NECA Ninja Turtles: The Capture of Splinter

NECA Ninja Turtles:  The Capture of Splinter

NECA - SDCC exclusive

Ugh...another round of chance with nabbing SDCC exclusives.  I was lucky to grab NECA's last Turtles set on the second day of the mouse-clicking, heart-stopping, agony-inducing madness, and it was no different this year.  Seconds spent in checkout...lag...and they're gone.  Tweaked some technique the second day...success!  Others weren't so lucky.  Oh well...they'll get another shot at individual releases via Gamestop soon enough.  For now, let's take a look at what the fuss was all about.

This set was all about Shredder for me.  I mean, I would want a movie Splinter and Foot Soldiers if offered, but the main baddie is always top priority.  My turtles had to stand around for so long to get someone to fight!  Better late than never, Shredder does not disappoint.  

He's got the expected, excellent NECA articulation (though remember to work those joints slowly or boil to avoid breakage),  a removable mask to reveal his scarred face, and a wire-piped removable cape.  The cape in the movie is such an oddity.  He only has it in his reveal scene and it's design is...well...Zubaz were popular around that time.  It goes with all the shiny sparkles on his costume, I guess.  In any case, NECA did a great job with the costume accuracy.

He has a couple of different hands.  Ones to hold specific weapons like his spiked bo staff and hidden dagger.  He has a stretchy, cloth waistband which I found puzzling until I saw that this tiny knife and it's sheath was included.

The Foot Soldiers are great, as expected.  They come with several sets of weapons and hands to brandish them.  Also included in this set is a weapons rack to hold all of their gear.  The ax from the antique store scene might be my weapon of choice.  The only thing lacking here is that I wish one had a flat, open palm hand with fingers together.  You know...for delivering special messages.  SMACK!

Splinter is the icing on the cake.  He comes with arm shackles and a box to help recreate his capture in the warehouse.  He is smaller and thinner in areas than most NECA efforts (he was a sort of Muppet after all), so be careful with those arms and legs.  It's too bad they didn't mold the crate out of plastic and given us a section of chain link fence to suspend him from.  For the latter, I will be looking to wrestling figure playsets.  There's got to be some loose "Hell in a Cell" pieces out there somewhere.

The packaging was nowhere near as fun as the VHS tape recreation with the turtles.  Even if I wanted to keep this one, UPS mashed one side of the box to hell.  NECA should share some of the blame, as the outer box they packed this rather expensive set did not include or allow for any padding.

Overall, I am pleased to add these to my collection.  It wasn't as exciting as the Turtles release, but I couldn't see myself having those and not going in for these.  I do hope this ends my days fighting NECA's horrible pre-order system...though I can see sweating over a Tokka, Rahzar, and TMNT II Shredder in the near future.

Flashback:  other NECA Turtle reviews.

NECA Turtles box set

NECA ooze cannister

Ghostbusters UNO

Ghostbusters UNO

Mattel

Took 'em long enough to rectify the mistake...whoops, Mattel made Ghostbusters 2016 UNO cards before the one and only Ghostbusters!    It plays the same as the original, save for the new "Cross the Streams" card that I'm not sure adds that much to the game.  Oh, well...the pictures they selected look nice!

Even Janine gets some love here!  The Louis with coffeepot shot is my favorite. ("Yes, have some!") I like the "spooked" Ray on the "0" card, but feel that this number should have been reserved for Walter Peck.

The pictures selected for the special action cards are even better.  "Skip" turn on Gozer..."Reverse" on the librarian...hah!  The wild card, which I forgot to take a picture of, features the Ghostbusters "hands-in" after surviving Gozer's earthquake.  The cream of the crop though is the "Draw Four" card, with all four heroes in one of the best promotional shots ever.

I found this deck at Gamestop for about $6 (while buying an Ectotron/Ghostbusters t-shirt, I might add).  If you like UNO and Ghostbusters, you should have no problem justifying this checkout lane, impulse purchase.

