Demona
Gargoyles (Neca) - Ultimate
Rated 4.60 stars by RMaster007
It's been quite some time since I reviewed a NECA Gargoyles figure, but that's mainly because I haven't been able to find the latest ones. Demona and Bronx showed up at Target first as "Haulathon" exclusives, and they ended up being impossible to find, compared to the Turtles figures which showed up all over the place. I was just recently able to find the former, but I had to go out of town to get it. Demona isn't as big as the previous two figures, Goliath and Thailog, so her box isn't as big as them either. However, special new artwork was made here, and while it's not the masterpiece Thailog's was, it still looks really darn good. Once you get past all the annoying things like tape and ties, everything is pretty easy to take out of and put back in the plastic trays. Demona is...[See More]

Nag Nuts Nina (Orange & Green)
Nina Dolono (Fewture) - Basic Series
Rated 4.00 stars by Karl T. Face
Mr. Nirasawa has an interesting visual style when it comes to women: I'd describe it as Patrick Nagel meets Tim Burton. And then they took drugs and brainstormed submissions for Heavy Metal covers. Pretty much all his merch follows this pattern, and Nag Nuts Nina is no exception. NNN is apparently a form taken by the titular antihero, thanks to the adaptable nature of her nebulously-defined enhancements. If there's official fiction that explains this further, I haven't come across it, but basically, that weird Gigeresque arm of hers was destroyed in battle and replaced by a decidedly goofy, very inorganic design. Built by magical means. And yet it now has an eyestalk of its own, snaking out of the back of the shoulder pad to peer down at her right hand. A second one emerges from her pants...[See More]

Splinter / Shredder
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 1990 Movie (Neca) - Exclusives
Rated 4.75 stars by RMaster007
The rivalry of Oroku Saki and Hamato Yoshi; one died, the other became the leader of a ninja clan known as the Foot, known as the Shredder. What he didn't know was that his slain rival's pet, Splinter, was exposed to mutagen and seeks to avenge his master. It's only fitting that these two would be packed together when the movie line moved from GameStop to Walmart, and while I never saw one when they first came out, they're now all over the place. I was at a local store yesterday and saw SIXTEEN of them! Crazy, right? The packaging's basically what I described when I reviewed the other movie figures, so let's move onto the figures themselves. The Splinter puppet used the the film had fur like a real rat would, and the sculptor(s) did a good job translating that look in plastic. The...[See More]

Brain Gremlin (Gremlins 2)
Gremlins (Neca) - Ultimate Collection
Rated 3.65 stars by RMaster007
"We're advising our clients to put everything they've got into canned food and shotguns." May as well put that money into action figures as well, cause this guy has one. I was excited to hear that NECA had confirmed my hopes that the Brain Gremlin would get a new figure, especially because the one they did in their early days is pretty rare now. He's been hitting retailers for a while now, having recently begun to trickle into Target, my usual place for NECA. The packaging isn't anything too special, just having a photo of the original puppet on the front and photos of the figure on the back. It's not much, but it works. Standing 6" tall, the unique thing about this figure is that rather than his outfit being sculpted, it's soft goods on a base Gremlin body. It fits well on him, and...[See More]

Greta Gremlin
Gremlins (Neca) - Ultimate Collection
Rated 4.35 stars by RMaster007
I could've sworn I reviewed this one already… When NECA made its return to Gremlins 2 last year, their first new figure was one they've had in the vault for a while. After who knows how many years since she was first shown off, Greta finally saw a release. She doesn't seem to be easy to find, so keep an eye out, I think she recently got a re-release. The packaging isn't anything too special, with just an image of the character on the front. Unusually for these "ultimate" boxes, this one has the hanger as a separate piece of plastic in the middle of the top flap, rather than cut onto the back of the box. I've seen a couple boxes with damaged hangers, and this should hold up better. Why they didn't keep it for releases after this is beyond me. There's the usual plastic ties to deal with,...[See More]

