In 2019, NECA released a John Connor action figure from Terminator 2 Judgment Day as a San Diego Comic Con Exclusive. It was only available in the US and had collectors of NECA's Terminator series up in arms. Roll on 12-months, and NECA did come good for collectors with the release of a Terminator 2 Judgment Day Ultimate 2-Pack of John Connor and his mum, Sarah Connor. John did sadly lose the dirtbike seen in the SDCC set, but retained most of the other accessories. Sarah, as a direct repack of her existing T2 Ultimate figure.
Packaging 3.0
The box design was in keeping with the Ultimate series, with the black base colour and ice blue panels as seen on other T2 releases. The box is fully enclosed with an art panel on the front with artwork not drawn from a movie poster, but inspired by the 1990's with a montage of Sarah and John overlooked by a T800 Endoskeleton.
The two side panels are quite plain, carrying the T2 Judgment Day logo and a blue panel carrying the NECA logo. Under each logo is an image of the characters, with John on the right and Sarah on the left. The back of the box carries three scenic shots of the two figures in various poses - but there is no background text or bio, something NECA has not chosen to do on the Ultimate figures.
The front cover opens by means of a Velcro fastening. Once opened we find another image on the flip side of the front cover showing the figures of John and Sarah. The figures themselves are presented in a window with their various accessories spread around. The figures are set against a cardboard background of the Cyberdyne Systems building - which does make the whole window looking a bit busy.
Paint & Sculpt 4.0
We start with John Connor, and the sculpt is a very good likeness to actor Edward Furlong, 1991. The sculpt is not neutral, but rather shows John with a slightly puzzled look with his mouth open and eyebrows partially furrowed. The facial features are well defined, but the skin tone is quite flat and does not use any shading. The hair piece hangs over the side of John's face and you can see individual strands sculpted in the hair piece - but you can also see a lot of "bits" which looks to be particles in the paint, or that has settled while the paint is wet.
John's costume is accurate to T2 with the exception of the Public Enemy logo on the T-shirt which is left black. The jacket has a camo design which is very well executed and a step up from the plain green of the SDCC, and then we have a pair of stone washed jeans. The figure finishes with some trainers, black with a white sole, and here the paint is patchy with the black paint applied to the white plastic of the trainers not covering everywhere it should.
John's wrists, exposed under the folded back arms of his jacket, are very thin - almost unnaturally so on his right arm which is a lot slimmer than the left. His left wrist has a watch sculpted on and painted.
Sarah Connor is the exact same figure released in the Ultimate Sarah Connor set from 2015. She comes in her combat vest and trousers, all painted in black or dark grey with just the odd piece of detail picked out in her belt with the silver buckle and pins. The figure utilises the rubbery groin piece to hide the hip joints and on our review figure this right hip is exposed significantly under the rubbery piece. Sarah's arms are cast in a skin colour and are well defined in terms of the musculature.
Sarah comes with three head options, the first as fitted to the figure is the 1991 Linda Hamilton with her long fringe and hair tied back in a ponytail. Like John, the likeness is good and the facial features painted really well.
Head two is Sarah in her sunglasses and cap. The glasses are - like many in this scale - touch too bulky in their rims. The final head is Sarah with her hair down, and this is potentially the best likeness of the three - but the worst in terms of hair style which seems to sit too high on her head. All three heads are a bit tough to insert onto the very narrow neck peg and there is no obvious snap or click into position.
Accessories 4.5
The first accessory the set has to offer is the T-800 Endoskeleton arm complete in its clear case. This is really detailed, and decorated in a black base coat with silver applied over the top in layered dry brushing. The base is left a plain silver and the clear plastic case sits into this - but can be removed to show off the arm more clearly - particularly as the plastic is very thick and my review set arrived with marks already on the plastic.
For John, we have his backpack which is cast in a hard plastic but with flexible rubber straps. The pack is painted in blue with black trim and includes visible zip details and ribbing on the straps.
The straps fit over the arms of John, which is best done with his arms behind him and bent in at the elbows. Once in place the pack sits very naturally against John's back with the straps sitting flat against the jacket.
John then comes with his hacking device for ATM machines. This is a very detailed piece with a keyboard and screen that is then connected to a drive piece and a final card insert by a flexible white cable with sculpted VGA connectors. The piece sits really well in John's hands for posing, otherwise it will have to go in your bits box.
Moving on to Sarah, we have a number of weapons - all of which were included in the original Ultimate box set. The knife is a cast in hard plastic with a flexible strap attached. The blade is coloured in a silver while the grip is in a tan leather colour.
Considering the size it is well shaped, but lacks any real detail. It fits in Sarah's right hand, although the grip is not overly tight. Considering Sarah was an Ultimate release originally and this set is also an Ultimate Series release - some additional hands for both characters would not have gone amiss considering the various items they need to hold. When not in use the knife can slip in the holster on her belt at the right hand side.