Ultimate Gremlins

Ultimate Gremlins

Stripe, Gamer Gremlin

NECA

It's about time NECA got back to the original Gremlins!  What took so long?!  You didn't know you'd make a killing, selling us multiples of the same Gremlin buck or something?  

The Gremlin sculpt is spot-on original Gremlins, with articulation just about everywhere you'd expect it to be in bringing these puppets to toy form.  The hinged jaws and articulated ears are the highlight for me, allowing you to get multiple expressions and accessory-use options.

Accessorizing is what its all about here, with NECA providing quite a bit of add-ons to help your clones stand out from each other on the shelf.  Your Gremlins get quite a bit of junk food (candies, soda) and some interesting headwear (popcorn bags for the ears, 3-D glasses).  

The Gamer Gremlin (a Gamestop exclusive) comes with the popular popcorn bucket hat option, propeller beanie, wrap-around shades, and retro "gamer" accessories like an Atari joystick and Gremlins video game box.  The coolest accessory is the mini-arcade cabinet, even if they had to substitute imagery to get past rights issues for Donkey Kong.  It looks great with the previously released Mogwai, and the joystick is even movable!

The big-bad leader, Stripe gets some yum-yums and a couple of toys to menace Billy Peltzer.  He's got a skateboard to move around the department store to pick up some much-needed hardware like saw blades and an electric chainsaw.  The detailing on the chainsaw is great, but I feel like the plastic here is a bit fragile and a tumble from the shelf might do it in.  Warning, these figures are a bit top heavy!  

Since these accessories are from the department store finale, I feel cheated he didn't come with a revolver.  OH, NO...GUNS!!!  THINK OF THE CHILDREN...with these "adult collectibles?"  From a movie that pushed the envelope and forced the creation of the PG-13 rating guide?  Ugh...I'm more than tired of having that debate at large, let alone leaking into my toy accuracy.  If Spielberg/Amblin wanted to continue being pussies, NECA should have at least made a joke of it and given Stripe a walkie-talkie instead.  Wait...but they allowed Mohawk from Gremlins 2 his machine gun?!  What sense does that make?!  Anyway...on to the cigarettes and beer?

Toys with cigs and beer!  And cards for gambling!  Yes, they can be bad for you, but they are bad, naughty little creatures that do bad things! You couldn't call them "Ultimate" without something from the Dorry's Tavern scene thrown in.  And while I would still like a Gremlin in the Flashdance leg warmers, I'll settle for these dirty little details.  Details...did I ever tell you about the argument I had over wishing a Ray Stantz Ghostbusters figure had a cigarette?  It was the 80s...get over yourself!

These are the Gremlins I've always wanted.  But be warned, the joints can be a little fragile (stuck, paint slop). I recommend breaking rule number 2 with these Gremlins: give 'em a hot bath to loosen them up first.  The Gamer Gremlin's leg snapped at the knee right out of the package (flashback to my NECA Batman 89) with minimal force.  I used a small drill bit to install a small linoleum nail in place of the plastic pin.  Now my Gremlin's knee is better, stronger than ever! Good thing I'm getting good with minor toy repairs to combat bad quality control.  If something like this happens to you, I encourage you to try something like this rather than just gluing broken pieces in place.

Want more Gremlins?  Check out my Ultimate Gizmo review, featuring Gremlins 2: The New Batch figures!

Stranger Things Ghostbusters

Stranger Things Ghostbusters

McFarlane Toys Convention Exclusive

Though it is a bit heavy on nostalgia over story, I don’t hate Stranger Things.  And although McFarlane figures are a bit fragile and overpriced, I won’t pass up a Ghostbuster-related product like this on clearance.  I got this boxed-set for $27 at Gamestop a few weeks back, and it’s not too shabby at that price point.  

There are some small details here and there that should make you feel a bit better about buying four similar looking figures.  This includes some variations of buttons and labels on the proton packs, and the double-Venkman name patch is a great show-specific nod.  Dustin fairs the best with accessories, coming with Dart and the ghost trap.  Unfortunately the trap pedal is glued to the side of his pack and the opening doors have a tendency to pop off.  Will gets the show and era specific camcorder, while the rest get nothing.  C'mon, not even pillowcases of candy?  The head sculpts do resemble the actors decent enough, and each figure has a clear, foot-peg stand with the Stranger Things logo on it to help them balance on your shelf.

