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A veteran who coordinated the defense of the city, Zavala was once an immovable object and an unstoppable force. He needs your help now more than ever. Highly detailed sculpt of Zavala modeled from in-game assets Figure comes with Origin Story Assault Rifle Customizable figure with 12+ points of articulation for dynamic posing Includes rare chase redeemable McFarlane Hellspawn emblem Figure comes in window boxed collector packaging and featured on a disc display base

The Soap Studio's 1/12 range of articulated action figures looks to be getting three brand new figures in 2019 (or possibly 2020). The line is comparable to the Mezco One:12 collective, with 6 inch action figures with super articulated bodies and scale appropriate tailored soft goods clothing/ Soap Studios, based in Hong Kong, have already brought us some DC figures with the Batman Begins Bruce Wayne and Ra's al Ghul in their Ninja Training Gear. As well as figures of Arrow and the FLash from the CW TV shows. The DC roster is now growing further with the Joker in his Bank Robbery disguise from The Dark Knight and a Two Face from the same film. And it seems we will have more choice for Newt Scamander figures from Fantastic Beasts. Following on from the MAFEX tease, we now have this version from Soap to look forward too. The figure comes with his trusty suit case as well as a tiny Pickett the Bowtruckle and a Niffler poking out from the case. Prices on these are comparable to Mezco with a single figure at 638 HKD which is about £65. Expect to pay a few more quid on top of that as you will likely have to buy these direct from Hong Kong and have the shipped over.

As the new Captain Marvel trailer was released, Hasbro have released some new images of their Captain Marvel Legends figures coming in early 2019. First is a boxed Captain Marvel showing off the box colour scheme and the alternative masked head. We see the masked head better in this updated image. We then have this alternative Captain Marvel in her bomber jacket with a cat - the significance of which is unknown, but if you want to revisit the source material to speculate, try searching Chewie the Flerken A further cat accessory is included with this Nick Fury release.

As expected, NECA will be producing Action Figures from the 2019 Godzilla movie, King of Monsters. As yet there are no images, but the following press releases were posted on the NECA website yesterday to confirm the first two releases will be a 12 inch (head to tail) Godzilla and a Mothra figure, the first time a Kaiju has been released by NECA. Mothra will have articulated wings and a display stand for flight posing. "NECA is thrilled to present its first figure from the upcoming, hotly anticipated Godzilla: King of the Monsters movie! Based on the monster’s on-screen appearance in this sequel to the 2014 Godzilla movie, the all-new Godzilla is fully poseable, with over 25 points of articulation. Images will be available closer to the movie release date." "NECA is thrilled to present its second figure from the upcoming, hotly anticipated Godzilla: King of the Monsters movie! Based on the monster’s on-screen appearance in this sequel to the 2014 Godzilla movie, Mothra features articulated wings and includes a display base with support rod for simulated in-air poses. Images will be available closer to the movie release date."

