Category Archives: Television

November 19, 2025

Mondo 1/6 X-Men ’97 Wolverine – Limited Edition

By Joe
The best there is at what he does.

Back in 2021, Mondo unveiled for San Diego Comic Con a sixth scale Wolverine action figure based on the X-Men animated series from the 90s. It was a presale to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the show’s premiere and product went out in 2022 closer to that actual anniversary. At the time, Mondo wasn’t planning on doing more, but the response was so enthusiastic that their one-off turned into a whole line. To sculpt the next figure, Magneto, Mondo enlisted the work of Alex Brewer – a fast rising sculptor in the toy world. Alex would go on to knock it out of the park with Magneto which naturally lead to more work for Brewer. It’s basically been his style and vision that has come to define the line, and as it’s pivoted to include X-Men ’97 as well, the need for a Wolverine to fit in with the style of the rest of the line became more apparent.

Things have improved over at Mondo over the past few years.

Wolverine has the unique standing of being the first in the line and now the 9th. Well, technically this is the third attempt at the character as we did get Wolverine in his civilian attire, but that’s pretty different from his business look. When Mondo had that initial Wolverine sculpted, they weren’t planning on more which meant not much consideration was taken for scale. That Wolverine was nearly 11″ tall, and as the line went on it became pretty apparent that he was too tall. This new Wolverine not only allows for a chance for Brewer to do the character, but also to correct that scale issue. And Mondo has for this new one which stands at about 10.33″ to the top of his head putting him in that 5’3″ – 5’4″ range which feels fitting for Wolverine. Even though the box says X-Men ’97 on it, it’s still adorned with production art from the original series with new artwork by Dan Veesenmeyer that portrays the updated look. Tom Rozejowski, a name we see a lot with NECA products, handled the paint for Wolverine and Tommy Hodges also gets a sculptor credit. I’m thinking he may have done the base, but I don’t know for certain.

This is actually the third Logan in the line. The new, unmasked, portraits are actually different here and are more or less interchangeable.

Mondo has been trying to straddle the line between X-Men ’92 and X-Men ’97 with these more recent releases. This figure definitely has a more ’97 look to it. While the costume is the same, there are some telltale differences and it’s mostly in the body hair. The original series left Wolverine’s chin free of hair for the most part, save for perhaps some close-ups. The hair on his arms was usually done with lines across the shoulders and biceps. For ’97, he has some chin stubble and the hair on his arms is done with several short lines In addition, the angle of the mask fins is slightly steeper and they don’t stretch quite as high. Of course, that aspect of the ’92 series was hardly consistent, but it’s in comparison to the model sheets. The yellow of the costume is also just a little bit darker, a touch more gold, and the same is true of the blue parts. In comparing this figure with the original release, the cel-shading is also less prominent. We have primarily two shades of blue on the new figure compared with three on the original. The same is true of the belt, though the yellow on the old figure only utilized two shades, but there’s more of it. The black portions of the shirt are also sculpted in now. There’s no paint slop, but it doesn’t quite fill the entirety of the sculpted-out area. There is no shading on the flesh, and like the rest of the color palette, it’s a touch darker as well compared with the old figure.

He’s also much shorter compared with his foes.

I have mixed feelings on the updates and changes. I find the overall sculpt more suitable for Wolverine. Not only is he shorter, he’s stockier. The original is very leggy and the torso slightly slender. I think the portraits are an improvement as well even if they have a very ’97 style. There is an included ’92 masked portrait, but the only aspect of it that reads ’92 is the shape of the fins. The stubble is still present. I definitely prefer the more vibrant paint job of the original and the approach to the arm hair. The arm hair with the new release is missing something. The show tended to show his arm hair as always breaking his silhouette, regardless of how much of the arm is visible. That makes it hard to translate to 3D so Mondo just went with these dashes that almost look like a dot pattern. I think they would have been better served keeping the same approach as the first figure. The flesh tone also feels a touch too dark. It’s certainly not bad, I just wish he better fit the ’92 style since that’s how the line began. I’m still going to have this one replace the original on my shelf and that one will be returned to his bed box, but I’m definitely always going to see X-Men ’97 when I look at him as opposed to the original series.

If you have the NECA Flasher Gremlin then your Wolverine will have access to a tall frothy one as well.

Am I being unfair? After all, the box does indeed say X-Men ’97 so it’s not hiding what it’s trying to be, but the line is trying to placate both and is not shy about its intentions so I don’t think so, but I’ve said my piece. Not only is the sculpt redone to conform to Brewer’s style, but the articulation scheme Mondo utilizes has also changed since that first Wolverine release three years ago. This figure embodies those changes, some for the better, and some not so much. This is an aesthetics forward line, but Mondo has room for improvement and this Wolverine is proof of that. The joints are all the the same as Cyclops, the most recent release in the line: head, shoulders, double-jointed elbows, biceps, wrists, diaphragm, waist, hips, double-jointed knees, ankles. The original figure used a different style of double-jointed knees similar to what NECA used to make use of with a hinge above and below the knee. This allowed for some swivel at those joints, but it is a little odd looking, though perhaps only odd because we’re so used to the other style. It also used a swivel joint above the elbow in place of a bicep swivel that was ugly and persisted for quite a few releases. The range at all of the joints present is pretty typical, except for a few places that have become an issue recently.

“Hey Cyclops!”
“Next time I use these!”

If you saw my Egon Spengler review, you will note I had issues with that figure at the neck and hips. Mondo textures the ball joints for a more snug fit, but they may have went overboard. The ball joint inside the neck was stuck on that figure and the hips were pretty stuck too. Wolverine has the same issues. I had to use a lot of force to move the double ball peg in the neck, though the hips required a hot water bath. Out of the box, they just wouldn’t budge and I put more force into it than I probably should have. After the hot water bath they moved better. I applied some lubricating oil to the hips and neck and it didn’t appear that any had been applied by the factory, but once the figure cooled down it mostly went back to the way it was out of the box. In addition to that, the diaphragm joint remains useless. With a lot of effort, I can get the torso to rotate there a click to each side, which is hardly much to speak of. There’s no forward or back. Also of a nuisance, the red belt rubs off onto the abdomen very easily and the blue of the trunks will transfer to the thighs as well. I’ve been able to rub these instances off, but I worry if I let it sit that way then it would become more stubborn.

“Light me up, gumbo!”
“Hey cajun, next time someone tries to save your life have sense enough to let them do it.”

Wolverine is a bit tough to pose as a result, and it’s especially a bummer because he has a lot of stuff to be posed with. For heads, we get that ’92 inspired portrait I mentioned before as well as ’97 masked portraits featuring a neutral, growling, and yelling expression. If that’s not enough, he also has two unmasked portraits: neutral and a teeth gritting/growl. They’re both really similar to the portraits that came with the Logan figure which is kind of disappointing as it would have been nice to get different expressions to share between the two. That figure though was all the ’92 series while this one is updated for ’97. It’s not much of a difference, just stubble and a different approach to the shading. He also has a more pronounced single bang of hair and his ears are fully visible. With how subtle the difference is, it’s kind of shocking they bothered to sculpt new portraits, but they do look good.

“That hurts, Wolverine.”
“Grrr…!”

For hands, Wolverine is actually a touch light. We have fists, gripping, and his “Come here,” gesture from the cover of Wolverine #1. I’m surprised there are no relaxed hands or pointing hands, but I guess most are likely to keep the fists in place any way. Packaged behind the figure is the traditional Mondo figure stand though this one has the X logo painted on it. I only call this out because I sometimes leave these stands in the box since they’re not really needed, but if you want to find Wolverine’s claws you’ll need to remove it as they’re hidden behind it. Mondo provided 8 claws so you essentially get two extras. They’re just gray plastic and they’re the same as the ones that came with Logan. I wish they were white to better match the show, maybe with a touch of light blue, but this plastic may not take well to paint. They clip in easy enough though and they’re compatible with all of the hands in the box. You also get a set of charged claws as seen in the first episode of X-Men ’97. They’re done with translucent pink plastic and they clip into the backs of his hands in place of the claws. There’s also an included mask for draping over his neck when using an unmasked portrait, a similar accessory to what we saw with the Marvel Legends version of the same. Mondo also through in another picture of Scott and Jean from the episode “Captive Hearts,” only this time it’s an enamel pin instead of a picture frame accessory.

The limited edition Wolverine also comes with even more stuff like an entire second torso. Yeah, this is the first figure I’ve ever bought with a swappable torso as there’s a bare one since Wolverine always seems to get his shirt blown off in a big fight. To help sell the damage there’s a strip of the tattered remains of his shirt included made out of a soft plastic. You just place it over a shoulder to complete the look, or you can have him go completely shirtless which is a look from the show. To accommodate this change, the arms need to pop out easily and they do, which you will want to take advantage of when unwrapping the figure anyway as there are plastic bags over the arm pegs. The shoulder pads slot over the shoulder pegs and are conveniently stamped for left and right, should you get them confused. The torso separates easy as well. Unfortunately, the diaphragm joint on this torso works no better than the regular one. Lastly, Wolverine has some Sentinel parts as well including the remnants of a head that serves as a base and a chunk of a fallen robot with wires dangling from it. It has three claws holes to go over one of Wolverine’s hands to complete the look. The base has two, deep, indentations for Wolverine’s feet which gives him a secure base, though does limit things since his stance is left kind of boring. He can kind of crouch on it, but I can’t decide if that looks more dynamic or if it just makes Wolverine look like he needs to poop. The foot holes are designed for Wolverine, but I did find Gambit can fit in them as well. Cyclops and the original Wolverine have feet that are too big.

This is pretty cool, but I wish they worked in more foot-holes for different poses.

