Favorite Figure: Neca Alien Ripley Figure
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Favorite Series: Marvel Retro: Fantastic Four (Hasbro, 2020– ); DC Retro: Super Powers (McFarlane, 2022–25); DC Retro: Super Friends (McFarlane, 2025– ); Batman: The Animated Series (McFarlane, 2023– ); & The New Batman Adventures (McFarlane, 2024–25)
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Favorite Figure: Mad Hatter
Favorite Series: Monster High
First Figure: Gaara
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Favorite Series: Jada Toys Cereal Mascots and most things Jakks Pacific
First Figure: World of Nintendo Yoshi in a Toys R Us circa 2014
Want List: McFarlane Toys Shrek and a host of others
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Looking to commission a custom action figure....[See More]

Despite being a mostly forgettable film, This Island Earth was responsible for introducing the Metaluna Mutant, one of the most memorable designs in Universal Monsters history. There have been plenty of figures of the character over the years, including a surprisingly well-made figure by Super7. NECA once again decided to prove they could do better and now has its own version of the Mutant.

Rather than an old poster, the box uses new art done by Jason Edmiston, which was previously used for a magazine, and it looks great. The colors don't quite match the figure, but the details and highlighting are good, and you get plenty of photos of the figure itself on the sides and back. You get the movie name and tagline as well, so you know where it came from.

Sculpted by Thomas Gwyn, the work is comparable to Super7, who was the first to do a more accurate Mutant figure. NECA's is a lot more detailed, including the head. There are all sorts of wash covering the portrait, bringing out the brain-like appearance, and the eyes have a shiny look to them. They also made the "mouth" the correct color, being light blue rather than gold. There's an alternate head which isn't too different, save for a big wound on its forehead, with blood drizzling down both it and the back of the head. Some more detail on the wound would've been nice, but the work is still pretty good.

NECA's Mutant stands taller than S7's, at just under 8 1/2", and is a lot more accurate. The skin is more blue than purple, with various different shades, and there's a subtle texture to the shoulder overlay and back that's made more noticeable by the paint. Said overlay is a soft PVC that's less restrictive on the shoulders than Super7's, thanks to there being some space underneath for them to go out to the sides. The lower body is rather wrinkly, making it look like pants, since the lower part of the costume was a pair of modified slacks. The feet look decent, but the soles are just solid blue, with no paint for the claw-like toes. In general, the paint all around looks good, but there are still a few areas of bleed, as with almost every NECA figure.

NECA also has the edge on Super7 when it comes to articulation, with plenty more joints. The Mutant has a barbell head, neck, and chest, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, forearms, knees, and ankles, ball-jointed waist and hips, swivel biceps, thighs, and calves, and hinged pincers. The joints move very well, but the shoulders and biceps are what you'll want to be careful with. The upper arms are pretty thin, which carries the risk of damaging the bicep pegs. I would know, as the right bicep broke on mine due to too much stress on the plastic, but I was able to fix it using the thumbtack method. Wrist joints like the Super7 version would've been nice, as they'd allow for more poses with the claws. The wounded head is the only accessory here (despite the higher than average price), and while an accessory set seems unlikely, one would be nice.


I wasn't expecting NECA to ever do this character, but they surprised me and quite a few others at Toy Fair earlier this year, and they did a great job. Just about everything is done better than Super7, and while it's a little high at $38, it's still less than what they wanted for theirs. Check your local Target, or online retailers if you can't find it there, and add a lesser-known piece of Universal Monsters history to your shelf. Just be careful with the arms.

- 10/14/25...[See More]

Favorite Figure: Wolverine Marvel Famous Covers
First Figure: Ice cream soldier gijoe
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Masters of the Universe has a very large variety of strange and unique characters; it started off in the 80s, where cartoons and toys weren’t afraid to get weird. One of the stranger characters is Mekaneck, the man with a robotic neck, hence the name. He’s also one of the few Masterverse figures I have, and he’ll be the first one from said line I’ll review.

