NECA Toys has been doing phenomenal action figures of Kratos, the protagonist from the Playstation exclusive video game series God of War, for years now. On April 20th, 2018, a new entry in the series tentatively titled simply God of War, a.k.a God of War 4 will be released and NECA Toys is here again with a companion action figure.

This new entry in the series find Kratos as a much older man than we have seen before and in Nordic attire as opposed to the Greek clothing he has worn previously in the series. He is also a father again. NECA has produced a truly amazing figure for this new incarnation of  Kratos that is an amazing value at $22! The packaging is marked with Nordic style ruins.

The distinctive body markings such as the white skin, red tattoos, facial scar and body scar remain clear…

…while a large beard has replaced the once small goatee seen in previous games.

Kratos comes with a battle axe, dagger and shield. He is also heavily articulated with 36 points including double elbow and knee joints.

The axe splits into two pieces in order to slip into Kratos’s fist with more ease. The axe has excellent detail work on the blade with Norse looking ruins, blue stones embedded on it and lines in the wooden handle.

The dagger seems to be made of bone and has wrapping on the handle.

It can also be placed into a sheath on the back of Kratos’s belt.

The largest accessory he comes with is a golden shield that is adorned with red on the back.

Most times with a shield accessory, it attaches to the figure’s forearm with a C clamp of thin plastic. In this case, NECA made a piece of Kratos’s left arm gauntlet removable…

and the shield can just tab into it!

There is also a circular hook on the right shoulder that you can store the ax in.

The overall detail level is spectacular on every part of this figure!

The belt is covered in various objects, each one with excellent texture work.

Leather pouches have wrinkles…

A Viking type horn with lines in the wood it was carved from visible.

The fur covered, shoulder armor has leather sections and buckles visible.

There are also wrappings around Kratos’s legs to protect him from the cold.

This figure has a great range of poses to choose from, each highlighting the fierce weapons!

This Kratos is a fitting addition to the line NECA has created, especially after the equally impressive God of War 3 Ultimate Kratos, the previous release of the character which you can read my review of here.

Basically, he is detailed. Very detailed and with excellent paint applications. I absolutely love it and in a generally uncommon move, the figure is available before the game is. Picking one up is the perfect way to get hyped up for the game!

“God of War 4” Kratos is available now in NECA’s eBay and Amazon stores now and will be available at retailers in a few weeks.

Thanks so much for reading and you can follow me on Twitter @Ode2Ash

2017 was the tenth anniversary of Michael Bay’s first live action Transformers film as well as seeing the release of the fifth film in the franchise, Transformers: The Last Knight. With the property being as popular as ever, a sub genre of toys continues to grow along with it; third party Transformers.

These are toys of either new or existing characters made by independent companies that generally have much more complex parts and transformation steps than official Takara Tomy or Hasbro products. One of these companies, Unique Toys, recently released their take on the main antagonist of the fourth film in Bay’s series, Transformers: Age of Extinction, the intergalactic bounty hunter, Lockdown. The only official toy previously released for Lockdown from the film was a basic, deluxe class figure. Usually the big villains from the film series would get the larger, voyager class figure and sometimes even the largest, leader class figure. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen for Lockdown and fans had always voiced some disappointment. Well, Unique Toys took up the challenge and the results are honestly one of the greatest Transformers I have ever seen.

R-01 Peru Kill is the code name given to this figure by Unique as to use Lockdown is copyright forbidden for a 3rd party transforming toy company. This also applies to the trademarked Autobot and Decepticon logos appearing anywhere on the figure. However, Lockdown wore neither symbol in the film. This helps the screen accuracy of this particular figure more than other Bay film 3rd party Transformers. The main reason that this figure is so amazing is that it is extraordinarily close to the actual character you see on screen. Most of the Bay Transformers are such complex designs that recreating them in plastic form perfectly isn’t really possible. The CGI final designs are not conducive to being made into a toy completely. Meaning, parts will stand out on the toy that are much more well hidden in the film designs.

Peru Kill doesn’t have this issue. He is basically exactly what you seen on screen both in robot and vehicle mode.

Almost all the car parts are hidden. He almost looks like just a robotic character of some sort when not in vehicle mode. Here you can see the rear wheels covered by the tail lights on the robot’s calves.

Even the usual robotic pieces you see underneath the body of a Transformer all very well hidden. Fingers are the only clear, humanoid part you can see.

You have a hard time spotting that he is a Transformer at all and that’s why so many fans are taking notice of him. I’ll be honest, when I saw this prototype last spring, my jaw dropped. I put in my pre-order but there was a little, pessimistic voice in the back of my head that said the final version won’t look this good. But, it does.