For the most part, this Wolverine redo is much like past releases in this line. It captures the likeness well and certainly comes with enough stuff to help justify the hefty price tag of $245. This one was also solicited before all of this tariff nonsense with has really jacked up the price on subsequent releases, but I’ll complain about that in reviews of figures actually impacted. This Wolverine does capture the look of X-Men ’97 very well, just at the cost of not capturing the original series as well. I like the extra torso and stuff, but I personally would have traded it for more ’92 accurate arms and heads. Mostly, I’d rather the figures seek to emulate the look of the original series and make the ’97 heads the one-off for those that want it that way. The articulation issues with the neck and hips are unfortunate and really something Mondo needs to correct. If they want to charge this kind of money for their products then the quality needs to be there. They’re pretty receptive to feedback, and I do plan on dropping them a line regarding it. If you don’t have the previous Wolverine then this one is worth getting if you’re collecting this line. And even if you do have it, I think it’s enough of an upgrade to consider. It does fit the style of the other figures better, but if you’re happy with that one then maybe you don’t feel this is necessary. The limited edition is sold out, but the standard version is still available. It’s slightly cheaper, but may come with tariff surcharges depending on where you buy it from.

The team is filling out.

We have plenty more from Mondo’s line of X-Men, including a couple of Wolverines at that:

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Logan

Mondo has been absolutely killing it with its sixth scale line of action figures based on the now classic animated series X-Men. The company also really ramped up production in 2023 on the line by soliciting five new figures during the year. At over 200 bucks a pop, it was quite the hit to the…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS Wolverine 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Action Figure

When San Diego Comic Con was cancelled for 2021, many of the entities that would have sold exclusive merchandise at the event pivoted to web sales. And since the 2020 iteration of the famed event was also canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many seemed to expect the same for 2021, or the massive delays…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men ’97 1/6 Scale Cyclops – Limited Edition

After putting a real hurting on my wallet in 2023, Mondo decided to take it easy in 2024 with its line of sixth scale action figures based on the animated series X-Men which ran from 1992-1997 on Fox Kids. Two figures ended up getting released this year, Rogue and now the leader of the X-Men…

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by Joe

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November 18, 2025

NECA TMNT 2012 Donatello

By Joe
He has a way with machines.

We were able to get through some of the logistics of this line with Leonardo, so for this second review we can just get right to it. One of the best decisions the 2012 iteration of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made was bringing back veteran voice actor Rob Paulsen. He’s voiced countless characters over the years, but many know him as Raphael from the original TMNT cartoon. For the 2012 show, the decision was made to have Paulsen play a different turtle: Donatello. It made sense to move him off Raph who is almost never portrayed in the same manner as he was in that cartoon. He’s more aggressive, frequently angry, and not the wise-cracking fellow from the old show. Not that Paulsen couldn’t adapt to a different style, but hearing his take on another turtle was an opportunity for something different.

It felt like it made sense to show Donnie with the shortest and tallest figures from wave one.

Donatello in the 2012 show is similar to past versions of the character. He’s the brains, able to come up with clever gadgets and such, but he’s also pretty introspective, insecure, and about as confused about his place in the world as most teenagers. It was fun seeing an episode where Donatello questions the worth of his bo staff. As a kid, I always saw that weapon as decidedly lame compared with what the other turtles had. Combine that with the more feminine purple of his bandana and it made Donatello the lamest turtle to my six-year-old brain. This Donatello is one I can appreciate and he has more nuance than perhaps any of his brothers. His affection for April is a long-running story and a bit tragic in some ways.

This thing can be fiddly.
“All right, a real weapon!”

NECA’s interpretation of Donatello comes courtesy of sculptor May Thamtarana with paint by Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo. Ciro Nieli did the illustrations on the box just as they did for Leonardo. Donatello stands a tick under 5.875″ giving him considerable height over his brothers, but leaving him shorter than Shredder. As the tallest turtle in the show, this strikes me as appropriate. His sculpt is almost entirely different from Leonardo’s and that’s going to be true of his brothers as well. From what I can tell, the only parts shared between the turtles are the hands. Everything else is unique which is pretty impressive and can also be a sign of variants to come.

You know Donatello is always going to have gadgets.

Donatello is very well built for not only is he taller his proportions are pretty on-model. His limbs are longer and compared to some of his brothers thicker, or thinner, depending on the turtle. His belt and plastron have the same weathered approach as Leonardo and by default he’s sporting his battle portrait. NECA and Thamtarana really nailed the shape of Donnie’s head which is smaller and rounder than the others and sits pretty high. Like Leo, he’s the most on-model interpretation of this character we have seen yet cast in plastic. He also comes with some minor assembly required. The holster for his bo is a separate piece which plugs into his shell. There’s a hole in the shoulder strap to accommodate this. The actual part is a softer plastic than basically everything else in the box and I saw some people express frustration with getting it in place. Mine went in without issue, but I also got to it shortly after it was delivered in a fairly cool climate which may have helped. If it were warm and more pliable it might have been a different story.

“Having a chicken around really pays off!”

Donatello comes with gripping hands by default as well as a set of open hands and a set of pointing hands. The right open hand is more of a C-grip hand and I assume it’s for his other accessories. He does have an alternate portrait with his pupils visible and a big, open-mouthed, smile which exposes the gap between his front teeth, a hallmark of the character. It’s a great likeness and it’s exactly the kind of portrait we want to see with these figures. He also has his trusty bo staff which can separate at the tape. This makes it a little easier to slot into his holster, but also allows for it to be switched with the included bladed end creating a naginata. Donnie’s lame weapon got a little upgrade in the show. He also has more unique accessories in the form of his microscope goggles and a homemade tracking device that appears to be made out of a Game Boy and egg beater. The goggles don’t get a snug fit on either head, but will probably stay if placed on a shelf. Donnie also has the same T-phone, smoke bomb, and pizza slice as the rest. His last accessory is Dr. Cluckenstein, the big-brained chicken. She looks good, though is just a slug figure with no articulation. Mine also came with one of the toes broken off which is a bummer. It’s the only real quality control issue I had with the wave.

Poor little fella has a broken toe.

Donatello has the same articulation as Leonardo with the only difference being his shape provides for more range in places. He can look up much better than Leo and his shoulders are easier to engage with. He’s also the figure I had the least amount of issues with out of the box as far as stuck joints are concerned. Knees and elbows all worked fine as well as the ankles. He has the same horizontal wrist hinges as Leonardo, though it’s less of an issue with his chosen melee weapon. His gripping hands are just as rigid though so you’ll want to heat them up before trying to get him to hold his staff. Even the C-grip hand isn’t particularly good for anything without some heat if you want him to actually grip something with any authority. I did have issues swapping heads again, though in this case the default portrait came off fine, it’s just the alternate didn’t want to go on. I just heated it up and that was that.

They’re a lovable bunch.

Donatello is an overall better release than Leonardo and might be the best in the line. I’ll reserve judgement for that until I’ve spent more time with the rest of wave one, but I think he just comes together in a nicer package. His articulation is slightly more forgiving, his accessories more purposeful, and best of all he has two worthy portraits for your display. He’s still not as articulated as he could be, but if you just want an on-model Donatello from the 2012 series you’ll be hard pressed to do better than this.

We have plenty more from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to refer you to:

NECA TMNT 2012 Leonardo

We’re going to start this one off with a question: When you order directly from a producer, do you expect to be first in line for product? NECA’s recent launch of its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure line based on the 2012 Nickelodeon series raised this question. On September 16, NECA launched the line…

Keep reading
by Joe

NECA TMNT Toon Donatello’s Portable Portal Generator

Is this it? Have I finally hit the point where my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toy collecting is out of control? It just might be, for today we have Donatello’s Portable Portal Generator, the latest piece from NECA’s line of toys based on the vintage cartoon series. And it’s not that this is a bad…

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by Joe

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November 13, 2025

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Logan

By Joe
“You got a problem with my look, bub?”

I knew who the X-Men were when the show premiered in 1992, but I didn’t know much about them. That show really was the proper introduction to the franchise for me and one thing I couldn’t wrap my head around as a kid was that these were heroes who didn’t really have a secret identity. Yeah, when they weren’t on the job they wore normal clothes, but the characters didn’t have any hang-ups about using their powers out in public if the situation arose. That just seemed so foreign a concept to me as someone raised on Superman and Batman. I didn’t realize super heroes could walk a different path.

All hail the short king.

During the course of the show, I got familiar with the non-costumed looks of the X-Men and by far the most memorable is Wolverine. He would ditch the tights in favor of some work pants, a yellow plaid shirt, and a bomber jacket with a furred collar. I don’t know if this look was directly pulled from the comics, but the show definitely made it iconic. It’s just another of the many classic looks for the character and it was immortalized in plastic way back during the Toy Biz era. And since every wave of X-Men figures could use a Wolverine, it’s hardly a surprise we’re getting the look in Marvel Legends.

I don’t have the 97 Wolverine, but it’s essentially the same figure as the 92 one.

This figure is almost entirely reuse. Past Wolverines have utilized these parts including even the head which is reused from the first X-Men ’97 Wolverine. The clawed hands are from the Weapon X release and feature the slightly longer middle claw which is an odd choice as that’s not something carried over into the show. The coat overlay is probably new and the arms might be as well, but that’s it. Does it matter? Yes and no. The coat has that animated look to it. It’s very smooth and untextured while the pants are textured like denim. This isn’t consistent with the source material and it’s a bit frustrating. Yeah, in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal, but it just serves as a reminder that Hasbro is not committed to accuracy with this line. It’s also odd to get the same Wolverine head recycled here, though the complexion is a touch redder which is odd. If you want a new unmasked portrait you have to get the new two-pack with Storm (I passed).

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

The figure is compromised, but looks all right. The accessories, on the other hand, are pretty unimpressive. Wolverine has his clawed hands, as usual, and the claws can actually pop off. They’re unpainted, gray, plastic and pretty bland looking. It can be hard to get them straight too and the claws on my figure’s right fist are kind of driving me crazy. The other options include a left fist without claw holes and an optional right hand that’s in a unique shape. That shape is to facilitate the use of a hand of playing cards which is also recycled from a past release. They’re fine? It might be more fun to give them to Gambit, but they don’t add a whole lot to the experience with Logan here.

