NECA Evil Dead 2 "Farewell to Arms" Ash action figure review

Ever so often a movie comes along that's so campy that it transcends the boundaries of good taste and gains a cult following almost overnight. Sam Rami's Evil Dead series does just that. NECA has the license and has given us the film's hero Bruce Campbell a couple of times as the hero Ash as he appears in Army of Darkness. Now rewind to the film that started it, Evil Dead 2. What happened to Evil Dead 1? Don't ask.

Ash stands 7" tall the same as NECA's regular movie/game characters and has a very detailed sculpt. The headsculpt is one of shock and surprise, instantly recognizable as Bruce but the eyes seem a tad too large or perhaps the iris too small. The shirt, pants, shoes, everything is perfectly sculpted down to the individual stitching. He actually has a fully sculpted and articulated chest under the shirt which is a separate piece. This is so they can use the body for his torn-shirt Army of Darkness appearance later. The shirt can't be removed without tearing the glued seam tho.

Paint work is phenonemal as is with most of NECA's offerings. Ash is sweaty, his shirt soaked from the muddy water outside, grimy hand, dirty pants, you can tell he's been through the wringer. And to top it off he's lost a hand! The bandage on the right arm looks musty, he'd better change it soon. Ash's face is bloody and there is both tampograph and hand-painted effects there. It's a nice blend of techniques and works for the look. The black around the eyes is is well done and bring out the surprised look along with the detailed open mouth.

Ash's upper articulation is great. A wonderful ball-jointed neck, shoulders, elbows, and wrist(s) allow for some nice poses. Not Marvel Legends double-jointed range but enough. His waist turns, or rather his hidden upper chest. The lower body is a mix of V-crotch with cut thighs so he can at least get into a run/crouch with ball ankles helping. With the previous Ash figures having static legs this is better than nothing and NECA added it towards the end. The left hand is a bit loose but still works to hold his accessories, tho it needs a separate trigger finger for the shotgun. Get your X-acto knife out and fix it easily.

Speaking of accessories Ash comes with a severed hand, alternate right arm with the corrupted hand attached, shotgun, and axe. The axe has a sickly green goo splattered over it and the shotgun is well detailed/painted. I like the fact you get an extra hand because the sculpt of the bone/tendons is there where it was cut off. Not so if you unplug the one from the extra arm, which you still can.

What's the verdict? This is a great likeness of Bruce and is much more articulated than the previous ones for around $15. There's three different Ash's in the set including a Deadite one and AoD version. Buy all three and you can swap pieces between them to give ash both regular hands and get all his accessories like the Necronomicon. Our sponsors Big Bad Toy Store have singles or the set of the first two and you can snag them on Amazon.