Optimus Prime
Transformers (Super7) - Ultimate
Rated 4.60 stars by RMaster007
Time to transform and roll out, except for the transforming part. Super7's had the Transformers license for a while now, mainly doing ReAction figures with it, but the first wave of Ultimates arrived last month, with two more waves in production right now, and a fourth one currently up for pre-order. These figures don't transform like what Hasbro and others have been putting out for years, and some people may not like it, but I have no problem with it. We know the usual Ultimates packaging; a trapezoid-shaped box with a slipcover and two plastic trays on the inside. The slipcover on these figures have an outline of the character on the front, and their name on the left side. The back of the box itself, rather than having a character bio, showcases their stats. There's not much to deal...[See More]

April O 'Neil
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 1990 Movie (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 4.80 stars by RMaster007
Reporting live from Channel 6-er, 3 news… It was pretty inevitable that the reporter April O'Neil would be a part of the TMNT movie line, and this one had the benefit of being a pre-order. People started getting them in a couple months after the initial sale, but for those who passed on it, Walmart didn't get any in until April of this year. Makes sense, I suppose, but I couldn't for the life of me find her in-store. Like Casey, I ended up paying $45 for her at a toy show. The sides and back are much like the previously released ultimate Casey, and by extension the rest of the line, but the front is pretty unique. It's a series of lenticular TV screens, all of which show Ms. O'Neil. Fits well given her occupation. On the inside, the figure is held in with twist ties instead of those...[See More]

Buzz-Saw (with Shredator)
SilverHawks (Kenner) - Basic Series
Rated 3.50 stars by Karl T. Face
Silverhawks wasn't high on my list as a kid, but once in a while, I'd find something I wanted anyway. Buzz-saw and Mon-Star made their way into my collection, but the easily worn vac-metallized parts and fragile wings turned me off the heroes. Having found this guy once more, I may as well cover him. For starters, I can't get over how much Buzz looks like he stepped right off an animation cel. Not from the show proper, mind you, but perhaps early concept art or even a coloring book. He's all flat colors and simple angles, but it works. The bright green/yellow is a nicer contrast than the near-total goldenrod of the show. Limited paint means limited scraping, so apart from the ever-present danger of discolored plastic, it's a good tough chunk of plastic with a satisfying heft. Articulation...[See More]

Weird Wolf
Super Naturals (Tonka) - Ghosts
Rated 4.00 stars by Karl T. Face
Y'know what, Ghostlings are weird as hell. You have a hooded robe with ghostly hands sticking out the sleeves, carrying very large GITD swords. Then, where you'd expect a head and torso to be, there's an entire "person" in there, arms and all. Nothing about these made any sense unless you separated the two, which I almost want to recommend. Two ghosts for the price of one! As I mentioned in my Vamp-pa review, each side of the conflict had a singular sculpt for these sidekick characters, and the evil ones had somewhat tattered robes and clawed, knobbly hands. Their swords were also a bit spikier. Overall, a much spookier look. I think this guy is the only "modern" character in the line, a very stocky punk rocker with a pretty weird face- almost simian. He's also one of the fancier models,...[See More]

Vamp-Pa
Super Naturals (Tonka) - Ghosts
Rated 4.00 stars by Karl T. Face
Super Naturals were an interesting toyline, trading mostly on 3D holograms and fairly cool designs, but not offering much in the way of story. If I recall, they were also a bit on the pricey side, but for those a little short on pocket money (or just not as savvy in terms of Market Six stores), the Ghostlings were certainly something. Around half the size of the Warriors, these dudes lacked legs entirely, consisting of a hologram-bearing, translucent inner "body" nestled inside a hooded robe. Said robe only came in two variants, one for the heroes and one for the villains, but both shared glowy hands and carried rather chunky swords. The best part was that you could totally separate them and have two different phantoms, which I often did. As there were only two sculpts (in various...[See More]