Lone Coconut is back with more characters for its line of little, pirate, monsters. It started with a Kickstarter for Plunderlings, little imp like creatures that came with weapons and armor pieces to form various factions. The line continued with new iterations including the Plunderstrong and Plunderlong and now we have Plunderbeaks. As you can probably guess, this is a bird version of the Plunderling, or more accurately, a bird version of the Plunderlong. They all have a bird-like head and feathery wings protruding from their backs and Lone Coconut is almost certain to come up with various takes on these designs just as they have done with the other figures they’ve produced. As someone who was instantly charmed by Plunderlings, I’ve continued to support Lone Coconut because I think their stuff is genuinely pretty good so I decided to grab one of the Plunderbeaks and my selection is Berserker Quervo.
He may not be a Plunderling, but the Plunderbeak is still a little fella.
Plunberbeaks come in a box similar in dimensions to the Plunderlong, and like the past releases, there’s little cardboard features in the box to dress them up. In this case, a set of wings to slot into the side. Quervo is basically on a Plunderlong body and out of the box will not have his wings attached. The whole goal of the line from a design standpoint is to come up with a few variations on a base body that can then be turned into many different characters. The only Plunderlong I have is Feral 8-Ball which actually does not share many parts with Quervo. Quervo has the rope belt across the chest and he has gloves, which I think the Tinker utilized previously. He also has boots which I think is a first for the line. The torso is essentially the same, but Lone Coconut had to modify the tools to accommodate the wings which attach via ball pegs.
Simple, but effective.If you want him to be more like Batman.
What is obviously new is the head and Quervo has a large beak that looks like a parrot of some sort to me. I have no idea if that’s accurate as I’m not a bird person. It’s this really glossy purple with a hit of a lighter purple at the tip and it looks really nice. His main body is black and there’s no feather texture to it as this is apparently a race of creatures where only the wings are feathered (a clever choice if you want to save some money). He is the more drab of the available Plunderbeaks as the wings are various shades of gray as opposed to something more colorful. He has a rope harness with a little, gold, emblem in the center and the boot cuffs are nicely textured to give the illusion of soft leather. The paint is very clean and honestly a step-up compared with the other figures I have from this company. There’s just one blemish on the figure’s right cheek area. It’s a line of what I think is just excess paint, but it doesn’t scratch off easily.
This bladed weapon is pretty cool, but limited when it comes to posing.
The accessories for Quervo include the usual assortment of hands: fists, gripping, and open. Only one portrait this time, but it features an articulated beak. It’s really tricky to get into it though as there’s just not much room to get at it and I was afraid to scratch the paint. If your fingernail won’t do the trick, you may want to look for something to insert into the beak to pry it open, just pick something with a soft edge. The harness is removable if you want to remove the arms (I don’t) which makes it like an accessory, but apart from that his accessories are his helm and his blade. The helmet affixes to his head via a magnet, though the connection isn’t very strong. It’s strong enough to stay on, but you’ll probably knock it off a lot when posing the figure. The blade is interesting in that it’s connected to a rope. He can’t hold it like a sword because there’s no handle for him to grip. The real rope actually looks really similar to the plastic rope harness and it’s an interesting way for him to carry his weapon, though it’s limited in what it can be posed doing. A plastic, bendy-wire rope might have made more sense, but the blade is so big and chunky it may not have worked with a bendy wire. Still, it’s a weapon and it’s a unique one. The only thing missing for me is some kind of flight stand which would have made sense for a line of bird people.
He looks so much happier with his beak open.
The articulation for Quervo is basically the same as the Plunderlong, with just a few differences. One I already mentioned in the beak which is cool. Even though it’s hard to get at, it adds personality. Another change is the addition of a toe hinge and as far as toe hinges go it’s fine. The big change is obviously those wings. They are a little hard to pop on out of the box. I heated them up and they snapped-on easily after that. The wings are made of three pieces and each section is connected to the other via a dumbbell joint. This lets the section rotate and basically hinge in and out. It’s a smart way to do it and the only downside is you do get some gaps in the wing sections and there’s no way to get a natural looking bend to the wings. The only way to do that would be to make them with a bendy wire, but I’m okay with this approach. These are toys, after all, and they don’t have to completely hide that. The wings do add some weight so he’s a little harder to stand with the wings on, but the ability to bend them in and such helps redistribute it.
Not a bad looking crew.
I only have the one Plunderbeak, but I assume the others are the same and, if so, these are nice little figures. They’re little 5″ guys that articulate pretty well and definitely look unique in my collection. They’re charming and even more so in-hand than they are in pictures. Even my daughter was smitten with this guy right off the bat and after we watched the teaser video on YouTube (the figures comes with a QR code to access it) she demanded I get one of the Plunderfrogs when they go on-sale. Good news for her is I was already planning on it and I suspect they’ll be coming soon. I got my figure directly from Lone Coconut, but you can also get this on Big Bad Toy Store for $35 which feels like a very fair price to me (Lone Coconut charges $30, but shipping came out to a little over $8 for me so it’s essentially a wash). If you like what you see or just want to support a small toy maker, definitely give one of these a look.
If you’ve never heard about Lone Coconut before then take a look at these:
Last April I posted a review of the Plunderlings Raider Fwush from Lone Coconut. I was pretty charmed by the little goblin-like creature and found the action figure to be pretty fun. It’s also always a little rewarding to know that in buying such a toy I’m supporting a small shop like Lone Coconut. When…
In 2020, Lone Coconut, a small company out of the Dominican Republic, launched a Kickstarter campaign for a line of original action figures called Plunderlings. They’re basically little imp-like creatures with a pirate motif that have a very charming design. From an engineering point of view, they made for a smart toyline because every figure…
When Lone Coconut came back last year with a new Kickstarter to build out its Plunderlings universe, I was immediately smitten with the brutish new Plunderstrong. The big, chunky, boy looked like a fun character type to pair with the diminutive Plunderlings. The Plunderlong, on the other hand, took a bit for me to get…
A figure some never expected to appear in Marvel Legends is the Spider-Man ally/foe Cardiac. For whatever reason, he was apparently off-limits at Hasbro. There could be a number of reasons for that, but whatever was in the way is obviously no longer an issue because Cardiac has now taken his rightful place in plastic. Had we never received a Cardiac action figure would that have been a great tragedy? No, but fans of the character certainly would have been disappointed. I’m personally not one. I barely remember the guy, but when I saw the reveal I thought the figure looked interesting. And then when I saw him hanging out on some pegs at my local store I said “What the heck?”
Cardiac is about average height for a superhero character.
Cardiac is basically a vigilante, like many heroes. He’s a cardiologist (get it?) who is basically angry at the insurance and pharmaceuticals industry for the unjust death of his brother and, man, that’s a guy who feels made for this moment in time. He’s basically a guy in a cool suit with a “pulse staff” that can shock dudes. He’s in a skin-tight, navy suit that’s adorned with an EKG down each side which is sculpted into the figure and painted silver. The rest of the figure is white plastic including his shoulder pads, knee pads, boots and gloves. And since Cardiac made his debut in 1990 he is adorned with pouches! They’re at the cuffs of both his gloves and boots and he also has them going around his thighs. It was just in the water at the time. What got me with this figure is I love the clean look of the white juxtaposed with the dark blue. The silver paint work adds a little something extra as well and it’s pretty clean. And I read a lot of 90s comics so I do have nostalgia for this type of look. It’s silly, in retrospect, but strangely effective.
“I find your lack of nose…comforting.”
That’s not to say everything is perfect. The paint isn’t perfect, but it’s surprisingly close. I wasn’t sure in the box what was going on with the torso, but it looks like the white is white plastic inserted into the blue torso. That helps to keep things clean and it also ensures that all of the blues match as well as the whites. There’s a little shading in the face around the eyes and in the creases of the brow which looks really good. I like the expression, a teeth-gritting one, though the paint is a little messier at the base of the mouth. Not distractingly so, but it looks off up close. One thing fans of the character have pointed out as being suboptimal is the nose. Cardiac was almost always drawn with basically a flat face and no nose. My guess is the sculptor here wanted to add a little realism so there’s a bump for a nose under the mask. It’s one of those inconsistencies with Legends that drives me crazy – are we matching the source art or going with this house style of realistic interpretations of comic book characters? Hasbro used to almost always go for the realistic interpretation, but over the past couple of years have started doing more source art looks. It seems almost universal that fans wanted a source accurate Cardiac, especially because this is likely the only one we’ll ever get. Not being a fan, it doesn’t bother me, but what does are the wrists. They’re puny and it’s weird looking. I’m not really sure what happened there (I have since seen images of people online putting the power effect over his wrists instead of the staff so maybe that’s a reason, though you could just use the wider opening on a thicker wrist), but his forearms look like they belong on a different body.
“Whoa! Don’t get that cotton candy on the threads, buddy!”
That’s a somewhat subjective critique, though a justifiable one if you’re someone who just wants their figures to look like the source. My only complaint concerns the articulation. Before we get to that, the accessory load-out for Cardiac is a set of gripping hands, a right fist, and a left relaxed hand. He also has his staff which has a blue effect orb that clips around one end. I think it probably looks as good as it could, it’s a translucent blue with some frosting inside the globe, but it does kind of look like cotton candy. Or blown glass. The actual staff is just gray plastic, but it’s new tooling and looks how it’s supposed to. The articulation though has one major flaw.
Those wrists are a bit dainty.
