Ralphie (A Christmas Story) Review

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Ralphie (A Christmas Story) Review

Ralphie
A Christmas Story (Neca)Christmas is drawing near, which means it's time to watch all the appropriate holiday films. My favorite is A Christmas Story, so much so I'd be happy to watch it outside of Christmastime. With plenty of funny and memorable scenes, it's no doubt a classic. NECA's done a couple things with the license, including some 8" scale figures of Ralphie and the "Old Man" that I believe come out every holiday season.

Both figures are packaged in window boxes, with a red/green color scheme and plenty of Christmas and movie-themed graphics. I'm fairly certain WB mandated this style, but it's quite attractive and fitting for the license. You will need to cut out a few ties on the inside, but other than that, it's easy to get them open.

Let's start with Ralphie, played by a young Peter Billingsley. Jason Frailey sculpted these figures, and with Ralphie, his likeness is a mixed bag. The sculpt is accurate to the actor, and bears a cheerful look fitting to the character. If the eyes look a little oversized, that's because of the glasses. My main issue with the head is his hair. It's too blonde, and definitely could've been handled better. On the plus side, the paint is clean, and it's all over the head.

Ralphie is appropriately sized at around 5 3/4" tall, making him smaller than the usual 8" figure. His clothes are tailored, with an actual wool sweater, and the shirt underneath only covers the neck and chest, a good way to ensure it won't hinder articulation. The pants look good, but are a bit too long for me. Since the hands and feet are the only parts of the body aside from the head to be uncovered, they're the only other pieces to be painted. The paint is nice and consistent, though, but the contrast between the painted hands and unpainted arms is a bit noticeable.

Then we have the Old Man, played by Darren McGavin. Like Ralphie, the likeness is accurate, and he has a somewhat tired expression by default. Unlike Ralphie, he gets an extra head with a different expression. This head has a stressed-out expression, with gritted teeth and one eye closed, and it fits his personality well. At about 7 3/4" tall, the Old Man is dressed is a 1940's suit, tie, and coat, and it looks nice. The paint on the parts that aren't covered by clothes is clean, but I noticed the left hand is bigger than the right one. I'm not sure if it's just an issue with mine or what. Either way, it's a pretty obvious issue.

Both figures bear good articulation underneath their clothes, with some useful joints. Ralphie and his dad have a barbell head, swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, and hips, swivel biceps, waist, and thighs, and hinged elbows, knees, and ankles. While the Old Man has single-jointed elbows, Ralphie gets double-jointed ones, which come in handy when holding his accessory. However, his shoulders are pretty tight, so take care when working them free. Since NECA's updated the 8" body with better torso and ankle joints since first releasing these, it would be great if they could update these two with the improved articulation.

Ralphie and the Old Man are very light on accessories, with the former only having one extra. Said extra is the Red Ryder BB Gun, the thing most synonymous with the character, and thanks to the double-jointed elbows, he can hold it well. The Old Man gets two accessories, one of which is the alternate head. I'd recommend heating it up before popping it on the ball, but it looks great on him. The other accessory is, of course, his "major award": the leg lamp. It looks great, including a netted fabric stocking, and it's pretty darn big too.

While not without their issues, Ralphie and the Old Man are pretty good figures. The likenesses are good, but not quite perfect, and while they don't get much in terms of accessories, it's still stuff important to the characters. They work great together, and it's a shame we haven't gotten anyone else beyond them. I hope NECA considers bringing the film to their 7" line, because I think they'd do great.

- 12/4/23