“Now this is more like it!”

Articulation is pretty standard. Ball-hinge head, ball-hinge shoulders, bicep swivel, double-elbows, wrist swivel and hinge, diaphragm joint, waist twist, ball-socket hips, thigh swivels, double-jointed knees, ankle rocker and hinge. The cowboy boots that he appears to be wearing are kind of annoying. He’s tricky to stand and the coat limits the torso articulation. The diaphragm joint doesn’t really do a whole lot and the collar of the coat also interferes with the head. You’re going to be hard-pressed to get him into a low, Wolverine, crouch. It’s unfortunate this follows the Gamerverse Wolverine because the articulation in that makes this look like a hunk of crap.

“Logan! This is a school!”

Logan is what he is. The figure is only worth pursuing if you have a fondness for this look. Yeah, the pants and the belt are wrong, but it’s also instantly recognizable as Wolverine’s civilian look from the cartoon. That’s what got me to buy this even if I was a little hesitant. It’s also Wolverine so it might appear in large numbers. If you’re unimpressed, and I mostly am, then it may pay to wait this one out to see if it ever goes on sale. It’s October as I write this so the holiday shopping season is pretty much here and things have a habit of going on sale during this time of year. That might be the approach to take.

If you like this review then check out these other X-Men ’97 releases:

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Bishop

We’re going to keep this Marvel/Mutant Monday thing going for one more week! After taking a look at a trio of figures from Hasbro’s new X-Men ’97 line of figures in its Marvel Legends catalog I’ve decided to do one more: Bishop. The first three figures I looked at were basically all missing pieces to…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Nightcrawler

Since we don’t have a post this week for Turtle Tuesday I decided we should have a Mutant Monday. X-Men ’97 has returned the mutant superheroes to the spotlight and one of the main beneficiaries has been Hasbro. Their first wave of Marvel Legends based on the new show arrived last fall and, aside from…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Jubilee

The television event of 2024 for me was none other than X-Men ’97. I loved that show and I can’t wait for the second season to come around. It’s just a shame we may still be as much as a year away, but to somewhat tide us over until then we have this third wave…

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by Joe

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November 11, 2025

NECA TMNT 2012 Leonardo

By Joe
He’s the leader in blue.

We’re going to start this one off with a question: When you order directly from a producer, do you expect to be first in line for product? NECA’s recent launch of its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure line based on the 2012 Nickelodeon series raised this question. On September 16, NECA launched the line on its own webstore where their fans could purchase the four turtles as a bundle. If they wanted to add Shredder, then the order would qualify for free shipping. It seemed like a solid deal. Then on September 28th, the same selection of characters appeared on Walmart’s website as in-stock. Those who took advantage of the NECA sale were still waiting for their order to ship, but someone who waited it out could order from Walmart that weekend and get their figures a few days later. A bit of a raw deal, but it’s just toys, right?

It’s another installment of turtles from NECA.

It gets a little more complicated when the reality that NECA fulfills all its own orders is introduced. In other words, whether you order through NECA direct or Walmart, you’re just ordering from NECA. It all gets packaged and shipped by NECA, and even though the people who ordered directly from them were charged upfront, the people who ordered through Walmart essentially jumped the line. And then following that came the shipping woes. Numerous reports of wrong orders, wrong tracking numbers, duplicate tracking numbers, and partial shipments. Several people who ordered from NECA ended up getting shipments of just Michelangelo and Shredder with an assurance the rest would ship later. This on top of NECA’s well publicized shipping woes of the prior year just added to an overall bad experience. I got my set through NECA. I ordered on the 16th of September and didn’t receive a partial shipment. I got the whole thing on October 29th. I don’t really care about when I get stuff, as long as I get it, but it is annoying to see the same company prioritize different orders. Just better communication would solve most of the issues, but apparently that’s too hard.

The likeness is pretty damn good here.

It’s a shame there was such consternation in the collector sphere for this line because I think it had a lot of positive buzz leading up to release. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Nickelodeon show was a hit both commercially and critically. It’s held in high regard by old and new TMNT fans for its successful melding of the classic comic book tales and some new stuff. It’s really one of, if not the, best takes on the franchise. As part of the 40th anniversary, Nickelodeon wanted to celebrate a lot of eras of TMNT and do so by merchandizing the hell out of it. Super7 had the 2003 cartoon shopped to them while NECA got 2012. And while I grew up on the 87 toon, the 2012 series was the one I watched with my kids. They loved it and for them it’s “their” Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles so this franchise holds a special place in my heart. When NECA announced they were doing figures from this show I was very much onboard.

He comes with a decent assortment of stuff, but I’m guessing most will just rock the swords.

And up first is the leader in blue – Leonardo. Unlike other iterations of the turtles, this is a property that can’t get by with one sculpt for four boys. The turtles from this show all had a unique appearance. It wasn’t just a different colored bandana or a belt with a shoulder strap. As a result, it feels more appropriate to give each turtle his own review. I did get Shredder as well, so we’re going to have a lot of TMNT content for a little while. I’m not sure how quickly I’ll get these reviews out because we also have Christmas to talk about, but we’ll see how it goes.

I don’t really know what these hands are for, but he comes with them.

Each turtle is sold as an “Ultimate” version with the standard five-panel packaging. It’s adorned with artwork by Ciro Nieli. The sculpt is by a name new to me, May Thamtarana, with paint by the usual NECA duo Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo. There’s no photography on the box which is a bit unusual, but it does have some spine art which will create a mural for those saving boxes. Leonardo, despite being the leader, is actually numbered 4 in the series which is just wrong. Everyone knows it goes Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, then Michelangelo. That’s the only order I’ll accept.

Scale on this line is going to be pretty interesting.

Leonardo stands at right around 5.5″. If you’re curious about scale, that would put him at a height of 5’6″ in 1:12 scale, 4’7″ in 1:10 scale. I think it’s safe to say that NECA is going for 1:12 with this line based on that. I tried to find an official height chart for the show, but came up empty. I saw lots of unsourced claims that Leonardo is supposed to be between 5’4″ and 5’6″ with one outlier saying he was a mere 5’1″. I did see one piece of production art for Leatherhead that placed Michelangelo at an even 5′ while NECA has the figure at about 5.125″ tall. In other words, I think this is close enough.

He has a gun. Cool?

What is going to be this line’s strong suit is the overall look and proportions of these characters. From the unique proportions to the shape of the limbs it’s all very evocative of the show. NECA, as usual, utilized a liberal amount of paint to bring Leo to life. The body may be molded in green plastic, but it’s coated with paint as well to give it a rich, matte, finish. There’s some nice dry-brushing on the wraps present on the wrists and ankles and some weathering to the shell. He comes ready for battle with whited-out eyes and a little slit of teeth visible which was applied cleanly. The only shortcoming I’m noticing in the presentation department are the knee pads, which while textured very nicely, do give off a shiny appearance like they’re not painted. The right-most scabbard also has some sloppy, white, paint inside it and I’m not sure why they bothered as it seems to interfere with the swords as well. On one hand, it’s some nice attention to detail if that was always visible in the show, but I’d also rather be able to insert a sword into it easily.

If it wasn’t already useless, I can’t even get this alternate head onto the figure because the ball joint keeps popping out of the neck.

Where we are going to run into some issues is with the accessory load-out. When NECA debuted these figures at Toy Fair earlier this year each turtle appeared to have the battle portrait and a more casual one. When it came time to ship them, that was still true of 3 of the 4 turtles, but not Leonardo. His alternate portrait has his eyes closed like he’s meditating. I know there was a storyline where he was unconscious a few episodes, but literally no one wanted this portrait in place of one where his eyes are open with visible pupils. It’s either really bad judgement on NECA’s part or a naked attempt at making a future accessory pack or variant figure more enticing. I usually have to reserve this mini rant for Super7, but if NECA is going to call this the “Ultimate” Leonardo figure, then he needs a portrait where his damn eyes are open. As for the portrait itself – it’s fine. If that’s what you want for your Leonardo. I can’t see myself ever using it and that’s especially true since I can’t get his default head off without having the neck joint come out with it.

This scabbard keeps falling off, which is really annoying.

Aside from that major boner, the rest of what’s in the box is pretty solid. Leonardo has his two katana, and in keeping true to the show, one is shorter than the other. Maybe it’s hard to find matching swords when you live in a sewer? It’s funny that they bothered to add this detail to the show since it’s not an obvious or dramatic difference, but it’s represented here. The swords are well-painted, but the hands he has to hold them are extremely rigid. Heat them up, don’t try to shove them into his hands, no good will come of that. In addition to those gripping hands, Leo also has a set of fists, relaxed open hands, and these odd looking hands that kind of look like a “hang loose” gesture. He also comes with a smoke bomb (basically a little egg), T-phone, and a slice of pepperoni pizza. Those three things are included with each turtle. His unique accessory is a gun that I think he acquires from The Kraang in an episode. I don’t remember it, and NECA doesn’t list out the accessories on the box, but it looks pretty cool. It’s just as hard for him to hold as his swords if you don’t heat up a hand, but he can support it with an open hand for a two-handed pose.

Everybody comes with a T-Phone, pizza, and smoke bomb.

I was curious how these turtles would pose given their more slender profile vs other iterations of the gang. For the most part though, these are NECA figures and they handle like NECA figures. The head is a double ball-joint with decent range. The neck is angled though so Leo doesn’t look up very well, but aiding that is a diaphragm joint that basically just allows the entire shoulder and neck area to rock back and forth a bit. It’s not dramatic, but it’s also not nothing. Arms are fairly basic: shoulder ball-hinge, bicep swivel, double elbows, wrist swivel and hinge. The gripping hinge is the wrong one as once again NECA failed to provide a vertical hinge for a sword-wielding character. It’s perhaps my biggest pet peeve with the company as they’re incredibly inconsistent about it. Most of the Ultimate releases in the toon get the correct hands, but we’re starting off on the wrong foot with the 2012 line. Seriously, I’d trade the stupid gun for better hands. Or a better alternate portrait.