For the most part, Cardiac articulates like most Legends figures. He does have the double ball peg head and it’s one of their bad ones. The lower ball is seated too low in the neck so the range is poor looking up and down. He has standard arm articulation and the shoulder pads are looped through the shoulder pegs so they rotate with the arm. They may be the reason for it, but the arms won’t go all the way out to the side for a classic “T” pose. The bicep swivel, double-elbows, and wrists are all fine. The gripping hands have the preferred vertical hinge while the other two have a horizontal one. There is a diaphragm joint that works very well. The hips can nearly hit splits out to the side and kick forward 90 degrees. The thigh swivel is hidden by the thigh pouches, the knees are double-jointed, and the ankles hinge and rock. All work pretty well, so what’s the problem? The waist! There’s no waist articulation at all. No swivel, no ball, nothing. I saw some speculation it was because Hasbro didn’t want to break up the EKG lines, but they were fine breaking them up for the diaphragm joint so that doesn’t make sense. And it’s really missed. This is all new tooling so why not go nuts and give him a ball-jointed waist? What a bummer.
“Stay out of my way, web-head!”
Does that ruin the figure? No, but it keeps people from feeling like Hasbro nailed Cardiac. I didn’t review it, but a lot of people felt like they did just that with their ROM the Space Knight from last year. That’s a similar case where it’s a long requested character who is unlikely to ever receive another figure. With characters like that, you hope that Hasbro puts out something that is unlikely to be topped in their line. They went through the trouble of tooling a unique body, they just stopped too short. I don’t know what that joint would have cost, but I don’t think much. Ignoring that, this is a fun looking character design that will add a little something to your shelf. That’s why I got it and I didn’t even wait for a sale. I don’t know if I could have, but I’m okay with it since there isn’t another figure in the wave I have any interest in. I’m guessing if you are a Cardiac fan and were dying to add him to your collection then you’ve already got this in your hands. And I sincerely hope you’re satisfied with it, because it seems unlikely we’ll ever get another.
If you enjoyed reading about Cardiac here’s a few more from the world of Spider-Man:
In some ways, Secret Wars was bad for comics. Commercially, the 80’s event was hugely successful for Marvel even though it seems to have just a lukewarm reception by fans in some circles. It helped to establish the belief that events sell and Marvel seemed hellbent on taking that approach in 90s. One of Spider-Man’s…
We’re going to be doing a lot of 2025 catch-up here as Christmas always slows things down. Toy producers also like to push product for the holidays so I seem to always end up with a backlog at the end of the year. Especially when stores are doing generous sales and convincing me to buy…
I had a bit of an impulse buy a few weeks back with the Marvel Legends Spider-Man Unlimited action figure from the show of the same name. What I didn’t mention was that he was not alone for hanging on the pegs that day with him was The Chameleon. Like Spider-Man Unlimited, The Chameleon is…
Toy Fair is coming which basically means the start of the year in toy reveals for 2026!
2025 is history. We’re done talking about it. Well, sort of. I have written-up posts for the last of the 2025 action figures I received, but they haven’t gone live just yet so I’m done looking back, but dear reader you are not. Attention turns to 2026 and we’re coming up on the eve of New York Toy Fair. Last year, Toy Fair ended up being perhaps the biggest show of the year for many toy producers. Some of the more collector-focused companies weren’t there, but for basically anyone selling toys at big box stores it was a big event. I don’t know if that was necessarily by design for it was shortly after Toy Fair the industry got slammed by tariffs which probably caused many companies to reevaluate what they were doing. Traditionally, Toy Fair is for the year to come. In the old days, this was where producers would exhibit their products in hopes of driving up orders for the fall holiday shopping season. Now, it’s more of an antiquated model and Toy Fair has even struggled some to justify its existence. The Pandemic caused it to get cancelled and the organizers tried moving to the fall which didn’t really work and lead to yet another long layoff as you’re not going to have an event in the fall and then come back in February with another. They even tried moving it out of New York, but basically no one wanted that.
Still, Toy Fair is happening and there will be new product shown soon that will delight and enrage toy collectors, because that’s what tends to happen. I have ideas of what will be shown there and at the conventions to come during the year, but this post is less about predictions and more about my hopes and dreams for the various lines and companies I’m interested in. Some of the motivation here is to consolidate my own collecting. I am running out of room in these parts and it would be highly beneficial to my home and wallet if I were to become more selective. I probably bought too many “cheap” figures in 2025 and I do think I’d probably be better off getting fewer toys, but higher quality ones that I’ll enjoy more. That’s perhaps a topic for another day (and I say this after impulse buying a Marvel Legends figure so I’m off to a shaky start), for now I want to think about the potential 2026 has in store for us as action figure enthusiasts.
Playmates Toys – Bring Back Monty Moose!
The one that got away (photo from Hollywoodheroes.com)
The biggest news to close out the year in the toy world was the revelation that Playmates Toys was losing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license. It’s still almost hard to wrap one’s head around that, but it’s gone and the new company is already in place, but keeping quiet at the time of this writing (Update – It’s Mattel). Playmates does have all of 2026 to release TMNT figures plus another relief period following that to unload whatever stock is left. Recently, Playmates has been releasing product from the newer Mutant Mayhem film and spin-off show while also supplementing those releases with its remastered line, some Last Ronin, and reissues from the vintage line. My hope is that Playmates goes hard into the reissues this year now that the end is in sight. Monty Moose is the one I highlighted here because he’s the one I want most, but Playmates should use this as an opportunity to cash-in on the hard to find figures like Scratch, Hothead, Hot Spot, that dinosaur Shredder, and other figures. It’s been a bit of a surprise they have yet to go to this well yet, but maybe they were holding out for some reason? I don’t think they care about crashing the collector market. It’s possible they don’t have the molds anymore, but it’s probably worth it to them to recreate them like they’ve done with vehicles like the Foot Cruiser. And the same should apply to hard-to-find vehicles and play sets as well.
NECA Toys Needs to Get Out Tempestra
The purple lady with the glowing eyes is the only one missing from the NECA toy collection.
Keeping things to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a moment, the threat of a new master license holder really puts a lot of what we’re accustomed to getting into some jeopardy. It could all work out and be fine, but it could also go away like Playmates. We don’t know. If there’s even a chance of that though then the companies in the TMNT game need to push out the most sought after characters and figures and number one for NECA’s line of TMNT cartoon figures is Tempestra. She is a bit of an obscure character who first appeared in the season four episode “Leonardo Versus Tempestra.” In it, the character Tempestra is a boss character in a video game that eventually breaks out and does battle with the turtles. It’s not particularly memorable on its own, but the character would make a return in the episode “Night of the Rogues.” There she was joined by the villains who are actually pretty popular hence why they all have received figures in the line already. Tempestra is the lone holdout so people want her to complete that set. She’s also unique in that she’s a rare female villain for the show and has a good look. I have a feeling NECA has already mocked her up at least, if not tooled, as they revealed an April figure years ago that was going to come with an arcade cabinet. It was from the movie line and it would have put actress Judith Hoag in a yellow jumpsuit like the cartoon character (or actress on the old arcade cabinet), but it may have been cancelled. My suspicion is that NECA did not develop the in-scale arcade cabinet for that figure, but for Tempestra and this was just another application for it. I guess we shall see, but I think NECA finally reveals her this year.
Mattel Brings Back Batman: The Animated Series
This property deserves better.
Mattel surprised a lot of folks when it announced in 2025 that it had reacquired the DC license. It wasn’t quite the shock that we experienced several years prior when McFarlane snatched it away from Mattel, but it’s always a surprise when a major license changes hands. McFarlane will see its ability to release DC figures come to an end at some point this year. The gates open for Mattel in the second half of 2026 and we’re probably going to start seeing what they have planned very soon. Most expect a Marvel Legends type of approach with action figures and that’s probably a safe bet, but for me personally I’m hoping we get a brand new line for Batman: The Animated Series. The DC Direct stuff looked pretty good, but the articulation and construction was terrible. McFarlane has been re-releasing a lot of those figures, but with reduced quality, bad paint apps, and an absurd price point. The best version of Batman deserves better. Let’s hope Mattel can be the one to deliver the definitive take on the show.
We See What’s to come for The Tick
It’s unlikely, but imagine if we could get all of these guys in plastic?!
Big Bad Work Shop announced it had the license to produce figures based on The Tick last year. Actually, they seemed to have the license going back a little ways as they did a 5 POA version of the character already. Last year was just when we found out they were going to bring us a fully-articulated, seemingly 1:10 scale version of the big blue guy. I love the old Tick cartoon so I would love to see a figure line based on that. Unfortunately, that show is owned by Disney and apparently most of the characters created for that show are in licensing purgatory. Maybe they can work something out, but Disney is a notoriously difficult company to work with when it comes to licensing so I’m not holding my breath. We do know there is a Tick and a variant beach Tick on the way this year and we have seen a prototype for Chairface Chippendale. I’m hopeful that we’ll see Arthur and I think the chances are pretty good that we do. This line is going to be a very slow moving one, but I’m okay with that. I don’t think I need an expansive collection, but I may have to attempt to customize a Naughty or Nice Santa into a Multiple Santa.
Mondo Gives us The Venture Bros.
A terrible, blurry, photo from one of my oldest entries on this blog of my old Venture Bros. dolls. Check out that iPod!
