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]

Warlock Dragon (Green)
Blackstar (Galoob) - Accessories
Rated 4.00 stars by Karl T. Face
Well, this was a lucky find. $3 at a thrift shop? Yes please. I never got into Blackstar as a kid, but I can certainly appreciate the aesthetics, and Warlock here is a solid example. The hollow, unarticulated body (as was the custom) captures the oddly smooth, almost equine build and featureless tail. Even the head isn't quite your typical dragon: toothy, short horns, yes, but the mouth is cartoonishly large, and very square. The wings are the only points of movement here, on somewhat flimsy swivel/hinges. Now, there are two versions available: this all-green one, and one with yellow wings. Only the yellow-winged version came with a saddle, though frankly, I can't imagine how that would have worked, given that Blackstar can barely straddle the thing as is. No matter which version you...[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]

Mickey Mouse (Sorcerer)
Disney (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
It took a while, but the magic has finally arrived! It was back in the summer of 2020 when Super7 announced that Disney would be joining their Ultimates line, and they were due for a 2021 release, but for reasons unknown, they got delayed. They eventually saw release around two months ago, thankfully, and they seem to be worth the wait. The first wave has three figures, including Mickey Mouse, of course. This Mickey is dressed in his Fantasia outfit, one of his most recognizable looks. The packaging is the same style as the TMNT Ultimates I’ve been reviewing, albeit smaller. The box graphics for each figure is based off what movie they came from, adding some uniqueness to the line. Beside that, we still have a slipcover over a window box with a character bio on the back. Mickey is...[See More]

Ash (40th Anniversary)
Evil Dead (Neca) - Ultimate Collection
Rated 5.00 stars by RMaster007
After years of working with the Evil Dead franchise, NECA finally got around to the one that began it all. “Groovy.” Last year marked the 40th anniversary for a few different horror films, including Halloween II, An American Werewolf in London, and the first Evil Dead movie, the independent film that made Bruce Campbell a star and Sam Raimi a notable director. While many have given plenty of attention to the film’s sequels and TV continuation, the original never got all that much, but now it’s gotten the much-deserved NECA treatment. As usual, NECA goes the route of using the original movie poster for the front of the box, with figure photos on the sides and back. They decided to get a bit creative here and make it feel like something you rented from Blockbuster or whatever video store...[See More]

Turtles in Disguise!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.90 stars by RMaster007
This may be it, guys. The pinnacle of Turtle figures. When this set was first revealed in late 2020, early 2021, I was impressed and couldn’t wait to find it in stores. But even as TMNT was getting a better presence at my local Targets, I could never find it. So when NECA announced that you could get it directly through them via pre-orders on their site, I jumped right at the chance. These pre-orders shipped out earlier this year, and you will not believe how happy I am to get one. Since this is a four-pack, the box is really long, but they also made it special. The fifth panel “flap” has some great artwork on the front, and the sides, top, and other side of the flap have all sorts of little references to the cartoon only dedicated fans will get. There are two plastic trays on the...[See More]