Michael Myers (Curse of Michael Myers)
Halloween (Neca) - Ultimate
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
Throughout the history of the franchise, the Halloween series has been retooled and rebooted a lot, with the Blumhouse trilogy notably ignoring everything after the first. One of the now-non-canonical timelines took place over three movies, with the last of them (and sixth overall), The Curse of Michael Myers, revealing that his bloodlust was the result of a cult. Not many fans liked that explanation, and it's commonly agreed Michael's just the walking embodiment of evil, but it hasn't made the film any less of a guilty pleasure. Now that NECA's done figures of all three modern Michaels, they're going back to 1995 and giving us his aforementioned Curse appearance. After the first two and the fourth films used a modified Captain Kirk mask for Michael, the next two used all-new masks, with...[See More]

Dancin' Homer
Simpsons (Jakks Pacific) - Mini
Rated 4.40 stars by RMaster007
Jakks Pacific has shown a willingness to work with different scales for their licenses. With Mario and Sonic, they've done 2.5" figures and playsets, basic 4" figures, the occasional 5" subline, and even figures larger than that. So far, their Simpsons line is only in the 2.5" and 5" scales, but unlike their other major licenses, I've been willing to get both scales because of how much I love the series. That said, the latest 2.5" wave isn't easy to find at retail, though I managed to find Homer first, and then everyone else sometime later. Unlike the past two waves, the Simpson variant here isn't Bart, but Homer, and in his "Dancin' Homer" outfit. At 3" tall, Homer stands out for not having a stiff pose or a blank stare like most of these figures do; the legs are spread, the left arm is...[See More]

Sub-Zero
Mortal Kombat (Infinite Concepts) - Basic Series
Rated 3.40 stars by RMaster007
Mortal Kombat is a property that has opened itself up to many toy lines, thanks to the unique cast of characters and uber-goriness. Storm did a great but sadly ended line of (mostly) high-quality figures, and McFarlane is returning to it with a Klassic line, something I've been wanting for a while, and then there's Infinite Concepts. If you haven't heard of them, it's because they weren't around for long, with their only releases being a wave of MK figures in the start of the new millennium. They're not easy to find and even most costly to get, but I was lucky to find Sub-Zero for a decent price. These figures come on huge cardbacks, and they just scream late-90s/early-2000s figure packaging design. From fire on the front to thunder on the back complementing a cross-sell and a...[See More]

Bart (Skateboard / Blue Shirt)
Simpsons (Jakks Pacific) - Basic Series
Rated 4.75 stars by RMaster007
Jakks' Simpsons line has been coming out at a quick pace, but it seems for now it's taking a short break. There hasn't been anything officially announced or released aside from the Amazon-exclusive Funzo doll, but there's been plenty of leaked figure and plush listings, and my guess is that within next month or so we'll get some news on upcoming products. Until then, the fourth wave has been out for a while for both scales, and I'll be looking at the 5" ones first. Of course, they had to include one main family member in the wave, so Bart fills that position. This isn't a specific outfit or anything, just a regular Bart, and the same mold as the one in the first wave at that. So what's different? His shirt. The prior Bartman figure had a blue shirt, and that's what this release gets....[See More]

Dark Leonardo
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 4.45 stars by RMaster007
Before I get into talking about the last Haulathon TMNT toon figure, have you read IDW's TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures comic? It's an expansion of the original 1987 cartoon, and it does a great job providing new stories from that universe while keeping the charm and humor of the show. It's given us plenty of action figure potential as well, so it's odd NECA hasn't tried doing any of the new characters or outfits from it, at least until a few months ago. The first SMA figure is Dark Leonardo, coming from issue #20, which features Michelangelo in an alternate universe where he never existed, resulting in his brothers and sensei being evil. Aaron Hazouri is once again doing the box art, and it's paired with a clever pun for the faux VHS title, "Two Scoops of Evil." I also see a bit of...[See More]

Tattoo and Wyrm
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.35 stars by RMaster007
Having run for at least five years by this point, NECA's TMNT toon line has been scraping a bit for figures. They've done one-shots, characters in outfits not from the show, and now characters who never appeared in the show at all. The other two-pack out now alongside the ghostly pair of Creepy Eddie and Shibano-Sama consists of both a one-shot and a character who was animated around the time the show ran, but didn't actually appear in the show. The one-shot here is Tattoo, who you may recognize from the OG toy line, but he showed up in "Planet of the Turtleoids," where rather than being a good guy, he was a more neutral character. Apparently, he went from being a hamster to a sumo wrestler because of Shredder and Krang, and all he wanted was to go back home… to his cage. I guess they...[See More]

Creepy Eddie and Shibano
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.60 stars by RMaster007
There's been a lot of NECA figures hitting shelves lately, partially thanks to the annual Haulathon event at Target. TMNT has a big presence during it like usual, but this year it's more focused on the Mirage line, with nowhere near as many toon figures as before. Still, the new toon stuff is what fans have been wanting for a while, including the much-requested Creepy Eddie. He was a one-shot character in the show, solely appearing in "Nightmare in the Lair," but he's still a memorable Freddy Kruger-esque villain. Eddie may not be as disturbing in appearance as his inspiration, but he still has a fitting design for a nightmare creature. His inhuman skin color, pointy nose and ears, and mismatched eyes make him a ghoulish-looking fellow, and Richard Force recreated him very well. It's not...[See More]

Party Wallop
Transformers - Collaborative (Hasbro) - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Rated 4.75 stars by RMaster007
Last year marked the 40th anniversary of two pop culture giants: Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. While Transformers already made a name for itself through toys, comics, and an animated series, TMNT was just a simple indie comic spawned from a one-shot, and it'd take a few more years to branch out like Transformers did. To celebrate the milestone both franchises achieved, the two were brought together by Hasbro's Collaborative series. While there have been third-party toys and pseudo-TF TMNT products (remember the old Auto Mutations?), the Party Wallop served as the first official collaboration between the two. Considering how Hasbro was utilizing plastic-free packaging for a time, I was a little surprised by how they used a cardback for this release. The graphics are what...[See More]

Pamela Voorhees
Friday the 13th (Neca) - Ultimate Collection
Rated 4.80 stars by RMaster007
When you think of slasher movies, Friday the 13th is one that often comes to mind, and Jason Voorhees has made a name for himself as one of the most well-known slashers, but how many people know that he wasn't always the villain? The first film had his mother, Pamela, as the killer, turning bloodthirsty after blaming Camp Crystal Lake's counselors for little Jason's watery death, and the second film had the now-adult and seemingly immortal Jason follow in mommy's footsteps. Just in time for both the original film's 45th anniversary and Mother's Day, Pamela is finally getting the Ultimate treatment. The packaging is typical for NECA's movie-themed Ultimates, utilizing the original poster art, though the poster here doesn't have the main youths of the film on it. I assume it's a licensing...[See More]

Shredder (Start Shredding the News)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
You think with how long NECA's TMNT toon line has been going on, they'd go back and reissue a few of the older figures, but nope, barely any of them got that treatment. I assume it has to do with the fact that they're Target exclusives, but still, they at least reissue the movie figures every now and then. NECA has gone a step above and upgraded some of the earlier figures, such as April and Slash, and Shredder now gets the 2.0 treatment. The box art is once again done by Aaron Hazouri, and the concept here is unique. Shredder's got himself a "Turtle Booers Club," with a couple of other villains as members (including Mr. Ogg; potential figure tease?). The text on the back, rather than a character description, is written through Shredder hosting another club meeting. It's pretty funny,...[See More]