Speaking of The Tick, a related series to that show is The Venture Bros. I love The Venture Bros. It is one of my favorite television series of all time. Back when the show was still in production, Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer were approached about doing toys and the two picked a specific lane. Not being toy boys, they felt any toys based on the show should be intentionally lame. That would also fit with the vibe of the show where it’s modern, but it has an aesthetic from the 70s. That’s how we ended up with those Mego style dolls. There were some 5 POA figures that followed, but that’s mostly been it aside from a Kid Robot vinyl here and there. I want something that’s at least on-model. I don’t think the show needs a super articulated approach which is why I’m hoping we see Mondo get the license for their Squads line. These are basically statue or 5 POA type of figures, but in a 9″ scale, fully painted, and they have swappable limbs, portraits, and so forth to create different displays. It gives them a very clean look. Of course, if someone wanted to do proper figures that would work for me too, the Mondo Squads just seem like something that might work for both collectors and creators, though if they want to knock the scale down I’d be okay with that too. I don’t need Hank Venture to be 9″ tall.
To Celebrate 40 years of The Real Ghostbusters, Mondo does Stay Puft
Sticking with Mondo, we have this want for a Stay Puft based on his appearance in The Real Ghostbusters. Mondo released it’s first figures in its line of roughly 1:12 scale The Real Ghostbusters which have been pretty well received by most. They could use a Stay Puft, but I think the best way to release the big guy is to do what Mondo does best and make him a sofubi. A sofubi is a soft vinyl figure with limited articulation and it would likely be easier to make Stay Puft big in this format. He just doesn’t need a true action figure form. Just give me arms pre-posed like they are in the intro and I’ll be happy. It will really tie together a truly awesome RGB display.
Bandai returns to Dragon Ball!
The scale is so bizarre with this line.
I love the Dragon Ball franchise. Dragon Ball Z hooked me in during the 90s and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed its return via Dragon Ball Super, but my favorite era for the franchise will always be the original Dragon Ball. When Bandai got rolling with the Tamashii Nations line S.H.Figuarts there were almost equal parts Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, but over the years the Dragon Ball figures have been all but phased out. The last one released was Lunch back in 2022. Last year, Bandai did release a 40th anniversary Goku as seen on the first cover of the manga with him riding the dragon in an orange gi so that kind of counts, but as of right now they haven’t made it available to folks in the US (I think it’s being sold at their very limited pop-up locations). The new figure isn’t exactly what I want, but put that Goku in blue and I am there! The old figures were always way too big to scale with the adult characters. They kind of work with Master Roshi who is sort of in his own scale, but not with Bulma and the others. The new, smaller, body is a huge improvement and I would happily replace my kid Goku and Krillin with new ones. Plus we never got Yamcha, Tien, Cyborg Tao, and many others that would be great to add to the shelf.
Someone Gets the Futurama License
It sure would be nice if someone made some good Futurama figures…
The Simpsons have changed hands the last couple of years and had a pretty strong presence in the world of toys, but what about Futurama? We just have the old toyline from the early 2000s which was honestly kind of bad. I sold all of my figures except Fry and Bender and I feel like it’s high time someone took a whack at these characters again. Jakks could always do it as a companion line for The Simpsons, but they’ve frustrated me with their distribution so I don’t really want that, per say. Mondo Squads would be another decent landing spot, though I’d prefer they aren’t in that 9″ scale as that’s just too big. I don’t really expect this one to come true, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Super7 Returns to Vintage-style TMNT
Super7 had a bad 2025. I even named them the worst toy company of the year, but I don’t want to have to do that for 2026. One way they could climb back into my good graces is to return to the vintage inspired TMNT line that went on hiatus with the arrival of the 2003 line. Now, I realize some of this is out of their control. There are reports that Viacom basically ended that line and forced 2003 upon them and most assume that was the result of pressure from Playmates. No, I don’t think Playmates losing the license really means much for Super7, but I do think Super7 has at least some sway here. When fans responded negatively to their Rat King based on Shredder’s Revenge Viacom relented and let them do a figure inspired by the Playmates original. Who’s to say they can’t get one more waves out of Viacom to finish off their vintage stuff? I need Heavy Metal Raph!
Jada Toys Announces More Christmas Figures
Frosty could really use HIS Santa to join him on the shelf.
Hey, I love Christmas! And I love toys based on Christmas things. Last year, Jada gave us a figure of Frosty the Snowman and I was pretty damn happy about that. No, the figure isn’t anything amazing, but it’s Frosty the Snowman! I would love to see more of that from Jada and I have a few ideas how they could go about that. The easy path is to do more Frosty. He could use a Karen, Professor Hinkle, and a Santa Claus just to name a few. I don’t think we really need all of those other kids, but if they sell really well I guess there’s room to expand. I think it would also be neat if each figure came with another version of the rabbit, Hocus Pocus, with swappable heads and bodies to let us build out a fun little display. If they think Frosty (and Hocus) stands on his own just fine, then how about parlaying that Flintstones license into a Santa Barney? Yes, I’m referencing the classic Fruity Pebbles commercial where Barney tries to impersonate Santa to get his hands on some delicious sugar cereal. And if they could do a Santa as well that would just be ::chef’s kiss:: It might be more likely they tackle more Rankin Bass which, perhaps to the surprise of many, doesn’t thrill me nearly as much. Now, if they shock the world and announce a Chuck Jones Grinch figure I just might explode.
Bucky O’Hare Makes a Shocking Comeback!
I refuse to say good bye to this crew!
I love Bucky O’Hare and the Toad Wars. It broke my heart on multiple occasions: the end of the cartoon, the cancellation of the original toy line, the cancellation of the Boss Fight Studio line. No, I don’t think he’s going to make another comeback because those Boss Fight figures are still out there and pretty damn cheap (well, most of them). However, I can’t stop wishing and hoping for a revival. The Cowboys of Moo Mesa are getting figures right now as we speak, why can’t Bucky get another shot? Maybe the entire IP could be bought at this point making it a target for someone like Nacelle. Larry Hama could probably use the payday and it’s not like Continuity even makes comics anymore. Per Boss Fight, it was Continuity that lost interest in licensing it out. I guess the return just wasn’t worth the work. I did speak in person with another individual from the company who seemed to suggest the sales just weren’t there either. That the license was just too obscure. I don’t know the real deal here, but I’m sure the license excites few. In a recent episode of the YouTube show Geek. Dad. Life., Peter Santa-Maria of Mondo expressed some love for Bucky so maybe there’s a glimmer of hope there? Another recommendation for the Mondo Squads makes sense here as both Hasbro and Boss Fight Studio were unable to deliver the full crew of the Righteous Indignation (Hasbro left out Jenny, Boss Fight left out Blinky and Willy). I’m going to keep hoping for that Blinky figure though until the day I die so maybe 2026 can be the year?
While you ponder the year to come, here’s some current stuff to tide you over:
It was in my year-end wrap-up post on 2025 where I mentioned how awful the tariffs instituted by the US during the year made action figure collecting. The added cost is a given, but also the shipping. Importing a figure from overseas became a bigger issue as understaffed sorting centers were ill-equipped for figuring out…
It’s no great secret that the black sheep of the Dragon Ball universe is the anime Dragon Ball GT. Created in-house by Toei animation, Dragon Ball GT was a continuation of Dragon Ball Z without creator Akira Toriyama. While Toriyama had to grant approval to many aspects of the series, he wasn’t directly involved with…
NECA’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures based on the pages Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures by Archie Comics is like the little engine that could. It’s not a fast-moving line, the releases aren’t always heavy hitters, but when they land they’re usually pretty damn good. And NECA appears to be slow-walking this…
In the two reviews I did of Scarlet Spider action figures I shared the origins of my love for the character’s design. To make it short, I found the appearance of him on a cover of a Spider-Man comic intriguing, but more is as a young artist I much preferred to doodle him in my notebook than Spider-Man himself. And that’s due to the lack of those tedious web lines the traditional Spidey costume contains. And even so, there’s something about the simplified look of the red body suit with a ratty, blue, hoodie over it that works. The shape of the eyes worked for me and the exposed web shooters also looked kind of cool, but what really sold it are the artists (Tom Lyle is the one who is credited as designing the character) who drew and colored this look because that heavy, black, shading just made him seem so much more intense and mysterious.
I like all three of these figures, but this new one from Bandai does make the other two look quite dull by comparison.
When Scarlet Spider showed up in the movie Across the Spider-Verse I immediately wanted a figure of that look. The art designer (Kris Anka is credited as the character designer) for that film clearly knew what made the costume pop as he was depicted with heavy comic shading in every scene he appeared in. Hasbro, unfortunately, declined to include him in their companion action figure line, but they did release the character on a retro card later. Medicom did one and then even did a shaded one last year as a convention exclusive, but the shading was basically just a little black on his face. It wasn’t what we saw on film or in the comics, but here comes Bandai! Bandai has released a few figures in its S.H.Figuarts line based on the movie, but for some reason I never considered them a possibility for this look. They’re usually not really into painting their figures while Medicom has actually done comic shaded figures of Spider-Man in the past. When they showed this one off though I knew I had to have it. I even preordered it via Hobby-Genki, an import operation in Japan, rather than wait for one of the US stores to get the figure in. And, of course, because of those wonderful tariffs it ended up costing me about the same so while I didn’t save any real money, I did get the figure a little quicker.
I do like these wall crawling hands.
