Jakks' Simpsons line has been coming out at a quick pace, but it seems for now it's taking a short break. There hasn't been anything officially announced or released aside from the Amazon-exclusive Funzo doll, but there's been plenty of leaked figure and plush listings, and my guess is that within next month or so we'll get some news on upcoming products. Until then, the fourth wave has been out for a while for both scales, and I'll be looking at the 5" ones first.

Of course, they had to include one main family member in the wave, so Bart fills that position. This isn't a specific outfit or anything, just a regular Bart, and the same mold as the one in the first wave at that. So what's different? His shirt. The prior Bartman figure had a blue shirt, and that's what this release gets. It's a memorable look for those who read the comics, played video games, or got most of the merch from the 90s. If I'm not mistaken, he was merchandised with a blue shirt to tell him apart from bootleg items, even though he didn't wear it in the show. Shirt aside, this Bart is no different from what we got before, with the same articulation and skateboard accessory, and the work is just as solid.

Bart's the only family member and kid in this wave, as the rest of it is Springfield's older citizens, including town drunk Barney Gumble. Barney has his usual semi-tired/hungover expression, and it's some of the best portrait work I've seen from this line. There are a few seam lines on his face, but they're only visible if you look really close. He stands a bit over 5" tall, and has a bit more girth to him than Homer, but keep in mind it's mostly hollow plastic for the torso, so he's as light as the others. The body is good as are the colors, and the only painted areas are the pupils, shoes, and chest hair. The pupils and shoes suffer from a bit of bleed and misalignment, but the chest hairs are very clean, and are even sculpted on.

The usual articulation is present here, with Barney having a swivel neck, swivel/hinge shoulders and wrists, ball-jointed chest, hips, and ankles, hinged elbows and knees, and swivel biceps. Swapping out the waist joint for a chest one was a good move, as it allows for plenty of tilt and lean. The hips also work very well, as the pelvis is designed to allow them to kick forward completely. Barney has some of the best articulation of the line, and he's not even the most posable figure in the wave. He doesn't have any booze, since Disney and/or Jakks was uncomfortable about including such accessories with a line meant for kids, but he does have a small hoagie and a lunchbox, and he can hold both fine.

Rounding out Homer's friend group is Carl Carlson, made to complement Lenny from the previous wave. If you haven't seen the leaked render/prototype images of this wave, the initial Carl sculpt looked really off-putting, but thankfully they touched him up for the final product. He has the same blank stare and smile most of the figures in this line have, but the likeness is great, especially given the unique facial features like smaller eyes. Also standing around the 5" mark, he's thinner than the other two adults in this wave, save for a bit of a gut, and the proportions are good. I noticed the shoulder joints on these new molds are a little different, with the disks being a little smaller than they should, creating some gapping at the hinges. Once you see them, it's hard not to unsee them. Carl has all the usual joints, including a surprisingly good waist, and he also has the same lunchbox as Barney, albeit gray, as well as a coffee cup with a little straw.

The last character in the wave is Bumblebee Man, and his inclusion this early in the line came as a surprise to me, since he's a much more minor character. He has a more somber expression than most in the line, befitting his role as Channel Ocho's long-suffering slapstick comic, and like Carl, the final product is a notable improvement over the prototype. The antennae of his costume are made of a softer material, so you won't have to worry about damaging them, same goes for the stinger. He's a bit smaller than the other adults at 4 1/2", though the antennae bring him closer to the 5" mark. The colors on the outfit are great, though the sleeves should be dark gray and not solid black, and making the wings transparent was a nice touch. The paint on the clothes is good as well, as they line up well with the sculpted lines.

The Bumblebee Man is the most articulation figure in the line so far, as in addition to the usual joints, he also gets the thigh swivels Bart got, as well as ball-joints for the wings. These joints work great, allowing for the wings to move around plenty (though they often collide with each other), and the waist and hips are just as good as Barney's. His only accessory is a big one, and it's a tripodal TV camera. It's a solid piece, but the sculpt is great, and it'll fit well with the Playmates line. A yo-yo for him would've been nice as well, but I'm not sure how they could make it work.

