Pizza Monster (Another One Bites the Crust)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 3.80 stars by RMaster007
In the sewers, no one can hear you scream… since you’ll be a couple feet underground, I guess. Back in a season two episode, the Turtles found themselves facing against giant monsters that Shredder and Baxter created, and they were pretty much Xenomorph copies. This beast was the first of three new TMNT figures to drop as pre-orders on the NECA Store first, and a few months after they all shipped out, they began hitting Target as well. We got a large box here, around the same size as Chrome Dome’s, and the VHS-inspired artwork on it as great as always. I was half-expecting them to use the same artwork that the old VHS of the episode had, but this is a little better. Everything’s held in by those damn plastic ties, though, so get your scissors ready. The sculpt on the Pizza Monster may...[See More]

Ace Duck and Mutagen Man
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 5.00 stars by RMaster007
Well, this was a halfway unexpected release. Let’s face it, nobody expected Ace Duck to be a part of the toon line because he never really was a character on the show. Most he got was a brief cameo on the Turtles’ TV in “Attack of Big MACC”, with the only thing established about him is that he had a series of films. That sole appearance was enough reason for NECA to put him in the line, I guess. Ace’s appearance in the show wasn’t all too different from how he looked in the original toyline, except he didn’t have any wings. This figure, on the other hand, does have his wings, and they have a nice feathery appearance. Ace has a removable hat and two different heads: a wide-eyed head with a grin, and an angrier expression with an open beak. The beaks can be swapped as well, which is a...[See More]

Splitting Headache
Madballs (Premium DNA) - Basic Series
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
The other Madballs we’ve gotten so far from Premium DNA are already somewhat gross, but this one is just nasty (I’m gonna jump right to the sculpt. The box is the same as the others). Splitting Headache is unique from the others as he never got a “Head Popping” figure back in the day. In other words, he never got a body. Years later, he finally has one, and it’s just like the head – part flesh, part bone. His left side shows all the bone, with exposed ribs and green slime oozing through them. The rest of him is blue skin, he’s more of a goblin than outright human, and there’s blue slime and blood all around him. The head has been notably changed from the original ball, sporting pink lips instead of purple ones, and no green around the right eye. The bony texture is great, sporting a good...[See More]

Crutch
Spawn (McFarlane Toys) - Series 7
Rated 3.00 stars by Karl T. Face
I'm a slight sucker for post-apocalyptic toys from the 90s. Road Wars, Fist of the North Star, it all had a slight but delightful cartoonish nature. It's therefore a little surprising I never bought this guy to mix in there. But that's what secondhand stores are for, so let's see how this nutjob stacks up. Sculpt and paint are the usual fare for this point in the line: grungy and muted with splashes of brighter color. The cutoff Hawaiian shirt is a nice touch, and his tattoos are cleanly applied. There's quite a varied selection of junk all over him, and it all looks like an edgy Borderlands OC. Not so fun are the articulation and action feature. Swivels at the Big Five, right wrist and elbow, and pin right knee aren't nearly enough to get him out of his "leaning heavily on a weed...[See More]

Muckman & Joe Eyeball (Toxicity Now!)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 4.90 stars by RMaster007
Talk about an unexpected release. While NECA has been no stranger to repaints, it’s rare that they do them, which is why they’re unexpected. Their latest repaint happens to be of Muckman from their TMNT line, in a release titled “Toxicity Now!”. Much like with everything as part of Haulathon, these are hitting Targets in large amounts, so he should be easy to get ahold of. The FHE-inspired packaging is present once again, but this time, they based it off of the “Sewer Heroes” tapes. In addition to getting a nice new illustration of Muckman and Joe Eyeball, it, along with the TMNT logo on the front, glow in the dark. Is that a hint towards what’s special about this variant? Could be. The plastic interior is the same as the regular version, but that’s not a surprise. Muckman’s sculpt is...[See More]

