedback and eager to please their fan base, so maybe it'll get their attention.

I don't have this figure and don't even collect horror stuff but I am impressed with the level of detail of the breakdown. Good luck!

I'm baffled that two people voted "no". This figure looks ridiculous compared to other ones Neca released.

I think you're being too nitpicky for a figure that cost ~$25. The figure is definitely not without its issues, mainly the widespread loose hips thing, but overall it is a fine representation of the Jason Lives appearance. Jason is my least favorite of the horror/slasher icons so that does skew my views of any Jason figure produced to be more forgiving but you are picking out some really minute stuff. To say that this figure looks ridiculous next to NECA's other Jason figures is an exaggeration.

I would have to respectfully disagree. You're down playing the level of quality to be expected from a Neca figure by dismissing it as only a $25 toy. My point is that it's below Neca's own standards.
Pull up a photo of their new Ultimate Part 4 Jason, or their Part 3 from last fall, or even the old Part 7 from years ago. Every one of those figures had masks that were almost spot-on screen accurate. The shape, the color, the highlighting, the eye holes, everything. This Part 6 figure's mask is not even close by any of those standards. Not even close to being close.
As far as knit picking goes (not to be defensive), but I don't think that's warranted because as I mentioned in my initial post, Neca's own standards is to knit pick in the very same vain as I'm doing. A prime example is the fact that they put so much care into their Part 3 & 4 Jasons, that they even sculpted different upper arms for each figure to differentiate between his more hulking, muscular appearance from Part 3, and the more ordinary appearance in Part 4. If their own standards are to go that far with attention to detail, why not sculpt forearms with sleeves that go down to his gloves for this one? This Jason figure had a nice paint design in certain areas, but it had zero shading on the mask, shirt, pants, or shoes. Since all other Jasons (and most all other Neca figures in general), weren't neglected like that, it becomes beyond a matter of opinion that they didn't put as much effort into this figure as they do others. I think it's a shame.
Compare the lack of quality that I highlighted in my post to the level of quality that went into their Ultimate Leatherface. The whole figure had its own unique tooling. Every piece was properly shaded (including all the weapons) to give him a gritty, realistic look and plenty of depth. That figure's a real work of art. I think when you stand this Part 6 Jason up next to others in the Neca horror line, it stands out like a sore thumb.

As a quick aside since you brought up Leatherface, I agree that that figure is simply amazing and of course it had to have all-new sculpting because Leatherface doesn't share any clothing with other characters NECA has made (well somebody else might have similar pants but the sculpt is distinct).

I have my part 6 Jason among my other horror movie figures and it blends in just fine. NECA could eventually redo the look but I'd rather see them make more different looks before revisiting this one. They've still got to update parts 2, 7, 8, and X for those fans before they should even consider making a better part 6 Jason.

Well, to each his own. I don't think anyone can say my last post is factually incorrect. I would like to see new Jasons from all the movies you mentioned, but down the road I do think it would be warranted to reissue this figure with some upgrades.