We're already four waves in and Jakks' Simpsons line has been getting better with each wave, but this may be the best one yet. The variety is good, and the articulation has improved, getting a little better each time. The blue-shirt Bart can be an easy skip for those not interested in redecos, but I wouldn't pass up on the others, especially Barney and Carl to complete Homer's friend group. I'm not sure how much longer it'll be until the next wave comes out, but at least I have more than enough for now to tide me over.

- 6/12/25...[See More]

Current Projects: 1:10 / Neca style Scooby-Doo shelf
Favorite Figure: 1/6 Multiversal Avenger: Wolverine
Favorite Series: NECA Seasame Street
First Figure: Plushie Scooby Doo in 1996
Collection Size: 300+ figures
Currently Collecting: 1/6 and 1:10 figures
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eBay User Name: disjorge
Current Projects: robotecollectors base tijuana
Honorable Mentions: robotech in facebook
Favorite Series: Robotech
Collection Size: medium
Currently Collecting: robotech, gi joes, boglins, lotr, gremlins, thundercats, silverhawks
Want List: sdf1 playset
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I wonder if there is any way one can view the earliest custom postings to the latest I would really love to see some of the first postings man I bet they were legendary...[See More]

Francisco Ramon A.K.A Cisco is a pivotal and intellectual member of S.T.A.R Labs, who often works alongside Caitlyn Smith and the Flash, Barry Allen in order to deal with metahumans in Central City. He later emerges as the hero "Vibe", who can vibrate at a frequency that allows him to be undetectable by traditional security cameras, travel between dimensional barriers, and harness the ability to project vibration blasts that create shockwaves that can destroy a mountain....[See More]

Felicity Smoak is a prodigal freelance hacker that was originally commissioned to expose Green Arrow's secret identity and help the client take him down, but ended up turning sides and joining Team Arrow....[See More]

He was a former member of the Snakeheads gang, a triad in China that specialized in human trafficking. During one of his smuggling runs to the U.S, the transport ship crashed and he was forced to assume the identity of one of the deceased illegal immigrants, hence the false identity "Martin Li". However, he was kidnapped by a gangster alongside two others for experimentation with a new chemical called D-Lite, which granted him his powers as Mister Negative. The other two became Cloak & Dagger. He is one of Spiderman's lesser known rogues and often poses a dire threat when he does appear, making a play in politics and gang warfare....[See More]

Current Projects: Mcfarlane/Mattel Dc Multiverse: currently none

Star Wars The Black Series: Kyle Katarn

Marvel Legends:
Kitty Pryde (X-Men movie version)
Daisy Johnson AKA Quake (Agents S.H.I.E.L.D TV show version)


Power Rangers Lightning Collection: currently none

Fallout:
None

Pokemon: Shiny Pokémon (ongoing)
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Favorite Series: Marvel Retro: Fantastic Four (Hasbro, 2020–25); DC Retro: Super Powers (McFarlane, 2022–25); Batman: The Animated Series (McFarlane, 2023–25); The New Batman Adventures (McFarlane, 2024–25); and DC Retro: Super Friends (McFarlane, 2025– )
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Before I get into talking about the last Haulathon TMNT toon figure, have you read IDW's TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures comic? It's an expansion of the original 1987 cartoon, and it does a great job providing new stories from that universe while keeping the charm and humor of the show. It's given us plenty of action figure potential as well, so it's odd NECA hasn't tried doing any of the new characters or outfits from it, at least until a few months ago. The first SMA figure is Dark Leonardo, coming from issue #20, which features Michelangelo in an alternate universe where he never existed, resulting in his brothers and sensei being evil.

Aaron Hazouri is once again doing the box art, and it's paired with a clever pun for the faux VHS title, "Two Scoops of Evil." I also see a bit of inspiration from the old TMNT cereal for the artwork, what with the shell bowl and giant spoon. The art on the back makes sense if you've read the aforementioned issue, but he needs an actual bio rather than just "Quit hitting yourself. Quit hitting yourself" (it's funny, though, I'll give 'em that).

