Dreadmon (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Neca)) Review

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Dreadmon (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Neca)) Review

Dreadmon
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Neca) (Neca)While inspired by the TMNT cartoon going on at the time, Archie's Adventures comic didn't take long to stray away from merely adapting cartoon episodes and start making new stories, which also led to new characters. Sure, Man Ray was already in the toy line as Ray Fillet, but names such as Dreadmon were created specifically for the Archie universe.

Another team-up between Tony Cipriano and Kushwara Studios, Dreadmon's sculpt is based off the issues penciled by Ken Mitchroney. He has some pretty wild hair going on, with a few small skulls for accessories, and he has an earring on his left ear, but mine has some excess plastic on it, though I got if off using some small scissors. The expression looks great, with cartoony eyes and a hinged jaw.

Standing around the 6 1/2" mark, Dreadman is a rather top-heavy fellow, with a muscular chest and arms. His outfit includes a tank top, a belt that's made of what I assume is bamboo, and a skirt. The figure as a whole looks pretty good, and the textured fur adds quite a bit to his appearance. The skirt gets some slits to prevent it from getting in the way of articulation. The paint is good, with clean work and even "ink" lines, though there are a few small instances of bleed, namely around the white areas.

Aside from the reoccurring issue with joints that need to be heated up to get moving, Dreadmon moves pretty well. He gets a ball-jointed head, albeit limited in range due to the hair, along with a swivel/hinge neck. It's a nice addition, though it can barely move, at least on mine. There are swivel/hinge joints at the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, along with bicep swivels that allow for natural-looking arm poses. The ball-jointed waist has some tilt to it, and the tail moves on a swivel/hinge joints. The legs are the usual, with ball/socket hips, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, and swivel/hinge ankles, but unusually for this line, he gets mid-foot hinges, allowing him to stand on his toes. Let's not forget that hinged jaw!

Moving onto accessories, Dreadman has not an alternate head, but an alternate pair of eyes. The narrow eyes change his appearance from friendly to menacing, and they swap out easily, but I prefer the goofier eyes. He sports six interchangeable hands, with a wide open right, a semi-relaxed left, two fists, and two gripping hands, and all of them swap easily. He also comes with two bananas, one of which is peeled, and a bowl of fruit and monkey organs (yuck). The Malignoid and tombstone both come from the Mighty Mutanimals mini-series, and are nice extras for a display. Lastly, there's a can, but I'm not sure what it's supposed to represent.

Dreadmon isn't just any NECA Turtles figure, he's a NECA Turtles figure of a character who's never been made into a toy before. While some of the usual issues are present, he's a nice figure overall and someone I'm more than happy to welcome into my collection. I hope we can get the rest of the Mutanimals by year's end, though I suppose crossing these over with the toon line in the meantime doesn't hurt.

- 3/16/23