eBay User Name: greggv9
...[See More]

While NECA doing a Miyamoto Usagi/Usagi Yojimbo for their '87 TMNT line was expected, giving him a variant was not. Sure, character variants are to be expected out of a cartoon toyline, but how could a character who only appeared in two episodes get another version besides a black-and-white repaint more associated with his comic origins? Simple, they made up their own, and that's where Space Usagi came from. There was a pilot for a potential Space Usagi series by the same company behind the original TMNT cartoon, but this figure has nothing to do with that.

Compared to the rest of the Ultimates, the art style used for the packaging has a different aesthetic, being done by Ben Seto instead of Dan Elson and/or Aaron Hazouri, with a bolder, airbrushed look as opposed to making it look like an old FHE video tape. The art looks fantastic here, and I think it fits given this is something more unique; we never had Usagi look like this before. There's also less of those annoying tab strips for the tray inside, thanks to the use of extra plastic to help keep things in place.

Usagi is again sculpted by Paul Harding, so there's going to be some reuse here and there, but the default head is all new. It's more expressive than the regular version, with one eye more open than the other, and the scar above it looking like a raised eyebrow. The other head is the same open-mouth portrait from the previous Usagi, with the same ears-down piece that can be swapped between heads. The paint is clean, though the nose paint is a bit off-center on the extra head, and the ear band is gray rather than purple, making these heads a bit more distinct.

Standing about 5 1/2" tall with the default ears, Space Usagi's outfit comes not from the aforementioned pilot, comics, or the 1991 Playmates figure, but rather is something all new. He's dressed in gold armor, which bears a jetpack on the back, and black clothing over the arms, legs, and abdomen. It's a cool look that I feel fits the character well, and it's cool NECA was allowed to do something unique for him. The paint is handled in a way to make the armor look metallic, with both light and dark shines, and while there is some slop and bleed here and there, it still fits the cartoon aesthetic while avoiding that lazy approach shading this line used to have.

Having less chunky clothing frees up Usagi's movement a bit, and he has plenty of joints. The space-faring ronin has a barbell head, neck, and chest, swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, and ankles, ball-jointed hips, double-hinged elbows and knees, and swivel biceps, thighs, and ears. Some of the joints, such as the elbows, knees, and chest, show the benefit of less bulky clothing on a sculpt, and everything on him moves with no issue. The extra parts also swap with ease, and while the heads are a bit of a tight fit on the ball, I haven't had to use any heat for them.

As before, Usagi has plenty of accessories, and the futuristic theme provides some fitting weaponry. He has the same pairs of hands as before - fists, gripping, and wide open - but he also now has trigger finger hands to work with his laser blasters. One's a small blue pistol, while the other is a gray, rifle-like weapon. Of course, he comes with a katana, which includes a laser energy effect that clips around it, as well as a butterfly sword. For space travel, Usagi has a clear helmet that splits in two and reconnects over his head, and rounding things out is S.P.O.T., a robotic version of his Tokage buddy, who bears very clean paint work.

Although I didn't manage to find Space Usagi in-store until well after he began showing up, he's a release I'm glad I didn't miss, and paint issues aside, NECA did a great job with him. Sure, it'd be nice if they focused more on new characters than just variants, whether from the show or made-up (thank God we finally got confirmation of Tempestra), but being able to come up with unique stuff like this shows the kind of creativity that comes with the license.

- 4/5/26...[See More]

Currently Collecting: Starting on ToyBiz Marvel 90's, always wanted when i was a kid, but nope.
Want List: Marvel Toybiz 90s
...[See More]

eBay User Name: CrookedAnchors
...[See More]

Current Projects: Mcfarlane/Mattel Dc Multiverse: None

Star Wars The Black Series:
Rahm Kota (The Force Unleashed)
Custom Jedi for friends

Marvel Legends:
Green Skull
Daisy Johnson AKA Quake (Agents S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show version)

Fallout:
None

Pokemon: Shiny Pokémon (ongoing)

Other: Superhero movie: The Hourglass, Dragonfly
...[See More]

Current Projects: Suited Skeletons
Favorite Figure: Mezco Bartholomew Vex
Favorite Series: If it looks cool,I get it
First Figure: Diamond Select Thanos
Collection Size: Close to 40-50,maybe more
Currently Collecting: Marvel Legends,Mezco, Mcfarlane,
Want List: Atticus Doom,Ryuk from Death Note,Link from Legend of Zelda
...[See More]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has crossed over with a lot of other properties over the years, but one of the earliest ones is Garfield, who's as just as big of a name in newspaper comics as Turtles are to indie comics. Aside from that Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue special, issue #7 of the lesser-known TMNT Magazine featured a comic where the fat cat attempted to infiltrate the Turtles to eat all their pizza, to little success. Many years later, "Garfello" is finally receiving merchandise, with Nickelodeon now owning both properties making it easier to happen, and NECA has given his lesser-known disguise his first action figure.