Super Bebop and Mighty Rocksteady
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
"Stomp toitles! Stomp toitles!" Looks like we've gotten the fourth Bebop and Rocksteady figures by NECA, technically. These aren't Bebop and Rocksteady, but rather their robotic counterparts, Mighty Bebop and Super Rocksteady, both of whom come from a season 3 episode where Shredder and Krang make mechanical clones of their dim-witted henchmen to carry out their latest evil task. These are dropping as part of Target's Haulathon event, but I'd get looking now, these are going faster than you think. The packaging follows the same cues as the rest of the line, but it's worth noting two things. One is that there are no plastic ties holding in the accessories, but there's still a couple to deal with on the figures themselves. The other thing is that they got the names wrong, calling them...[See More]

Fugitoid
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Mirage Comics (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 4.90 stars by RMaster007
Anyone who’s familiar with the NECA TMNT line should know that it didn’t start with the cartoon or movie adaptations, but of course, the original comics that started it all. The four turtles were released in their original Mirage designs back in 2008, and they’re considered some of the company’s best work. Nowadays, a whole set of them can cost you up to a thousand dollars, and some have settled on just getting bootlegs of them. NECA is well aware of how popular they were, and they already put out a Foot Clan four-pack and a LootCrate-exclusive Shredder years after those initial figures, but now they’re officially reviving the line. The first character here is Fugitoid, a character that was actually created before the Turtles. Fitting choice to kick it off, isn’t it? The original figures...[See More]

Frankenstein (Color)
Universal Monsters (Neca) - Ultimate Collection
Rated 5.00 stars by RMaster007
It’s alive! Alive! …if you want to call it alive, since this is an action figure, not a living being. A lot of people were excited about a year ago when NECA announced that they would be making Universal Monsters figures, with Frankenstein being the first one, mainly to coincide with the film’s 90th anniversary. He’s been out for a good long while now, with two different versions, one greyscale, and one in color. I saw that the color version was half off at Go! (which is good cause they like to charge $40 for NECA figures), so I grabbed him and managed to pick up the original movie at FYE. The perks of checking out malls outside of Maryland, I guess. The packaging for this specific release makes use of the original poster on the front, and there’s photos of the figure on all the other...[See More]

Mask of Phanteana
Resurrection of Monstress (Yellow Submarine) - Basic Series
Rated 4.00 stars by Karl T. Face
Phantom of The Paradise is a cult classic of the highest order. Fans may be surprised to know it's pretty big in Japan for whatever reason, and nowhere is that more evident than any given anime shop. This is actually the fifth character I'm aware of to be directly inspired by good old Winslow, and I haven't been looking very hard. Mr. Nirasawa, unsurprisingly, threw his hat in the ring with Phanteana here, a gender-swapped version with far less in the way of clothing, but considerably more flair. Posed in a pretty dramatic flourish, she can play the keyboard with one hand only, but still makes it look good. Every bit is well sculpted and painted, as usual. Accessories are the main draw yet again, this time comprising a keyboard, speaker, control panel (mixing board? I don't know this...[See More]

Horrid
Spawn (McFarlane Toys) - Series 11 - Dark Ages Spawn
Rated 4.50 stars by Karl T. Face
Ah, the Horrid. Every fantasy story needs a reptilian beastie of some sort, and this one is nicely understated for MacFarlane at the time. Don't get me wrong, the detailing is great. I love all the scaly textures, the overlapping plates, that wicked smile. What I mean is, there are no accoutrements. No GWAR-esque armor, no arrows sticking out of it, no accessories. Just a big ol' dragon, built like a wyvern with arms. I can't honestly say which color scheme looks better; the brown one just feels more "natural", but I do love the grey and red here. Got a nice feel to it, almost like a gargoyle. Paint is the usual kind, muddy in all the right places but still plenty tight around key areas like the face. And while I can come up with a few more joints that could've knocked this out of the...[See More]