The Masterverse packaging started out uniform, with blue window boxes for everything, but it’s since gotten more unique. Everyone gets unique artwork for their boxes, and Mekaneck’s is very nice. It’s not just him on the box; there’s the Ground Ripper behind him, and Clawful can be seen in the background. There’s a few ties on the inside, but getting them out is no hassle, and most of the accessories are put to the side in a little paper bag. The only other company I’ve seen do that is Hasbro.

The New Eternia figures tend to stay true to the original character designs, and Mekaneck isn’t much different from his original toy. The portrait is very accurate to what came out in the 80s, bearing the same emotionless look and funky helmet with visor. The visor is somewhat metallic when it comes to paint, but the front uses a reflective material, sort of like a funhouse mirror. I think it adds a lot to the look, and the bold, clean paint all over certainly helps. The torso armor doesn’t obscure his face as much as past figures of him did, and you can remove it if you feel like doing so by undoing the straps on the sides.

At about 7 1/2" tall, Mekaneck bears red and silver armor over a mostly navy blue outfit, and the outfit has a few changes from the original, like a bit more paint detail, and being one piece that is undone at the sides rather than being two halves that snap together. There’s some other added colors as well, with the gray boots having silver wraps (kind of the inverse of what the Classics figure had), and the wrist cuffs being a shiny cerulean. The colors are very nice and bold, with plenty of metallic coats, and the clean work when it comes to paint certainly helps. In addition, his loincloth actually looks more like a loincloth than tights, and it’s made of a PVC plastic to keep it from hindering leg movement.

As the successor to the much-loved Classics line, Masterverse allowed Mattel to work in more and improved articulation. The "Heroic Human Periscope" has a ball/ring head, swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, and ankles, hinged ball-joint hips, double-hinged elbows and knees, swivel biceps, waist, thighs, and shins, and a ball-jointed chest. The joints move very well, with little tightness to worry about, and it’s generally an improvement over what was made more than a decade ago. It would’ve been nice if he had pectoral hinges, as to allow for better poses with his accessories. The wrist pegs are hexagonal in shape, allowing them to hold a pose while moving near-smoothly.

Accessories are where Mekaneck’s gimmick comes in, as he has an extending robotic neck. Unlike the original, where the feature was activated by twisting the waist, or the Classics figure, which had two neck pieces of different lengths, the Masterverse figure divides the neck into five pieces, each with a barbell peg on top. They pop in and out of each other and the head/neck with ease, and offer plenty of range. He also has his telescope/club, which is a dirty gold color all over. The front of the telescope pops off, so it can be used with the neck pieces (and even Mekaneck’s body), which is a pretty fun concept. He also has a shield, which can plug into either his left forearm or his back, and gripping and closed pairs of hands. The back of the box shows him with a relaxed left hand, and I wonder why hands like that weren’t included with the final figure.

Mekaneck is a pretty weird character, being a semi-cyborg with a robotic neck and only neck, but that’s what makes him fun. He’s well-made, has plenty of customization options, and the value (around $22-25) is great for a figure like this. I’ll have to try and get some of these New Eternia figures at some point, because sometimes I’m a sucker for weird toys, especially if they’re of high-quality like this guy.

- 10/13/25...[See More]

Favorite Figure: skeletor and any thing universal monsters
Favorite Series: dc comic super powers neca universal monsters
First Figure: darth vader in the 70's
Collection Size: 1,000 figures and counting
Currently Collecting: masterverse super powers super friends universal monsters
Want List: bucky o hare Gentle Gaint LLC super powers
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Current Projects: 1/12 soft goodsspawn
Honorable Mentions: PITT and Savage dragon customs appeared on a Papitoloco video
Favorite Figure: Custom Mcfarlane modern spawn
Favorite Series: Indie spotlight
First Figure: Marvel Legends Hatut zeraze
Collection Size: Moderate sized, about 30 figs
Currently Collecting: Whatever is badass... Or customs
Want List: INDIE SPOTLIGHT MAXX. 12" Medicom Spawn.
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Although Jakks Pacific's Simpsons line has been great, its distribution could be a lot better, especially when it comes to the 2.5" line as of late. I was able to get most of the first four waves at Target easily, but they haven't stocked the latest waves, though them putting previous releases on clearance seems to be a good sign. Most Walmarts I know are still stuck with the earlier releases, and GameStop doesn't carry the mini singles at all. Rather than trying to hunt down wave five at retail, I just got it online through I Am Retro. The wave costs more than twice as much there, but it was easier to get through them, and the 15% off code didn't hurt.