You can pose him with the smoke bomb if you really want to.

The rest of the articulation is also pretty standard. There’s a waist twist, but the shell really limits it. The side panels seem to extend a lot lower than usual too which cuts it off further. Ball-socket hips, thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, and ankle hinges and rocker round it out. The shell/plastron interferes with range at the hips. The plastron is soft, but not that soft. He won’t kick out a full 90 degrees nor can he do splits. The ankle rockers gave me some trouble out of the box, but I seem to have them moving now without having to heat them up. I didn’t have any issues with the usual trouble spots of knees and elbows, but the shoulders are pretty tight. And since the arms are so thin, they can be a bit harrowing to manipulate. It’s hard to engage the shoulder hinge without putting strain on the bicep peg. If you’re used to NECA articulation, then I don’t think he’s necessarily much better or worse than we typically see. I do wish we would get some real innovation at this point when it comes to TMNT figures because the same old articulation schemes are getting hold. I feel like we should have ab crunches by now. If Hasbro can make a Hulk clap than surely someone can make a turtle bend over.

To match eyes or not?

Leonardo isn’t the lead-off homerun I was hoping for with NECA’s new TMNT 2012 toyline. He looks great, but the little issues with things like his scabbard, the way too tight gripping hands, the wrong hinge articulation, and that lame alternate portrait really put a damper on him. He’s also the only figure in this first wave, including Shredder, to not come with a little buddy character and that’s a bummer. The gun accessory is really well done for what it is, but it’s just so useless. I’ll never display Leonardo with a gun, which just puts more of a spotlight on what’s missing. He’s the best looking 2012 Leonardo we’ve received provided you want to display him in battle mode and that’s going to have to be good enough if you’re into this version of the franchise.

We don’t have a lot of TMNT 2012 toy talk here, but we have some plus a lot of Leonardo:

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Classic Rocker Leonardo

When I was a kid, I had parents with divergent musical tastes. Dad likes oldies from the 50s and 60s while mom was more into modern rock (then 80s). One area where their tastes overlapped was Bruce Springsteen. We had several of his records in my house and I distinctly remember that cover to Born…

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by Joe

JoyToy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

It’s been said before and it will be said again: everyone is making Ninja Turtles. It feels like the list of companies not making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is smaller than the list of those who are. Viacom has not been shy about licensing the brand out to toy makers and it’s reaching a point…

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by Joe

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November 6, 2025

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Jubilee

By Joe
The self-professed mall babe is back with a new look.

The television event of 2024 for me was none other than X-Men ’97. I loved that show and I can’t wait for the second season to come around. It’s just a shame we may still be as much as a year away, but to somewhat tide us over until then we have this third wave of Marvel Legends action figures from Hasbro. The first two waves were undoubtedly done based on concept art of whatever Disney and Marvel were willing to share with the toy maker at the time. It seemed to fill-in some of the gaps left behind by Hasbro’s brief dance with the original X-Men cartoon via the VHS style box releases while also getting in a few show specific characters and looks. This third wave feels like a post season one wave. It contains characters we didn’t really know were going to be in it as well as some different looks for those we did know were coming. Up first, is Miss Jubilee.

She’s sized pretty well for what she is.

Jubilee, unlike some other characters, did get a slot in that VHS line based on the original show from 1992. That Jubilee was pretty much a hodgepodge of past Jubilee releases with some half-assed and poorly applied cel-shading. I don’t know if it’s my least favorite in that line, but it’s in contention. This update is based on the end of the first season following a minor wardrobe update. The look, from what I understand, is from the comics when she went through a vampire phase. Yeah, I don’t know. I wasn’t reading and I don’t care to know more than that. It’s basically just an all black, skin-tight suit, with her customary yellow trench coat. It’s not a look I care about, but maybe it has some utility for the ’92 display? Let’s find out!

The stars of the show.

Jubilee is a pretty basic figure. She has a brand new headsculpt that more or less matches the look of the show. I think it’s a little full in the face, but definitely more on model than what we’ve had before. The body is mostly reuse from past Jubilees, but updated with pinless joints. The arms might be new, but I am not certain. I think the upper diaphragm is also new, but it’s basically black plastic with minimal paint near the chest. The arms are yellow plastic while the coat is a thinner plastic. It has some pliability, but it’s also really shiny giving it this very rain coat quality. It’s okay, but cheap looking.

This one is definitely an improvement over the old figure, but not the look I prefer.

Jubilee’s accessories are surprisingly robust. She has a set of open hands, a left fist, and a right C-grip hand. I don’t think any of these are new, but that’s fine. Her C-grip hand is for a soft drink she comes with which looks fine and calls back to her origins as a mall rat. She also has some new effect hands and these are a massive improvement over those little swirly things the 92 Jubilee had. They appear to be a translucent acrylic which ends in star shapes and has this nice transition of colors from purple to blue. They’re permanently affixed to a set of open hands which almost appear to be insert-molded into these things. It’s a bummer because it means it won’t work with other Jubilee figures unless those ones also feature black gloves. And since the fingers of said gloves are inside the effects, it also means that painting them yellow or blue isn’t going to be a perfect solution. They look great for this figure, but only this figure.

This looks better, but that old coat still kind of sucks.

Jubilee’s articulation is pretty basic. She has a double-ball joint at the head, ball-hinge shoulders, double-elbows, bicep swivel, wrist swivel and hinges, diaphragm joint, ball-socket hips, thigh swivel, boot swivel, double-jointed knees, and ankles with hinges and rockers. The lack of a waist twist stinks and the presence of a jacket would have made hiding a butterfly joint fairly easy, but we don’t get either. The double-ball head is okay, but it has that annoying quality where the neck-ball pops out often when removing the head. I had to heat it up and pull that joint out of the head to do it properly. Why did I remove the head? Well…

Ok, yeah, now we’re ready to rock!

Jubilee’s original ’92 look is by far my preference. While I like these new effect parts, I would much rather have Jubilee in her more colorful threads. Swapping heads with the 92 figure is pretty easy. I found the old heads don’t want to go on this new body all that easily, but getting the new head on that old body was a piece of cake once I got the peg out. I also found I much preferred the look of this new coat to the old one. Getting it off was also pretty easy as was putting it on the old figure. Getting the old coat off the old figure was more difficult as that plastic is a bit thicker and less forgiving, but I still was able to do it without popping the arms out at the shoulder. The end result is, for me, a much better representation of Jubilee. She still has the ugly shading on her sleeves, but I could remove that if I so desire. I may yet try to paint the hands in the effect parts, but for now she can continue using the dumb swirly ones. I could also repaint the C-grip hand if I want her to be able to enjoy her soft drink. It’s just a matter of making sure I can match the shade of yellow in use here, but I’m just happy the old sleeves mix well with the new coat.

I obviously bought this Jubilee not intending to enjoy it for the figure it is. If you like the updated look, then it’s fine. The articulation is just so-so and it has a cheaper look than usual, but the new effect parts are nice and she does match the source material well enough. She also makes for a suitable kit-bash if that’s your aim. Do with that information what you will.

If you liked this one then check out these other X-Men ’97 reviews we have:

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Rogue

Previously, on X-Men reviews we looked at Magneto from the upcoming series X-Men ’97. The animated series may have been delayed into 2024, but the action figures from Hasbro are already here. And if you were collecting Hasbro’s line of figures based on the animated series from the 90s, this new line offers a chance…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Gambit

Everyone can relax – Gambit has returned. Or arrived, since I’ve never reviewed a Gambit action figure in this space, but that’s because I haven’t bought a Gambit figure in about 20 years until now. When X-Men arrived on airwaves in the fall of 1992, hardly anyone on that team could be considered a true…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Jean Grey

If you are reading this the day it goes live then Happy X-Men ’97 Day! Today is the day the long-awaited sequel series to X-Men debuts on Disney+. Rather than fast-track a review of the first two episodes to this blog, I decided instead to do what I most often do: review an action figure!…

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by Joe

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October 31, 2025

Mondo The Real Ghostbusters Egon Spengler

By Joe
Reinforcements have arrived for both ghosts and Ghostbusters.

It’s a Halloween miracle! The second figure in the Mondo The Real Ghostbusters line of action figures, Egon Spengler, had been bumped to November. Even when I got my shipping notification from Mondo it said a delivery date of November 1st. It felt almost cruel to receive a Ghostbusters toy the day after Halloween, but that’s life in 2025 where government action has thrown a giant wrench into shipments coming from overseas. To my delight, Egon managed to get to me faster than anticipated and there are now two Ghostbusters on my shelf for Halloween 2025!

They look pretty good together.

For Egon, I decided to forego the companion ghost Mondo offered of Boogieman. If you have not been following along, Mondo’s license to produce figures based on The Real Ghostbusters necessitated an MSRP over $100 per figure. That’s a lot of cheddar and while I whipped out the old credit card for Peter and Samhain, I did not feel the need to do so for Boogieman. Samhain is perhaps the most memorable ghost for me from the old cartoon not named Slimer and Stay Puft so it made sense to splurge and have him be my lone ghost representative on the shelf. The only downside to that is I do think I’m missing out on some more elaborate ghosts as Peter and Samhain, being first out the door, may have been forced to shoulder more of the tooling costs than what followed as all of those seem to come with more stuff. Oh well. I’ve made my decision and I’m sticking to it. Plus it’s not as if Egon is entirely alone.

This is a lot of box.

