James Cameron’s 1984 film The Terminator is an amazing collection of all of the practical  film-making techniques used over the previous fifty years at the time. From matte painting backgrounds, stop motion animation, miniature models with pyrotechnics, life size animatronics, puppetry, to make up appliances, The Terminator has it all. It’s also a wonderful example of guerrilla film-making; some shots were done without permits or in just a matter of minutes on the fly with objects on hand in order to get the project done. Considering all of this and everything the Terminator franchise would become was the result of James Cameron having a high fever during the production of Piranha II: The Spawning in Italy, the film is also a testament to how a great story will always find a way to come to life.

NECA Toys released a series of figures from The Terminator back in 2011 which quickly sold out and became highly coveted on secondary markets. Four figures in the likeness of Arnold Schwarzenegger were made from the two outfits the T-800 wears in the film: A grey jacket and punk tee shirt version called Tech Noir Terminator from the club where the first major shootout in the film occurs.

 

The name of the club itself is a reference to the film’s major theme. Tech Noir; dark technology.

The second version features the iconic sunglasses and leather jacket named Police Assault Terminator from the scene where the T-800 storms a police station in search of Sarah Connor and utters the legendary phrase, “I’ll be back.” A second, battle-damaged version of each of these looks was also released.

NECA is constantly asked by fans for older, harder to find figures to be re-released. As we’ve seen before with the Ultimate line, they’ve listened. Here is the brand new Ultimate Tech Noir Terminator!

 

Containing three heads, three weapons, an alternate right arm, an alternate left hand and two pairs of surgical scissors, this figure contains every accessory released with the two previous Tech Noir figures.

You essentially get two figures in one, and the surgical scissors are a brand new accessory for this release.

NECA has a long history of not re-releasing figures in the exact same way they were first released. For example, when the Cult Classic figures were re-released due to demand, they were packaged without their bases and in different packaging. Same thing here, Ultimate Tech Noir comes in the newer window box packaging with the new surgical scissors. So, even collectors like me who had both previous Tech Noir releases would get something new.

Above all else, this, like all other previous Ultimate releases, is a completely new sculpt of the character and the accessories.

The facial sculpts are a little more accurate in the Ultimate version as well as a slightly darker flesh tone.

Some fans are confused by the second head included with this figure. It is an eyebrow burned away and singed hair version of Arnold’s face.

In the film, Reese shoots the gas tank of a car behind the Tech Noir club as he is fleeing the T-800 with Sarah causing the car to explode.

The T-800 dives through the fire to reach them, causing the fire damage.

This can be clearly seen minutes later as the T-800 drives the stolen police car through the parking garage in search of Reese and Sarah.

The final head is the battle-damaged version after Reese fires a shotgun blast through the windshield of the T-800’s police car at the end of the first major chase sequence.

Buckshot marks dot the face of both sculpts.

The new, cut open right arm is a tad bloodier than the original.

The biggest difference in the sculpts is the added articulation in the knees.

The older Battle-Damaged Tech Noir also comes with a coat that is more covered in soot and blood than the coat that comes with the Ultimate version. Both coats feature a real chain attached to the left shoulder.

The leather gloves of the new Ultimate figure have a shinier finish to them making them a tad more realistic than the older versions’ gloves.

I love this figure! The Terminator is my favorite entry in the series and this is a perfect capturing of Arnold in his most iconic role. For only $24.99, it is a terrific collectible and is available in stores now.

As I mentioned before, all four of the figures from NECA’s original Terminator run are highly requested to be released again. And again, NECA listened. An Ultimate Police Assault Terminator is coming later this summer and I’m just as excited for him. Look for that review soon!

For all the latest NECA news, follow their official Twitter account @NECA_TOYS run by their director of production, Randy Falk.

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

Thanks so much for reading!