Bart leads the wave with yet another variant, and this look is lifted from "Bart the Daredevil." Like Playmates, they did his imaginary look, which is very similar to Lance Murdock's outfit, rather than what he actually wore (which Jakks did in plush form). The expression reminds me of the 5" hockey Bart, being a determined look, and he's wearing a helmet as well, because even expert stuntmen know to stay safe. To my surprise, the helmet is removable, but it's a snug fit over the hair, and can be a bit tough to take off.

At 2 1/4" without the helmet, Bart dons a mostly white outfit, but with a few red lightning bolts on the arms and chest, a purple collar, and a blue bow tie on the cape. The cape is a separate piece made from a softer material, similar to Dancin' Homer, and it looks good for such a simple piece. As clean as the paint is, he's missing a few applications, like the lining of the cape, belt, and bolts on the pants. I get this is a small, cheap mass-market figure, but they could've cared more about paint. And before you pointed out the unpainted soles on the shoes, they're supposed to look like that. Aside from the helmet, Bart also gets the skateboard the wave one release and mini Bartman had, and he looks great on it, though they could've spread the legs for a more fitting pose.

Next is Mr. Burns, getting his first regular figure in the line (to be followed by a 5" figure very soon!). The likeness on him is great, and it looks a little better than the Burns Super7 did. He has his usual expression, looking somewhat displeased, and unlike past figures, the bottom of the upper lip isn't painted black, and the result looks nicer. His hunched-over posture means his neck turns in an odd way, but he isn't the only figure to have this issue, and the Playmates had it often as well. The paint on the eyes is clean, though the right eye could look a little better.

At about 2 3/4" tall, Mr. Burns is dressed in his usual green suit (I still prefer his blue suit from the earlier seasons; possible variant in the future?), and is quite slender. This is where his main issue comes in, as the big head sticking out in front of the body often causes him to tumble over, and it makes you wonder why Jakks couldn't just include bases with some of these figures. The paint on the suit is good, with very few issues, and the sit-down waist joint is integrated into the sculpt well. The limited articulation makes me wish Jakks didn't give these stiff poses nearly all the time, as Burns could've easily had his hands in an "excellent" position.

While Burns is a mini figure being followed by a 5" figure, Carl is making his jump over from that line with his inclusion in this wave. At 3" tall, there's admittedly not much to talk about here, as his sculpt is copied from the 5" figure. I compared the two and didn't see much difference, save for slightly darker skin and the jacket and shirt being one solid piece. The paint is very clean on him, aside from a tiny bit of blue bleed onto the sweater collar, and he generally looks just as good as his larger counterpart. The waist joint is limited due to the sweater and jacket, but that's to be expected with some of these figures.

Following up Nelson from the previous wave are the rest of the bullies, starting with Kearney. He's an ugly little thug, and the sculpt on him is great. The dimples on his bald head are sculpted in, and they're very subtle in appearance. At 2 3/8" tall, he's close to scale with the adults, but shorter than he should be compared to Bart. His outfit befits a thug like him, with torn edges on the shirt, sleeves, and shorts, as well as studded wrist cuffs. The studs on the cuffs could be cleaner, but I feel this is about as good as you'll get with this scale. The waist joint works better than I thought, being able to sit down just as well as Bart. It would've been nice to have an accessory with him; at least giving him the Squishee Milhouse had would've been nice.

Rounding out the wave is Patty, following her sister Selma from the previous wave. Both of them look about the same, save for different hairstyles and accessories. Patty has an afro-like hairdo, triangular earrings (which are attached to the hair), and a different necklace as well. Both have the same disgruntled expression, and you can hear their murmuring just by looking at them. Since most of the colors are handled by putting together different pieces of plastic, the eyes, exposed collar, and shoes are the only painted areas, but the work is very clean on them.

