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]

Slithe
ThunderCats (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.75 stars by RMaster007
Getting into a line late has its drawbacks, Super7's Thundercats Ultimates line being a good example. It wasn't until around when wave 10 or 11 got revealed that I started getting the figures, missing out on some of the long sold-out figures and exclusives, including Slithe. He was $45 at release, before the Ultimates price hike, and he's now worth up to $150 on eBay. The thought of getting him was priced out for me, but guess who happened to be one of last year's Christmas gifts? The Reptilian leader of the mutants isn't a pretty face, but we all know how good Rankin-Bass was at designing all sorts of strange creatures. Slithe has a great portrait, done by Four Horsemen Studios, in one of the first Thundercats figures they did for Super7 and not Mattel. He has big, fin-like ears, making...[See More]

4-Pack Action Figure & Dracula's Coffin
Universal Monsters (Neca) - Loot Crate Crypt Club
Rated 4.55 stars by RMaster007
NECA's done a wide variety of Universal Monsters figures, the number made large by all the different variants. Almost everyone's each gotten a color version, a grayscale version, and a Remco-inspired GITD version. Four of them - Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy - received Loot Crate-exclusive versions based off the 90s Burger King toys, and as cool as they looked, the problems suffered with the TMNT crate series made me hold off. Fortunately, NECA gave fans another way to get them in the form of a direct-exclusive four-pack. One of those times where holding off is actually a good thing! As opposed to plastic baggies like the LC releases, the "Crypt Club" figures are packaged here in a huge box, one of the biggest NECA's done. The motif is pretty nice, with art...[See More]

Geocron (Infernac Universe)
Transformers - Legacy - United (Hasbro) - Core Class
Rated 4.00 stars by Karl T. Face
Haha, geological cycle. I wasn't into the Infernac figures when they started out- and, frankly, they didn't grow on me much. This was a cheap impulse buy, though, so here we are. Starting with 'bot mode as packaged, we have a pretty decent little rock duder. The smattering of robot bits among the stone are mostly a metallic purple, while the upper limbs, wheels, collar and "tail" are a somewhat darker, more metallic brown. The head is a delightfully simple rock face, like a minimalist Jack o' Lantern sculpture come to life. Or an animation cel, since it's based directly on a rock monster from the Headmasters series. Apart from the backpack, kibble is limited to some Arcee-esque shin wheels. Said backpack is my main gripe here. The front wheel fork (and half the cowling) hang off quite a...[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]

Broken Tusk
Predators (Neca) - Series 18
Rated 4.50 stars by Dark Fire Action Figure Art
This was a long awaited figure for me, given the original Aliens Versus Predator comic run is probably my favorite comic series of all time. The figure is essentially the Ultimate Jungle Hunter Predator mold NECA tends to reuse a lot, which is justified given he looked a lot similar in build to the Jungle Hunter in the comic series, too. Some pieces of the armor such as the wristblade gauntlet, belt, and knee guards are new sculpts, the rest of the armor is a reuse of the Kenner homage Stalker Predator they had released in series 16, but again this reuse is justified given his appearance in the comic. He includes his burner gun, which is nice and pretty comic accurate, though I feel it should have included some ammo on the sling given it was present in the comic. A blast effect would...[See More]

Reptile
Mortal Kombat (Jazwares) - Series 3 - Shaolin Monks
Rated 3.25 stars by RMaster007
Mortal Kombat is one of those licenses that seemed tailor-made for action figures, given that it's an uber-violent fighting game with a wide cast of characters sporting unique designs and weaponry. Jazwares is one of the many companies who took on the license, having quite a long run with it. The MK9 figures were the ones I most knew, but they started with Deception and Shaolin Monks, and the figure I got here comes from the latter in their first Reptile. The cardback doesn't have too much to it, as it just has the logo, character and game name, and a cross-sell on the back. The graphics fit the license well, and the green motif is pretty nice, and somehow fits Reptile for obvious reasons. It's also easy to open, with no ties to worry about, and just a single piece of tape needed to hold...[See More]

Cabal 3-Pack
Marvel Legends - Infinite Series (Hasbro) - Marvel 85th Anniversary
Rated 4.00 stars by Wes68
The Cabal 3 pack brings together some notable villains. Whether this pack resonates with you will largely come down to whether or not you either already own the figures; or your personal preference for one figure over another. From my perspective for example? I have no real attachment to or knowledge of Iron Patriot. I do now of course learning that it is essentially Norman Osborn in Iron Man armor. This pack does reuse a lot of things. The Iron Patriot appears to be a reuse of the Iron Man Extremis armor. There may be some new sculpting, and the Norman head is new. So if you have a retro Goblin? You can use the Norman head on him. So let's talk about Taskmaster next. Taskmaster may offer the most bang for your buck. He uses a newer vulcan body versus the prior Bucky Cap body. His...[See More]

Ken Kaneki
Total Anime (Jazwares) - Tokyo Ghoul
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
While most anime collectibles come from their home in Japan, there's been plenty of western toy companies who have tried their hand at figures, with varying results. Nowadays, Bandai and McFarlane are doing a few anime icons, and while they could look much better (with some looking worse than others), they serve as good alternatives for those who don't want to pay import prices. Jazwares announced last year they're getting into the anime figure game with their "Total Anime" line, and they're tackling today's most popular series first, alongside a less popular series in Tokyo Ghoul, with Ken Kaneki being their first work with the license. All of the packaging across the figures is the same, with official artwork and a cross-sell and figure photo on the back, but the colors vary between...[See More]

Galadriel
Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring (Toy Biz) - 12" Special Edition Collector Series
Rated 4.00 stars by Moryo
A beautiful doll with surprisingly accurate clothing for the price. The dress is quite beautiful, with a separate belt. The face doesn't look entirely like Cate Blanchett, but a repaint could do wonders. The head is a bit on the smaller side, but it's not as disproportional as the Arwen doll. My main complaint is the strangely large breasts that appear pointy and prominent under her gown. All the female dolls of this line seem to have this and it looks quite strange with their loose gowns....[See More]