Ben Reilly comes in the standard SHF box. There’s some artwork on it that is vaguely similar to the style of the film and it’s adorned with photos of the figure in action. To my surprise, there is an included set of basic instructions for the figure as opposed to having them printed on the inner box flap like most of the recent Dragon Ball releases. Scarlet Spider (which has a hyphen in the name on the box which I’ve never seen before with this character) stands at about 6.5″ so he is right there with the Legends figure so if you think that one is appropriately sized for your Marvel collection then this one should be too. I like that figure, but placing it beside this new one really makes it look inferior. It’s just bare plastic while this figure from Bandai is covered with black shading and it looks fantastic. They didn’t hold back and there’s a liberal amount of the black on every part of the figure. The web shooters and cartridges on his belt have some nice linework on them as well and there’s even a little shading on those goofy ankle pouches. I really like how the mask turned out and it helps the white eyes to really pop. The blue of the hoodie is a touch darker than the Legends figure and the same is true for the red making it look a lot closer to an actual scarlet shade of red. There’s tons of shading on the rear of the figure as well so there was no skimping at any point.
Even the rear of the figure has as much as detail as the front.
This figure is stunning and I don’t think there’s a thing about the presentation here that I’d change. It’s going to run into some issues where the linework won’t stay in-line when you move limbs, but because there’s so much it’s not as noticeable as it could be. The hoodie is non-functioning, if that matters to you, so he can’t pull it up over his head. It’s also hard plastic so those who prefer soft goods might be turned off a little, but I don’t think you could do shading like this with soft goods. Bandai did load him up with some accessories, though not as many as the Medicom release. For hands, we get fists, gripping, gripping with a thumb out, wall-crawling, web-shooting, and open hands. The wall-crawling hands have a more pronounced arch to the fingers which I like when compared with other versions of the same. There are two web lines – one with a ring at the base to mimic a web-shooting pose and one long one for swinging. There’s an unmasked portrait which also has a neck piece as part of it and Ben looks like his douchey self from the film. It’s great, but I’ll never use it after taking some pictures. What’s missing is a flight stand. An expensive Spider-Man figure should always come with one, but Bandai almost never includes them with their offerings unless absolutely necessary.
Two accessories that turned out well that I’ll likely never use: the unmasked portrait and the time bracelet.
Where this figure does stumble is in the action department. Like any Tamashii Nations release, there’s a bunch of joints on this guy, but unfortunately they don’t seem to work very well. The rundown is pretty typical: head, neck, shoulders, butterfly, bicep, double elbows, wrist, diaphragm, waist, hips, thighs, double knees, ankles and toes. What works well is the head and neck which has plenty of range and personality and I have no issues with the arms or knees. The butterfly joint is restricted and doesn’t go forward or back all that much. It’s better than nothing, but the sleeve piece of the hoodie prevents the figure from reaching over its head in a swinging pose. The ankle rocker is pretty limited too and quite steep. What sucks though is the torso and, to a lesser extent, the hips. Scarlet Spider can do the forward to back splits, but out to the side is pretty limited. The torso though feels almost static. I can’t get the joint under the hoodie to do anything. It wiggles so I’m pretty sure it’s there, but it’s useless. The waist also just seems to pivot and rock a bit. What I can’t get it to do is actually rotate and that’s just bizarre. It might just be seized, or something with the shape of the cut is causing it to bind. It’s quite unfortunate.
If you have a stand handy he can get into some decent web-swinging poses, but the lack of rotation in the torso is frustrating.
The end result is that this is a Spider-Man figure that’s not very good at doing Spider-Man type poses. He can do some, but basic wall-crawling is pretty much out. He can only do a basic crouch and he’ll need some kind of support to actually hold the pose on your shelf. It’s a bummer, and honestly quite surprising as most SHF releases I have articulate pretty well, even some of the odder designs. And this is, ultimately, a guy in a skin-tight suit with just a hoodie to get in the way. It should be very easy to articulate, but they completely dropped the ball.
At least the shading is so good that he doesn’t really have to do much to look cool.
Does that make this release a bad one? Yes and no. If you want and expect articulation better than your $25 Marvel Legends figure then this will let you down. This is a downgrade in articulation from the Legends figure and especially the MAFEX one. It’s honestly more on par with the Mondo sixth scale Spider-Man than those figures. Maybe even worse because of that waist. I’ll do some checking around and see if anyone else has the same issue with the waist as I do and if I can at least get that to rotate I think I’ll be a lot more satisfied, but it will still be lackluster. If you don’t need this figure to pose as well as a Legends figure, then you’ll likely be a lot happier. I do think this is one of the best looking figures in my collection. It’s a Mondo type of presentation on a 1:12 scale figure. It looks spectacular, and that’s what I wanted. It’s a damn good thing that it looks great in a standard, hero pose lessening the desire to do something more exotic. It still shouldn’t be that way, but presentation matters a lot too. And that’s what it comes down to. If you are as in love with the appearance of this one then you’ll probably be happy. If not, then you should probably pass because this figure isn’t cheap. It’s actual price tag from an import shop is around $80, but after shipping and duties it will end up around the $110 Big Bad Toy Store is charging. If you shop around you may find a better deal, but either way this is a pricey figure. If I wasn’t such a fan of this particular look I would likely chosen to admire it form afar, but even with the articulation limitations, it’s my favorite Scarlet Spider in my collection.
If you’re curious what I thought of those other Scarlet Spider figures and even that Mondo one I mentioned then look no further:
It was in this space last year that I shared my fondness for the Scarlet Spider costume when I reviewed the Medicom MAFEX Scarlet Spider action figure. I don’t buy much from Medicom because their figures are really expensive for what they are, but I sometimes break my own rule when I think they’ve made…
When I was a kid, one of my favorite past times was drawing. Like most, I started really young with a box of crayons and coloring books. I’d eventually start keeping markers, colored pencils, and other instruments in a plastic McDonald’s case that came from a Happy Meal. It was blue and had a map…
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…
We’re continuing our look at 2025 figures with one that should have arrived in plenty of time to squeeze it in. Walmart has been doing a Collector Con annually for a few years and you just never know if you’re actually going to receive the figure you preorder. So it was with the Spider-Man retro card Mysterio which kept getting pushed back on me. I’ve done this dance before and what typically happens is Walmart just pushes the release back until it eventually cancels it. Rather than wait for that, I was able to find this guy on the pegs at a local store, albeit one out of my way. Others weren’t so lucky. I’m also going to make an effort starting with this review to attempt to be more brief when it’s warranted and a Marvel Legends figure certainly fits that criteria.
I always was a fan of Mysterio’s look, though less so the actual character.
This Mysterio is based on his appearance in the animated series Spider-Man which debuted in 1994. This basically means he’s just the same villain we’re used to, but with a simpler costume and one that also happens to be a very bright green. Since the comic version usually has a quilted pattern to the costume, this figure actually utilizes very little from past releases. It may actually just be limited to the accessories. That doesn’t mean this guy is entirely all new. The body is essentially a base body. I’m not sure if it is indeed the Vulcan body, but it’s basically the same body as the Secret Wars Iceman we looked at not too long ago and the hole in the middle of his back would seem to be a giveaway there. The gloves and boots are unique as are the belt, cape, and the domed helmet. The figure is primarily colored plastic with paint reserved for the belt and the green areas on his boots. There is a pearl finish to the dome which looks nice and helps keep the opacity up so one cannot see what lurks beneath.
These effect parts are pretty fun.
The figure is about as basic as it comes for a Legends release, but it has some quirks about it. Namely the cape which is designed to sit high to give it that billowing effect. To achieve this, it actually pegs into the back, but while there are two, yellow, clasps on the front they don’t actually do anything. It sits a little high as a result from the front. The dome also doesn’t actually connect to the figure. It connects to the cape which is a little strange, but it does work for the most part. He does have two optional heads, including an unmasked Quentin Beck head that’s all new. It’s a terrific likeness to the cartoon, and if you really want to you can try to cram it under that dome or just go without. The dome does detach from the cape, it’s a little tight, but I don’t think it will break.
Well, that’s kind of horrifying.
The other accessories in the box are repeats from a past release. There are two sets of hands: fists and open. He also has some effect parts done with translucent, red/pink plastic. Two of them are these smoky, tentacle parts that can clip onto his ankles and the third part is a skull with tentacles worming through it. They’re not from the show or anything, but they look pretty cool so I’m happy to have them. The articulation is typical, Vulcan body Legends. You have a ball-hinge head, shoulders, butterfly, bicep, wrist, ab crunch, waist twist, hips, thigh cuts, double knees, ankle hinge and rocker. I’m surprised he doesn’t have a boot cut. They wiggle a little, but it must be keyed in such a way that it prevents rotation, which is weird. He’ll do what you probably need of him, though the cape is cumbersome.
“Face my illusions, Spider-Man!”
The one and only reason to get this Mysterio is if you like the look of the character from the old cartoon. And it mostly accomplishes what it set out to do. It is missing the seem line on the torso that’s even present on the card art, but I’m not surprised Hasbro didn’t go back and sculpt that in. I wish the cape sat a little lower, but at least it provides clearance at the shoulders. The different portions of the body do suffer that discoloration we see with many Legends where one area doesn’t match another. In this case, the torso is a little lighter than the arms. It’s not as noticeable as it is with other figures, but it is there. He’s also a pain in the ass to get, but that’s a Walmart problem and not the figure’s fault. Hasbro does have a track record of re-releasing these kinds of figures if the demand is there so if you can’t find one maybe he’ll come back in a year or two. Then again, they still haven’t released the Walmart exclusive Venom figures or the Spider-Man ’94 so I guess you shouldn’t hold your breath.
