Ask any one whose walked around the Silent Hill block who the mascot of the foggy town is and you’re likely to hear one of two answers; the town’s executioner Red Pyramid Thing or Lakeside Amusement Park’s anthropomorphic fuzzball Robbie the Rabbit. While the former leaves a lasting impression and the latter is quite literally a mascot character, there is one resident of Silent Hill that has been there through it all: The Bubble Head Nurse (BHN).

From relentlessly pursuing Harry, snapping their necks at James, going Clint Eastwood against Heather and even making Alex question his stance on necrophilia, the Bubble Head Nurses will make sure your stay in Silent Hill is one you’ll never forget. Their presence in the Silent Hill universe is as relentless as the town itself is to the tormented souls that dare venture its fog-ladened streets. It’s only fitting then that BHN is immortalized in all her grotesque glory through statue form.

Bubble Head Nurse Statue

Details: 1/6 Scale (10″/25cm tall), painted; includes base, interchangeable hands, removable weapon, collectible edition number card, backdrop and box
Release: Q3 2013
Distributor: ToyMunkey Studios
MSRP: $104.99
Purchase: BigBadToyStore

This statue cherry-picks some of most notable features of BHN from her various iterations in Silent Hill lore. Her face (or lack thereof, really) resembles that of her video game counterpart seen in Silent Hill 2. Her head is not so much a head as it is another appendage coming from her body; a slimy, faceless bulge whose “hair” is nothing more than additional skin melded to the sides. Her facial appearance was a bold statement when Silent Hill 2 was first released and this statue debut, sporting the same mug, does nothing short than revitalize that initial shock.

From the neck-down, however, we see that the body type and wardrobe chosen pays tribute to the movie and Homecoming version of this femme fatale. The body of this BHN leads eyes around prominent curves contouring the bosom and hips, with legs that seemingly never end. Most notably, BHN dons a promiscuous, skin-tight nurse’s outfit leaving little to the imagination. With cleavage showing loud and legs running a mile high, BHN creature designer Masahiro Ito has truly mastered the art of making horror sexy.

Despite as appealing or horrific (whichever swings your boat, I’m not here to judge!) these descriptions may be, they would ultimately mean nothing if the final figure itself wasn’t executed in mastery form. As with the ToyMunkey’s previous line of Red Pyramid Thing statues, I’m more than pleased to say that same level of quality is present in the BHN figure (and, in some cases, even better).

The sculptor of this piece, Shin Tanabe, is a master of his craft. Mr. Tanabe is most well known for sculpting beautiful statues of females. Where he excels in his craft is that he illustrates a complete understanding of the human anatomy and form in his sculpts. The females that Mr. Tanabe often sculpts have a sexual charge to them but retain realistic features such as giving the character full hips, a stomach that isn’t washboard flat, or ankles and feet which are proportional to their bodies. It’s this form of delicate execution that sees Masahiro Ito’s frightening vision of BHN successfully transposed with a touch of sex appeal.

Even more impressive is Mr. Tanabe’s approach to BHN’s stance. The nurses’ locomotion was made famous as viewers watched her sporadic movements on the silver screen when the first Silent Hill movie released. Known from then-on as creatures who transport in twitchy, compulsive manners, Mr. Tanabe paid tribute to their now-iconic maneuvers by sculpting BHN in a pose that has her back contorted, legs askew and arms flailing out from both sides. It’s impressive when you sit back and think about how hard it would be to sculpt a character in such abnormal, twisted ways while preserving correct proportions and aesthetic appeal.

But, and as I will say until I turn blue in the face, a good (excellent, in this case) sculpture can only carry you so far. Without equally detailed paint work your statue is only halfway finished. Yoshinori Yatake, popularly known as ACCEL online and the man responsible for Red Pyramid Thing’s paint job, is the person we can thank for also giving color and life to Mr. Tanabe’s nurse statue.

