We did it! We finally made it to the end of the Haulathon releases from NECA Toys and we may have saved the best for last. Back in early 2020, I made a wish list for what I wanted from NECA and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was only 10 deep, though there were some duos in there, and with this release we have finally completed my initial wish list. Rhino-Man and Mighty Hog are the super hero versions of Rocksteady and Bebop. Don’t confuse them with Super Bebop and Mighty Rocksteady, those are the robot versions, these are the cheesy heroes with their underwear over their pants and capes tied around their necks. I don’t know why I liked this design so much for the pair. I think as a kid, I just liked superhero versions of popular characters. When Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck did it I thought it was fantastic. And those Happy Meal toys with the Looney Tunes in superhero costumes are maybe the best Happy Meal toys of all time. I suppose my affection for such things just caused the episode where Bebop and Rocksteady try their hand at heroics to be retained in my brain. A great many episodes of that show went in and went out pretty effortlessly, but Rhino-Man and Mighty Hog have lived rent free in there for over 30 years.
Perhaps Bebop and Rocksteady aren’t really so bad which is why tI liked seeing them as superheroes, even if they weren’t doing it out of a sense of justice. They’re almost too stupid to be evil, and as comedic relief in the show I think I warmed to them. Both have a very classic superhero look: shirt, trunks, tights, boots, cape. Rocksteady also adds some gloves and goggles while Bebop swaps his glasses for a bandana-style mask. Rhino-Man stands at about 6″ and is dressed in bright colors. Yellow for the shirt, red for the boots and gloves, and a light blue for the tights. He has his own logo on his chest and the goggles (which are removable) and blue cape just complete the ensemble. Bebop’s go as Mighty Hog has a bit more of DIY vibe to it I guess because he was designated the sidekick. His red cape is tied in a knot around his neck and he doesn’t get his own logo opting for a big, orange, M on his purple shirt. His black pants appear to be his normal pants as do the sneakers. He at least has some orange trunks and retaining the turtle shell shoulder pads is a good look. He’s also bigger than Rhino-Man coming in it at 6.5″ to the top of his head.
Both of these figures are all new tooling when compared with their prior release. That is welcomed as those molds feature some outdated joints and it’s nice to finally have updated versions of Bebop and Rocksteady, even if they’re not in their classic duds. The new head on Bebop looks terrific. I didn’t think it was possible to improve upon the first, but I think I like this one just a little better. Rocksteady didn’t turn out quite so well. He’s a little stubby looking, which is interesting because his other figures feel like their heads are just a little too long. He’s still clearly Rocksteady, he just doesn’t look as good as Bebop. The goggles go on and off relatively easy and definitely help to complete the look. Like the first go at them, these two do share some parts. Most obviously are the hands, but also most of the arms, thighs, and probably the torso. It’s hard to tell since both figures sport an overlay. The differences really rest with the forearms, shins and feet to go with the head.
As per usual with this line, the paint job looks pretty nice. Most of the figures feature the toon shading the line is known for where NECA uses a darker color for the figure’s rear. Some parts are skipped, like the feet and Rhino-Man’s belt which is a little odd. Mighty Hog also doesn’t have any shading on his pants since they’re black. The linework is clean and all of the little details we would expect to see from the show have been translated into 3D plastic. One bummer is the capes are both just plain soft goods. After getting a wired cape with Dark Turtle I was hoping for the same here, but I guess we weren’t that lucky. Bebop also still has the actual chain bracelet on his left arm which I could honestly do without. The authenticity is nice, but it’s a little annoying especially when swapping hands. NECA omitted the little T-hook this time so you could just take it off if you wanted to and you won’t have a weird piece of metal sticking out of your figure, though it also means the bracelet can come off even without removing the figure’s hand. I’m surprised they haven’t switched to a plastic one, but it’s fine.
The accessories for this set are actually a little on the light side. Both figures come with the same sets of hands: fists, gripping, a left-handed peace sign, and a right handed chop. What’s missing is trigger finger hands, and while they don’t come with any guns, they used their standard white, laser, pistols (which you probably have a handful of laying around if you’ve been collecting this line for awhile) in the episode so that’s a bit of a bummer. The gripping hands can be finagled though to work with those older accessories. They also have their jetpacks which key into the back of each figure and once secured you’re probably never going to remove them. They also come with the police scanner which looks suspiciously like an old, 80s, cell phone. Shredder uses it in the episode to send the heroes after bad guys as there’s a contest going on that Krang wants them to win, hence why they’re heroes (the episode is just called “Rhino-Man” if you’re curious). Lastly, we get an accessory from a different episode, the Anxietron Ray from “Bebop and Rocksteady Conquer the Universe.” It’s a very intricate sculpt, though the device isn’t the prettiest. It reminds me of the baby translator Herb Powell creates on The Simpsons. It’s a cumbersome weapon to wield like an actual gun, but it can also just be placed on a surface and look fine. And I suppose it’s only included because there was room in the budget for another accessory and NECA didn’t see fit to pull anything else from the episode, which I mostly agree with. Some more hands might have been cool, but this is fine.