Egon comes in a pretty large box for what’s inside. It’s modeled after a ghost trap and it’s very nice, though perhaps a bit over-the-top. Egon is another sculpt by Alex Brewer and he’s mostly unique. Mondo has stated the forced MSRP did allow them to put more money into things like materials and tooling which basically means the Ghostbusters won’t all have to share the same body. It would have been easy to just tool up one figure and release it four times. Egon, in addition to the obvious change being the head, appears to have new legs and maybe a new torso. The neck part is definitely new as there’s no undershirt present, but that may be glued into the same torso as Peter. The boots and hands are the same and probably the arms. He’s taller than Peter at around 6.75″ which also further confirms that this line is bigger than true 1:12 scale, but the figures do at least scale well with each other.

Some shots for scale but also to compare blues and grays.

The sculpt is certainly on-model and the most on-model representation of Egon we’ve ever had and are likely to ever have. The face has that neutral, but also thoughtful, expression that is pure Egon. The man is always thinking. There’s a slight bagginess to the jumpsuit and even his adam’s apple looks pretty damn accurate to the source material. What may not be is the paint. The quality of the application of which is mostly pretty good. The trim on the jumpsuit, the facial details, boot trim – all that stuff is damn near perfect. The only thing that could be better is the opacity on the white of the “No Ghosts” logo on his right sleeve. What may not be accurate is the shade of blue used for the jumpsuit. It’s a more saturated, less yellow, blue than I picture when I think of The Real Ghostbusters. I had to go back to the show to see if my memory was betraying me and I found that, no, it’s not. This shade is closest to the opening title animation, but still a more vibrant blue than even that. Once episodes start, the blue gets toned down to damn near gray in a lot of episodes. If I’m just speaking for me, I don’t hate it or even really care all that much. Blue is my favorite color and this shade Mondo used does really pop in-hand. If I’m being an honest reviewer though, it’s not 100% accurate to the show and that might bother some. And at $101, you’re certainly allowed to be pretty demanding of the final product.

I do like this scared portrait and more trap effects are always fun.

Egon’s accessories are both familiar and new. In terms of familiar, he has his proton pack, trap, beam effect, and gloved gripping hands. These are all the exact same items Peter came with and are the same quality. I was hoping for a running change with the holster on the proton pack to utilize a more pliable plastic, but Mondo is thus far sticking with the rigid one. I haven’t had any issues with it, but I’m also not engaging with it much. For new stuff we get a secondary portrait which depicts Egon in a state of fright. It’s not a hysterical fright, but like Peter’s angry expression, it appears to be intended to be used in conjunction with the proton beam effect. Egon also has his own trap element which appears to be for the Sandman. Boogieman wasn’t an actual ghost and did not get sucked into the trap in his debut episode hence why Egon doesn’t come with that. The sculpt and paint effects are fantastic and this is one of the best pieces of ingenuity to come out of this line.

The ghost bomb.

Egon also has his PKE Meter. This is the little handheld device used to measure ghost activity. Mondo even engineered it to have a pop-out antenna like it did in the show which is really cool at this scale. The detail on this little thing is pretty incredible and the paint is flawless as well. It can also be clipped to the little, yellow, ring dangling from his belt. If the particle thrower isn’t enough firepower for you, Egon also comes with a ghost bomb. It too has a pop-out element built in and it’s a neat little device that I do not remember from the show, but is cool to have. It’s hard to get the cylinder to actually pop out and stay and I couldn’t fit it into any of Egon’s hands. It would be nice to have more options. Lastly, Egon has his own little ghost buddy and it’s the nameless blue-white blob leading the pack of ghosts in the original opening title. It’s pretty cool to get this guy in plastic form after seeing him countless times in that opening. I felt like the Muncher from Afterlife was based on this guy, but I have no idea if that’s true or not, which makes me want to call this guy Muncher. Either way, he’s structurally similar Slimer and is about the same size so you can have him hanging around with your busters or ghosts, as you see fit. His arms swivel, but that’s all the articulation you’re going to get. His stand is actually different which surprised me, but still the same height and engineering.

“I’m getting some very interesting readings from this snowman.”

Egon’s parts may have been retooled, but his articulation is functionally the same as Peter’s. You get joints at the head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees, and ankles. All pretty standard stuff with no double joints. The shoulders are ball-jointed with some forward and back play, but not enough to consider the joint a true butterfly joint. Egon won’t be able to hold his beam out in front, but he can hold it across his belly/chest like Peter to get a “good enough” blasting pose. He can hold the other items well and he also stands just fine. Mondo does include a small, disc, stand for those concerned about shelf dives, but it’s definitely not needed. The only other negative here is Egon wasn’t as smooth out of the box as Peter. The hips and especially the ball-joint in the neck were pretty stuck for me. I was able to get the neck moving with heat, but once it cooled back down it went back to the same level of tightness as before. The hips I hit with some lubricating oil and it helped a bit, but he’s still not moving as well as Peter which is a shame.

Next year there should be four of them.

Egon in most respects is every bit as good as Peter, but with more stuff. That might make him the superior release for some, but which figure you prefer is going to come down to which Ghostbuster was your favorite and how your figure turned out. The price is high, but the quality of the paint and scult are terrific. Peter handled quite well, but Egon is a step behind which is disappointing at this price. I also maintain that we should be getting more hands in the box. The gloved hands feel unessential to me, but I understand why they’re included. We just need non gripping hands for when they’re not holding accessories and wider hands when they come with bigger accessories like ghost bombs. Egon could really use a pointing hand for adjusting his glasses or just for pointing in general. Ray has already been solicited at this point without any such things included, but I’d love it if they could find room in the budget to add a few extras to his set that could then be shared with Egon and Peter. Winston is basically on his own there though. If you ever wanted premium The Real Ghostbusters collectibles, this is basically your only option. I’m overall content with Egon, but I do wish he was nicer in hand. Nevertheless, I look forward to adding Winston and Ray in the future so I can assemble the full squad for some busting action. Happy Halloween!

Here’s some more Ghostbusters and spooky content to enjoy on Halloween:

Mondo The Real Ghostbusters Peter Venkman and Samhain

I didn’t do a big 2024 wrap-up type of post like I sometimes do, but if I did I would have awarded toy producer Mondo with the biggest reveal of the year when they debuted their line of action figures based on The Real Ghostbusters. The Real Ghostbusters was one of many 80s properties to…

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by Joe

NECA The Nightmare Before Christmas Ultimate Jack Skellington

When Tim Burton created The Nightmare Before Christmas while working for Disney I don’t think the powers that be had any idea what kind of a gift he had just given them. Obviously they didn’t since they didn’t even believe enough in the film to release it as a Disney film instead opting to put…

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by Joe

Super7 Ultimates! – The Worst – Robot Reaper

Happy Halloween, my fellow action figure enthusiasts! It’s a day for mischief, a day for candy, and a day to laugh at Death. Today, we’re laughing at a special kind of death, a robot death, and it comes courtesy of Super7’s in-house brand The Worst. The Worst is a line of action figures that’s basically…

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by Joe

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October 16, 2025

Jakks Pacific The Simpsons Deluxe King Homer

By Joe
It’s Halloween, time to get in the treehouse!

These days, The Simpsons is as synonymous with Halloween as candy and costumes. Via its annual Treehouse of Horror installment, which returns October 19th this year, The Simpsons has contributed more to Halloween pop culture than any other entity in my lifetime. Other shows have had memorable Halloween offerings, but none have taken over the holiday like The Simpsons. It’s a big part of the brand and Treehouse of Horror is a frequent go-to for license holders of The Simpsons. Jakks Pacific, who currently has the license to produce action figures, went to the Treehouse well last year with a Count Burns figure. It wasn’t very good so I didn’t bother getting it, but this year they’re back with a far better offering in the form of King Homer.

If you like King Homer then you’re eating well this year.

King Homer hails from the segment of the same name as part of Treehouse of Horror III. This is actually the second version of the character from Jakks who earlier this year released a plush doll of King Homer. Last year, they did the evil Krusty doll featured in the first segment of Treehouse III so that installment is apparently a favorite within the walls of Jakks Pacific. King Homer is part of the deluxe line of 5″ figures meaning it features more paint and an action feature. I don’t know how the action feature became associated with “deluxe” as that’s something more associated with children’s toys, but that’s the approach Jakks has taken.

Jakks uses the word “deluxe” fairly loosely.

King Homer comes in a rather attractive all black box with some nice graphics on it. This would look fine for in-box collectors, but for those who take it out you will find one figure, one accessory, and one impressive platform. King Homer may be deluxe in pricing, but he’s conventional in size at about 5″. The platform will take him up to 6″. The sculpt looks to be very on-model and the paint is nice where needed. The segment was in black and white so Jakks only had to account for that sort of gradient and it looks fine. His restraints are gray and permanently part of the sculpt and his face bares an angry roar.

He’s pretty much just meant for this.

As you could probably surmise just by looking at him, this is essentially King Kong, but Homer. The sculpt is tailored for that look with tufted fur around the ankles, wrists, and the back of the neck. He has ape-like feet with four digits, in keeping things consistent with other Simpsons features, and he even has some sculpted nipples. The figure is molded in the dark gray plastic and the lighter gray as well as the whites are painted features. The only accessories are the platform and tiny Marge. The platform is molded in a very light gray with some painted silver parts that add a little splash to the set. Marge is in her white dress and not in any apparent distress. She’s painted rather well given how small she is and appears to be more or less in scale with Homer.

“Oh, Homie…”

The articulation for Homer is exactly the same as standard Homer. The only different is this one has an action feature. Basically, you are supposed to put him on his platform and then press the button on his back which makes his arms wiggle at the shoulders like he’s breaking free. There isn’t a pass-through button on the platform to activate it so you kind of just push Homer into it. The springy feature means Homer’s arms can never be at his sides and it honestly adds nothing to the experience for me personally. I’d have preferred he not have an action feature. Are kids really buying these more expensive offerings? Hell, are they even buying the cheaper ones?

“Come on, Barney, say the line!” “Ugh…I am so Krunchy the Clown…?”

