REX-1 (From the Files of Pizza Squad)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 4.70 stars by RMaster007
Part of the charm of the original TMNT cartoon was all the unique one-shot characters. Ranging from pre-existing characters established in toy form, to cool, and sometimes goofy, faces created just for the show. One of such show-specific characters is REX-1, the robotic police officer from "New York's Shiniest." I've been wanting him in figure form for a while, and NECA delivered as part of Haulathon. The singular figure releases keep up the artwork inspired by the old F.H.E. VHS tapes, and it looks really good. The mixture of this artwork and shots of the figure make for attractive packaging that draws in customers. And of course, there's a front panel that flaps open to reveal what's inside. Make sure to have your scissors on-hand, because there's a lot of those darned ties again....[See More]

Pepe the King Prawn
Muppet Show (Palisades) - Series 5
Rated 4.90 stars by RMaster007
One of the later Muppets, Pepe was introduced in the short-lived Muppets Tonight, but has since become one of the more notable characters in the franchise. Given that he's the most well-known of the Tonight Muppets, it's no surprised he was the first character from the show to get the Palisades treatment. Sculpted by Camelot Industrial Artists (with no specific person or people credited), Pepe stands 4" tall up to his hair, making him one of the smaller characters. There's no loss of detail due to his size, however, with a texture on his skin that invokes a furry look (don't think king prawns have fur), and texturing on his jacket as well. Pepe has a bug-eyed look with an open mouth, a common look for him, and his hair and antennae are made out of a softer material. As a king prawn, Pepe...[See More]

Dirk Savage and Mona Lisa
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.65 stars by RMaster007
NECA's making our turtle dreams come true with two fan-favorite one-shots in one set. Dirk Savage only appeared in one episode, season 7's "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter!", where he was employed to hunt mutants (duh) under orders of A.J. Howard, unaware his employer was actually a mutant planning to use the captured mutants in an old-fashioned take over the world scheme. He was a pretty cool character, to say the least, what with all his traps and all, and his gear has been included with a few previous figures, meaning his arrival in the line was inevitable. I have no idea who sculpted Dirk, since there's a lot of people credited for this set, but he looks spot-on. The head is great, with a chiseled jaw and expressive open-mouth look, though his hair isn't as messy as in the show. Standing...[See More]

Dr. Julius Strangepork
Muppet Show (Palisades) - Series 4
Rated 4.50 stars by RMaster007
PIIIIIGS IN SPAAAAAACEEEEE!!! The fourth wave of Muppet figures marked a step up for Palisades as they were no longer limited to just The Muppet Show; now they could make characters from Muppets Tonight and the movies. In correspondence with this shift in the line, the packaging changed greatly. The design went from a red curtain look to a blue color scheme, and the line was now just "Muppets." The character bio and credits on the back remained, thankfully. It also switched from a cardback to a clamshell, which aren't as easy to open (at least not without an exacto knife), but keep the contents safer. Sculpted by Camelot Industrial Artists and standing around 5" tall, Dr. Julius Strangepork has a bit of Einstein in his appearance, with hair and eyebrows made out of a soft, rubbery...[See More]

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
Muppet Show (Palisades) - Series 1
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
I've been on a Palisades kick as of late, specifically their Muppets. I've got a couple to look at, so I'll keep these reviews coming with Muppet Labs' own Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. Dr. Bunsen's sculpt is done by Kathy Jeffers, and his head is round and green; like a honeydew (hence his last name). I feel they went too heavy on the green for him, but the head sculpt is very spot-on to the puppet. Bunsen wears glasses, yet has no eyes, and the glasses have a thicker frame on the figure, which helps to reduce the likeliness of them breaking. Like Kermit, his head and hands have a rough texture, and it definitely brings out some realism in his sculpt. Standing around 5" tall, Bunsen is dressed in his usual lab cost, with a vest and striped suit underneath. I'm not sure why they made his coat a...[See More]