As you can see, Peru Kill comes with some really large accessories!

The hyena type creature is one of a pack of many seen as pets and bodyguards of Lockdown in the film.

The hyena comes with articulation in the jaw, neck, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles and he really is large enough to look like a pet next to Peru Kill.

Next is a ridiculously huge rifle that he used in the film.

And just like in the film, the rifle can be affixed to Peru Kill’s head to appear to have transformed out of his body.

A small tab on the back of the head and a metal bar that connect to the spine are what attach the weapon.

This rifle can also be attached to the roof of the car.

Peru Kill also comes with an alternate bright, green, clear, plastic face plate.

A claw hand accessory that can extend in and out.

And a “seed” device as seen in the film that can explode like a molten metal grenade.

His face and chest are also marked with battle scars.

Copper colored missiles adorn the arms.

The vehicle mode of Peru Kill/Lockdown is the 2014 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 and it is a beautiful replica.

The tail lights and glass engine cover in the back are a red and clear plastic meant to look like glass.

The calipers of the disk breaks are visible behind each wheel.

In fact, the only thing missing from this vehicle mode is the Lamborghini badge on the front of the hood, something else forbidden for 3rd party Transformers.

This figure’s transformation is surprisingly easy for such a complex looking figure. And he is incredibly tall! Look at him in between two Transformers from the Human Alliance line, Barricade and Jazz.

You can clearly see how much taller he is. However in vehicle mode…

He is no bigger than the other two. In fact, he is a tad shorter than the other cars while being about the same length.

It’s hard to see how the robot can be made from the vehicle, in honesty.

I cannot recommend Peru Kill enough if you are a fan of Transformers of any sort. Now, unfortunately, he comes with a hefty price tag, around $125. This is due to his complex design, his limited production and the fact that he comes from a much smaller company than normal. He can be purchased from sites that specialize in Transformers such as TFSource.com

Thank you very much for reading and you can follow me on Twitter @Ode2Ash

NECA Toys’s Ultimate line prides itself in giving collectors a complete or near complete embodying of a classic film character in an awesome, window style box. And so far, each one has delivered! Just this past summer, they released two Ultimate Jasons from the Friday The 13th series. Each included enough accessories to cover every weapon Jason used in each film as well as the damage done to his head throughout the movies. I thought those were the two most fully encompassing of their source films Ultimates that NECA had released.

Until this came out…

Ultimate Chucky!!!

I honestly feel that this is their best Ultimate figure in terms of bang for your buck. Ultimate Chucky comes with enough accessories to recreate his appearance in FOUR separate films, Childs’s Play 1 through 3 and Curse of Chucky! For months leading up to this figure’s release, NECA’s director of production Randy Falk had shared teaser images while stating he thought it was the best Ultimate figure they had done to date. I can absolutely see why.

As you can already see above, NECA has done what all fans hoped and made the packaging in the same style as the Good Guys toy packaging seen in the film series.

Once you open it up, you can see this figure really is loaded far beyond previous Ultimate releases.

Flanked by a great photo of the figure, the main window continues the Good Guy packaging theme and includes the toy line’s catch phrase, “I’m your friend till the end!”

Once the tray with the figure is removed, you can see another accessory peaking out from behind Chucky…

A miniature Good Guys box complete with window that will hold the figure inside of it!

This box comes flat but easily folds into the proper shape and holds it without problem! It looks fantastic and is honestly my favorite accessory in this set!

The first thing we see when cracking into this figure is how many heads he comes with! Four in total! Please note! The black, head stands shown in the photos below are not included with this figure.

A standard, non evil, Good Guy face…

A possessed face…

A sliced face from Child’s Play 3…

And a stitched up face from Curse of Chucky!

These heads pull on and off with ease as do the alternate hands provided to hold Chucky’s huge arsenal. Chucky comes with almost every single weapon
he uses in the first three films of his series.

The voodoo dagger scene in the original film.

The Good Guys hammer Chucky uses to kill Andy’s babysitter in the same, first film.

The baseball bat he uses to knock out Andy in the film.

The yard stick he beats Andy’s teacher to death with in part 2.

The next accessory, NECA really went all out with. The included the dagger Chucky uses near the end of part 2…

Near the end of the film, Chucky gets his right hand slammed in a metal gate and has to pull it off at the wrist to escape. He then removes the dagger’s handle and jams the bottom of the blade into his wrist stump to create a dagger hand. NECA included an alternate, lower arm to completely recreate this look!

The gory Child’s Play 3 head is incredibly detailed and is my personal favorite head of the lot.

From part 3, Chucky comes with a combat knife…

a straight razor…

and a small gun.

