POP! Television: Stranger Things – Max (Costume)

By now most of us have made our way through Stranger Things 2, and what a ride it was. It didn’t take me to quite the same heights as the original, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. As might be expected, quite a few new faces were introduced in season 2. Since Barb seems to be permanently dead, another redhead was required to round out the cast – and thus we have Max, played by Sadie Sink.

Max is much more pivotal to the overall plot than Barb was, but I’m not sure she’ll inspire the same level of obsessive fandom. I had mixed feelings about her as a character; she got on my nerves initially, and though she had an interesting arc she hadn’t quite won me over by the end of the season. Still, I think we can assume she’ll be back for Season 3, and the character definitely has potential. Here’s hoping for good things.  

But though I’m still kind of indifferent on the character, this POP was a definite buy as soon as I knew it was being released. While it’s not my favourite horror series, I do thoroughly enjoy the original Halloween film and it’s nice to see Michael Myers referenced in the show.

 

It’s one of the best scenes in episode two; Mike, Will, Dustin and Lucas are out trick-or-treating as Ghostbusters, and Michael Myers suddenly appears on the street in front of them, wielding a knife. But it’s merely Max beneath the mask, who’d earlier been ambiguous about whether she’d come trick or treating with our intrepid heroes. It’s not a scare for the viewer, of course, but it’s a nice moment that shows us something about all of the characters involved.

Sadie Sink herself apparently didn’t really know who Michael Myers was before filming the scene, according to aftershow Beyond Stranger Things. But that’s no real surprise; she’s only 15, and there wasn’t been a new Halloween film in years. There’s a new one on the way for next year, and hopefully it’s a good one; it would be nice to see him regain some of his former pop culture status.  

This is a great figure, but it feels kind of bootlegged. Not in quality or anything; but she’s clearly wearing a Michael Myers costume, but it’s not identified anywhere as such on the box. Additionally, there’s no sign of Halloween in the trademark notices on the box. I get that the appearance on the show could probably be covered under some kind of fair use legislation, but going and making a toy out of it? Funko already have the Halloween license, so maybe they were able to shoehorn things together that way.

Max is a Hot Topic exclusive in the US, but over here she’s a regular release. It’s a good variant of the character for fans, and it’s a fun piece of memorabilia for a memorable scene in the series.