If you’re interested in this Mysterio then you may like some of these as well:
As a kid in the 90s, there was a social pressure to not choose the obvious when discussing favorite parts of a fandom. It’s basically a method of gatekeeping, a really silly, annoying, habit that’s not exclusive to children. If you enter into a certain band’s fandom there are some who will claim you’re a…
I had a bit of an impulse buy a few weeks back with the Marvel Legends Spider-Man Unlimited action figure from the show of the same name. What I didn’t mention was that he was not alone for hanging on the pegs that day with him was The Chameleon. Like Spider-Man Unlimited, The Chameleon is…
When the decision was made to end the animated series Spider-Man, it didn’t mark the end of the webbed one’s adventures on the small screen. Momentum was building towards a Spider-Man movie which would eventually arrive in 2002 so it made sense to keep old webhead in the public spotlight. Apparently, it would have been…
We are now three deep into Mondo’s line of 1:12 scale action figures based on The Real Ghostbusters. Well, we’re now six deep counting the ghosts, but I personally passed on both Boogie Man and now The Sandman who has been released in tandem with our third Ghostbuster, Winston Zeddemore. At this point, we know what to expect from Mondo with these figures. The Ghostbusters all share many parts and accessories and that is very much true for Winston. With Egon, we saw a new torso to elongate him some, or at least, a new neck. With Winston, we’re dealing with basically a carbon copy of Peter with a new head. That may mean Winston is a little less exciting to receive compared with the other figures, but it’s no less good.
Winston, like the previous characters, is a sculpt by Alex Brewer with paint by Mark Bristow. He comes in the same ghost trap inspired box as the other single sets and stands at around the 6.5″ mark making him actually a little large for true 1:12 scale. He has his very pale blue/green jumpsuit with the no ghosts logo on the right sleeve. He has the same loop and gadget on his belt as Peter and Egon and his default portrait is a neutral expression. Curiously, mine appears to be looking up slightly given the position of the eyeballs and I’m not sure if that’s intentional or not. The promotional images seem to reflect a more head-on stare, but maybe this was a change or just a slight variation. I’m curious if other figures are the same.
He’s always looking up.
The paint for Winston is fairly clean and has a nice, soft, appearance. The paint isn’t perfect as the laces on the boots have some slop and the left elbow pad does too. There is some black linework which helps to give the figure an animated appearance and Winston has a bit of undershirt visible, like Peter. The portrait looks like the character from the show, in particular the earliest episodes. Winton’s alternate portrait is a slightly angry one with arched eyebrows and a hint of a scowl on his lips. The eyes on this one are also tilted up slightly. Considering he would be looking up at many of the ghosts encountered it makes sense.
Rosebud is a fun addition to the companion ghosts.
Winston’s other accessories are identical to Peter’s including his gear and the optional gloved hands. Paint on the proton pack and trap are crisp and clean and his effect part for the particle beam is the same as well. The only new items with Winston are the included small ghost and the trap effect. For the trap effect, he comes with Sandman since that’s the larger ghost he’s sold with in a two-pack. The sculpt and paint are quite impressive on this little guy and there’s some translucent electricity around him as well which looks nice. It fits a little more snug in the trap than the past two accessories and I can’t get this one to actually stand when in the trap either so that’s a little annoying. The companion ghost is Rosebud, a Citizen Kane homage in ghost form. He’s more static than Slimer and the intro ghost as his arms barely move, but the sculpt and paint look terrific and I love how he’s riding on a sleigh. He is slightly leaning to his right and I don’t know if that’s on purpose or just a variation in the production. He’s fun though and a nice addition to the other ghosts.
You’ll just have to pretend that they’re busting Sandman.
Winston’s articulation is identical to his co-workers which is to say it’s fairly basic. Unfortunately, Mondo hasn’t made any running changes to the production process to improve what’s here. The hips are still very tight, and in particular my figure’s left hip. The other joints are mostly okay while the head is still too restricted. The lower ball joint is set too deep in the neck to allow the figure to look down and the head doesn’t really tilt back either. Interestingly, he has the same ball joint as Peter for the head where as Egon had a larger, more mushroomed, one. The ball-peg shoulders are poor substitutes for butterfly joints and Winston will have to hold his proton wand across his chest to have a two-handed grip on it. He’s only going to hit the most basic of poses and if Mondo ever does do a vehicle for this line all of these figures will struggle to sit down in them.
Does busting make him feel good?
Winston is a pretty simple review: if you like Peter and Egon then you’ll like Winston. If you weren’t pleased by those releases then Winston will do nothing to change your mind. He is, for better and worse, the exact same aside from his portraits and a pair of accessories. And you’re certainly allowed to be picky and want more from a figure that retails for $101. These guys are not cheap, and while they do feel like they’re of a higher quality than a lot of figures in this scale, it’s hard to find $101 of value here as well given the articulation limitations and amount of reuse, but if you’re put off by the price tag with this line then that’s something you likely decided long ago. It’s why I’ve been picky with the ghosts as I don’t need them. The Real Ghostbusters was the first toy line I really got into as a kid so there’s a tremendous amount of nostalgia in it for me. I’ve wanted a set of Ghostbusters modeled after the show in a line like this and I’m mostly content. I look forward to receiving Ray in the coming months so all four are together at last.
If you missed our other reviews of the figures in this line then see below:
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…
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…
The 1980s sometimes feel like they belonged to the Ghostbusters. That’s because, for me, the Ghostbusters were always around. The film came out when I was but a wee baby, but by the time I had a real interest in television The Real Ghostbusters (not to be confused with the Filmation series) was airing…
I can think of few things more terrifying than an alligator with a shotgun.
It was in my year-end wrap-up post on 2025 where I mentioned how awful the tariffs instituted by the US during the year made action figure collecting. The added cost is a given, but also the shipping. Importing a figure from overseas became a bigger issue as understaffed sorting centers were ill-equipped for figuring out what needed to face an additional charge and what did not. Some shippers just made it the problem for the one doing the importing (i.e. – the buyer) while most paid it upfront and either baked it into the price of the item or broke it out separately. Some retailers basically suspended all shipments or gave consumers the option to store their wares for free with them until a cheaper option presented itself reflecting the idea that no one knows how long these things are going to last. I bring this up because my JoyToy Leatherhead had himself a heck of a journey in getting to me. This is an import-only line as JoyToy isn’t licensed to sell TMNT products to the US. My first order made it all the way to my local sorting center the week of Thanksgiving, then got rerouted across the country where it went to die. Thankfully, the store I bought it from sent me another free of charge which did eventually get to me on Christmas Eve. I don’t really care how long it takes something to get to me, it is what it is, but the anxiety of not knowing if it ever will certainly isn’t any fun.
He is quite large.
Leatherhead did indeed arrive so now I can tell you how I feel about this action figure from JoyToy. If you saw that wrap-up post, I selected JoyToy’s line of 1:18 scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures as my line of the year. It’s truly been exceptional and the company was busy pumping out figures as well with relative quickness. Maybe they don’t envision having the license for very long or something because they are moving at quite a clip. After Leatherhead, I still have another 2025 release to review and there’s a Turtle Van on the way as well. A Turtle Van already? That’s more than a little impressive and the pace hasn’t appeared to impact quality either as these releases have been free of quality control issues. Does that trend continue with Leatherhead?
Maybe all he wants to do is go fishing?
First off, Leatherhead is yet another addition to the line that immediately tries to grab the title of biggest so far. I skipped the Triceratons so I can’t speak for them, but Leatherhead comfortably fits in with the likes of Groundchuck and Rahzar. I have him at 5.325″, but he’s also just very bulky and has a rather large tail taking up shelf space as well. JoyToy seems to source various iterations of the franchise for its designs, but with Leatherhead they seemed to have gone to their most frequented source in the ’87 cartoon series. Leatherhead is basically in the same getup as that version of the character sporting a hunting vest with blue pants and boots. He even has the lobsters dangling from his belt. Where he differs is in the absence of a hat and the presence of a little more tactical gear. He has a harness which provides some weapon storage and his belt extends to enwrap his thigh almost like a brace, but there’s no holster or anything on it so I don’t know what it’s true purpose is supposed to be.
Weapon storage is always a plus.
The other main difference separating this Leatherhead from the toon is with the added detail as well as the added realism. There are pockets and seams added to his clothing and boots giving them a more natural appearance. His skin is a paler, yellow-green, with deep scaling. Most of all, the head is very realistic looking. He basically looks like an actual alligator with almost no presence of anthropomorphizing present. I’m a little down on this one as a result. There’s a slight toonish quality to all of the other figures in this line which just isn’t present with Leatherhead. I wish he had slightly enlarged eyes and maybe a hint of a smile. Something to just bring him more in-line with the others. If JoyToy was looking to make a realistic interpretation of the character then they absolutely nailed it, I just question the appropriateness of such a design choice for the line they’re constructing.
I think we found something more terrifying than an alligator with a shotgun.
Leatherhead does come with a whole bunch of accessories which is typical of the line. He has the same white base which can combine with 3 other portions to form a larger base as well as a city sewer disc stand. For hands, he has a set of trigger hands, tight gripping hands, a wider right gripping hand, and an even wider left one. The trigger hands are designed to work with both the pump-action shotgun and the rocket launcher. The shotgun is the short body design favored by the police with a brown pump. The action, sadly, does not work, but the gun can fit into the holster on the harness he wears. The rocket launcher is obviously much bigger and includes a removable rocket. The rocket has this metallic, red, tip that makes me think of a Christmas light or something. It’s pretty cool though and it’s nice and light weight so the figure has no issues holding it. The wide, left, gripping hand works well for two-handed shotgun poses while the tighter right hand can wield his fishing rod. The even tighter hands appear to be intended to go along with the lobster accessory, but the shape of the gesture looks more like what one might utilize when gripping a rod. His hands are soft enough that you can fit that very thick handle of the rod into them, though his range at the shoulders won’t let him have one hand on the base and one on the reel – which does spin!