Bebop and Rocksteady have never articulated particularly well when designed by NECA (or really anyone, for that matter) and Rhino-Man and Mighty Hog are mostly the same. The head for both is on a ball peg, likely a double, and they rotate fine. Bebop has a little more up and down range by virtue of having more of a neck while Rocksteady is slightly limited for both. Each figure has a hinged jaw and it’s not the prettiest hinged jaw NECA has done. Rocksteady’s looks pretty bad when opened all the way and Bebop’s doesn’t look much better. The hinge is just set too far forward on the head when it needs to be recessed further back. It’s also done in pink and then painted and if you tilt the head up all the way you can see the pink hinge poking through on the underside. It’s something you’ll never see when they’re on a shelf, but it is odd. The shoulders are ball-hinged and they can just about hit horizontal with Rhino-Man while Mighty Hog’s range is hindered by the shoulder pads. It’s also hindered when rotating while Rhino-Man is fine. There’s a biceps swivel past that and double-jointed elbows to go with wrists that swivel and hinge horizontally, including the gripping hands. There might be a diaphragm joint in both, but it’s covered-up by the overlay. There’s a ball joint at the waist that allows for rotation and a little tilt, but very little forward and back. The hips are ball and socket joints which is the welcomed change over the original Bebop and Rocksteady figures and they kick forward almost to horizontal and kick back a bit. Both guys can pretty much hit a split and there’s a little thigh twist there as well. The knees are double-jointed and those bend past 90 degrees and at the ankles we get the hinge and rocker setup. Bebop’s shoes are much better this time around and less restricted. They still don’t get a lot of range out of the hinge, but the rocker works pretty well. Curiously, the right foot on my Mighty Hog has a curve to the sole and I’m wondering if that’s a defect or true for all. He stands okay despite it, but it is odd.
Many of the joints on this set were pretty tight or stuck out of the box. Out of all of the Haulathon releases, that issue was most prevalent with this set. I don’t think I had to heat any joints on the other figures. I did opt to heat some of the hands to make inserting weapons easier, but with this set I had to heat the elbows to get them working. Rhino-Man couldn’t do much below the waist so he got the full spa treatment, but once things were heated and the paint allowed to “crack” at the joints, things started moving pretty well. I still have a stuck hinge on one of Rhino-Man’s elbows, and the same hinge on Mighty Hog has some chipped paint which is an eyesore, albeit a minor one. Overall though, the range of movement is pretty basic with these two. Even though the elbows are double-jointed, it’s actually hard to get them past 90 degrees and place both figures in a heroic pose with their hands on their hips. They’re also heavy and cumbersome so getting them to appear as if they’re flying using one of NECA’s flight stands is also rather precarious. They at least look up well enough to pull it off, but I definitely didn’t feel comfortable leaving them on a shelf like that.
Rhino-Man and Mighty Hog are two figures I was really looking forward to and I’m mostly satisfied with the result. I do wish the head on Rocksteady was a little better and that they moved easier as well, but overall I’m happy with how they turned out. They look silly and that’s appropriate and I definitely like having them on my shelf. I’m also happy that wish list has been filled. Is this the best set from this massive Haulathon drop? I’m not sure. Subjectively, it’s probably my favorite, but objectively there was little to find wrong with the Dirk Savage and Mona Lisa set. Chakahachi and Lotus look pretty cool too even if some QC issues with Lotus dampened my enthusiasm there. Mostly, these sets have continued to basically excel without necessarily blowing me away. I don’t know if any of these figures would crack my top 10 were I to revisit it (and I probably will have to at some point since so much has been added), but none are likely to end up in the bottom 10 either.
If you would like to add these phoney heroes to your collection then keep checking Target. The main Haulathon drop is over and done with now, but more product is likely to keep shipping. Given that we’re talking about Bebop and Rocksteady, it’s likely more of this set was produced than some of the others. NECA may also open up orders on their website for those who missed out so just try to stay in the loop and avoid feeding the scalpers.
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