Dark Leonardo
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 4.45 stars by RMaster007
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...[See More]

Tattoo and Wyrm
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.35 stars by RMaster007
Having run for at least five years by this point, NECA's TMNT toon line has been scraping a bit for figures. They've done one-shots, characters in outfits not from the show, and now characters who never appeared in the show at all. The other two-pack out now alongside the ghostly pair of Creepy Eddie and Shibano-Sama consists of both a one-shot and a character who was animated around the time the show ran, but didn't actually appear in the show. The one-shot here is Tattoo, who you may recognize from the OG toy line, but he showed up in "Planet of the Turtleoids," where rather than being a good guy, he was a more neutral character. Apparently, he went from being a hamster to a sumo wrestler because of Shredder and Krang, and all he wanted was to go back home… to his cage. I guess they...[See More]

Creepy Eddie and Shibano
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.60 stars by RMaster007
There's been a lot of NECA figures hitting shelves lately, partially thanks to the annual Haulathon event at Target. TMNT has a big presence during it like usual, but this year it's more focused on the Mirage line, with nowhere near as many toon figures as before. Still, the new toon stuff is what fans have been wanting for a while, including the much-requested Creepy Eddie. He was a one-shot character in the show, solely appearing in "Nightmare in the Lair," but he's still a memorable Freddy Kruger-esque villain. Eddie may not be as disturbing in appearance as his inspiration, but he still has a fitting design for a nightmare creature. His inhuman skin color, pointy nose and ears, and mismatched eyes make him a ghoulish-looking fellow, and Richard Force recreated him very well. It's not...[See More]

Party Wallop
Transformers - Collaborative (Hasbro) - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Rated 4.75 stars by RMaster007
Last year marked the 40th anniversary of two pop culture giants: Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. While Transformers already made a name for itself through toys, comics, and an animated series, TMNT was just a simple indie comic spawned from a one-shot, and it'd take a few more years to branch out like Transformers did. To celebrate the milestone both franchises achieved, the two were brought together by Hasbro's Collaborative series. While there have been third-party toys and pseudo-TF TMNT products (remember the old Auto Mutations?), the Party Wallop served as the first official collaboration between the two. Considering how Hasbro was utilizing plastic-free packaging for a time, I was a little surprised by how they used a cardback for this release. The graphics are what...[See More]

Beetlejuice (Shish Kebab)
Beetlejuice (Kenner) - Series 1
Rated 3.00 stars by Karl T. Face
Let's see if I can get through this without saying it three times. Beetlejuice was a huge part of my childhood. The movie, the cartoon, the toys. I adored all three aesthetics, each with their own charm. The toyline (outside of role-playing toys) was the most simplified of the bunch. Shish Kebab Beetlejuice is one of several variations on the Ghost with the Most, most of which corresponded to the film somewhat. This particular outfit, with the cap and long coat, is his "tour guide" look, from the scene where he stabs Barbara with several spikes and then dances into a brothel. Y'know, for the kids to play with. It's all been smoothed over, of course. No badge on the hat, a rather bland sculpt. The face is decently Keaton-ish for the era, smiling with his tongue waggling about. Looks real...[See More]

Robocop
Robocop (Neca) - 35th Anniversary
Rated 4.25 stars by Dark Fire Action Figure Art
This is a decent figure of RoboCop, but it is essentially a reissue of the old Spring Holster RoboCop with some added accessories. The articulation is limited just like their previous RoboCop figures. This isn't a huge deal since RoboCop has pretty stiff movements in the films, but I feel there could have been some upgrades made, given the Hagane Works RoboCop is the same scale and has much better articulation then the NECA figures. The spring holster is very fragile and easy to break on these figures, so I avoid using them at all given I had bad experiences with the previous three releases. This one also should have been the one to be included with the Repair Chair, but that was more of a smart move on NECA's part forcing fans to buy both pristine and battle damaged versions if they...[See More]

