Reviews > Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem Forever, NECA)
Around 1993 or so, my dad finally bought a new computer to replace our family’s aging IBM Compatible. While I had played a few computer games on that machine, almost all of them were adventure games like King’s Quest, Police Quest and LucasArts titles like The Secret of Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion and Loom. But with this new PC, my dad brought home a game that absolutely rocked my world: Doom II.
While people often point to Wolfenstein 3D or the original Doom as the first major first-person shooter (FPS), I think Doom II made the bigger impact, mostly because it was the first to be sold in stores. It’s fair to say I was completely, utterly addicted to it for quite some time. I played a lot of the mods, too, particularly Army of Darkness Doom. Many new FPS titles quickly followed, such as Descent, Star Wars: Dark Forces and, of course, Duke Nukem 3D. (more…)
Pic of the Day > Untitled by resistence827
A Tale of Two Robocops
NECA released the first press pic of its Robocop figure this week. The figure is approximately 7″ tall and will be out in September, retailing for, presumably, the standard NECA price of $13-$20, depending on where you find it.
"So, am I getting that statue in Detroit or what?"
We don’t have any details on the articulation yet, but as long as it’s at least comparable to the McFarlane version (i.e., ball-jointed hips), I’ll be happy. It will come with an interchangeable “data spike” hand. It already has improved in one respect on the McFarlane version: the bigger gun. Whether accurate to the film or not, the Auto-9 of the McFarlane Robocop just looks too small.
However, this isn’t the only major Robocop figure being released in late summer/early fall. Figma, a Japanese action figure line known mostly for anime licenses, has started to branch out to Western ones. The first (I think it was the first) was their Michael Jackson “Thriller” figure. The obvious follow-up license for that? Robocop. (more…)
Pic of the Day > Subject Delta by Isaac Renteria
Tech Noir Terminator in packaging
NECA has published a packaged pic of the Tech Noir Terminator from their upcoming Terminator line. I’ve been going back and buying more of this line recently (I reviewed the Pescadero Escape Terminator years ago), and I’m looking forward to the new ones.
Glowsticks not included.
The thing I love about this figure is how his menace is a bit undercut by the goofy raver shirt. Anyway, these are due to hit in July. You can preorder them at BigBadToyStore, Entertainment Earth or Toys R Us.
Odds ‘n Ends > Mighty Edition
- As you’ve no doubt noticed, it’s been very, very dead around here lately. That should change over the next week or so, and much more so by the end of the month. Real life has been interfering, but fear not, I’ll soon nip that in the bud.
- In other news, the early reviews of Catra, the Faceless One and Battleground Teela are all over the place. Here are the Fwoosh’s, and here are Pixel Dan’s. Remember to hate both VeeBee and Pixel Dan for all these freebies. Because I totally do.
- The Creative Licensing Corporation spilled the beans on two of NECA’s new licenses: Rambo and Evil Dead II. They misspelled NECA a few times, which seems…odd. So far we know we’ll get Rambo and Ash figures. No shocks there, but I do have to say, of all the McFarlane figures NECA’s redone, Ash is probably the most warranted. McFarlane’s Ash was terrible. And after all the hard work we ED freaks had put into getting it…I used to be VERY into Evil Dead. I tried so damned hard to like that figure at the time, but it was awful. Just awful. Awkwardly pre-posed, barely articulated, and frankly Toy Biz’s Autolycus figure looked more like Bruce Campbell than this one did (OK, that’s an exaggeration). The best thing about that figure were the accessories. Anyway, I have little doubt that NECA will kick McFarlane’s Ash into the stratosphere. A redo that’s long overdue.
- Oh, I almost forgot: Thor comes out today. You going tonight?
Odds ‘n Ends + Big Mattel SDCC Reveal tonight (maybe) + contest
- In theory, Mattel’s summer SDCC exclusives will be announced tonight on G4’s Attack of the Show. I’ll be busy at that time, so you won’t get my commentary until late tonight. Feel free to use this post as a discussion thread until then. That’s assuming G4 actually airs the segment tonight, but either way, Mattel says they’ll announce the exclusives on Mattycollector.com on Friday.
- Just for the heck of it: write down as many guesses as you have for the exclusives (across all lines) and I’ll send the one who gets the most right a $15 Amazon gift certificate. If you already know any of them, though, be fair and don’t play. Power Pals also excluded.
- I still have a gigantic pile of stuff I have to review. I ended up just opening some of it and skipping the review, most notably DCUC Wave 16. I’ve been considering doing less organized reviews, and rather just sort of talking about the toys and characters in general (with plenty of pics). Do people prefer the more organized reviews–do you come for the articulation stats, the assessment of the paint and so forth? Or would pictures + general commentary do the job?
- As I believe I’ve been hinting, PGPoA is due for a big update in just a few weeks. In the meantime, updates may be a bit spottier than usual.
- I finished my second playthrough of Dragon Age II last week, and my feelings remain pretty mixed. The story, while thin, did present some tough choices, but the design & gameplay were lacking (I especially hated the repeated locations–the tract-housing mansions–which seemed very late 1990s to me).
- On a final note, I asked NECA on their Twitter account whether we might see some Portal 2 toys from them. It seems Valve prefers to do their merchandising in-house. Bit of a bummer, but maybe they’ll create some Portal 2 toys of their own (they do have some plush toys).
Pic of the Day > Isaac Clarke by |Optimus Prime|
NECA news > 7″ Robocop, SDCC exclusives
(Via NECA_Toys on Twitter)
Looks like the long-rumored 7″ Robocop from NECA will soon be a reality. I own the McFarlane version already, and I’m not sure exactly how different this one can be, but hopefully–unlike McFarlane–NECA has a whole line planned. I’d maim a clown for boxed sets of 7″-scale ED-209 and Cain/Robocop 2, but after NECA’s experience with the Balrog, I’m not sure they’re interested in doing another giant boxed figure (though the upcoming Spider Gremlin is a hopeful sign). (more…)