For awhile, Robocop has been the lone NECA item on my review backlog (not counting some older items like my MOTU Stactions or the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man which predated IAT). Recently, though, thanks largely to the Predator line, NECA’s presence is being felt on my wallet and with Vault snagging some Pacific Rim figures, we knew it was time for a NECA theme week.
Since Robocop has waited the longest of anything I’ll be taking a look at this week, I figured it was best to start off with him even though he’s an older figure. Plus, being an 80s kid, I naturally have a ton of nostalgia for R-rated films. Robocop. Predator. Terminator. We had great back in the day, didn’t we? In today’s terms, I probably watched a lot of those films when I was “too young” (And I’ll give those people Poltergeist – I made my parents get rid of all the clowns in my room after that movie), but my affinity for them has gone undaunted in all the years since. And out of all of the movies in that particular vein, Robocop was surely my favorite.
Despite some love for Robocop, I missed out on some good shots at quality figures of him. I had the 80s cap-firing cartoon toys of course, but they were lost in The Great Flood ™. I didn’t have the money for the old Hot Toys versions and never picked up the McFarlane figure for one reason or another (some Robocop fan I am…), but NECA’s came out at just the right time for me to finally get a good Robocop figure in my collection.
The only thing that I didn’t like about the figure – and something that has kept me away from movie figures now & again is the 7” scale. If we lived in a perfect world, free of disease & famine, then I also presume that all the toys I’d want would also be in scale. There wouldn’t be awesome little Storm Shadows that get underfoot of a super-articulated Batman, who is in turn towered over by a Robocop. That initial dislike has been overcome though by having Dutch & his Predators, Clubber, & hopefully some Aliens if TRU would just comply. As great as they look individually, they look greater together.
Except for one tiny annoyance, the sculpt on Robocop is easily the highlight of the figure. The detail work is fantastic throughout and even though of every little bit may or may not be accurate to the movie, the figure gives off a great technical vibe that makes it feel as if it is. There is that one tiny annoyance that leaves the figure off by just a nose… yeah, the nose.
The helmet itself is a separately molded piece that’s placed over the figure and it just doesn’t quite come down far enough to cover the nose. Some might consider it a minor detail – and it didn’t bug me too much until I picked up the GITD Robocop and recognized that his helmet was on correctly. (Which surely means it’s a fixable QC issue and not just a design flaw). Despite the nose there are some other nice little touches like the open left hand, the piston-ankles, and I do think this figure has the more Wellerian lower face yet. Continue to Page 2…
I’ll keep my Figma Robocop 😉
Haha. I wanted to like that one, but the chin just throws it off for me.
I am still disappointed in the Figma Robocop. The prototype looked fantastic and movie-like. The final product, a completely phoned in face sculpt that really ruined my enjoyment of the figure. NECA’s 4 Robocop releases have been great and I am really excited for ED-209.
I wasn’t aware that there was a GITD version. That’s gotta go on my the want list in the back of my head now.
Great pics and reviews as always, Noisy. Love the group size comparison shots ’cause they reminds us that even while scales might not match, each figure is awesome in its own ways.
i don’t know man, murphy’s a big boy once he gets roboed… he SHOULD be a good bit larger than batman, but still shorter than a pred. i certainly acknowledge that his scale isn’t universally perfect, but for the average collector in that 6 and 7 inch scales, he’s pretty much where he should be.
Okay, that didn’t make much sense… Way too many typos for my taste. It’s 4:15 AM and too early to type straight.
Let’s try it again:
“Gee, Noisy! I wasn’t aware that there was a GITD version. That’s gonna go on the want list in the back of my head for sure now!
Great pics and reviews as always. Love the group size comparison shots ’cause they remind us that even while scales might not match, each figure is awesome in its own ways.”
That’s much better, thank you. 🙂
Second time is the charm! Kinda the same with this figure where the spring-loaded holster & better paint QC look to warrant another purchase… lol
I didn’t think I needed a Robocop. Between your review and the looming specter of ED-209, I’m seriously reconsidering. Has to be spring-loaded, though.
I think the spacing of the shoulder and hip joints would annoy me more than whether the nose was covered properly or not.
as far as the character goes, it’s a “yeah, that’s nice, but…” No real strong feelings one way or another. Not sure if that’s because dad didn’t like our jokes about him becoming like the character or not?
otoh, GI Joe’s Sci-Fi pretty much covered my need to have a Robocop figure. I can only guess the GITD version is a nod to the lime green and silver Mr. Fine?
The GITD Robo is a reference to the old Kenner Robocop line, where there was, in fact, a GITD Robocop made called Nightfighter Robocop. Because I guess the best thing to do when you’re fighting at night is to light up your enemy’s target for them.
And I do have very strong feelings about the Robocop character. To me, the original Robocop is practically a perfect movie. It’s equal parts satire and horrific action film, with plenty of dark humor and relatable pathos. Aside from maybe smoothing out some of the visual effects, I can’t think of a single way they could improve on the original, so the upcoming remake has got its work cut out for it (and the shitty suit design isn’t helping its case any).
Robocop is up there with Predator and Die Hard as perfect films for me. I can watch those everyday and not be bored.
I think they needed to have some kind of rubber covering between the leg and the lower torso to make it not look so toy-like.
Huh…. Somebody out there can tell wich Optimus Prime is that one on the first picture on this page? it’s awesome and I want to hunt him down!
Nice review! Was excited to read this bc just last week I ordered my spring loaded holster version and I am pretty impressed. Nabbed him for $20 on Amazon. Somebody said Neca will only be making “just enough” ED-209 figures to meet demand(as in low production). This kind of worries me bc I am not big on pre-ordering anything(I enjoy the hunt), but I’m thinking about it now if this is true. Then again I don’t recall if this source was reliable. Any news or thoughts on this?
Thanks
Valuable information shared..Iam very happy to read this report..thanks for giving us good info.Wonderful walk-through. I understand why post.
Thanks Finn, I’m not one to comment much but I was hoping to find out more information on this. Fingers crossed