As a Simpsons fan, having this King Homer to throw on a shelf during Halloween is fun. It displays well, but you’re forgiven if you think it shouldn’t be any more expensive than the standard offerings. The action feature stinks, but it doesn’t ruin the sculpt so I can excuse it (or rather ignore it). The figure is $20, but most of the deluxe offerings last year wound up on sale so if you don’t care about getting this guy in time for Halloween this year you may be able to save yourself some money by waiting.

For more Simpsons and Treehouse of Horror check these out:

Jakks Pacific The Simpsons Waves 3, a bit of 4, and most of 5

One thing I wasn’t expecting for 2025 was that the hardest line to collect would be The Simpsons by Jakks Pacific. It’s a mass retail release so, if anything, I thought it would be pretty easy. My assumption has been proven wrong and I think it’s because this is a line that is trying to…

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by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror ReAction

Happy Halloween fellow toy enthusiasts and fans of The Simpsons! Every year since 1990, there has been a Halloween edition of The Simpsons. The annual anthology style episode called Treehouse of Horror is basically appointment viewing each and every year. Sometimes it arrives before Halloween, sometimes on Halloween, and often times after Halloween (as it’s…

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by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Kang and Kodos

We are onto the third wave of Ultimates! from Super7 based on The Simpsons. Like past waves, plenty of questions abound when it comes to Super7’s character selection and they’re not unfounded. Perhaps the two most questionable inclusions in this third wave are the subject of today’s post: Kang and Kodos. These are two separate…

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by Joe

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Television, toys

October 14, 2025

NECA TMNT Toon Granny Bebop and Baby Rocksteady

By Joe
So it’s come to this…

When 2025 is all said and done I think we’ll look back on it in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collector sphere as the year the NECA toon toyline started showing its age. For some, that probably already happened. Jersey Red, Chakahachi, Lotus Blossom – who the heck are these characters? They are pretty deep cuts, but they are unique characters with unique sculpts, at least. This year, there have been new deep cuts like Creepy Eddie and Tattoo, but also a what-if Leonardo and beach variations on the turtles – twice! And now we have maybe the silliest release of all: Granny Bebop and Baby Rocksteady.

NECA tends to scale these guys up. I don’t think Shredder was shorter than them in the show.

Bebop and Rocksteady have been NECA’s go-to characters when they want to do something offbeat. And it’s easy to see why as the pair were comic relief in the cartoon series. They did a lot of dumb stuff and had different looks. We’ve seen them as superheroes, rabbits, vacationers, and robots. Now, we have Bebop in drag and Rocksteady in a giant diaper. It’s ludicrous, but when I look back on the original TMNT cartoon it’s the silly stuff that I recall most easily. The show was dumb, and if I’m being honest, kind of bad, but I loved it! I don’t know how many hours I spent watching it as a kid, but it never felt like enough in the moment. A lot of the silly looks from the show I actually wanted to see in the companion toyline and now NECA is making that a reality.

Light accessory load-out for this pair.

Bebop and Rocksteady, being a mutated warthog and rhinoceros, couldn’t just walk into a public place and not freak people out so they needed disguises. One such disguise was Bebop as a grandmother and Rocksteady as his baby. It obviously made no sense since it’s pretty obvious that they’re still a warthog and rhinoceros, but that was the show. And now it’s immortalized in plastic. These two guys are pretty familiar if you’ve purchased others in the past, but there’s new stuff here. Rocksteady stands about 6.5″ to the top of his head while Bebop is about 6.75″ to about where the top of his head should be under that wig.

“Hey, big boy!”

The pair share a lot of the same parts with only slight modifications. They have the same arms and legs as far as I can tell with Rocksteady just having ruffled socks and Bebop open sleeves by his wrists. The torso on both is done with an overlay, NECA’s modus operandi when it comes to this pair, and I’d suspect whatever is under that is the same. Hands appear to be recycled from the vacation set while both figures have new feet and new heads. There are similarities with the rest of the limbs compared with the vacation set only this time around everything is pin-less. They may have began life as the same digital mold and were just recut for tooling. The box lists three sculptors on this set: Brodie Perkins, Tony Cipriano, and Tomasz Rozejowski. Usually, that seems to happen when pieces from past sets are utilized along with new parts.

“You’ve made me the happiest warthog – I mean, woman alive!”

Regardless of how these two came together, both certainly look the part. The paint is clean and there’s plenty of linework emphasized with the paint job by Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo. It’s very clean on both figures even in tight places like the teeth or Rocksteady’s safety pin. Bebop does utilize some soft goods for his skirt and it looks okay. It’s not the nicest material, but they at least included a purple hem at the bottom. There’s some loose threads on mine right at the waist that are kind of annoying. The skirt is glued into place so I can’t just take it off and either trim them or push them behind the skirt. I’ll have to see if I can snip them. I like how they managed to sneak some lipstick onto Bebop and I like that his ponytail is sticking out as well. Like other recent releases in the line, there’s no cel-shading on the backs of these figures. I guess that’s out with the line, but Panda Khan had it so who can know for sure?

“Hey toitle! Check my diapy!

Accessories for this set are pretty light. Each character gets 3 sets of hands: fists, open, gripping. Rocksteady also has a pacifier which can fit in between his teeth or be held with a gripping hand. Bebop has a green purse which is made from a soft plastic and does open, though he doesn’t have anything to put inside it. The main accessory is the baby carriage which is pretty big for a baby carriage, but still not big enough for Rocksteady. It’s simply painted and does feature real wheels on it. Rocksteady can be placed in it and made to look pretty damn ridiculous which helps sell the comedic angle of the set. The handle is a very rigid ABS plastic that won’t easily slide into Bebop’s gripping hand. It almost certainly be done, but you will want to heat the hand up first or else risk snapping the thing.

“Somebody save my baby!”

Articulation for these guys is super basic and pretty standard for the line and these characters. Both feature a ball jointed head with a hinged jaw. You’ll get some nuance posing and rotation, but not much up and down. The shoulders are ball-hinged with a bicep swivel, double-jointed elbows, wrist swivels and hinge. A ball joint at the waist allows for rotation and some tilt, but little in the way of forward and back. Ball-socket hips will basically go as far as the skirt and diaper will allow on each, which is short of splits and 90 degree kicks. You can roll up the skirt for more range on Bebop, if you desire. There is a thigh swivel at the joint as well as double-jointed knees, ankle hinge, and ankle rocker. Bebop, being that he is in heels, will be a bit difficult to stand, but not impossible. There are no loose joints on either while some of the elbows and knees were pretty tight. The bicep swivels can be tricky to get moving as well due to the shoulders moving so freely. It looks like they were lubricated at the shoulder so getting the leverage needed to break the seal on the bicep took some effort.

Things are getting silly.

These two aren’t going to do anything spectacular on your shelf and they’re not really designed to. Rocksteady is meant to go in the stroller and to do that he doesn’t need to do much. Bebop just needs to stand behind it either pushing it or doing very little. They’re capable of doing as much and anyone who sees your collection is probably going to ask about them because they look so stupid. That’s basically the joke and the whole reason to get this one. If you think it’s funny then you’ll probably be happy. If the idea of these two in these outfits just seems too dumb to spend money on then it probably is. It doesn’t help that they’re sold exclusively at Target for $65. That’s a steep price. I was able to knock 10 bucks off with a current promotion going on at Target which may or may not still be active when you’re reading this. I think it’s stupid and funny so I probably would have paid full price, but I’m definitely happy to not have. They don’t appear to be shipping in big numbers, but these variant sets have a tendency to hang around either way so you could always wait for the next deal. My local store also had them in their inventory, which usually doesn’t happen with NECA unless Target is stocking them. I don’t know if that is the case or not, but if it is, then there’s a slim chance they go on sale if Target can’t unload them. With the holiday shopping season upon us, that seems unlikely.

At this point, there’s enough releases in NECA’s TMNT line for it to be a Bebop and Rocksteady line:

NECA TMNT Toon Vacation Bebop and Vacation Rocksteady

Pack your bags and grab the sunscreen because today we’re heading to Florida! It’s vacation time folks, and even the bad guys deserve a little fun in the sun sometimes. Coming from NECA Toys we have another fun variant of the duo Bebop and Rocksteady. Always more comic relief than true threat, the boys come…

by Joe

NECA TMNT Cartoon Super Bebop and Mighty Rocksteady

2021 introduced a lot of good things for collectors of NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of action figures based on the classic cartoon. The toy maker still kept the line a Target exclusive when it came to brick and mortar, but it also started selling a lot of it online to coincide with each…

by Joe

NECA Cartoon TMNT Mighty Hog and Rhino-Man

We did it! We finally made it to the end of the Haulathon releases from NECA Toys and we may have saved the best for last. Back in early 2020, I made a wish list for what I wanted from NECA and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was only 10 deep, though there were some…

by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Television, toys

October 6, 2025

Mondo 1/6 Scale Spider-Man (Spider-Man ’94)

By Joe
Hi kids, it’s Spider-Man! He has a cold and a bad back so he won’t be saying anything or doing anything.

It took a long time for Mondo’s Spider-Man to get to me. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to even buy it. I passed on the Mondo offering in 2024, debated the symbiote costume variant, but ultimately passed on that as well. The X-Men line from Mondo is my true love and I just don’t have room on my shelf for another line of sixth scale action figures. I did get Venom because I love the character, and when Entertainment Earth had a big anniversary sale I decided to take the plunge on Spider-Man. That was in October of 2024 and at the time the figure was expected to ship in January. Then all of the tariff nonsense struck. The figure kept getting pushed out and eventually EE even had to up the price on me because of said tariffs all but wiping away the discount I was originally expecting. As the months went along I started to debate just cancelling it all together. I loved my Venom figure and I didn’t need a Spider-Man to enjoy it any more than I already did. When I received a notification that the figure was, at long last, in-stock I figured “Well, it’s happening.” Then nothing. Then my order was flipped to backorder. I emailed EE which didn’t offer much other than to say they didn’t get enough to fulfill all of their preorders. At that point, I figured I should just drop it and move on, but before I could my order was changed to “processing.” Now I have a Spider-Man from Mondo and I kind of wish I didn’t let my indecision get the best of me.