From the sixth film in the franchise, Curse of Chucky comes a stitched up head and a butcher knife.

It’s so awesome that Chucky has finally been redone by NECA and at a proper scale to the other horror greats they have produced over the last, few years!

Ultimate Chucky is available now in stores and online for around $25 before shipping. Cannot recommend this one enough!

Thanks for reading and you can follow me on Twitter @Ode2Ash.

This past October 8th marked the 25th anniversary of Mortal Kombat being released in arcades.

Wow…Mortal Kombat is a quarter of a century old. That makes me feel incredibly old if I’m perfectly honest. I remember waiting close to half an hour to play it in arcades and having to put your quarter up on the control panel when your turn was approaching.

In perfect timing for the anniversary, this year Storm Collectibles began releasing a series of figures from the game franchise at 1:12 scale, or about inches 6.5 tall! I was immediately extremely interested when I heard about them as Mortal Kombat is by far my favorite fighting series! Well, I finally got a chance to get my hands on one. And it’s my personal favorite MK fighter…

The classic, ice assassin Sub-Zero from the deadly Lin Kuei clan!

Right off the bat, this figure comes with one particularly cool feature, interchangeable masks from MK 1 and MK 2! In the original Mortal Kombat, the three ninjas in the game all had a basic piece of cloth covering their mouth and nose.

For the sequel, a plastic, vented mask was introduced.

While both look very cool, pardon the pun, I’m personally more of a fan of the MK 1 cloth style mask. These masks are single, pull on and off pieces.

Obviously, the character’s namesake comes from his ice powers that got more varied and tricky as the MK series went on. However, Storm chose the two most iconic moves for the Lin Kuei assassin: his ice blast and sliding kick!

The ice effect fits over the fingertips of Sub-Zero’s flat hand.

Once on, the arm can be posed to aim the effect however you like!

You can even recreate the charging up pose Sub-Zero makes just a moment before unleashing his ice blast!

The second move is the slide kick. Originally, this move was not accompanied by an ice effect, but it was added in later entries in the series.

Like the ice blast, the sliding ice effect can be used with each respective limb. The effect simply lines up against the foot, however, it does not connect to the foot as the ice blast does to the hand.

However, by far, the most memorable move by Sub-Zero, and arguably the most memorable of the entire game, was his brutal, spine rip Fatality!

A special hand is included to grasp the spine and have it raised over Sub-Zero’s head in his victory pose!

One of the things that really makes this figure a lot of fun is it’s high flexibility. A huge variety of poses, both static and fighting moves, are able to be recreated.

A meditation pose is also possible.

 

High kicks…

And even the huge, gravity defying uppercut each character could do!

I absolute love this figure! There have been a lot of attempts from various companies over the years to make action figures from MK and each time, something was off. But, Storm Collectibles nailed it in my opinion! A variety of accessories for the special moves, a wide range of poses and even a gory accessory to recall the brutality that shot the series to fame!

Now, this figure is $50 which may seem a little high for a figure of this size. However, the quality is absolutely there, in my opinion, and worth the cost. The shoulder wraps of his outfit are separate, soft plastic pieces as opposed to having the entire chest being one piece, for example. These little details make this figure stand out to me.

This figure is sold out of the vast majority of stores but is available on secondary markets. You will definitely see more of Storm Collectibles Mortal Kombat line on this site in the future!

I’m Ash and you can follow me on Twitter @Ode2Ash.

Thanks so much for reading!!!

At the time it was made in 1984, Friday The 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter was supposed to be just that; the end of the series. Jason is taken out by young Tommy Jarvis in a manner appropriately brutal for the screen’s most prolific killer. The brutal ending to Jason Voorhees portrayed in the film is captured perfectly in NECA’s third Ultimate Jason figure!

Using the classic movie poster image of the bloody, hockey mask with a knife through the eye, NECA again used their window flap packaging for this Ultimate.

Inside the window flap is an insert image of the thunderstorm that takes place throughout the film’s third act.

The figure itself in the tradition of all the Ultimate Jasons, comes loaded with practically every weapon Jason uses in the film as well as an alternate head with alternate mask, an alternate hand and Pamela Voorhees’ tombstone.

Starting from the top, this Jason comes with two masks to represent the damage done to him throughout the film and the worn off red paint as a result.

Jason’s hands are touched off with grimy, black fingernails.

Jason’s clothes are also stained with blood and rain.

The detailing in the masks is amazing!

But the grotesque face underneath is astoundingly accurate to the horrific face created by makeup effects legend Tom Savini for the film!

