Stump Wrestling 4-Pack
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Neca) - Adventures
Rated 4.75 stars by RMaster007
Once NECA began making figures from the TMNT Adventures comics, the four brother themselves were inevitable. But rather than doing regular versions, they went the extra mile and produced them in their iconic Stump Wrestling outfits. We saw early prototypes at SDCC last year, and this year's show presented finalized, articulated samples. Amazingly, they got released barely a month later, showing up now at Target. They're pretty easy to find and are arriving in large amounts, but I can see a mass release happening soon. Since this is a four-pack, the turtles come in a long window box, and a very attractive-looking one at that. There's plenty of illustrations all around, from both Adventures artist Ken Mitchroney and TMNT fan artist turned NECA illustrator Aaron Hazouri. The turtles are...[See More]

Vampire Mr. Burns
Simpsons (Jakks Pacific) - Premium
Rated 4.30 stars by RMaster007
When The Simpsons premiered on TV, it marked a significant turning in animated series, proving that they could be made for adults instead of just kids, and it kickstarted a rise in adult animation. Despite that, The Simpsons was still a series meant for families, and has been just as popular with kids as it is adults. Jakks Pacific seems to understand, as in addition to their regular products, they've made "premium" action figures, aimed towards more dedicated and older fans of the series. One of the first premium figures is Mr. Burns, but not just any version of him; it's the vampire Burns from Treehouse of Horror IV. Excellent! The packaging is a little different from the regular releases, as while it still has the same cast of characters background and pictures of the figure on the...[See More]

Sheila the Thief (Invisible)
Dungeons & Dragons (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.40 stars by RMaster007
Despite being around for less than ten years by that point, 1983 saw Dungeons & Dragons getting its own animated series. I've seen a few episodes of it, and it's surprisingly good for a cartoon at the time. About decades after the show ended, Hasbro gave it a short-lived line of figures, and Super7 picked up the mantle earlier this year with the announcement of Ultimates. The first wave should be out in the Fall, but in the meantime, they gave us an exclusive released around SDCC, depicting Sheila making use of her cloak of invisibility. For those unaware, Super7 has began cutting back on the use of slipcovers, making for a better packaging display on the shelf. Sheila's box depicts the window as a dragon's open maw amongst a rocky background, looking rather fierce, and the back gives us...[See More]

Homer (Donuts)
Simpsons (Jakks Pacific) - Basic Series
Rated 4.30 stars by RMaster007
Since last month, Jakks Pacific's new Simpsons line has been trickling into various of their usual retailers, namely Target and Walmart. They haven't been super abundant for me, and I suspect the aisles have been picked over by the time I get there, but I've been able to find almost everything out so far. The first wave of their 5" figures is part of the initial offerings, and with it comes some good variety. Once again, Homer is the key character in the debut wave, but I consider the sculpt in this scale to be a bit weaker than the smaller version. My reason being that the top of his head is a bit bulbous and misshapen. It looks fine from the sides, profile view, and the back, but from the front, he looks quite off. Comparing him to the smaller version, the head on that is about as...[See More]

Toilet Taxi
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Collection (Playmates) - 40th Anniversary - Accessories
Rated 4.35 stars by RMaster007
Since last year or so, Playmates has been going heavy into nostalgia for the Ninja Turtles line, re-releasing plenty of figures and vehicles we never thought we'd see again. One of the most unexpected releases is the "Wacky Action" Toilet Taxi, a rather goofy vehicle released back in 1990. The Wacky Action figures haven't been reissued yet, but this seems to be a start. The box is about the same as the original, but the illustration on the front has been completely redrawn, with different colors and details from the original art, the most notable change being that Donatello is on the vehicle instead of Leonardo. The text descriptions are preserved from the original, and even with the changes, the packaging could fit fine with the OG releases. The inside makes use of cardboard to protect...[See More]

Bellybomb
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Neca) - Adventures
Rated 4.80 stars by RMaster007
NECA run's with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license has given us plenty of firsts when it comes to characters, doing a variety of allies and villains that haven't gotten figures before. They've done the first official Jagwar figure, the first Dreadmon figure, and now, the first Bellybomb figure. If you aren't familiar with him, he was a character made solely for the Archie TMNT Adventures comics (though the 2012 cartoon had a character clearly based off him), being present in three issues aiding Krang in his evil plans, and was introduced in the same issue as Slash. After all these years, this alien menace finally has some merch. I usually talk about the head first when it comes to figures, but in Bellybomb's case, he's almost all head. His name comes from the fact that his mouth is...[See More]

Living Room Diorama
Simpsons (Jakks Pacific) - Dioramas
Rated 4.20 stars by RMaster007
At the start of the 21st century, Playmates put out their best line that wasn't Ninja Turtles: Simpsons. The main gimmick of said line was that the figures could be plugged into playsets to spout lines from the show, and said feature was hit or miss at times, especially in its later years. Despite that, both the figures and sets looked fantastic, and now we have somewhat of a successor in Jakks Pacific. They're putting out figures in the same scale as Playmates, but with no talking feature. We have gotten a playset, however, but scaled to go with the smaller figures. Unsurprisingly, it's the Simpson residence. I've already discussed the packaging with the 2.5" figures, and the box for the set is more of the same, but windowless. You still get some good photos of the set, showing off all...[See More]

Family Multi-Pack
Simpsons (Jakks Pacific) - Mini
Rated 4.35 stars by RMaster007
Despite all the merchandise Simpsons has gotten over the years, there's been a small drought of true action figures for a couple years, with only more stylized stuff like Funko POPs and Kidrobot's vinyl figures. Super7 took a shot at it with a varied selection of characters, and most of them was good, but lack of key characters and poor sales resulted in Disney pulling the license. Not long after the news came out S7 lost the license, Jakks Pacific announced their own line of Simpsons figures and other collectibles. Their offerings have been showing up since last month, and in good numbers, including a line of smaller-scale figures. There's a set of the main family out now, including a wave of single-packed characters. When the line was first revealed (outside of the States), the...[See More]

Sla'Ker
Turtles of Grayskull (Mattel) - Basic Series
Rated 4.45 stars by RMaster007
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have crossed over with many other properties over the years, from Star Trek to Ghostbusters, from Batman to Power Rangers, and even Cobra Kai. One of the latest crossovers is a toyline started by Mattel last year: "Turtles of Grayskull." As you can guess from the name, the Ninja Turtles, along with their allies and enemies, are dropped into the world of Eternia, fighting alongside or against He-Man and co. I haven't seen the figures too often, and wasn't really that interested in them at first, but when I saw Sla'ker, the line's take on one of my favorite TMNT characters, I was all for him. It certainly helps he was on clearance. These figures usually come on cardbacks, but these deluxe releases are packaged in window boxes instead. The graphics are...[See More]

Professor Edward C. Burke (London after Midnight)
Universal Monsters (Neca) - Ultimate Collection
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
If you've never heard of London After Midnight, that's because there's no way to see it now. An old horror/mystery film from the 1920's, the film was lost to a vault fire a few decades later, but many an enthusiast has taken to preserving what's available of the film and keeping the story of it alive. NECA is also one of those people, but they're keeping it in the minds of classic horror fans not through stories and screencaps, but through action figures. The packaging design is similar to the Universal Monsters we've been seeing from NECA, with old poster art on the front and photos of the figure on all the other sides. It's not designated as part of that line, however, since the film was distributed by MGM, not Universal (plus I think it's public domain now). The figure and most...[See More]