Aww, shucks.
Which does take us to the articulation and it’s a spot where folks have experienced some quality control issues with this figure. First of all, his articulation is pretty consistent with the rest of the line. He does have extra joints in the neck area to accommodate his alligator form. He can almost look all the way up like a gator in the water, but not quite. He doesn’t get much rotation at the head, but the neck joint helps him to look to his left and right. The jaw does open, but it’s restricted by the sculpt so it doesn’t open quite as wide as I’d like. From there, we get shoulder, bicep, elbow, wrists, diaphragm, waist, hips, thighs, knees, ankles, and toes. He does have double joints at the knees and elbows and the tail has a bendy wire in it. The hips are those steel, double-ball peg joints which are always nice. Where I’ve run into some quality control is with the right foot which keeps popping off. It’s more of a nuisance than anything, but worth mentioning. Where others have experienced issues is with the attached lobsters on the belt. Basically, basic articulation at the hips can cause these suckers to pop off. I’m aware of it, so I’ve been able to avoid it, but they feel like ticking time bombs. An issue I had personally is the bear trap on the back of his belt arrived detached in the box. When I’m done with my review I’ll glue it back on as it’s not articulated and serves no purpose as an accessory.
Is he friend or foe? For this particular version of the character I’m going with foe.
The usefulness of the articulation is mostly okay. He can pull-off the two-handed shotgun pose and he’s a relatively easy figure to stand. The ankle rocker isn’t great though nor is the bendy tail. The wire doesn’t run all the way to the end so you have to be mindful not to cause it to poke through the rubbery material. He’s also just really bulky and the stuff on his belt makes handling the figure a little less fun than it could be. I do also find the very limited jaw articulation disappointing while posing him as having that open maw would just add so much to the vibe the figure gives off. The joints at least look fine, save for the knees which are a bit ugly and gappy when bent. As a result, I’m a little down on Leatherhead. He’s not as good as the best we’ve seen from this line, but a subpar release for JoyToy is still a worthwhile one to have. I also find myself really missing his hat. I would say if you like the approach JoyToy took with the aesthetics of Leatherhead then you’ll probably enjoy this release more than I do. The lobsters and trap are going to be an issue, but one that a little glue can also remedy. I kind of only bought him because he went up with Metalhead and had he gone up all by his lonesome I may have passed. I don’t regret getting the figure though, it’s just not my preferred take on the character.
If you want to check out some JoyToy releases I was more enthusiastic about then take a look at these:
Last week we had ourselves a look at Dirtbag from JoyToy’s line of 1:18 scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures. As most probably expected, we’re back this week with a look at his buddy Groundchuck, the mutant bull that could have very easily been named Bull’s Eye, but maybe Playmates felt that was too…
Today for Turtle Tuesday we continue our look at Wave 6 (I think?) of JoyToy’s 1:18 scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of action figures with a character who should be familiar to long-time fans of the franchise: Dirtbag. Dirtbag first showed up as part of the Playmates toyline in 1991 before making the leap…
JoyToy is back with their latest wave of 1/18 scale action figures based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and with a character I think we all assumed was on the way. You don’t do a figure of Tokka, the mutated snapping turtle, and not also do a figure of his best buddy, Rahzar. The two…
It’s no great secret that the black sheep of the Dragon Ball universe is the anime Dragon Ball GT. Created in-house by Toei animation, Dragon Ball GT was a continuation of Dragon Ball Z without creator Akira Toriyama. While Toriyama had to grant approval to many aspects of the series, he wasn’t directly involved with its creation. I believe he contributed some broad concepts, but I don’t know the specifics or have long since forgotten them. Even though the anime is loved by few, some of its creations have endured. Namely, the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. Credited to Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, the concept of the transformation was to return the Saiyan race to a more primal state. It’s sort of like the great ape or oozaru form seen in Dragon Ball and early Dragon Ball Z turned into its own version of a Super Saiyan. It was a drastic departure from the golden haired look of the prior Super Saiyan forms adorning Goku with red fur and returning to him his tail for the first time since early Dragon Ball.
This Goku is little, but not as little as past Goku.
When Toriyama decided to return to the world of Dragon Ball, he basically cast GT aside. I would not read much into that as far as what Toriyama felt about the show’s quality. It felt more like a case of returning to the end of Z after the battle with Buu was just the most logical launching-off point for a new story. The fact that Toriyama didn’t have an emotional attachment to the events of GT certainly helped. In his return which first began with the film Battle of Gods but quickly morphed into a whole new series in Dragon Ball Super, Toriyama (together with his protege Toyotarou) basically made the events of GT impossible to have occurred. A lot of that is due to the creation of the new Super Saiyan God power-up and its offshoots. Even so, the legendary manga writer and artist must have seen something in GT he liked because he decided to basically take its premise and turn it into the non-canonical Dragon Ball Daima.
It’s like some kid hanging out with the cool uncles he idolizes.
Daima was basically Toriyama’s final gift to Dragon Ball fans before passing on. At least, as far as we know. Like GT, it begins with the premise of a villain using the Dragon Balls to return Goku to a child, only with Daima all of Goku’s friends suffer the same fate. From there, it’s basically its own thing as the plot involves Goku and friends traveling to the Demon World to rescue Dende and prevent the new lord of the realm from amassing enough power to become a problem for everyone. It takes place in between Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super even though there really wasn’t a whole lot of time separating the two to begin with. The series began in a mostly plausible manner as far as canon is concerned, but eventually became something that is clearly non-canon. And the most canon breaking event of the series is Goku transforming into a Super Saiyan 4.
For a 90s creation, Super Saiyan 4 does have a pretty 80s looking hairstyle.
If you have yet to watch Daima (and I recommend you do – it’s great), then apologies for that spoiler, but the mere existence of this figure is essentially a spoiler. Toriyama must have liked something about the form to use it himself in his new series, or he was just throwing a bone to the fans that did enjoy it. From what I have gathered, Toriyama is responsible for the look of Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball Daima, but in truth it differs little from the version designed by Nakatsuru. Goku still regrows his tail and finds his body covered in red fur, only the shade is slightly more purple than the pinkish it was in GT. The hair on his head follows mostly the same shape, but now it changes to be the same color as the fur as opposed to black. His iris now turns red instead of gold and the heavy outline around his eyes is black instead of red. The most noticeable difference is the slight alteration in proportions. In GT, Goku basically retained his normal shape, but in Daima his hands and forearms become oversized giving him a slightly more ape-like appearance. He also remains a child when transforming while in GT he literally goes from a child to an adult by transforming. I’m not sure what the rationale for that was at the time, maybe because the oozaru form is basically the same size for an adult and child Saiyan, but it’s an odd quirk of the form.
You can’t touch this one.
For the toyline, Bandai opted to release this Super Saiyan 4 Goku figure via its Premium Bandai offshoot. Like other releases in the past, this largely means it’s just a more expensive, limited, version of a relatively standard quality figure for the S.H.Figuarts line. Because Goku does increase in mass with his transformation, none of the parts created for the other Goku Mini figures are reused here. He’s also taller than those releases at approximately 3″ where I envision the top of his head being and 4″ to the highest spike of his hair. Most of the figure is colored plastic with the paint hits reserved for the bare portion of the chest and abdomen as well as a small area on the forearms. The white laces on his boots are also painted and the details of the face. Bandai did a good job of matching the flesh colors between the painted parts and non, but the linework isn’t the sharpest as there’s some overlap on the chest. The faces look fantastic while the laces are just okay as it’s white over blue. The only cheap looking aspect of the figure are those orange pants. There’s no shading on them at all and it’s unfortunate. At least a little paint around the waist might have lessened the cheap look.
He’s got some big old paws on him. They’re not quite as big as adult Goku hands, but they’re close.
The sculpt and overall proportions are very good here. At first I wondered if the hands actually could have been made even a little bigger, but in returning to the anime it looks pretty accurate. The length of the legs and torso look good and the hair sculpt is great. Like many other releases in this line, the hair is quite sharp and pointy so do be careful when posing or swapping faces. I do enjoy the oddball nature of the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. I’ve always liked the concept of the Saiyan harnessing their primal side in a focused, contained, manner. The switch from black hair to red is also one I approve of as the black haired look of the old transformation always created a bit too much of a contrast for me with the reddish fur. The redesigned proportions also work well here, especially on the kid version of Goku. It actually adds a little cuteness to the design and it’s hard not to draw a comparison to the video game character Tomba.
Sorry Vegeta, I don’t have an appropriate bad guy for him to fight so you’re going to have to take one for the team.
The expressions included offer a nice range for this character. We get a cocky smirk, stoic, teeth gritting with a side eye, a yelling, and a more exaggerated yell. They all seem to serve a purpose and it’s hard to resist the cocky expression. The face-printing is all excellent with some nice linework between and under the eyes. The paint is clean on the teeth and inner mouth for the yelling expressions. For hands we get a mostly stand array with fists, chops, martial arts posed, open, and Kamehameha hands. There’s also a set of hands for the standard Goku Mini (which would also work with the Super Saiyan version) that have little, translucent, yellow, orbs in them like a blast about to be fired. There’s also an extra, right, Kamehameha hand with a flame effect molded into it. This effect is done with translucent orange plastic with a hit of yellow paint. It’s intended to connect to the effect part – a Kamehameha blast. The blast is made of translucent blue plastic with hits of white. There’s also two translucent, orange, flames encircling it for a neat look. There’s an included post in clear acrylic to help it stand and it keys into the effect hand in two ways allowing the hand to be on top or under. I found getting the hand onto Goku as well as the post into the blast difficult without heat pretty difficult, but keying the two parts together is simple and effective. It’s probably the nicest blast effect part I’ve yet received from Bandai topping Beast Gohan’s beam cannon.