Kermit the Frog
Muppet Show (Palisades) - Series 1
Rated 4.80 stars by RMaster007
Ah, Palisades Toys… For its time, there wasn't any other company like it. A nice selection of licenses, great sculpts and stunning accessories, and all for good prices. Sadly, financial issues closed its door in 2006, despite them still having plenty in the pipeline. Nowadays, their figures are still pretty well-enjoyed, but none of their lines is as noteworthy as their Muppets line, thanks to a fun, varied selection of characters and exclusives along with creative accessories and playsets. I have a couple of these, so I figure I'd start the reviews with good ol' Kermit. Wait… didn't I already do a review of this guy almost four years ago? Aw, the hell with it, it's time for a new look at an old figure. The cardback has a red curtain motif matching The Muppet Show, which at first, was...[See More]

Steelwill
SilverHawks (Super7) - Ultimate
Rated 4.10 stars by RMaster007
Like me, you've probably never heard of Silverhawks until Super7 announced they got the license. I wasn't too enticed at first, but I got interested in the designs, and checked out the show; it's pretty good. A little over a year later, we finally saw the release of the line: with wave two coming before wave one. Super7 really can't get their release windows straight, can they? We all know the usual Ultimates packaging - a trapezoidal box with slip cover. The slip cover is simple, with the Silverhawks emblem on the front of a shiny silver color. The box underneath is a starry blue, with the back having an illustration of the character and a bio. The only thing needed to remove from the plastic tray is a tie holding in the figure, and everything's easy to get out. Steelwill's face has...[See More]

Gir
Invader Zim (Palisades) - Series 1
Rated 4.40 stars by RMaster007
Ah, Invader Zim, a show that's generally agreed to be one of the best Nicktoons ever. Between its great art direction, absurd humor, hilarious dialogue, and being able to get away with darker content than the network could allow, it was pretty much perfect. While the show sadly got cut short because of who knows what, it has managed to put out new material in the years after it ended, such as a comic book series and a movie. Around two years ago, Diamond Select announced they'd be making figure two-packs for the show, but production issues held them back greatly, to the point where they had to take down pre-order listings for them. Years before that, around the time when Zim had a general presence at Hot Topic, there was a cool line of figures by one of the best toy companies to exist:...[See More]

Charizard (Dracaufeu)
Pokemon Select (Jazwares) - Series 1
Rated 4.35 stars by RMaster007
Has anyone heard of Jazwares before they started doing Fortnite figures? I’ve gotten a couple of their older figures as I grew up, and a good amount of them were hit-or-miss, and I believe the main issue with them was floppy and weak joints. The last “new” thing I got from them was a Fortnite figure set that was gifted to me for some reason, and I was surprised by how good the joints were considering their earlier work. But I’m not talking about those (maybe someday I will), I’m talking about their new Pokémon figures. They got the license through Wicked Cool Toys (which they at first owned and then merged into the host company) and did the same stuff they were doing, but now they’re doing a “Select” figure line, meant to go with their Fortnite stuff and pretty much everything Hasbro’s...[See More]

Invisible Man (H.G. Wells)
Universal Monsters (Neca) - Ultimate Collection
Rated 4.90 stars by RMaster007
It's been a while since I've gotten one of NECA's Universal Monsters figures, and the latest addition to my collection is the Invisible Man. When I first saw the film, I knew it'd tie with Frankenstein for my favorite Universal Monsters flick, thanks to Claude Rains' great portrayal of Dr. Jack Griffin, the invisible man himself, being able to capture his descent into madness with equal parts horror and comedy. Following the trend of previous releases in this line, the Invisible Man's packaging consists of the film's poster on the front, and a collage of figure photos on the back. Also as per usual, you can flip open the flap on the front to reveal the figure and everything it comes with. There are a few ties to snip out to get the figure itself out, but at least there isn't a whole lot...[See More]