Jason looks gloriously menacing wielding all of his weapons. From the basic ax or knife…

To the more unusual corkscrew and meat cleaver combination that took out the weird and quirky Crispen Glover in the film.

To even a brutal medical hacksaw used for autopsies!

But, by far the coolest and goriest part of this figure is the alternate head with a slot in the side.

You can insert the bloody machete into this slot to recreate the fatal blow struck to Jason in the film’s finale by young Tommy Jarvis! You can even have him slide down the blade exactly as you saw on screen!

The finishing touch is the gravestone of Pamela Voorhees that the kids who meet their fate at Jason’s hands spot on the side of the road while they are en route to the cabin.

 This Jason was released earlier this year, but was so well received by fans that a reissue is coming very soon! And for only $25, be sure for grab one before they sell out again!

Thanks for reading and if you liked this piece, please follow me on Twitter @Ode2Ash

In honor of today’s date, NECA Toys revealed not one, but two upcoming releases to their already fantastic Friday The 13th lineup!

First, we got final pics and pricing info for this insane Friday The 13th Accessory Set! NECA’s director of production, Randy Falk, first teased the hanging Camp Crystal Lake sign seen in the original film back in June.

At San Diego Comic Con, it was revealed that this sign would be part of an accessory set that would also include a dock diorama piece, a vandalized “Camp Blood” sign and a rock and chain from the underwater ending of Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Today, we finally got to see the set finalized with these awesome pics from NECA’s Twitter feed…

But also that the submerged rock would come with a stand attached to connect NECA’s separately sold Ultimate Part 6 Jason and recreate the “floating” effect we see at the end of the movie!

This set is already up for preorder on multiple sites for between $25 and $30 which I feel is a fantastic price for all that and I absolutely would have paid more for it! It is scheduled for a February release and I’ll have a full review of it for you then!

The second reveal began with a tease of this image on NECA’s Twitter yesterday evening with the caption, “Is it Friday yet?”

Sharp eyed fans quickly spotted this machete to be the one used to kill wheelchair bound counselor Mark in Friday The 13th Part 2 and assumed this meant a tease of an Ultimate Part 2 Jason.

Well, today that was confirmed on Twitter!

Fans have long requested the Ultimate treatment be given to the Parts 2 and 7 versions of Jason as NECA released figures for each of them years ago and they are now hard to find and expensive. So, many fans are excited to have a new chance to pick up “Sackhead” Jason! Like the accessory set, I’ll bring you all news and a full review of Ultimate Part 2 Jason when he drops!

Have a happy Friday The 13th!!!

 

By now, its nothing new that NECA Toys has been doing their own updated versions of the early 1990’s Kenner Toys Alien and Predator figures. You can read my review of NECA’s Alien Vs. Predator 2-pack here and Predator Series 16 here both of which are Kenner themed.

Well, NECA did it again with the Kenner tributes.

And this one is big. Very big.

The Deluxe Predator Clan Leader!

NECA stuck to their theme of recreating the original Kenner packaging, however in this case, there was a snag. The Kenner Clan Leader came on a standard card back with a bubble. But, NECA’s version is so much heavier that making it available on a card back wasn’t possible. So, NECA packaged it in one of their window boxes…

with the front cover of the box printed up as how this Clan Leader would look in the old Kenner packaging. They even included the hole for the store shelf pegs and the outline of the bubble. I think this was a very clever touch on NECA’s part.

They also continued their tradition of creating a backstory for the Kenner Predators.

This figure is the largest 1/10 scale Predator that NECA has made and that is appropriate as the original Kenner Clan Leader was the largest Kenner Predator at the time.

Clan Leader comes with a removable mask, bladed staff, plasma cannon, two bendable tentacles and two tentacle tips.

Right off the bat, the Clan Leader stands out among the other NECA Predators with his bright coloring and ghostly, white tendrils. The tendrils themselves start white near the head and become more grey as they go.

Clan Leader’s bright skin is offset by dark stripes running vertically down his whole body.

The head is amazing, a sculpt created for the upcoming AVP: Alien Vs. Predator Elder Predator. Dark, red eyes sit deeply in the hideous face.

The markings on his forehead are the same as that of Scar Predator and Elder Predator from AVP as well.

Clan Leader’s backpack is massive.

It features clan markings and a clip to attach the staff.

The same markings can be seen on the chest armor as well.

The plasma cannon plugs into a slot on the top of the backpack. This is the newer AVP style plasma cannon

The mask can slip on and off easily. The mask is also detailed and painted on the inside.

Clan Leader’s main feature though is his pair of huge, bendable tentacles. These can be plugged into the large gauntlets on each of Clan Leader’s arms.

Or into the two sockets on Clan Leader’s collar armor.