Perhaps to one-up his own work, I can happily say that the paint job applied to BHN is even better than the Red Pyramid Thing statue. Right off the bat, most consumers will notice the extraordinary amount of detail applied to BHN’s skin; a rainbow of purple-to-pink-to-grey flesh tones that are scattered throughout the creature’s epidermis. The color choice used for her skin keeps BHN looking “dead” (as in, not alive or not human anymore) without making the statue look “dead” (as in, dull or boring). It’s the perfect amount of color to keep the eyes coming back for more without making the statue look like a Technicolor advertisement.

Above this layer of paint we see tiny lines scratched all over BHN’s skin and, much to my amusement, vericose veins accompanying these scratch marks traveling up and down the creature’s arms and legs. It’s little details like this that help reinforce that unnerving sense of dread that this creature is more human than we think, with blood flowing through her veins. View some of the pictures off to the side to get a better understanding–the details in the skin are really a sight to behold.

These smaller details in the paint don’t just stop at the skin. This statue was painted by careful hands and, as such, the statue’s hands were also painted carefully. The statue comes with four interchangeable hands that allow you the option to have BHN stand freely or weild a rusted metal pipe in either her left or right palm. These hands are painted with a high-gloss finish leaving them highly reflective to even the smallest light source. This is brilliant because BHN’s hands are covered in latex gloves and the coat of gloss applied totally sells the image.

To help lock in the fact that this beautiful monstrosity dwells within Silent Hill the base beneath the creature’s feet features the iconic rusted, metal grates that plague the Otherworld of the foggy town. On this base, the concrete is starting to crack, giving way to the metallic hell that waits below. It almost looks as though we’ve caught the transition to the Otherworld on the base frozen in time. On top of the cracked-laden cement lies bloodied footprints and smears, no doubt the result of a freshly bludgeoned victim succumbed by the nurse’s pipe, which is as bent and wicked as she is.

On that note and along with the customization option for how BHN’s hands are used, the base for the statue acts as a customizable puzzle piece. If you have additional statues of this nurse, the bases can be clipped together (three clips are provided in the package) to where all additional bases fit seamlessly beside one another to create a large, singular base for the adjacent nurses. The feature works for any and all variants of the nurse in the chance you would like to have a diverse gang of BHN’s displayed as one entity.

To uphold the collector’s value and keep consistency with the Red Pyramid Thing (RPT) statue’s box, this statue comes in a similar package that houses original, made-for-this-product artwork of BHN dawn by its creator, Masahiro Ito. The side of the box features short bios of the sculptor and painter–which I will always fully support as to give the artists the recognition they deserve–and the opposite front side has nine squares cut out to make a window looking in to the package (mimicking the final save point of Silent Hill 2). And along with the RPT statue, the BHN sculpt comes with a collectible edition number card that houses Mr. Ito’s original BHN artwork on its front side.

Lastly, and which may go overlooked if you’re not careful, is a removable insert that can be used as a backdrop for your statue. This backdrop displays the infamous nine save points on top of a dirty, grungy red background. If you’re looking to add a little extra pop to this piece, the backdrop is an ideal way to go about it.

The Bubble Head Nurse statue is an excellent, quality item in ToyMunkey’s statue line and worthy of any Silent Hill fan’s shelf space. Mr. Tanabe has given us a creature that is grounded to reality through exquisite proportions expressed in a dynamic stance. Mr. Yatake’s understanding of color and paint, alongside a steady hand, has given us a polished product that marriages perfectly to Mr. Tanabe’s sculptural form. The customization options for the nurse’s hands and wield-able weapon, along with the expansion opportunities for its base, gives the consumer as sense that their input and tastes help make the statue a piece that is truly meant for them. Package these features into a collectible box (and edition number card) and you have yet another item worth your time and money.

Any fan of Silent Hill will sure to love this welcomed piece to ToyMunkey’s ever-growing line of Silent Hill products.

Purchase Bubble Head Nurse Statue: BigBadToyStore
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ToyMunkey Studios has also released a Bubble Head Nurse variant. Learn more information by visiting the links below:

Purchase Bubble Head Nurse Variant statue

View my friend`s reviews of this statue by visiting their pages:
Silent Hill Historical Society
Alchemilla Hospital
Silent Haven
Silent Hill Paradise

View additional images of the statue below: