Toxie (Blue Pants)
Toxic Crusaders (Super7) - Ultimate
Rated 4.40 stars by RMaster007
Turning a gore-filled, non-family-friendly B-movie into a goofy children's cartoon? It sounds weird, but they did it, and it worked. Toxic Crusaders is arguably as recognizable as the original Toxic Avenger movie, assisted by a line of figures by Playmates. Years later, Super7 grabbed the license and started off with ReAction and a couple versions of an Ultimate Toxie, but now they're going all-in with the denizens of Tromaville in the Ultimates world, including their fourth Toxie Ultimate. The packaging is simple, but uses colorful graphics, and shows off the figure well. The colors of the box underneath the slip cover are unique to each figure, with Toxie's being orange and green. There's no character bio on the back unfortunately, just a mock warning symbol. It's easy to get...[See More]

Alf (Cosmic Con)
ALF (Neca) - Ultimate
Rated 4.90 stars by RMaster007
As we all know, San Diego Comic Con came and went, and with it were plenty of exclusives. The companies made sure to include online options for those who couldn't make it, such as NECA, who was smart enough to put up pre-orders for theirs before the show. One of which is a convention-themed variant of ALF, ready for "Cosmic Con." The packaging is similar in execution to the regular ALF, albeit with more of a space theme. It's simple, but has nice shots of the figure, along with some of ALF's wit. It's also easy to get everything opened up, with just some tape and plastic strips to remove. ALF's sculpt is the same here, done by Thomas Gwyn and standing 5 3/4" tall, but with two differences to his overall appearance. One is the paint, as his fur's more of a lighter tan color than the...[See More]

Michelangelo
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mondo) - 1/6 Scale
Rated 4.00 stars by RMaster007
Nowadays, 1:6 scale figures are becoming pretty popular. A lot of companies are making 12-inch tall figures from a variety of licenses, though most of them are really expensive. Some are more on the cheap side, however, such as Mondo, who has done a couple of reasonably-priced figures. One of the first licenses they put into that scale is the ever popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. Michelangelo comes in a simple, and rather large, fifth-panel box. The front shows artwork of the turtle himself and the back is art of all four of them. The front flap shows concept art of the figure itself, which is a nice touch. The box is nice and collector friendly, and everything is easy to take out and put back in later. His sculpt is based off of the original Mirage comics, with the...[See More]

Ace Duck
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) - Ultimates!
Rated 4.50 stars by RMaster007
While I enjoy Super7's Ultimates, I'll admit they're overpriced. At $55 each for most figures, the inconsistent quality and occasional lack of accessories make it hard to justify the price. It looks like retailers such as Entertainment Earth realized this, and began marking them down. Ace Duck is one of those, and he's only around $24 there. I didn't get mine through them, but rather during a sale at my local comic store for only $30. Now why can't every Ultimate be that cheap? Ace Duck has a pretty weird expression, wide-eyed with gritted teeth. Is he supposed to be eager or nervous? It's what the original figure had, though, and Four Horsemen did a good job with him. The pilot's cap is a separate piece, and it fits snugly on his head. They went ahead and gave him an extra head, and...[See More]

Baxter Stockman
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) - Ultimates!
Rated 4.60 stars by RMaster007
I can't believe it took me this long to add this one to my collection, especially when I already have the redeco of him. As is the case was with most old TMNT toy designs, Baxter was very different from how he looked in the show. His show design was freaky but cute, while his toy design was freaky but… freaky. Compared to how he looked in-show, toy Baxter has a purble and blue head, messy orange head, and visible teeth. The head on the Super7 update looks no different from the original Playmates figure, except it's not stuck looking up. He's still got a bit of a neck there, though. The sculpt was done by Four Horsemen studios, who managed to keep, if not improve, the detail from the old figure. Baxter is around 7" tall, or 6" if you have his legs squat, and looks just like a larger...[See More]

Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4-Pack
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Mirage Comics (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 4.80 stars by RMaster007
In 2008, NECA got the license to the original Mirage TMNT comics, and proceeded to put out a set of Turtle figures based off the first issue. Considered the pinnacle of Ninja Turtle toys, these figures have since become collectors' items, with the whole set often being worth above a thousand dollars. Now, with NECA doing Mirage again, they put out a whole new set of comic Turtles. The box for this set is much like the other four-packs, being a long box with an opening flap on the front, so you can see the figures inside. The art on the front, done by Kevin Eastman, depicts the Turtles facing off against the Shredder clones from the "Return to New York" arc, and it looks great. The inside also gives us a recreation of the final panel from it, where the brothers give a send-off to their...[See More]

Duke
G.I. Joe (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.35 stars by RMaster007
G.I. Joe has been around since the 60s, but it wasn't until the 80s where it developed into what we all know and love, where Hasbro teamed up with Marvel to produce a comic book, and both teamed up with Sunbow to produce a cartoon. Given that the cartoon often comes to mind when thinking of Joes and COBRA, it's no surprise Super7 picked up that license for their world of Ultimates. I covered the first release in the line, the comic B.A.T., a while back, and now it's onto the main line, starting with the Joes' Sergeant Duke. I talked about the packaging before, but I'll reiterate here; the slipcover is designed after a foot locker, and is green to match the Joes. The box underneath is simplistic, but the back is very nice, with a computer readout containing a character bio and shots from...[See More]

Corporal Hy Ondahog
Barnyard Commandos (Premium DNA) - Basic Series
Rated 4.80 stars by RMaster007
Well, here he is, the last figure in Premium DNA's first wave of Barnyard Commandos, and quite possibly the best one. Corporal Hy Ondahog stands out from the others in the wave as he's the only one to come from Playmates' original second wave, meaning DNA is willing to mix things up a bit. Hy shows the horrors of the war with an eyepatch over his left eye, and I assume it got taken out by a chicken arrow. The expression is nice, being more disgruntled than angry, and isn't too much different from the original. Just like the other pig in this wave, Side O'Bacon, he's wearing a nose ring, displaying his toughness. The head is mostly smooth, save for a couple wrinkles. Standing 5" tall, Hy is appropriately fat for a pig, and he is pretty chunky, but he's not hefty like Side O'Bacon is. The...[See More]

Major Legger Mutton
Barnyard Commandos (Premium DNA) - Basic Series
Rated 4.50 stars by RMaster007
You think with the sheep's faction being called the R.A.M.S. and all, there'd be as much rams as there are sheep. Nope, there was only two, and this guy is one of them. Out of all four figures in the first wave, Major Legger Mutton's sculpt seems to have been upgraded the most from the original Playmates toy. The shape of his open mouth is more oval-like than round, and his eyes are much crazier-looking. But what isn't different from the original is that his horns are bigger than his head. The horns here are more of a off-white than solid white, and the fur is darker and more saturated than before. I believe these color changes were done to add some realism to an otherwise cartoony and exaggerated sculpt. As the other quadruped in wave one, Major Legger isn't as large or heavy as Side...[See More]

Bugman and Electrozapper
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.75 stars by RMaster007
How do you know when a line runs deep? When it starts incorporating characters you don't recall ever hearing of. NECA's TMNT toon line has been doing that for a while now, putting out characters that only appeared once or twice in the show, alongside accessories nobody remembers. One of the latest releases is an example of such, with two very minor characters from the show, but one of which is at least remembered. The "remembered" character in this case is Brick Bradley, a.k.a. Bugman, who I've been wanting in the line for some time now. Unsurprisingly, they went with his half-insect form for the figure. Sculpted by Tim Miller, Bugman has a really freaky head sculpt, with big red eyes, antennae, and mandibles in place of a regular human mouth. The hair style is very funky-looking, due to...[See More]