He comes with two of these little ki blast hands for the previous Goku Mini.
Goku’s articulation is mostly the same as the prior mini versions, with some differences including one that was a bit odd. He has the usual joints in the usual spots: head, neck, shoulder, butterfly, bicep, elbows, wrists, diaphragm, waist, hips, thighs, knees, ankles, and tail. The very small size can make utilizing some of these joints tricky. The diaphragm, for one, is hard to work independent of the waist and the butterfly joint sometimes doesn’t move as far as it looks like it can. The head is pretty locked down by the hair, but he can turn his head some and look down. The two, lower, rear pieces of his hair do move, but it doesn’t really free anything up much. The front pieces that come over the shoulders are not independently articulated like they were with the GT figures. The tail is just a ball peg and loves to fall off which is annoying. The elbows are double joints, but they don’t bend past 90 degrees due to the forearm size. The knees are single joints. The wrists were the most surprising part as they are just ball pegs. There’s no hinge so the hands just move on that ball, and for the most part, only rotate. I haven’t really missed the hinge, but it was a surprise to see. Range at the hips is pretty typical of the line, but he does have a diaper piece now so there’s some restriction. He won’t do anything truly spectacular, but he seems to be able to hit the key Goku poses.
I almost hate it when an effect is this good – how could I possibly display him without it?
This release is a pretty typical Premium Bandai release. It’s a good sculpt with good enough articulation. The accessory load-out is slightly better than a general release item while the price is higher. This one was $70 plus $10 shipping so he was essentially an $80 figure. That’s pretty steep for a figure of this size. It’s not as if much more went into it when compared with the $35 Goku Mini so a value buy it most certainly is not. It was exclusive though so if you want it now it will likely cost you even more. I do like the figure and I like this look for Goku. That’s the main motivation for buying it. If you like this version, then you’ll be content with the figure. It won’t blow you away, and I feel like I say that a lot more often these days with Bandai, but it won’t really disappoint either. Unless you end up paying $130 for it or something, then it might let you down because it certainly isn’t worth that.
For more Daima and Super Saiyan 4 goodness, check these out:
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…
We’re back with another action figure review from everyone’s favorite version of Dragon Ball: Dragon Ball GT! And really, the only thing people remember from Dragon Ball GT is the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. Designed to bring the Saiyans back to their more primal roots, the Super Saiyan 4 transformation is pretty much on an…
In the world of Dragon Ball, there are varying opinions on which version of the anime is superior. Dragon Ball Z is unquestionably the most popular, but there are people (like me) out there who swear by the original Dragon Ball that came before it. More recently, Dragon Ball Super has entered the fray and…
NECA’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures based on the pages Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures by Archie Comics is like the little engine that could. It’s not a fast-moving line, the releases aren’t always heavy hitters, but when they land they’re usually pretty damn good. And NECA appears to be slow-walking this line since they have yet to release the actual turtles in the line. We got wrestling variants of the boys, and now we’re getting a version of their ally April O’Neil, only she’s in her seldom seen look as the fifth turtle.
Or maybe it’s the April you’re looking for?
In the pages of TMNT Adventures there was a one-shot winter special where April O’Neil was mutated into a turtle. It didn’t last very long, but for at least a few pages she was essentially the fifth ninja turtle. And she looked how you might expect in that she has the same mask and pads, a belt, she’s armed with a single katana, and she has a big “A” on her belt. You may have expected her to go with yellow for her color of choice, but she actually had to settle for white instead. This figure was teased quite a while ago in April of 2023, but it didn’t actually see release until fall 2025. She is basically the first basic turtle in the Archie subline and one imagines that whenever NECA gets around to doing standard versions of the boys this is the buck they’ll be on. In that, it’s like a preview of things to come so even if you’re not interested in this obscure version of April this figure might be of some interest to you.
With Archie Raph and toon Raph.
April comes in the standard Archie packaging with new artwork by series regular Ken Mitchroney. I like his very stylized take on the character with the accentuated beak and angled eyes. The figure dials that down a little, but a lot of those traits are still present. April stands at about 5.625″ to the top of her head. I have her as slightly shorter than Archie Raph and it appears to be due to her head sitting lower on the neck. Her head and plastron are actually wider which gives her a slightly stockier look compared with Raph, who is basically a blank turtle body. April has new forearms which are slightly thicker as well and her shell is different, having a more angled approach to the different panels. It’s hard to tell if anything below the waist is new. The knee pads create a thicker look, but it might just be an optical illusion. If I get out my grandfather’s old machinist gauge for measuring thickness it tells me their legs are the same, but confirms what I suspected with the forearms.
I don’t think this is how April wanted to present herself.
The stylization with April might be different from what some might expect. If you’re primary frame of reference for a female ninja turtle is Venus DeMilo from The Next Mutation then this April will look pretty different. That’s because they didn’t give her those odd plastron boobs that character had and instead she pretty much just looks like a turtle – kind of like how male and female turtles in the wild pretty much look the same. Her only embellishment is a slightly curvier plastron silhouette and clawed fingers. I thought at first the fingers might be reuse from the Archie Slash, but they are unique to April. Her portraits have that pronounced beak though, and while her eyes aren’t comically feminine, they have that Archie personality we’ve grown accustomed to with NECA’s figures. I love the little “t” shape they paint onto the beaks as that is pulled right from the books. The figure is a very matte yellowish green that is accentuated very nicely by the white wraps that have a touch of light blue shading. The shell is deep green and all of the grooves are filled with clean, black, paint. There’s black linework to accentuate the muscles and overall this is another homerun from NECA in the aesthetics department for this line.
“Where do you get off calling yourself the fifth turtle?!”
April’s accessories are quite numerous for a general release in this line. She has four distinct portraits: unmasked, grin, yelling, and a classic TMNT angry side sneer. The bandana knot is transferable between the masked portraits and while it’s a little snug, it works fine. The unmasked portrait features a sad expression and there’s even some tears painted on which helps to make it quite scene specific. For hands, April has gripping, fists, and open clawing hands. She comes with a single katana which is what she utilized in the book which features a brown hilt and blue pommel and guard. The blade itself is white which I love because metal is often done in white in comic books. I’m a little surprised they didn’t hit it with a touch of blue shading like the weapons that came with the Mirage turtles, but it looks pretty good as-is. To store it she has a large, white, scabbard that is shaded with blue that simply slots onto her belt. It’s not a super secure connection, but it will stay in place once she’s posed. Just expect it to fall out a lot when posing her. The sword does store effortlessly in the scabbard which is nice to see after my experience with the 2012 Leonardo and his stubborn blades.
She’s got the look, but does she have the skill to take on the Shredder?
April’s articulation is basically the same as the Archie wrestling turtles only she has some elbow and knee pads to obstruct things. She has joints at the head, base of the neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees, and ankles. There are built-in thigh swivels into the ball-joints at the hips and her gripping hands have the proper vertical hinge for wielding a sword. She has the pinless knee and elbow joints, but the presence of the pads will limit the range. Her elbows are pretty much only good for a 90 degree bend while the knees extend a little past that. They’re also very tight at both spots and I haven’t noticed any lubricating oil in those places like I did with the wrestling turtles. The shell will limit her hip range, but the plastron is soft so she can kick forward about 90 degrees if you want to push it. Going out to the side for splits is no problem and the oversized feet with solid ankle rockers make getting her to stand pretty easy. The waist isn’t going to do much owing to the turtle anatomy and range at the shoulders is not good enough for two-handed sword poses. It would be nice to see NECA integrate a butterfly joint there since one would think the shell would hide some of the ugliness of said joint, but I don’t know if they’ve ever done such with any release, turtle or otherwise.
“Geez April, think you might reconsider going back to the news reporter look?”
Perhaps the best thing about April is she should retail for the reasonable price of $35. Some places have her as high as $41 but she is shipping to big box retail which is likely to have the cheapest price on her. She comes with plenty of stuff and the sculpt and paint are fantastic. Yes, the articulation is just okay, though it is better than some of NECA’s other TMNT figures. That’s what they’re known for though and if your primary interest is in the figure’s presentation then this April should please you, provided you ever felt the need to own a figure of April as the Fifth Turtle.
If you’re looking for more Archie inspired TMNT figures or more April then check these out:
When I was a kid, I didn’t really get a lot of comic books. I most often would encounter them at the grocery store and I always hoped my mom would end up in the check-out aisle with the comics instead of candy so I could maybe convince her to get me one. And when…
Whenever I approach my rankings for NECA’s now long-running action figure series based on the 1987 cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I don’t always just pick the objectively best or worst toy in the line to slot them into the rankings. It’s a combination of the figure’s quality and the character’s importance. A great figure…
Remember San Diego Comic Con? You would be forgiven if you did not since, like last year’s edition, the event was a virtual one once again. Only unlike the 2020 version, this one came with the expectation it would be virtual. It also coincided with a global shipping crisis, so combine that with the expectation…
Yes, I’m afraid this is another toy review that needs to begin with a word about tariffs. It was the talk of 2025 in the toy collecting community because it caused considerable delays, disruptions, and worst of all, increased prices across the board. One line impacted by the introduction of these new costs more than most was Mondo’s line of sixth scale action figures based on the Marvel cartoons X-Men and X-Men ’97. These figures, being around a foot tall and consisting of unique parts, extravagant paint apps, and numerous accessories already carried a hefty price tag. Most had settled into the $235 range, but with free shipping that made it slightly more palatable. That was all out the window once extraordinary tariffs were introduced. Mondo was forced to add a tariff fee to its products to help offset the costs which, for this line, typically ran $20. Then there was the removal of the de minimis exemption on shipments under $800 which blew up Mondo’s shipping policy to ship directly from the factory to your door. Now, they had to go the shipping container route, bring everything to port, truck it to a warehouse, and then ship it from there. Free shipping was gone replaced with an option totaling over $20 and then add on the usual sales tax and you end up with a line that now runs over $300 a pop.