Spider-Man comes in a large window box with artwork by Nick Bradshaw and Peter Santa-Maria adorning it. It has an almost dark-deco vibe to the skyline which is evocative of the show’s CG cities when Spidey was seen web-swinging around New York. The figure itself is a sculpt by the renowned Alex Brewer with paint by Mark Bristow. The packaging concept is credited to Jordan Christianson and art direction to Hector Arce.

The ’94 version of Spider-Man could probably be taller, but I like the difference between he and Venom.

Spider-Man stands at about 11.75″ to the top of his head. I’m a little surprised they didn’t make him the full 12″, but I also don’t mind him being that much shorter than Venom. I tried to find some turn-around art from the show’s production for comparison, but the Internet has let me down. I can only compare him to still frames from the show and I have to say I feel like the silhouette is a touch off. Spider-Man in the 1994 cartoon is a pretty big Spider-Man. Pretty much all of the super hero shows back then had one style for all of the male characters. Flash Thompson would pick on Peter Parker for being a nerd, even though Pete was built like a linebacker. Here, the neck is a little slender and sits inside the silhouette of the head, which isn’t really how he was drawn. The shape of the head is also a little narrow which just draws even more attention to it. It was a Saban production and those were notoriously cheap for the time so there’s a lot of inconsistency from episode to episode, scene to scene, and shot to shot. Did Spider-Man look close to this in some shots? Probably, and there’s going to be some subjectivity on the part of the sculptor. For me personally I would have liked a slightly more beefy Spider-Man since that’s what stands out to me about the ’94 design.

Apart from that, the actual design and paint applications for this figure are fantastic. The eyes have that very ’94 shape to them and there’s a lot of empty space around the spider on the chest, as was true of the show. The linework is very clean and the cel-shaded paint job pops as one would expect. It was important to nail the shade of blue and red to make this feel like it’s from the show and Mondo did an excellent job there. There is some light scuffing on the left thigh of my figure which is odd because that area was wrapped in cellophane when packaged. Maybe it was wrapped too soon after painting or it just got too hot during transit? Despite that, the paint is easily the best aspect of the figure and really the entire Mondo sixth scale line and Spidey doesn’t lower the bar at all.

He’s a handsome fella.
The mask looks more like a helmet when held this way.

Spider-Man has a host of accessories, though this particular edition has fewer than the limited run solicited by Mondo initially. For an alternate head we just have the unmasked version of Pete. It looks exactly like the character from the show and the paint job is terrific. He does have a bit of a smile to his face which does present an issue for a different accessory, but not one that actually came with this figure so I guess we can’t really ding it for that. There’s also a mask accessory. It’s shaped like Pete should be able to hold it and have it hang from a gripping hand, but I couldn’t get it to work. I thought it might be intended for Venom, but then I remembered Venom came with his own Spider-Man mask accessory and that one is glued into his gripping hand. Maybe other villains will be able to make use of this one down the road?

Go web!
Long web.

For hands, Spider-Man comes equipped with a set of gripping hands. What he’s supposed to grip, I don’t know. He also has a set of relaxed hands, fists, and thwip hands. Peter also has his trusty camera which is molded to a web splat like it’s stuck to a wall. It does make it hard for him to hold, but I suppose one could stick it to a wall in their display with some tack or even via a finish nail or clear pushpin. Peter also has two thwip hands with short bursts of webbing coming out of them. The hands do not feature any articulation and are on straight pegs, which is fine for what they’re meant to do. There’s also another set with the long web lines attached just like we saw with Venom. There is a bendy wire in these webs, but I’m not really sure what purpose it would serve since the web lines are non-removable. For the ends of the webs, there are two conical attachments that serve as generic ends to the webs. There are also two web splats if you want the webs to be striking a surface or other figure. And lastly we have the typical Mondo display stand which is of limited utility. I don’t ever use these things, but I actually probably will with this figure. For that reason, it’s a shame it’s a plain black stand without any artwork on the base. It’s also the basic doll style stand and not the more dynamic one they have coming with Nightcrawler. I appreciate Mondo finally addressing the quality of their stands, but if you were going to do a better one wouldn’t Spider-Man be a character deserving of such?

It’s even a challenge to do convincing web firing poses.

That is all well and good, but where this figure has really come up short for me is with the articulation. Mondo’s figures are not super-articulated. They’re fairly basic as this is an aesthetics forward line, first and foremost. I’ve always felt it suits the X-Men line very well as the show that is based on featured pretty stiff, limited, animation. Those characters didn’t do a whole lot. Spider-Man wasn’t much better, but it still featured a character who spends most of his time crouching on landings, crawling on walls, and swinging through the city. Mondo correctly recognized that there was a need for more points of articulation with Spider-Man than they might normally do, but unfortunately the execution is lacking.

This is pretty much the extent of his range in the torso.

Spider-Man has a standard double-ball peg head which all Mondo figures seem to have. Unfortunately, Mondo really buried the lower ball joint in the neck which limits Spidey’s ability to look up. This can sometimes be corrected with a lower neck joint and Mondo opted to do just that. Unfortunately, the ball joint at the base of the neck might as well not be there. It’s way too snug and offers nothing when it comes to articulation. The shoulders are the standard hinged ball peg and there’s no butterfly joint. I’m okay with the absence of a butterfly joint at this scale and with this character design, but what I’m not okay with is how tight the right shoulder on my figure is. I could not get this thing to move much at all out of the box and I’m surprised it didn’t snap at the bicep. Even after heating and lubricating the joint, it still barely functions so it’s not a case of needing to just crack some paint that worked it’s way in there. There are bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows, and ball-hinge wrists and they work fine.

If you want your Spidey to crouch, good luck. Here he’s being supported by the stand.

Where things start to take a turn for the worse is with the torso. Mondo typically goes with a ball joint in the diaphragm and one at the waist and that’s what they did here. This combination is ideal for waist articulation even in a character like Spider-Man who is expected to crouch a lot. Unfortunately, Mondo screwed it up. The diaphragm joint does almost nothing. It doesn’t really rotate nor does it really go forward, back, or tilt. It’s just way too snug on the abdomen. As for the waist, it barely moves as well. Even rotating it doesn’t work all that well as the joint feels like it’s fighting me. Did the factory not lubricate any of these joints during the assembly process? It doesn’t feel, or sound, like it and I have noticed zero lubrication residue anywhere apart from what I added. I get it that Mondo would not want articulation that leads to large gaps in the figure or that might cause too much paint rub. They went too far though and basically made the pieces so snug and tight that the articulation is functionally useless.

This is probably the extent of his swinging ability.

At the hips, it only gets mildly better. We have ball-socket hips with built-in thigh swivels. The left hip is okay while the right hip is stubborn. It sometimes snaps back into position when I try to move it. I have popped it off and applied some lubricating oil which has improved it some. It still doesn’t mean Spider-Man can do splits or kick a full 90 degrees. If you try to kick forward, the figure wants to go off to the side. You can rotate at the hip to basically get into a split, but the way the cel-shading is done makes it look kind of dumb as the darker shaded portion of the legs will be forward-facing. The knees are standard double-jointed knees and at the ankles Mondo decided to go with hinged ball pegs like they do at the wrist. This means you can swivel and move those feet all around as much as you want, but it’s not a strong joint which is why I recommend using that display stand with this one. He’s just not going to stand very well. There’s also a toe hinge that’s kind of ugly. It works, but there isn’t enough stability in the figure to utilize the joint without a display stand.

I was not expecting Marvel Legends levels of articulation from this figure, but I was hoping for more. He’s really stuck in vanilla poses which is not befitting a Spider-Man. If the joints just worked he’d be fine. Then you could hunch him forward or having kind of twisting in a swing pose. I was hoping for a basic crouch, not a super low one, but you’re not getting that either. He can kind of do a basic swing pose, but it’s a bummer that he doesn’t have a web line to just grab onto. If they could pop out of the web shooting hands that would have solved that. I’m just really disappointed in what this figure is capable of and it left me feeling that Spider-Man is a poor fit for what Mondo wants to do.

At least this was a pleasant surprise.

There is one other thing to talk about and it’s Venom’s web swing. If you have the Mondo Venom, he comes with a left hand accessory that’s a web swing/harness for Spider-Man. It’s based on a scene straight out of the episode “Venom” where Venom webs up Spider-Man and takes his mask off. He dangles him off a rooftop threatening to expose his secret identity to the world. The accessory is basically a belt and two loops for each hand. I was able to slide it onto my Spider-Man figure starting at his feet. It wasn’t easy and his right leg popped off in the process, but it is doable. The two strands for his hands are simple enough to attach and I plugged the Venom hand portion into my figure to test it out. To my surprise, the thing actually works! I first just had him on a surface and Venom was able to remain standing while holding Peter, but Peter’s feet were on the same surface. I moved the pair to a shelf where I was able to dangle Peter off the edge like in the show. Venom was up to the task and the two remained without issue. I don’t know if I actually have the guts to leave them there permanently like that, but I was sorely tempted. I didn’t think it had a chance of working this well, but credit to Venom’s tight joints and hefty weight. The only disappointment is Peter’s stupid, smiling, face. He really needs an angry expression or a scared one to sell this display. The black costume version of the figure comes with an angry unmasked head which probably would work better for this specific display, but that was a limited edition and has long since been sold out.