The two tentacle tips are meant to plug into the same places to create the illusion that the tentacles can be completely retracted into the armor.

This figure is amazing! The photos speak for themselves, he is a striking and impressive in size and design with bright paint apps and a huge arm span with the tentacles.

He helps round out an impressive and varied Kenner tribute collection by NECA that fans expect to keep growing. If you only buy one of these Kenner Predators, Clan Leader might be the one to chose. I’ve seen a few fans now say that they were not interested in the Kenner line until this figure was revealed and that is totally understandable.

For all the latest NECA Toys news and information, follow them on Twitter @NECA_TOYS and you can follow me @Ode2Ash.

Thanks very much for reading!

For the last three years during the holiday season, NECA Toys has surprised its fan base and toy collectors in general with new figures showing up unannounced in Toys R’ Us stores. NECA’s director of production, Randy Falk, said that they wanted to recreate that feeling you had as a kid when you would go into a toy store and find new items that you didn’t know were coming.

And they definitely pulled it off.

Two years ago, this showed up unannounced in stores.

A 7 inch version of the previously released NECA 18 inch Michael Keaton Batman from the 1989 Tim Burton film Batman.

Fans were shocked to see this. As soon as NECA announced they were making figures from DC Comics in 18 inch scale, they were inundated with the question of whether they would also make them in 7 inch size. But, unfortunately, they couldn’t because another company owns the rights to make figures at that size.

However, due to an old home video promotion held by Warner Brothers, if a copy of a Warner Brothers DC based film was sold alongside the figure, then the toy could be produced at 7 inches. So, for the last three years, that’s what NECA has done. Surprised fans with small scale versions of that years previously released 1/4 scale DC figures. Other than that, all the details of just how this is legally accomplished is kept secret.

Last year, the number of figures jumped from one to three! Collectors walked into Toys R’ Us to see figures of Adam West’s Batman from the 1966 Batman television series…

Heath Ledger’s Joker from 2008’s The Dark Knight…

and Christopher Reeve’s Superman from the 1978 film of the same name waiting for them!

The fan reaction was even bigger than the previous year. West is an icon, Ledger took audiences to places they had never been before and Reeve starred in the first huge, superhero film. I remember collectors from all over Europe and Asia posting on US based toy message boards looking for these figures, in particular Reeve.

Well, we’re now in the holiday season and just before Thanksgiving of this year, NECA surprised fans again with these…

7 inch versions of Christian Bale’s Batman from 2005’s Batman Begins and Harley Quinn as she appeared in the 2011 video game “Batman: Arkham City”. Again, like the years before, these are smaller versions of 18 inch DC figures NECA has released during the past year.

We’ll start with Batman.

Batman Begins was the start of a new trilogy of Batman films and would reintroduce audiences around the world to the character and his villains in ways they couldn’t have imagined.

The armor details on the Batsuit are great. All the lines and creases from when it was a tactical body armor suit are clear on the chest, arms and back.

The facial sculpt and logo on the chest are dead on as well.

Batman comes with two alternate hands…

a pair of Batarangs in different sizes…

a grapple gun…

and a clip to holster the grapple gun to the back of Batman’s utility belt.

The cloth cape can wrap around the arms or tucked behind the shoulders.

This figure is an awesome addition to the NECA DC line and goes well next to the Joker.

Harley Quinn is the second addition to the DC line this year and she is unique among the lineup.

She is not only the first female addition to the DC line, but the first character to be chosen from a video game, not a feature film.

Harley comes with two alternate hands…

a pair of machine guns…

and a baseball bat.

Harley is a highly detailed figure. The tooling on the leather creases, buckles, studs, lace on her bra, corset and underwear, tattoos and a real metal chain all stand out very well.

The machine guns can be wielded as either a pair or individuals.

The blast effect that came with Vasquez from the Aliens series plugs in easily to Harley’s machine gun for added action and detail.

Again, this effect does not come with Harley, but goes well with her. In fact, this blast effect has been used by NECA fans with Terminator, Rambo and Dutch from Predator figures since its release with Vasquez.

Harley even has articulation in her ponytails.

This allows for some great touches of realism and gravity to an action photo.

These ponytails and weapons allow you to create some great battles between her and Batman.

Harley also poses very well with her beloved Mr. J.

Batman Begins’ Batman and “Arkham City” Harley Quinn are exclusive to Toys R’ Us stores in the US only and available now for $19.99 each. Go grab them now to add them to the NECA DC lineup!

For all the latest NECA Toys news and information, follow them on Twitter @NECA_TOYS and you can follow me @Ode2Ash.

Thanks very much for reading!