Brain Gremlin (Gremlins 2)
Gremlins (Neca) - Ultimate Collection
Rated 3.65 stars by RMaster007
"We're advising our clients to put everything they've got into canned food and shotguns." May as well put that money into action figures as well, cause this guy has one. I was excited to hear that NECA had confirmed my hopes that the Brain Gremlin would get a new figure, especially because the one they did in their early days is pretty rare now. He's been hitting retailers for a while now, having recently begun to trickle into Target, my usual place for NECA. The packaging isn't anything too special, just having a photo of the original puppet on the front and photos of the figure on the back. It's not much, but it works. Standing 6" tall, the unique thing about this figure is that rather than his outfit being sculpted, it's soft goods on a base Gremlin body. It fits well on him, and...[See More]

Greta Gremlin
Gremlins (Neca) - Ultimate Collection
Rated 4.35 stars by RMaster007
I could've sworn I reviewed this one already… When NECA made its return to Gremlins 2 last year, their first new figure was one they've had in the vault for a while. After who knows how many years since she was first shown off, Greta finally saw a release. She doesn't seem to be easy to find, so keep an eye out, I think she recently got a re-release. The packaging isn't anything too special, with just an image of the character on the front. Unusually for these "ultimate" boxes, this one has the hanger as a separate piece of plastic in the middle of the top flap, rather than cut onto the back of the box. I've seen a couple boxes with damaged hangers, and this should hold up better. Why they didn't keep it for releases after this is beyond me. There's the usual plastic ties to deal with,...[See More]

Optimus Prime
Transformers (Super7) - Ultimate
Rated 4.60 stars by RMaster007
Time to transform and roll out, except for the transforming part. Super7's had the Transformers license for a while now, mainly doing ReAction figures with it, but the first wave of Ultimates arrived last month, with two more waves in production right now, and a fourth one currently up for pre-order. These figures don't transform like what Hasbro and others have been putting out for years, and some people may not like it, but I have no problem with it. We know the usual Ultimates packaging; a trapezoid-shaped box with a slipcover and two plastic trays on the inside. The slipcover on these figures have an outline of the character on the front, and their name on the left side. The back of the box itself, rather than having a character bio, showcases their stats. There's not much to deal...[See More]

April O 'Neil
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 1990 Movie (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 4.80 stars by RMaster007
Reporting live from Channel 6-er, 3 news… It was pretty inevitable that the reporter April O'Neil would be a part of the TMNT movie line, and this one had the benefit of being a pre-order. People started getting them in a couple months after the initial sale, but for those who passed on it, Walmart didn't get any in until April of this year. Makes sense, I suppose, but I couldn't for the life of me find her in-store. Like Casey, I ended up paying $45 for her at a toy show. The sides and back are much like the previously released ultimate Casey, and by extension the rest of the line, but the front is pretty unique. It's a series of lenticular TV screens, all of which show Ms. O'Neil. Fits well given her occupation. On the inside, the figure is held in with twist ties instead of those...[See More]

Raphael (Frankenstein)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Neca) - Universal Monsters
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
Remember when Playmates actually tried with TMNT? The original line from the late-80s and early-90s had a lot of creativity put into it, and we had Turtles as olympic contestants, astronauts, sumo wrestlers, and Universal Monsters. The last of those sub-lines has come back not through Playmates, but rather NECA, who currently owns both licenses. The first one, Raphael as Frankenstein, came out a few months ago, and we should be getting Leonardo in this line soon. The packaging art on the front isn't too special, just being a painting of the figure, but it looks really nice, so much so you'd think it was a photograph. The back feels reminiscent of an old movie poster, with eye-catching photos and text. This is the usual fifth-panel NECA packaging, so you can flip open the front and see...[See More]

Style Guide Colors (4-Pack)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.75 stars by RMaster007
Given how all the TMNT cartoon pre-orders on the NECA Store seemingly won’t be shipped out until Q4 this year, we got ourselves a bit of a break from that sub-line. We still have some stuff lingering at Target to pick up, though, such as a new four-pack. A couple fans have asked NECA if the “style guide” turtles would be coming back, and they honored their wishes with not two two-packs, but a single set. It’s been showing up in surprisingly large amounts, and I’ve had more luck seeing it in stores than the Turtles in Disguise set, which I’ve never seen at retail. Speaking of which, you know how that set had a fifth panel box with awesome artwork? The box for this set isn’t like that. It’s a long window box with the same design cues that the two-packs have, but we at least got some nice...[See More]

Horn Head
Madballs (Premium DNA) - Basic Series
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
Premium DNA’s first wave of Madballs figures has been pretty great so far, and I’m down to the last one for now, who also happens to be one of the more well-known ones in the franchise. Horn Head may look like a brute, but according to the original line, he’s one of the good guys. Then again, does anyone in the Madballs world look like a pleasant person? The head sculpt here looks a good deal nicer than how he did back in the 80s. Specifically comparing him to the original “Head Popping” figure, his eye and horn are larger, and there’s a couple white spots all around his head (what are those, pimples?). Looking him up, I saw that he looks like that in most Madballs products nowadays, and it carried over here. His body is covered in fur, even though he has a bald head and blue facial hair...[See More]

Antrax and Scumbug
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
They want more than crumbs… The old cartoon made sure to work in almost every character that appeared in the original toy line, even if some only appeared for a single episode. Amongst the one-offs included the insects Antrax and Scumbug, who only appeared in season 7’s “Night of the Rogues”, joining the turtles’ other past foes to take them down, even though they never fought them before (or at we didn’t see them fight for the first time). Still, NECA did them. We got Ace, who only had a few seconds of screentime in the show, as a figure, so I think anyone’s possible by this point. The box is pretty much the same as the rest of the line, so why bring it up here? Because behind the plastic tray where everything’s in, there’s another tray that has… nothing? I guess they included it to...[See More]

Pinocchio (Pinocchio)
Disney (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.70 stars by RMaster007
“I’ve got no strings to hold me down…” While the tale of Pinocchio is probably as old as time itself, Disney’s take on the little wooden boy is the most well-known, for various (frightening) reasons. He’s also the third figure of Super7’s first wave of Disney Ultimates, rounding out the previous two I’ve reviewed. The packaging art is unique with each character, and Pinocchio’s box has a workshop look to it, as if it was made out of wood. The slipcover looks like a fancy window showcasing the starry night sky, and there’s a silhouette of Jiminy Cricket on it as well. Since Pinocchio is a small figure and he doesn’t have much big accessories, there’s only one plastic tray inside the box. Is it the first Ultimate with only one tray? I’m not too sure. Like with the other two figures,...[See More]

Prince John (Robinhood)
Disney (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.80 stars by RMaster007
“Too late to be known as John the First, he’s sure to be known as John the worst; a pox on that phony king of England!” Super7 seemingly likes to balance the good with the bad, including both heroes and villains in their Thundercats and TMNT lines. So out of the three figures in their first wave of Disney Ultimates, only one of them is a villain: Prince John from Robin Hood. I assume they did him before Robin not just for variety, but because he’s a fan favorite. Like I said with Mickey, the packaging art is unique across all three figures in the wave, with a slipcover that’s colored gold and the window box itself being mostly colored purple. And yes, a character bio is included on the back. In short, same cues, different graphics. John’s sculpt has been changed the least from the...[See More]