Alternate universe evil Leo is sculpted by Brodie Perkins and Tomasz Rozejowski, and it's an all-new sculpt with no recycled tooling, so that's cool. The dark turtles don't wear their usual eye masks, but they do wear masks over their mouths, and his eyes match the style of the cartoon more than the comic. The portrait looks great and sinister, and he has the darker skin color seen on recent Turtle figures like the Pizza Club releases and Punk Turtles. He gets a second head, and it's a Foot Soldier hood. The box calls it a "mind control hood," and I believe it's something from the comic I haven't read about yet. My mind's going "attempted disguise," and the colors are quite bold. It works with the other Turtles as well, and makes for some interesting displays and stories.

At 5 1/2" tall, Leonardo certainly has the edgy look going for him. He has straps covering his arms and legs, a spiked harness with metal chains, bladed shoulder and forearm guards on opposite arms, spiked shin guards, and something on his right forearm. Is it a laser or something? Whatever it is, it can be popped off so it doesn't get in the way of swapping hands. The outfit matches the comic, but the katana sheaths don't, as he doesn't have his scabbards, rather just getting a piece of leather(?) for the swords to slide into. I'm not much on it, and comic-accurate sheaths would've been better. The paint is good, with clean work on the lines, but slop is what you'll want to be mindful of, so look for the best one on the shelves. The best one I could find has a small gray streak on the harness, but everything else is good. And the foot symbol on his left shoulder? It's indented in rather than just painted. Probably wasn't a painless process to get it on him.

A new sculpt means Leo gets slightly improved articulation, and by slightly I mean there's only really one change from the base Turtles. He has a barbell head and chest, ball-jointed neck and hips, swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, and ankles, double-hinged elbows (the one change in question) and knees, and swivel biceps, thighs, and mask knot. There's some tightness to the elbows and knees due to the pinless designs NECA's now using, but once freed up they work great, as does everything else, though the right shoulder is limited due to the shoulder pad. The main head is a bit hard to pop off the ball the first couple of times you swap portraits, but the alternate head goes on and off easily, as do the hands.

There isn't too much when it comes to accessories, but what Dark Leo has works with him. He gets three sets of hands - closed, gripping, and grasping - and these are all new sculpts. It's also about time we get a proper set of fists for the bros, though only for the darker green ones we've been getting as of late. He has a pair of katanas, of course, but he also has a mace that reminds me of the OG Foot Soldier figure. It looks nice, but why couldn't they have made it bendable? It would make it more dynamic than being just straight. Lastly, there's a lenticular card depicting Dark Leo with his brothers in the shadows, and as you can guess, this is meant for Donatello's Portable Portal Generator. That was a NECA Store exclusive, and I passed on it due to it being overpriced, but you'll need it to make good use of this add-on. The art/animation on the card itself is great, and it actually looks like the cartoon!

I don't understand why it took NECA so long to give us Saturday Morning Adventures figures, but this is a great one to start out on. The design is cool as heck, and if you can get past the minor articulation issues, you'll find Dark Leo's a very fun figure. Hopefully, this opens the door to more from these comics: Dark Don and Raph, General Thrum, Professor MacGuffin, Old Hob, that toon-styled Last Ronin teased at SDCC a long while back… the possibilities are quite plentiful.

- 6/4/25...[See More]

Want List: 2001 Bandai Digimon Tamers Rapidmon 6" Action Figure
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Currently Collecting: Star Wars Black Series, GI Joe Classified, Mythic Legions, JoyToy Warhammer 40k, Savage Crucible, Furay Planet, etc
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Current Projects: Collecting MOTU Origins
Favorite Figure: Trap Jaw Origins Cartoon Collection
Favorite Series: Masters of the Universe Cartoon Collection
First Figure: Han Solo (1978)
Collection Size: almsot 100 figures in all over multiple universes
Currently Collecting: MOTU Origins
Want List: Vintage Scare Glow complete, Mondo Trap Jaw
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Current Projects: MossMan, Faker, Keldor y Skeletor
Favorite Figure: King Grayskull
Favorite Series: MOTU
First Figure: He-Man
Collection Size: 150
Currently Collecting: MOTU Masterverse
Want List: All MOTU Masterverse Series
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Current Projects: Collecting The Walking Dead figures
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