Striker’s paint job is similar enough to Gipsy’s and Crimson’s to fit in, but it’s much less sloppy (or at least the ones I’ve seen are). The lines are a lot crisper, especially on the smaller details like the face plate and various exhaust ports. The dirty wash is also more consolidated and does a better job of bringing out the metallic silver of the underlying coat. There’s even some nice silver weathering on the black gears and various under-parts.
Striker technically comes with two sets of accessories: the sting-blades that are attached to his forearms. Each blade connects separately to the arm and can swivel back and forth. They can also be popped off if you want to display him without them.
On a side note, I’m really curious to see if we’ll get another version of Striker with a new chest and his anti-kaiju missile launchers exposed. If so, I hope they include some shooting missile and explosion effect parts…
All around I’m really happy with Striker. He’s a nice little mech figure that features better articulation and a couple of weapons. Like Leatherback, these improvements put him way ahead of the first wave figures, and gives me a lot of hope for the upcoming wave three.
-Vault
cool design. he does look like a walking battleship mecha.
was this the Aussie or Russian mech in the movie?
Striker Eureka is the Aussie mech. The Ruskie one was Cherno Alpha – due in the third release, and the one I want the most!
Eureka and Crimson Typhoon are both better executed figures than Gipsy in my opinion. But while they certainly have better articulation than Gipsy, it’s still not what I would have preferred. It’s a shame too, with all the armor panels and surfaces I’d think NECA would have done a killer job properly getting those 1-2 more points that would have made these outstanding. Still, Randy’s stated that the following waves will improve on these first two, and I’d believe that NECA can do wonders with those now that they’re free of the effects of Walmart’s indecision with this line.
I haven’t been able to bring myself to buy a Gypsy Danger for the reasons you mentioned; every one of both versions I’ve seen have such a sloppy paint job on them. Crimson and Stryker had much tighter, better executed paint jobs.
Stryker’s articulation is definitely better, but every time I look at him I mourn the fact that those chest plates don’t open to reveal an arsenal of missile launchers. It’s the obvious articulation points that are seemingly overlooked that are always disappointing, and I wish American toy companies would realize we would pay extra to get the coolest toy possible.
Great review–I love this figure. What amazes me is how you guys always speak in the PLURAL of Pacific Rim figures you have seen…I have seen ONE in person, and I’ve had to order the rest if I wanted any, which can be a crapshoot when it comes to sloppy paint, but I feel unable to complain and glad to have them! I have some more photos of the first two waves and the backing paperwork at my blog if interested!
http://snakeandboris.blogspot.com
I just happened to be lucky and pop into Toys R Us when just after the case packs arrived. Believe me, by the next week every last one would be gone.
damn you, i was mostly dismissive of striker, till this review… you make my life more expensive.
This guy looks great! I liked the Battle Damaged Gipsy, but this guy was the star of the wave for me. If only I could find him on the pegs somewhere…
Has it been confirmed that another version of Striker will be released at a later wave? I don’t have the room for 2. Maybe I’ll have to wait…
I’m hesitant to pick this up in case NECA releases a more articulated one next year, maybe with the nuclear payload attached to it. So far it looks like Cherno Alpha and Coyote Tango will be greatly improved on articulation based on those design drawings released earlier.
Does anyone else see Bay-Former Sideswipe in this design?
Haven’t seen “Pacific Rim” but the similarity alone is enough to make me contemplate picking this one up.