Garfello comes in the usual five-panel packaging, with the front and back having illustrations by Jason Yang. The graphics depict Garfield doing what he loves most besides sleeping, and that's chowing down on some food. I feel the art here is a little off, but it's recognizably Garfield and Odie (yes, he's included with the figure), and it has a nice, bold look. The rest of the sides have a checkered look, like a tablecloth, and the figure photos are on the reverse side of the flap only, with the window giving you a clear look at everything inside.

Garfield's design has evolved over the early years, and it was by the early 90s when the Garfello comic came out that his current appearance was starting to take form. Tomasz Rozejowski did a great job capturing how the cat looked at this point in time, where the eyes aren't quite as big as they are now, and part of his disguise has him wearing a black mask over them. The faux turtle has three heads to choose from - neutral, grinning, and worried - and all of them come from the comic in addition to having bold colors and clean paint. A unique feature here is that the eyes can be swapped between heads, creating more expression options. He has a tool for popping out the eyes on each portrait, but you shouldn't need it, as they come out with ease. The extra heads don't have mask tassels, presumably to cut down on plastic, so they all have to share one.

Standing just 3" tall, Garfello is one of the smaller ultimates NECA's done (though Baby Sinclair is still their smallest), but it lets him fit in scale-wise with the rest of their figures. Fooling the Ninja Turtles into thinking he was one of them was easier than anyone could've thought, as he wears a shell held onto him by a "G" initial belt, and has elbow and knee pads just like them. It's a simple design, but it's spot-on to how he looked in the source material, and the articulation is integrated well with the sculpt. The paint is mostly clean all around, save for a few small marks here and there.

Garfield isn't known for being active, but he can still move quite a bit here. He has a barbell head, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles, ball-jointed hips, and swivel tail and mask tassels. The joints move quite well, though you'll want to take care due to the small limbs, and he can take on some good poses. The mask tassels and tail were stuck at first, and they needed some pulling and heat to get moving, so keep that in mind when you first open him up. The heads fit tightly on the ball, so you'll need some heat when you're swapping them (and some tweezers just in case the joint comes out of the torso instead), but the different hands - gripping, closed, splayed, and clawing - swap with no issues thanks to the short pegs. Aside from the swappable parts, he also comes with a pizza cutter with a spinning blade, and a huge stack of pizzas, enough to feed four turtles or one cat.

Since Garfello is such a small figure, NECA needed to pack in something else to help with the value (especially now that the prices of Ultimates are up to $38 each), so they include his canine cohort Odie. He stands a little smaller at about 2 7/8" tall, and is just as accurate as him. Unlike Garfield, this is a standard Odie, though with an alternate head to recreate his failed disguise from the comic, being a turtle shell with his tongue sticking out. He's yellow all over, though suffers from a few blips like Garfield, and he's quite articulated with a barbell head, ball shoulders and hips, and swivel/hinge wrists and ankles, and the heads swap with no need for heat. Given we got a regular Odie here, maybe NECA can give us a regular Garfield in the future?

Garfello was an unexpected release from NECA, but he's also a fun one as well, with plenty of accessories and the fact that he's a two-pack with Odie, and the quality is top-notch. Between this and Boss Fight Studio doing a proper Garfield line (including their own Garfello/Odie set), seeing the fat cat get some well-made action figures is a dream come true.

- 3/31/26...[See More]

Favorite Figure: Rodimus Prime G1
Favorite Series: Transformers
First Figure: Most likely Powermaster Optimus Prime (1988)
Collection Size: Transformers 300+, Hasbro WWF 60+, Ghostbusters growing strong now!
Currently Collecting: Ghostbusters (80s/90s)
Want List: Ecto-1 re-issue..should have got it when it was released.
...[See More]

Collection Size: Huge
Currently Collecting: Several Lines
...[See More]

...[See More]

...[See More]

Everyone knows about Dungeons and Dragons, but how many people are familiar with the cartoon? It ran for just 27 episodes, but remains a cult classic to this day, and it's especially popular in Brazil for some reason. Hasbro put out a small assortment of figures back in 2023 to celebrate the show's 40th anniversary, and aside from a few issues, they were pretty good. I already reviewed the first wave long ago, but now that I've finally completed the line, I'll be looking at wave two, consisting of Presto, Eric, and Sheila, as well as the Venger/Dungeon Master two-pack.

First up is Presto, the team's magician, who has a bit of a wizard-like appearance. He's dressed in a green robe with a blue collar and pants, as well as a belt with a bag attached to it. It's a simple outfit, but his appearance is spot-on to the cartoon, and the colors look nice, though the collar has poor paintwork (the downside to the plastic-free packaging Hasbro did at one point is that you can't check for paint issues). Rather than having two gripping hands like most of the figures in this line, he has a gripping left and a pointing right, gestures that come in handy (heh) for magic-casting poses. The portrait looks great, especially the paint on his thin glasses, and the expression is fitting for the character. Although he's bare-headed by default, his hair can be swapped out for an alternate piece with a peg on top for his pointy hat to plug into. The hairpieces swap out with little issue, and give you different ways to display him.