At a bit over 3 1/4", Patty and Selma's similar appearances meant Jakks could just reuse the latter's body, but this is where her main issue comes in: her dress is missing its sleeves. I get Jakks often reuses molds (just look at their Mario and Sonic lines), but they could've been less lazy than this. They already did a new head, so why didn't they bother sculpting new arms just for her? Complaining aside, I noticed Jakks changed the case pack unit numbers with this wave. Patty is still one per case, but Kearney is two per case, and the rest are three each. I'm glad Jakks did as such, since it ensures less Homer and Bart variants will clog up pegs while making other Springfield citizens easier to find… if any store bothers to stock them, that is.

While I'm not too happy about having to pay twice as much just to get this wave, I am satisfied with the figures themselves. Bart and Kearney are great, and the other figures are pretty nice, save for Patty's lack of sleeves and very limited waist movement. Wave six seems to be just now coming out, and given Jakks' release pattern, it may not be long before we find out who's in wave seven. Hopefully then we get Lenny and Smithers to go with Carl and Burns here, and maybe give us something unexpected, like a much lesser-known or one-shot character.

- 10/9/25...[See More]

Started to repaint my old Kenner Batman figures from the animated series, and just wondering what is the best way to color match them?...[See More]

No matter when you were born, chances are you've seen Sesame Street at least once. Going in since the late 60s, the show has had over thousands of episodes, and plenty of fans young and old. With the show joining Netflix soon on top of YouTube hosting its older episodes, I imagine it's a good time to be a fan. It's gotten plenty of merch over the years, including more than a couple of action figures. Palisades, who did a great Muppet line in the 2000s, had plans for the license, but they were only able to get out one figure (and a SDCC exclusive, at that) before bankruptcy killed their chances. NECA now has the license, and so far they've given us the pair of Ernie and Bert as well as Count von Count in Ultimate form. Not sure when the other figures they've revealed will come out, but I may as well tell you why these three are worth buying.

If the art style on the boxes looks familiar, then that's because they were done by Aaron Hazouri, who's been doing illustrations for the TMNT toon line. They're styled after the old Treasury books, and the artwork on the front and sides looks great. These are also numbered by "volumes," which is either good or bad for completionists. There's not much in the way of ties inside the tray, so as long as you have some scissors handy, these should be easy to open.

First up is Ernie, and the Sesame Street Muppet designs tend to be pretty simplistic. Ernie's one of the more human-like ones, save for the orange skin, and the likeness is very good, better than what the Palisades version would've been. He has two head options, and there's not much difference between them, with one having a closed mouth and another having an open mouth. The hair is different on both, and while I found it easy to pop them out of the scalps, you can't swap them between heads. There is a texture to the skin, similar to Palisades' Muppets line (which these were partially designed to fit in with), but it feels a bit more subtle. A majority of the sculpting for these figures was done by Paul Harding, with Brodie Perkins getting credit for some of Bert's accessories.

Standing a bit below 6" tall, it's worth noting the scale on Ernie and the others is meant to go with the Palisades Muppets, which weren't scaled to go with actual human figures like what Diamond Select did years later. The work on the sweater is pretty good, with a nice texture and clean stripes, but paint is also an issue as there are various areas of bleed and slop. His jeans have a baggy appearance, with plenty of creases and texture, and the paint wash helps make them look a bit more realistic. I love the work on the shoes, as they have a dirty wash to make them look more worn out, and I'd imagine they would be with how active the Muppets of Sesame Street tend to be.

Even though Palisades did some well-articulated figures back in the day, times have changed, and NECA's SS figures are much more poseable than theirs would've been. Ernie, as well as Bert and the Count, gets a barbell neck and chest, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles, ball-jointed hips, and swivel thighs and calves. The joints move very well (though one of Ernie's calves was stuck tight and needed heat to get moving), and I had no issues swapping heads or hands. They pop on and off easily, and you won't need to heat anything up. Bert's ankles are less restricted than Ernie and the Count's are, but that aside, everything has plenty of range.

