Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The NECA Jason X Mask is Shrunk as Hell

The title says it all. These things go for hundreds of dollars on eBay, purporting to be cast off an actual movie mask. On close inspection, the details are crisp, and seem to be exactly correct to good photos of the movie masks.

So why the hell is it so shrunk?

I found an auction for an original Jason X movie mask that sold some years ago for six thousand pounds (UK). The auctioneers very nicely took a photo with a ruler, and gave us the precise dimensions of the mask as 18 cm x 24 cm x 13 cm (7” x 9 ½” x 5”).
So armed with this knowledge, and the fact that they almost certainly measured the negative space of the mask from the back, given that they evidently used a hard ruler, I measured my supposedly "movie mold" NECA.

It measures 19 cm width x 21 cm height x 10 cm depth (depth is tough, so that's an estimation). First two dimensions measured from the back. So it appears to be slightly wider and way vertically shrunk, which gives it a "child size" look. Having seen one of the Freddy vs. Jason movie masks in person and owned a Vs. NECA for years I was likewise under the impression that the supposedly movie mold mask was very shrunk.

So why is this? No idea. They may have used cheap molding materials that shrunk during the casting process. Some have suggested NECA was given an inferior mold. I can't say. I can say that they are definitely shrunk, even as the details line up perfectly.

Looking at the measurements on the Fiberglassmasks.com version, they appear to be a bit closer at 6 and 15/16 x by 8 and 9/16 inches. Still a little shorter than the movie mask, but at least closer.

UPDATE Dec. 11, 2020: Mario posted that the hero mask is 18x22 cm, almost exactly the same as the Fiberglassmasks version, but about 2 inches shorter than the stunt mask listed above. This makes me think the 24 cm length noted in the auction is probably a transcription error.

Here is Mario's comparison of the NECA with his hero mask. The size difference is pretty obvious.



5 comments:

  1. Very interesting, I do know the original X mask pictured above is one of the stunt masks and is made completely of rigid foam. Not sure if that makes any sort of difference.

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    1. I wouldn't think so. Mario (owns the hero mask) has also said the NECA masks are smaller.

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    2. Small update for posterity's sake, Mario said the hero mask is 18x22 cm. Weird that its slightly shorter than the stunt, unless the auctioneer made a transcription error.

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    3. Do you know what X blank Beyond disgusting uses for their mask? Trying to research it but I’ve gotten no answers

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    4. I think its a retooled NECA but not sure.

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