What's with the weird, ratcheting-looking joints?

The figures do have a pretty decent articulation scheme for someone who remembers early McFarlane “statue” figures.  Be careful and go slow with the joints, possibly giving these a hot water soak to loosen them up before posing.  Like NECA, tight joints and paint slop equal breakage.  Also, getting both hands positioned to hold the wands can be a bit of a trick.

"If he's cool, then you be Winston!"

As you can see, these size up well with the Diamond Select Ghostbusters line.  And did you hear that Wolf Finnhard is going to be in Ghostbusters 3:  Dawn of the Junior Ghostbusters?  Buying these figures is a one-way ticket to custom city, baby!  Wait...kids in Ghostbusters?  Didn’t they learn anything from the baby?  And casting a Stranger Things kid seems a bit lazy, don’t you think?  I remember seeing a couple of the other kids testing for Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace and thinking at least one was better at line reading than Jake Lloyd...but, hey, Jake Lloyd was the go-to kid actor of his time.  All of the Stranger Things kids can be a bit grating at times...feeling that they are screaming their lines.  Now, I have no idea where they are going with this casting or how big a part it actually is...and I know they fast-tracked this movie to get it done by next year...but I hope that this isn’t an area where taking a bit more time would have made the product that much better.  Hell, we’ve already waited several decades for a decent Ghostbusters sequel, so what’s another couple of months?  Jumping the gun, they missed out on seeing Jack Dylan Grazer’s comedy chops in the spectacular “Shazam.”  Again, who knows if the role is supposed to be funny or straight...but we did see him in in “It” alongside Wolf...who was supposed to be the funny one? *shrugs* 

*Just repeat to yourself...”It could never be as bad as GB 2016” and “I have the Ghostbusters 3 I always wanted: Ghostbusters the Video Game."

Note - At the time of publication, this set is still available on Gamestop.com for under $40.

"He's an ugly little spud, isn't he?"

WWE Slam Mobile

WWE Wrekkin' Slam Mobile

Mattel

While I do enjoy professional wresting, the appeal to buy this gimmicky accessory was to have another vehicle that scales well with my superhero figures.  It's a bonus that you can tear the thing apart!  And, hey, Braun Strowman is on top right now, so I am glad to now have a figure of him in my collection.  He sure beats boring, old Brock Lesnar, who this car was originally going to have been packaged with.

You get a basic figure ($10 retail value) and a red convertible that has opening/breakaway doors, opening/breakaway trunk with storage space, tear away seats and steering wheel column, tear away front bumper, 2-part breakaway windshield, and 2-part smash-in/break away hood in a $30 packaged deal.  Not too bad for a toy of this size.  Paint apps are minimal, with some pre-placed stickers in areas of detail (headlight, license plates.) 

Side note - While packaging is for the trash, I laughed at the posed demonstration of the tear-apart features on the back.  Seeing the members of the Shield get terrorized by other, more exciting wrestlers was highly satisfying.  Only one member left to go...watch out Seth Rollins!  Get these hands!

I immediately though of Joker and Harley Quinn pursued by the Batmobile when I first heard about this release, so they got first dibs.  In his review, Joker found the trunk storage very handy, but rated the overall durability/wear and tear very low.

These pictures also feature the Gamestop Exclusive Injustice 2 Armored Batman and an old "Dark Knight" Tumbler.  This Arkham Knight-esque Batman has cool die-cast metal parts!  This cuts down on some articulation, but he's so heavy and badass looking to turn away.  The Tumbler was modified to fit a six-inch figure by removing the firing Batpod gimmick.  It was pretty cheap on EBay and fits in well with my ever-growing Batmobile collection.

While it may not be as crazy as the old Crash Test Dummies break-apart car, you'll be hard pressed to find a fun vehicle in this scale for the price.  I got mine from Amazon, but also spotted it on the shelves at Walmart.