Machiko
Predators (Neca) - Series 18
Rated 4.45 stars by Dark Fire Action Figure Art
This was another long awaited figure for me personally. Machiko Noguchi is easily my favorite human character in the Alien and Predator Universe, and NECA did a fairly good job at capturing her appearance from Aliens vs Predator: War. This figure comes with a couple of accessories in the form of her burner rifle, a removable bio-mask, and an alternate hand. The mask is accurate to the one she wore in Issue 0 though it would have been nice if it had included a more Jungle Hunter-like one, too, as she wore one like it through the rest of the series. The mask's tubes can plug into her shoulder cannon, but it's a bit of a pain to plug them in and keep them in. I put some super glue on the ends, allowed it to dry and that seemed to make them fit more snugly. The rife is accurate to the one...[See More]

Hagane Works Robocop
Robocop (Good Smile Company) - Basic Series
Rated 4.75 stars by Dark Fire Action Figure Art
In my opinion this RoboCop is the best 7" scale depiction of the character and is leagues above the NECA figures of the same scale. It is a bit on the higher price side but well worth it if you're a RoboCop fan and can find it at retail price. The sculpt is pretty film accurate and the figure is made of a mix of die and plastic. The metal gives it a bit of heft and actually makes it so it stands on its own well, though it also includes a stand. The figures comes with an array of accessories and alternate parts including: hands, mouth pieces for different expressions, battle damaged parts, two different Auto 9 Pistols, and a Cobra Assault Cannon as well as a base and a stand arm. The base also opens for part storage, which is really nice. The only accessory I wish it had included is a...[See More]

Duffman
Simpsons (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.50 stars by RMaster007
The first wave of Simpsons Ultimates had a guy who serves beer, and now we have a guy who promotes beer. Makes sense, doesn't it? Duffman is said to be played by many different people in the show, but he always looks the same (is there a bunch of guys who look the same in Springfield?). The man has a somewhat cylindrical head shape, wearing a Duff hat and sunglasses. The sunglasses aren't removable, but there are eyes sculpted and painted underneath, though he doesn't seem to have pupils. The default portrait is a grin, but he also has an open mouth head, as well as a head with a Duff sticker slapped onto his face, coming from "Pygmoelian." The sticker can actually be removed, pegging into the mouth, leaving you with an "oh yeah" expression. All three heads look nice, and the clean paint...[See More]

Scumbug
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) - Ultimates!
Rated 4.80 stars by RMaster007
Scumbug isn't a TMNT character you see talked about much. He wasn't really present much in past media, being just a one-time character in the original cartoon, and some other versions like the Archie comics barely looked like him, though Mutant Mayhem reintroduced him (or in it's case, her) to today's audiences. NECA already made a great figure of him a while back, but that hasn't stopped Super7 from making their own version. While NECA's Scumbug was a recreation of the toon design which was no different from the original Playmates toy, Super7's more directly updates the toy design. Most of that involves simply making him more colorful, with all those little bugs crawling over him now being painted, along with a few other additional colors. There are some changes to the overall design as...[See More]

Mighty Morphin Eye Guy
Power Rangers Lightning Collection (Hasbro) - Mighty Morphin
Rated 3.50 stars by Karl T. Face
Ironically, I eyeballed this extensively when it came out. Finally pulled the trigger on a trade, but there's a reason I waited. As a Kaiju nut and mythology fan, I couldn't turn down another classic Dora Monster in the end. This one's based on Argos, the hundred-eyed giant that guarded one of Zeus' side pieces from his frequent advances, despite her having already been turned into a heifer. Dora Argus, meanwhile, was created to trap a little girl in a nightmare dimension to break her spirit so their pathetic resident vampire could actually drink human blood for a change. Either way, this is some wacky stuff. First, the good. This thing is big, hefty, and very well sculpted. Various eyes are half-closed, and the freaky skin texture looks great. The articulation is the usual Lightning...[See More]