Every collection has a centrepiece problem. You build outward from the edges — the supporting characters, the variants, the limited editions — and at some point you look at the shelf and realise that everything is orbiting a space that's still empty. The thing that should anchor it all isn't there yet. You've been waiting, without quite admitting it to yourself, for the right piece to arrive.
I've been building my Nightmare Before Christmas collection for six years. The centrepiece problem has been there for most of that time. The Jack Skellington Light Up Super Pop! solved it in one go.
Six Years of Halloween Town
The Nightmare Before Christmas has been my favourite film since I was eight years old. I watched it every October without fail, then started watching it in September when I decided October was too late to start, then eventually accepted that I watch it year-round and that this is simply who I am. The visual world of Halloween Town — the spindly architecture, the dark palette punctuated by warm candlelight, the particular combination of melancholy and whimsy that Tim Burton does better than anyone — is one I find endlessly compelling.
My collection reflects this. I have standard Pop! figures of Jack, Sally, Oogie Boogie, Zero, the Mayor. I have a few variants. I have some non-Funko pieces — a ceramic Jack and Sally I found at a market, a small enamel pin collection, a framed print of the original poster. The shelf is full and it looks good. But Jack himself — the centrepiece, the character the whole film turns on — was represented by a standard 9cm figure that, however well-sculpted, didn't have the presence the character deserves.
I'd been looking for something bigger. Something that would make you look at the shelf and understand immediately who this collection is about.
Why the Light Up Super Pop! Specifically
The Funko Pop! Super Nightmare Before Christmas Jack Skellington Light Up figure is approximately 18.5cm tall — roughly double the standard Pop! scale — which immediately gives it the presence I'd been looking for. At that height, it commands the shelf rather than sitting on it. It's the kind of figure you see from across the room.
The light-up feature is what makes it genuinely special. Jack holds dark purple candles that actually illuminate, casting a soft, eerie glow that is exactly the right aesthetic for Halloween Town. In a darkened room the effect is extraordinary — the warm purple light against the stark black and white of Jack's design creates exactly the kind of cosy-yet-unsettling atmosphere that the film itself achieves. It's not a gimmick. It's a design choice that makes the figure feel alive in a way that static figures can't replicate.
The sculpt at this scale also rewards attention in ways that the standard size doesn't allow. The detail work on Jack's pinstripe suit, the expressiveness of his face, the particular elongated elegance of his silhouette — all of it reads more clearly and more impressively at 18.5cm than it does at 9cm. This is Jack Skellington as he deserves to be rendered.
The Night It Arrived
It arrived on a Tuesday evening in October, which felt appropriate. I opened the outer packaging carefully, lifted out the display box, and immediately understood that this was going to be different from a standard figure arrival. The box itself is substantial — the Super Pop! scale means the packaging is genuinely impressive, the kind of thing that makes you slow down before opening it.
I set it up on the shelf, activated the light-up feature, and turned off the room lights.
The purple glow from the candles filled the shelf with exactly the kind of light I'd imagined when I ordered it. The other figures — the standard-scale Jack, Sally, Oogie Boogie — were suddenly in relation to something. The shelf had a centre. The collection had a focal point. Six years of building, and it finally looked finished.
I sat in the dark for a while and watched the glow. My partner came in, looked at the shelf, and said "that's actually incredible" — which, from someone who has been patiently tolerating my Nightmare Before Christmas collection for four years, is the highest possible praise.
Living With It
The figure has been on the shelf for three months now. I turn the light on most evenings — it's become part of the ritual of settling in for the night, a small atmospheric touch that costs nothing and adds something genuinely lovely to the room. The light-up mechanism has been reliable throughout, with no flickering or dimming. The figure itself has held up perfectly at its larger scale — no issues with the vinyl, no paint wear, no structural concerns.
The pre-order wait was worth every week of it. Some things are worth waiting for. A centrepiece that actually centres your collection is one of them.
My Verdict
If you have a Nightmare Before Christmas collection that's missing its anchor — or if you're starting one and want to begin with the piece that everything else will orbit — the Funko Pop! Super Nightmare Before Christmas Jack Skellington Light Up figure is it. At 18.5cm with working illuminated candles, it's not just a figure. It's a statement.
Find it in our Toys collection and our wider Toys & Games collection. This is the one. Secure yours before it's gone.
— Owen Blackwell
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