Ernie is pretty good when it comes to accessories, even though he has a bit less than the others. Aside from the extra head, he has three pairs of hands: open, gripping, and loosely gripping/semi-pointing. He also has a rubber duck, one of his favorite things, and it's based off a toy duck by a company called Alan-Jay Plastics, but colored a more vibrant yellow than white with orange highlights like the base prop. There's also a framed painting of him and Bert, with a hole in the back so you can hang it up, and the letter C. The letter has a goofy little pair of eyes, and the bottom is flattened so it can stand up. The extra hands work great with the accessories, and the tighter grips go with the picture, but you may need some heat to fit it into his hands.

Next is Bert, and his frame is about the opposite of Ernie's, being taller and more slender than he is. Bert has a cone-like head, and the expression is notably different on both; the closed-mouth head has a surprised look, while the open-mouth head has the usual grumpy Bert look. The kicker here is that the eyebrows can be swapped between heads, which is depicted on the bottom of the box, allowing for more emotion out of the portraits. The hair, like Ernie, is different on both heads and can be removed, but not swapped. The paint is pretty good on the heads, but the outlines around the eyes could be a little thinner and cleaner.

At 7" tall, Bert is also wearing a sweater, and the tops with these are all soft plastic so they don't get in the way of neck and chest movement. The paint on his sweater is cleaner than Ernie's, but there's still a bit of slop and unevenness here and there. His slacks have a more subtle texture than Ernie's, partially due to the more solid finish. The socks are red, though the hinges are brown plastic with red paint that chips off easily, and the loafers have a clean look, but I did notice a bit of chipping on the left foot. It's mostly covered by the pant leg, so I don't consider it too much of an issue, but once you notice it, you can't un-notice it.

Like Ernie, Bert has two heads, three pairs of hands, and a letter (A in this case), but he has a few more other extras. Like us, Bert's a collector, but not of action figures. He has a standing frame of his bottle cap collection, as well as a cigar box full of colorful paper clips, and with a hinged lid, no less. Such mundane collections are a part of Bert's character, and both will fit in a display well. He also comes with an open book entitled "Boring Stories," because that's another representation of the kind of guy Bert is, and his favorite bird, a pigeon. The pigeon has a pretty realistic appearance, and the detail of the sculpt helps a bit, though the paint could be a little better.

Lastly, there's Count von Count. As a vampire, he has some of the attributes of such, like the pointy ears and fangs, but he also has a long, pointy nose, with the eyebrows and monocle being sculpted as part of it. The eyebrows are soft, which makes it less likely for them to break, and the monocle is solid, clear plastic with a metallic rim. He has open- and closed-mouth heads like the others, and the paint and sculpt work on both is great, though the hair edges on the default head could be better.

Another 6" figure, the Count is dressed differently from the more casual duo, being dressed in a fancy suit with dress shoes, and the paint on the body is mostly clean, though there's some bleed and slop on the white sleeve cuffs. Separate from him in the box is his cape, which is mostly cloth save for the upper part, which is a very soft plastic. It fits into a slot behind the neck, and there are rubber bands on the edges for the wrists to hold them into place. The slot tends to come unhooked, which is a little annoying, but the execution in general is good. There's also a wire in the bottom of it, so it can be posed in plenty of ways, and combined with the range of motion in the arms, opens the door to various dynamic poses.

As for accessories, the Count's hand options are a little different. He still has open and gripping hands, but he also has counting hands, because that's his whole shtick, including a "one" right hand, a "two" left hand, and a "three" right. In lieu of a letter, he has the number two instead. I like the mopey expression of it, but the eyes could benefit from better paint. Other than all that and the extra head, he also has a rotary telephone and a candelabra with four candles. The paint on these props is good, and the metallic finish really helps the candelabra.

Never did I think NECA would produce Sesame Street figures like this (I thought Super7 would be the one to do 1/10 figures given their ReAction line), but they did, and they pulled it off. With great sculpts and plenty of articulation and accessories, these'll be plenty fun to even those who aren't too familiar with the show. The other figures they've revealed, including Big Bird, Oscar, Herry, and a Grover/Mr. Johnson two-pack, look pretty fun as well, and hopefully we'll get some release info for them soon. This line is plenty promising so far, and I want NECA to be able to get as deep as possible.