The harness accessory working so well was certainly a pleasant surprise, but it doesn’t redeem this figure of Spider-Man for me. This is the first Mondo figure that I regret buying. He looks good enough in a neutral pose, but Spider-Man is not a character for a neutral pose. It’s frustrating to know that Mondo recognized that and incorporated more points of articulation into the figure to address the issue, but nothing they added really worked. Ball-jointed torsos aren’t that complicated even at this scale and if the worry was the figure would topple over well then why hinged ball-joints at the ankles? It’s unfortunate and this is a figure I can’t recommend especially at the price it commands. If you think he looks good and don’t mind that he won’t be doing much of anything on your shelf then have at it. I personally expected more from Mondo and Spider-Man.

If you liked this review then here’s some other related entries you might like:

Mondo Spider-Man ’94 1/6 Scale Venom – Limited Edition

Mondo has had success with its sixth scale line of action figures based on X-Men and X-Men ’97 so it’s no surprise that the company has decided to dip its toe into another 90s animated Marvel series in Spider-Man. And when it comes to Spider-Man, I’m not sure what to call it. I always referred…

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Marvel Legends Spider-Man (Animated)

It was in 2021 that Hasbro released a PulseCon exclusive Venom figure on a Spider-Man retro card. The retro card series is meant to stir-up nostalgia for all of the adults who were buying toys and watching cartoons in the 90s as the retro card is a facsimile of the old cards Toy Biz used…

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Marvel Legends Spider-Man ’94 Spider-Man vs Carnage

Last year, Hasbro celebrated the 30th anniversary of X-Men, the animated series that premiered on Halloween 1992 and would become a ratings hit shortly thereafter for the Fox Kids Network. It was responsible for getting a lot of kids into the X-Men and Marvel comics in general and the first, prime, benefactor of that rise…

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Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Comics, Television, toys

September 12, 2025

Dragon Ball Daima S.H.Figuarts Vegeta

By Joe
Not so mini Vegeta.

Dragon Ball Daima has come and gone, but we’re still getting action figures based on the limited series. When it comes to the Bandai/Tamashii Nations action figure line, that’s usually par for the course. It’s not like the classic movie tie-in toy line where product shows up in stores weeks before the movie hits theaters. That’s probably for the best as that’s how you end up with massive spoilers like the infamous Phantasm action figure released ahead of the Batman movie Mask of the Phantasm. For the Premium Bandai figure line, the spoilery figures were at least held off until the episode premiered (the Japanese dub, anyway) while a fairly generic figure of someone like Vegeta went up for preorder last year. And likely owing to the ever changing tariff situation in the U.S., it’s actually taken a little longer than initially expected for the figures to arrive in the U.S.

If you like your Vegeta short then this may be the figure for you.

Vegeta – Daima is just that, Vegeta from Dragon Ball Daima. He is still Vegeta, still in his blue and white Saiyan armor, only now he’s styled to reflect the artwork from the show. Dragon Ball Daima has its own distinct look. It’s not far removed from what we have seen out of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super, but it might be just enough to give some collectors pause if they’re not interested in Daima figures specifically. Bandai has yet to give us a base Vegeta from the Cell Saga or from Dragon Ball Super so this Vegeta might catch the attention of some. It’s also an entirely new sculpt with some new approaches to engineering and it comes at the more budget friendly price of $35. That alone might get enough collectors to take the figure for a spin.

Narrow face, fewer lines, softened features, and a paler complexion kind of sums it up for the Daima style.

Vegeta from Daima is essentially a stream-lined take on the character. Compared to the 2.0 Vegeta sculpt we’ve been receiving variations on for the past 6-7 years it’s more slender and the proportions are overall just a little smaller this time around. Compare one body part on the new figure to one on the old and they’re almost all a little smaller save for maybe the feet. This Vegeta has got some big feet and ears. The face is a little softer compared to the more recent Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta, but perhaps more defined than the original Super Saiyan Vegeta on the 2.0 body. He’s also a touch shorter at approximately 4.875″ to the top of his widow’s peek compared with 5″ on the Super Saiyan Blue version, which as the most recent edition on that body is the one I’ve decided to compare directly to.

The new engineering lets him kick quite high. You can even push it higher than this.

The engineering is almost all together different with this Vegeta. Like we’ve seen with other more recent figures in the line, Bandai is experimenting with soft, plastic, overlays instead of just sculpting everything in hard plastic. The upper part of the armor is made of the more rubbery material, though it doesn’t really impact anything as it’s glued down to a plastic chest. Doing it this way basically just allows Bandai to skip out on painting the blue portion of the chest. The crotch piece is also rubbery which should allow for better posing. This does mean there is less paint overall with this figure as it’s limited to the yellow parts of the armor and boots as well as the face and neck. The paint on the neck isn’t perfect, nor is it on the boots, but it’s not so bad that I’d consider either sloppy. The overall look of the figure is solid and there are no mismatched colors at least. Some may not like how the crotch looks with the new articulation, but I can’t honestly say it’s worse than before. The one eyesore is at least reserved for the rear of the figure where Vegeta has been gifted a long, flat, ass. Watching the show, it’s fairly accurate. Old Vegeta has never been blessed with buns, but the figure draws attention to it with a sculpted butt crack where as the show usually omits that detail. The figure probably should have just done the same.

These two are always up for some sparring.

The accessory load-out for this Vegeta is pretty damn good for a $35 action figure. We get a pretty typical spread of hand options including sets of fists, open, clenching, flat palm (i.e. Big Bang Attack), and his two-finger martial arts posed hands. He also has a crossed-arms piece, as many Vegeta figures have featured, which connects at the bicep. It doesn’t separate in the middle like some of the new versions of this piece, but it has some flex and isn’t as annoying to apply as past versions. For expressions, Vegeta has stoic, smirk, yelling, and an angry expression with his eyes looking down and to his right. There’s also a second hair piece. The first is a neutral pose and the second one has some bend to it like it’s being blown by the wind. The faces this time around also do not have any bangs attached to them, they just plug into the hair, and they all look pretty good. The only thing this figure is missing is a stand and an effect part. Bandai usually doesn’t provide either of those even in its more expensive offerings so it’s not a surprise, but Storm and Jada are out here making everyone look bad these days.

Vegeta is having a long ass day.
There’s more range this time around, but it gets gappy.

Whenever we do get a new sculpt from Bandai articulation is the prime driver of curiosity. With Vegeta, Bandai did a lot of what we’re used to while also doing some different things as well. The head is a double ball and the neck is on a ball as well so that all works as expected. He still doesn’t look up well, and for that you’ll need to engage the diaphragm joint. In there, he has some sort of ball hinge setup, but not like the old hinge that allowed the chest to literally rise. This one lets Vegeta bend back a solid amount, but it exposes a pretty large gap in the chest. Going forward is almost nil. There’s another ball joint set into a hinged joint at the waist and it does provide for solid range going forward and back, but like the diaphragm it leads to significant gaps when bent all the way. Rotation and tilt at both is good, but it’s a shame they didn’t extend some of these pieces to fill those gaps.

He’s got the expressions you would expect.

The shoulders are your typical ball-hinge set into a ball peg inside the chest. This allows the shoulder to move up and down and out for a butterfly joint. The butterfly isn’t significant, but it’s enough for Vegeta’s signature maneuvers. The rest of the arm is standard stuff: bicep swivel, double-jointed elbow, ball hinge wrists. The hips are likely standard ball sockets and can go out to the sides for full splits, something past Vegeta figures could not do. He does have those weird fillers Bandai inserts onto the inside of the thigh and I don’t get why they do that. It looks weird. Going forward and back is not a problem either as Vegeta can do those splits as well and even kick past 90 degrees. The crotch flexes plenty and gets out of the way. There are thigh swivels and they look fine, double-jointed knees, and hinged ankles. The ankles do rock side-to-side and there are toe hinges which aren’t great, but you can ignore them if you don’t like them.

“Step aside, worm, I’ll take it from here.”

The articulation is good and bad. That torso falls into the bad and it’s a shame Bandai didn’t do something better with it. On the other hand, comparing this Vegeta to the prior ones I would say the range in the shoulders is better, the hips are way better, and the ankles are superior as well. The head and neck area is basically the same as well as the elbows and knees. I’ll even give the waist to the new figure even if it gets gappy.

Classic Vegeta.

Removing aesthetics from the argument, I would say this Vegeta is an upgrade over the prior one, it just could have been even more of one with a little more tinkering. And if you want to get into aesthetics, I’d say that’s entirely subjective and based on what you think of the Daima art style. I personally like it. I don’t prefer this look to Z or Super Vegeta, but it’s fine. I no longer feel like I need a base Vegeta on the 2.0 body, this will fill that hole well enough. In fact, I would prefer to never buy another Vegeta on that old body. It’s a figure that looks nice, but the articulation shortcomings in the hips and ankles are something I don’t need. And I’ve bought that figure enough already. I suspect we’ll see more from Vegeta and Daima and I’m curious what Bandai will do for the body. I don’t think it would make sense to reuse this body on a powered-up Vegeta, we’ll have to wait and see. I’m also a little surprised we haven’t seen another adult Vegeta solicited yet, but maybe they want to deliver on some of the Premium Bandai offerings first. At $35, this is a good figure and I think most SHF collectors will be happy. It’s really fun to just mess around with and pose and I hope we continue to see more improvements with future figures in the line. I’m left feeling excited for that upcoming Cell Saga Goku due later this year which can’t get here soon enough!

If you like Vegeta and Dragon Ball Daima then we have plenty more for you here:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Daima Goku (Mini)

When Akira Toriyama sadly passed away in 2024 it shocked the world of manga and anime. While his passing was sudden to those confined to the fandom, he at least had one more adventure to deliver in the world of Dragon Ball that would be unveiled later in the year: Dragon Ball Daima. I’ll talk…

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S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Vegeta – Older Style Battle Clothes

Vegeta is a character who has had a few looks throughout his time in Dragon Ball Z. Almost all of those looks are some variation on his Saiyan armor from his debut with minor tweaks and modifications. Since Vegeta has become one of the most popular characters from the long-running manga/anime, most of those looks…

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by Joe

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