Even at sixth scale, he’s a bit of a little guy.
Nightcrawler was the first victim of this new world. When he initially went up, it was the limited version with a price tag of $245. When I went to check out, the total came out to over $300 and gave me a great deal of sticker shock. Mondo’s line appeals to me as a fan of X-Men ’97, but it appeals to me even more as a fan of the original cartoon. That’s the collection I want to assemble on my shelf, but Nightcrawler wasn’t really essential to such a display. He appeared in a mere two episodes during that original run, and while I like both, the space requirements of such a display and the cost gave me pause. I wanted to think it over and also wondered what the standard version would cost, but before Mondo revealed that the limited one sold out. I guess others weren’t as indecisive as I was. Eventually, the standard version was put up for sale and it cost $230, a nice price break, but it came at a cost. The X-Men ’92 portrait that was included with the limited version was omitted making this standard version truly an X-Men ’97 release. I admit, this frustrates me. The line began as one based on the original show and it was a request by Marvel to add the ’97 branding. For most characters, Nightcrawler included, there isn’t a big difference between the look so it’s easy enough to please both customer bases, but locking the ’92 version behind the limited paywall betrays that spirit. I complain, but obviously I gave in because I do like Nightcrawler an awful lot and knew I’d regret not having him on my shelf.
Nightcrawler is so popular he even has his own in-universe toy.
Nightcrawler comes in the same box as the rest of the line with new artwork by Dan Veesenmeyer and production artwork behind that. Even though this figure is truly an X-Men ’97 release, all of the production art is from the original series episode “Bloodlines” which is kind of amusing. There’s a character bio from Eric and Julia Lewald on the inside of the cover flap and there’s the usual display window behind it. Nightcrawler is a sculpt by Alex Brewer with paint by Mara Ancheta. He is one of the smaller figures in the line just barely outdoing the most recent Wolverine at around 10.75″. He’s far less chunky than the Canadian and quite lithe giving him a similar in-hand feel to the line’s smallest release, Jubilee.
He’s also well-armed.
Nightcrawler is depicted in his classic red, black, and white costume which is true to both shows. Paint is clean and it’s accentuated with blue linework which is how he’s shaded in both shows. The face has an abundance of black shadows cast across it which looks excellent and is how every Nightcrawler figure should be done at any scale. He has that tuft of hair which is the most recognizable aspect of the ’97 look and the eyes are a bright yellow. His black hair has some streaks of blue in it which helps convey the highlights we see in the show and I love how the white hands and feet stand out against the darker colors of the costume. I don’t know if it’s said enough, but Nightcrawler really is one of the best designs in comics (hat tip to Nightcrawler’s creator, Dave Cockrum). There’s a reason why he’s rarely strayed from this look which dates back to his original appearance from the 1970s. I love that X-Men ’97 added him to the main cast partway through the inaugural season and it appears that he will remain in the main cast going forward. That’s a terrific pickup as, next to Morph, Nightcrawler is the one I would have most wanted to see added to the roster.
He passes the crouch test.
Mondo had a challenge in bringing a character like Nightcrawler to plastic. The other characters from this line can get away with being a little stiff when it comes to posing, but Nightcrawler is a literal acrobat. He needs to articulate better than the rest. Mondo had a similar challenge before it with Spider-Man and, in my opinion, mostly dropped the ball there. With Nightcrawler, I’m happy to say they faired much better. He doesn’t have much in the way of additional joints, but the functional ability of what’s there is improved. What’s not is the head and diaphragm. The head is still really tight as the lower ball joint in the neck doesn’t like to move. The diaphragm joint is similarly stubborn, though it fares a little better with Nightcrawler than it did with Spider-Man. What works well is the waist which rocks in all directions quite well. His hips have more range and the double-jointed knees and elbows are super smooth. The same is true for the ankle hinges which border on being so smooth they’re loose, but I never had any issues standing Nightcrawler. He can get into a crouch which is necessary for such a character and he’s even better at doing so than his Marvel Legends counterpart thanks to the addition of toe hinges. His tail is also done with a wire and it’s perhaps the most poseable wired joint I’ve ever encountered. These figures typically aren’t much fun to pose, but Nightcrawler is the rare entrant who actually is.
Bamf! effects in action.
To accentuate those poses we have a slew of alternate parts and accessories. For portraits, there’s a neutral one and a smiling one. While the neutral one is executed very well, it’s the smiling portrait that I am almost certain to display exclusively. The limited version came with the original series head as well as one based on the pilot of the original X-Men cartoon, “Pryde of the X-Men.” I really want that ’92 portrait, but oh well. For hands, he has a set of fists, gripping, open, and style posed hands. For effect parts, he has a trio of “bamf!” effects. These are all cast in translucent, pink, plastic with one intended to clip on his shoulder and the other two on each arm. You could probably put them on a leg too if that was your preference. They’re sculpted to resemble the smoke that appears when Nightcrawler uses his teleportation powers and if you got the limited version you would have received a fourth piece that’s intended as a base. They’re easy to make use of and add a nice visual splash to a display.
These two proved to be a formidable pair in X-Men ’97.
If you watched X-Men ’97 then you undoubtedly recall Nightcrawler and Wolverine’s defense of the mansion during the eighth episode. In it, Nightcrawler finally was given a sword to wield which. Even going back to his original Toy Biz figure, Nightcrawler has been associated with blades for quite some time. And in that scene he had a saber, or cutlass, that resembled that old figure and Mondo included it here. It has nice paint effects on the blade and slots into a gripping hand quite easily. Nightcrawler, being an ambidextrous acrobat and accomplished sword wielder, wasn’t content to just handle one sword. He also found some decorative fencing blades in a study and took them down from the wall. He has one to grip in his other hand, but that still wasn’t enough for Nightcrawler. That prehensile tail of his needed a weapon too so that’s where the third sword went. Mondo included an extra tail where the end is coiled like a fist. The third sword separates where the handguard meets the pommel and can slide effortlessly into the extra tail to outfit Nightcrawler with all three weapons. Even if I had that coveted ’92 portrait, I would have been hard pressed not to pose Nightcrawler with all three swords in hand (and tail).
The stand, plus Nightcrawler’s poofy hair, lends itself well to inverted poses.
Feeling that wasn’t enough to really capture the spirit of the character, Mondo also used this occasion to provide collectors with an improved stand. It’s a badly kept secret that Mondo’s doll stands it includes with all of its sixth scale figures is pretty crappy. I almost never use them and many have never even been removed from the package. For Nightcrawler, we get a new model that includes a poseable post and a gripping claw for the end. The base is still the standard circular base with the X-Men logo painted on. The post plugs into that and the claw…goes on somehow. I don’t know what the intention was, but I had to remove the crotch piece and unscrew the clip in order to get it onto the post. It was still a tight fit and I reassembled it once on the post. Some instructions would have been helpful. Once assembled, it works as intended. The claw has some nice tension and the gripping part is lined with a soft material that should protect the paint. The crotch piece adds some stability, though it might not really be needed though could come in handy with heavier figures. This is the stand we should have received with Spider-Man and I hope it’s the standard going forward even for characters that don’t necessarily need it. It’s unfortunately not coming with Mr. Sinister, but is with Storm. Lastly, Nightcrawler comes with a Bamf doll accessory. He’s fully painted and plenty adorable. I don’t know why Nightcrawler has small effigies of himself, seems to go against his religious convictions, but it’s a cute little detail from the comics and an appropriate accessory.
This guy just looks terrific. It’s an instant upgrade for any display.
While I was and likely will remain salty about the removal of the original series portrait for the standard edition, it’s hard not to be pretty happy with how Nightcrawler turned out. He’s simply one of the best releases in the line combining the incredible presentation qualities Mondo is known for with an unexpected fun component the line ordinarily doesn’t possess. While I do enjoy swapping in and out portraits and effects, I rarely enjoy the act of posing these figures. That’s not the case with Nightcrawler and I feel like I’m wasting the figure’s potential when I leave it in the same pose longer than a week. Nightcrawler is a fan-favorite and that’s likely partly why the limited version did sell out relatively quickly, even at an increased price. It’s a reputation that’s been well-earned over the decades since the character’s introduction. If you can get past that increased price, even for the standard version, you’ll find an excellent figure. Other retailers won’t have the $20 surcharge Mondo charges, or their shipping fee, though many have added an apparent tariff fee to the base price. Big Bad Toy Store currently has this edition of the figure priced at $245 while Entertainment Earth has it at $250. Both have cheaper shipping options than Mondo so you’ll save some money going through them instead, but if you want to buy direct form Mondo he’s still in-stock there for $230 with an additional $20 tariff charge. If you’re in on this line or just a big Nightcrawler fan looking for a nice one-off in your collection then I think it’s worth it. And if you intended to just be collecting the main cast from the ’92 show then I do think you should think long and hard about passing on Nightcrawler. You may come to regret it.
For more from Mondo’s line of sixth scale Marvel figures look no further:
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…
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…
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…
The Nostalgia Spot 