Standing 5 3/4" tall without the hat, Presto has about the same articulation as the previous wave, with a ball/hinge head, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles, and ball-jointed hips and waist. The lower part of the robe has slits in the sides to allow the hips to split, but it's still quite restrictive on leg movement, and the knees are a little tight, so be careful when posing them. That aside, the articulation works well enough to get our young magician in plenty of good poses. Aside from the extra hairpiece, there are also two magic effects that plug into the hat: a small piece and a longer, swirly effect whose other end can clip around his wrist. He also comes with a four-sided die, solely because this is a D&D line.

Next is the cavalier, Eric, the comic relief of the show. Compared to the others, Eric has a bit more of an attitude on top of his hidden kindness, and his smarmy expression reflects that. The little smirk and raised eyebrow make up my favorite portrait in the line, and the paint on the face and hair is very clean. Standing about 5 7/8" tall, Eric is dressed in yellow with an orange belt, a red cape (which is a separate piece from the torso), metal boots, and chainmail over the arms and legs. There are not too many areas of paint, but the work is just as clean as the head, and the parts that are supposed to be metal have a somewhat shinier look, (though the figure is shiny in general due to the unpainted plastic) alongside a good texture for the chainmail.

Eric's articulation is nearly the same as Presto, complete with slits in the lower part of the clothing to let the hips move more. The one difference, aside from more freed-up leg movement, is the barbell head on top of a ball-jointed neck, like Hank from the first wave. Most of the tilt is at the base of the neck, and it allows for more expressive head movement. While he moves pretty well, with the swivel/hinge knees making up for the lack of thigh joints, the shoulder and elbow hinges are quite stiff, another thing to be mindful of when posing these figures. Eric's only piece of equipment is his shield, but it has a clear energy effect that fits on with ease, and the shield itself easily clips onto his forearms. His die of choice is a ten-sided one, another piece that comes in handy if you actually play D&D unlike myself.

Rounding out the wave is the only other girl in the group: Sheila the thief. At 5 1/2" tall, Sheila looks just as good as the others, including the head, and I should note the eyes on these figures are printed on rather than painted, making for a cleaner look. The colors on the outfit are nice and bold, though the paint on the belt could be better. Her invisibility cloak is done as two pieces: the hood that fits over her head and around her neck, and the cloak itself that's held in place by the head, and fades to clear plastic at the bottom, reflecting its abilities. Her only accessories are an alternate cloak with the hood down, and her head pops off easily to swap them out, and a six-sided die. As for articulation, she has double-hinged knees unlike the boys in this wave, as well as the thigh swivels this line needed, right at the tops of the boots. Add in vertically-hinged wrists for hood-up poses and more range for the head on the ball peg than usual, and you have the best-articulated figure of the line.

Before these three came out, we got the big bad, Venger, because every good toy line needs a villain or two. His visage looks quite good, with a hood over his inhumanly blue head and skin, a single, curved horn that's either part of the hood or his head, and Nosferatu-like fangs sticking out of his mouth. The only negative about his portrait is his eyes, which are looking to the side rather than straight forward. It gives him a bit of an annoyed look, but it just doesn't make him look as good as the others.

Venger towers over the youths at about 8" tall up to the horn, and befitting his status as the main villain, he's dressed in red and black, save for the gray skirt that completely covers his legs. Unlike the others, we know who sculpted him - Ryan Buckalew - and the sculpt matches the show very well. The paint is mostly clean, aside from some slop here and there, especially on the left hand. The wings are quite large, spanning about 6 3/4" long and 5 1/2" tall, hence why they're a separate piece that plugs into the back. The shoulder pauldrons and skirt have slits for less hindered movement, but even then the plastic for the skirt is very restrictive on the hips. His articulation is very similar to the others - ball/hinged head, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, and ankles, ball hips and chest, double-hinged knees, and swivel thighs - but the restricted hips combined with lack of range in the head give him little room for poses. His only accessories are different hands, including a clawing right, a closed left, and a pair of magic-casting hands.

Also coming with Venger is the Dungeon Master, who's not only the mentor to the main six, but has also been indicated to be Venger's father, hence why he's in a two-pack with him. He's on the other side of the height spectrum, being only 3" tall, and also sculpted by Buckalew, he looks decent. The head is what's mainly wrong with him as while it looks accurate to the show, the shape is a little off, and the eyes look rather fuzzy (I guess there was a printing issue there). The paint is pretty good at least, including metallic finishes for the gold parts, and the hand gestures are similar to Presto with a pointing left and a gripping right. His body is a solid piece, leaving him with only five points of articulation - head, shoulders, and wrists - and the head can't do jack due to the shape and long hair. He doesn't have any accessories to call his own, but both twenty-sided and percentile dice are included, as well as a cardboard backdrop of the D&D ride that makes up the mural in the show's credits, as well as serving as the background of the box art. Pretty meh selection of extras for $50, so it's a good thing this set is below retail now.

While far from perfect, Hasbro's D&D toon line still turned out pretty good. The second wave feels like a step up from the first given the slightly improved articulation and some pretty fun accessories, but the earlier Venger/DM two-pack is quite weak in comparison, due to somewhat off portraits, limited articulation, and a small amount of accessories. Still, these are good figures for an otherwise deep-cut show, now I'm just waiting for Super7 to get off their asses and actually continue their line.

- 3/26/26...[See More]

...[See More]

...[See More]

...[See More]