Sarah's next weapon is a small handgun which again is cast in a harder plastic. It is coloured silver with a black grip and even has the screw heads on the grip painted in silver. It fits more snugly in the right hand with a trigger finger sliding into place. There is no holster or belt position for the handgun when not in use.
The assault rifle is a more detailed piece thanks to its size. We have some nice shaping on the but of the weapon, across the scope and into the barrel and down to the ammo cartridge. The gun is cast in a grey plastic with silver used across the centre of the gun body and into the handle. It is fitted with a rather unruly flexible rubber strap.
The AR is designed again to fit in Sarah's right hand where the trigger finger slots into place. The left hand can then be employed to cup the barrel for a two handed grip. The strap is not long enough to have Sarah hold the weapon with the strap engaged over the head & shoulders. The arm articulation is also not extensive enough for firing poses, only cradling the weapon two handed. The strap does work well to have the weapon slung over Sarah's shoulders and actually enhances the look of the figure in terms of Sarah being geared up and ready to face off against the T-1000.
Our final accessory is the shotgun. This is cast in silver with a painted slide arm in a tan brown, and the same colour used on the grip. Over the top arch of the Shotgun as shown when folded are a line of cartridges, painted blue on one end and bronze on the other.
The shotgun is also articulated with the upper arch folding down to become a stock piece. The right hand again is used here, but the grip is quite poor and the trigger finger won't quite reach the trigger - another case for the need for alternative hands. The left hand again will cup the barrel for two hand posing. Due to the nature of how this type of shotgun is fired, there is enough range in the arm articulation for some firing poses.
Articulation 3.5
Starting with John Connor, and he comes in with a total of 14 points of articulation. The NECA joints are very well disguised to give a more natural look to the figure, but those aesthetics do see overall poseability sacrificed a little.
Head : ball joint peg neck
Body : waist ball joint swivel
Arms : Ball joint shoulder, single joint rotating elbow, wrist pivot
Legs : ball joint hips, single joint rotating knee, ankle rocker
John is pretty mobile in most places with the exception of the elbows which won't reach a right angle bend. It doesn't pose too much of an issue as we will be posing John neutrally or with his ATM hacking device rather than weapons or in any dynamic poses. It would be interesting to see how well this articulation allowed the bike riding position (but without the bike I cant assess).
All of John's joints are secure, including the ankle rockers, which means he is stable enough once posed and stands fine on his own. He will drop onto a display stand for more action posing such as the walking pose I played with in the images below.
Sarah arrives with the same articulation count as John, 14 in total. As mentioned earlier in the review, my Sarah Connor does suffer with a exposed joint on her right hip with a right leg that seems to be a little longer than the left and requires some adjustment when posing. Having got out my 2015 figure, it presents the same issue.
Head : ball joint peg neck
Body : waist ball joint swivel
Arms : Ball joint shoulder, single joint rotating elbow, wrist pivot
Legs : ball joint hips, single joint rotating knee, ankle rocker
Like John, Sarah's motion is most restricted in the elbows and while she can pose and fire off her handgun, two hand grips with the two larger weapons are more restrictive.
While some of the action/dynamic poses may be a little bit beyond Sarah's range of articulation, she does pose well with her weapons - particularly using the head with the hat and sunglasses which just looks a little meaner than the others.
All the joints are secure and tight and Sarah stands unaided.
Summary
This boxset was very much about getting John Connor out to the general collectors who were up in arms about his initial exclusivity. It seems the profitability of the set relied on a repack with an existing figure and while Sarah makes sense - you do wonder if a T-800 or T-1000 may have been more popular. John as a figure is very well executed and I like the accessories he comes with - I just know a "better" version exists with the Dirt Bike and I cant comprehend how that could be made in very low numbers for SDCC yet cant be included in a set like this for a wider global release.
Sarah is a direct re-release of the original 2015 Ultimate Sarah Connor and comes with a wider proportion of options to include all three heads and her arsenal. Like the original release, there seems to be an issue with her right hip joint and the figure is crying out for alternative hands to better hold the various weapons
Both figures have been designed with looks over articulation, but still articulate well enough for most poses you would want for display. Elbows are the biggest issue for both, and Sarah in particular is hindered by the elbows not bending enough for more poses with her Assault Rifle.
The Sarah and John Connor Ultimate Terminator 2 set is a solid release, but at its £55-£60 price point here in the UK I do tend to look at it and think of the missed opportunities with John in particular and that dirt bike and the alternative head and where tweaks could have been made to Sarah to add some collector value to the set.
I score the Sarah and John Connor Ultimate Set a total of 3.5
About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
action figures, reviews, review, articulation, NECA, Terminator, Judgement Day, John Connor, Sarah Connor, T800