Ash Vs. Evil Dead’s Ashy Slashy Gets The Puppet Treatment
NECA gives Ashy Slashy from Ash Vs. Evil Dead the real world treatment.
Ash Vs Evil Dead has come and gone. Yes, three wonderful and amazing seasons have come and gone. Evil Dead fans shouldn’t be mad or disappointed Bruce Campbell will never play Ashley J. Williams again. Between Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2: Dead Before Dawn, Army of Darkness, and a heck of a lot of video games Campbell has been Ash more than thirty years.
Ash Vs Evil Dead was special to a lot of, if not all, Evil Dead fans. For starters, we didn’t think we would ever see Campbell reprise the character again. Ash had been absent for quite a long time (No, I’m not counting comic books. As fun as comic books may be Bruce Campbell wasn’t Ash in the comics) before Starz greenlit the series. A series of any kind was excellent news for fans.
Ash Vs Evil Dead was a return to the fun of the original trilogy. Thankfully, the series bypassed the 2o13 Evil Dead remake. The Evil Dead was never meant to be a blood orgy or torture porn horror. To be sure, there was a lot of blood splashed around three seasons. A lot. Blood fountains and people covered in blood were almost a requirement in Ash Vs. Evil Dead. Did we mention severed body parts? Yes, we had our share of body parts too. None of the blood and body parts were meant to make people sick or disgusted like the remake. The blood and gore harkens back to the Evil Dead when the budget was low and Raimi and company had to be creative to get the gore on screen.
(Some little spoilers ahead) Season two episodes seven (“Delusion”) and eight (“Ashy Slashy”) finds our hero in an insane asylum designed by the demon Baal to break Ash. The plan was simple. Baal breaks Ash. Ash destroys the Necronomicon and unleashes Baal’s Hell on earth. It’s a simple plan except Baal didn’t take into consideration Ash’s tenacity and the fact his amigos never leave a friend in need.
Introduced in episode seven is the puppet Ashy Slashy. The use of puppets in the treatment of of psychological disorders isn’t a new technique. The theory is the patient can tell the puppet things he or she may not be able to tell others and come to grips with their anxiety or other issues. Baal used the puppet technique to convince Ash the nightmare he had been living for more than thirty years was just a nightmare. If he could convince Ash to come to terms with his past then he could convince him to destroy the Necronomicon.
Now you too can own your very own Ashy Slashy puppet courtesy of NECA. NECA has been producing some awesome action figures and statues based on fandom’s favorite properties. Ashy Slashy is NECA’s first foray into the plush puppet market. I’ve never had a puppet of any kind so comparing the Ashy Slashy puppet to other puppets isn’t possible, but to borrow a phrase they hit it out of the ballpark.
The details on the puppet is pretty spot on. The first thing that hits you as you open the box is Ashy’s large head. On screen his head doesn’t look like it would be out of proportion to the body. Ashy Slashy the puppet has a rather large head compared to the rest of his body. The reason for the larger head is it can accommodate hands of all sizes.
The large head also means we get a little more of the finer details of the Ashy Slashy puppet. When you pull the puppet out the box the button eyes stare right at you. You can’t miss the hair with the gray hairs. The shirt is a complete replica of the one Ash’s wears in the series. The finer details include stitching on the pockets and along the back of the shit. Ashy’s shirt includes real buttons.
The box states the arms are poseable “with inner articulation.” I can’t say exactly what that means, but what I can say is be careful when posing the arms. The left arm moves up and down and back and forth without any problem. The right arm, the chainsaw arm, only moves up and down. It feels like if the arm were bent in any other direction it would break. Don’ break Ashy.
You don’t have to be a puppet master to enjoy the Ashy Slashy puppet. A cardboard tube insets into and makes it possible to display with your other Army of Darkness/Evil Dead/Ash Vs. Evil Dead stuff. It may clash with some of the more bloody hardcore horror things you may collect, but it’s one a heck of conversation starter.
Ashy Slashy is available now at most of your better online stores. You may want to check eBay if you can’t find it on those other retail sites, but be prepared to pay two to three times as much (not including shipping).