- 9/30/25...[See More]

Having run for nearly 10 years, the first volume of the original TMNT comic book has had plenty of stories, and I've read all 62 issues (plus Tales of the TMNT's first incarnation), and I read the ones collected in IDW's "Ultimate" collections before checking out the rest, and I can tell why a good chunk was absent from those collections. Much of those stories were very outlandish, dark, or just plain nuts (I loved the "Spaced Out" three-parter). The "Masks" story, which came shortly before the City at War arc, not only brought back Renet and Savanti Romero, but also introduced Chote, the dinosaur samurai. It's two cool things in one, how is he not figure-worthy? Playmates did a figure of him back in the 90s as "Shoate" as part of their "Shogun" sub-line, and now NECA is bringing him back.

Chote was sculpted by Dan Katcher, and I don't think he's worked with NECA before, but he's known for his work on the dragons in Game of Thrones, and he teamed up with Josh Sutton and Jay Kushwara to bring this dino to life. The sculpt replicates Michael Dooney's art style well, and the likeness is great. The expression seems neutral, but the exposed teeth give a hint of aggression. It's another figure with a hinged jaw, and it blends in with the sculpt very well. The skin has a scaly texture, not to mention various ridges on the head, and the wash really brings out the paint on it. The work on the teeth is clean, and the tongue has a very bold color to it.

Standing 7 1/4" tall, Chote's build reminds me a bit of the Triceraton Infantryman, being big, muscular, and scaly. Given the higher-than-average price, I was expecting him to be bigger, but the scale looks good enough to fit with the other figures. He's dressed appropriately for a samurai in feudal Japan, with a sleeveless robe, some armor-like pieces over the waist, and sandals. The robe and accessories are soft plastic over the bare body underneath, and it looks great. The paint helps the look well, as in addition to the bold colors, there's plenty of wash, and the blue edges of the robe have a metallic finish, which I said in my previous NECA TMNT review always makes stuff look cooler. The paint on the outfit isn't the best, as there are various small areas of slop, bleed, and inconsistent edges, so you'll want to pay good attention to what you see on the shelf to find the best one. The skin is better, and the work on the wristbands and sandals is very clean.

Chote is plenty articulated in addition to the hinged jaw, with a barbell head and chest, swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, and ankles, ball-jointed hips, double-hinged elbows and knees, and swivels at the biceps, waist, thighs, and above the knee caps. The elbows are pinless so they blend in better with the skin texture, but the lower knees still have pins. I get NECA likes to use swivel and dual-hinge knees from time to time, but if they're trying to make the joints more aesthetically pleasing, then these need to be pinless as well. The joints all move with no issues, and the ankles are on the tighter side hinge-wise, but it helps them hold up his frame better.

Since he only appeared in two issues of the original comic and nowhere else, Chote isn't going to have too many accessories, but what he has fits him. He has three pairs of hands - closed, gripping, and wide open - and they swap with little issue, but I wish the gripping hands were vertically hinged. It bothers me that NECA keeps missing opportunities to do those with comic figures. He has a pair of swords, both different sizes, and the longer one has a dragon etched onto both sides of the blade, because that's cool, right? There are scabbards to go with them, and to hold them onto the waist, an elastic fabric belt is included. Said belt uses Velcro to hold itself together, and it's better than trying to tie a knot or anything like that. He also has a sun hat that fits over his head, and a cape that's also fabric. It clips together easily, and the upper part can be flipped over his head like a hood. Lastly, he comes with a torch, which has a removable flame effect, and the paint on the stick makes it look as if the flame is illuminating it.

Given how the Playmates Chote/Shoate was around $4-5 when he first came out, it's quite surprising that one new on-card goes for hundreds of dollars nowadays, making $50 for the NECA figure a more reasonable value. He's $10 more than I think he should be, but he's nevertheless very well-made and plenty of fun. I'm hoping NECA dives as deep as possible with Mirage, as the inclusion of Image-era figures in the line has me hoping they do some Volume 2 characters as well.

- 9/29/25...[See More]

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