Review : Rocky Balboa NECA, Rocky IV Wave/Series : Rocky 40th Anniversary Series 2 Released : May 2017 £22.99 NECA pleased collectors back in 2016 when they announced they would be returning to the Rocky licence, with four waves - covering the first four films in the Rocky saga. Wave 1 hit in 2016 with figures from Rocky 3. Almost immediately afterwards the 2nd wave was announced as being based on the 4th film with figures of Rocky, Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago. Sadly it has take nearly a year for this 2nd wave to hit shelves, and there is no guarantee that this series will continue to the 3rd and 4th waves initially promised. Rocky Balboa, from Rocky IV, is a combination of some previous NECA releases. In the main it uses the Video Game Rocky sculpt and flag from 2014 but of course now applies a more realistic paint job. To add a degree of added value NECA have also added the "blood spit" head that came with the 2013 release. The packaging is all new and is now a window box as opposed to blisters. The box colouration is red for wave 2 (vs the gold of wave 1) while the rest of the box design remains consistent. Essentially the box is a gloss black with spotlight stars. There is a red image of Rocky (from Rocky IV) in the bottom left corner and the character name and film picked out in white to the right of this. Round each side the Rocky logo and 40th Anniversary text are in white with the arms raised Rocky silouetted in red. Round the back of the box we find a short paragraph that sets up the events of Rocky IV. Under this is a still from the film showing Rocky (Stallone) celebrating draped in the American flag. Under this is text confirming the film as Rocky IV and then four inserted images of the other figures in the series - Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago (two flavours). Rocky can be accessed via the top or bottom flap of the box, both of which are taped shut. The inner tray, with the red background, slides out and in this sits the clear tray. Rocky is packed ready posed in his flag, he is strapped in with a number of twist-ties. The alternative head sits to the top right. I have admired this figure for a number of years since I saw the Video Game version - particularly because Rocky IV is my personal favourite of the films. As Rocky comes out of the box, he is posed and ready to replicate that famous scene from the end of the movie, and for many collectors I guess Rocky will pretty much go on he shelf without any other adjustment. There is however an articulated figure under that flag, and the flag is easily lifted off to get at the figure underneath. Like the first releases from wave 1, Rocky is cast in a flesh tone plastic which gives him a sweaty look - perfect for a boxer. The body is well proportioned and defined but where the wave 1 Rocky figures had some darker wash on the body, this one is left plain and that looses some muscle definition. There is some paint applied to the skin tones with a blood splash across the chest - this is ok, but looks a little brown rather than blood red. The trunks are red and white striped with blue banding. They have some further blood splases and the red stripes do have some "scratching" to age them - they were of course handed down from Apollo. The head sculpt is an older version from the original Rocky wave and is not as good a likeness as the revised version that was packed with. It also uses the flesh tone plastic, but has paint application for the lips and a subtle stubble on the chin areas. The left eye of Rocky I think is painted to look like it is a black eye, but it ends up looking more like Rocky applied more mascara to the left than the right. The hair is a flat black colour with a touch of shine - so again, looks sweaty. Top half articulation is very good on Rocky. His head can rotate fully and there is plenty of forward and backward motion. This helps more later on when we get on the alternative head. The torso has a ball joint and this allows for those bob and weave motions when posing. The arms are well articulated with ball jointed shoulders, a rotating single elbow joint and rotating gloves where they meet the forearm. This all means that Rocky can adopt some gloves up defensive poses. He can just as easily be posed with some jabs and punches, perfect for action shots agains Drago. As we can now see in these close ups, the gloves are a glossy red with white trim, stitching and laces. There is a tiny decal on the side that reads Tuf Wear, the brand of glove Rocky wore in the movie. I always love how NECA gets into that level of detail on their figures. Going back to articulation, the bottom half of the figure is less impressive. The thigh joints do "move" but not much more than rotating in the cuffs of the shorts. Rocky will never sit down or be kneeling in the ring. The knees are a single joint (NECA usually do double) and they also rotate. You won't do much with this joint other than getting a solid stance on your shelf. The ankles have a rocker and there is a toe joint to allow the toes to be bent upwards to help with a stepping forward pose - you may need a stand to help you with this. As we mentioned at the start of the review, NECA have thrown in an alternative head with this Rocky - the "blood spit" head from one of their original Rocky IV figures. There is a relief here that they didn't chose to make this a separate figure. This second head is much more expressive than the one that comes with the figure, but is very specific in terms of it would need to be displayed in a boxing action pose. Like the first head it is cast in skin coloured plastic with some paint shading. The eyes are sculpted closed on this figure with blood round each eyes. The most impressive bit is that blood spit shooting from the mouth. This is a slightly rubbery plastic, but I would be careful handling the head as this is probably going to be a weak element. Sadly the head swap operation is not as smooth as I'd like it. Removing the first head took a lot of force, and getting the second head on was virtually impossible to slot into place without adding some heat. NECA have been hit and miss on swap out heads and this one seems to be a miss and could have done with better design and engineering. The Stars & Stripes flag is a well engineered piece of flexible plastic. It is moulded to fit onto Rocky while in one pose with the right arm up and out and the left bent and down. The painting on the flag is neat and also realistic so that the red stripes follow the fold and creasing of the flag. Some of the stars on mine had some white paint missing - and I suspect over time the flag will suffer from paint wear if it is moved on and off the figure. In summing up, for a circa £23 figure you do get a lot of value for money in this release. It is finally great to get that iconic pose with the American flag, and under this is a well articulated figure with some good upper poseability and a variant head for display. There are some issues though. Knowing a better head sculpt is out there feels disappointing it wasn't included. The paint on the head included is also too heavy handed and does not look like a black eye. The alternative head is brilliant. And the flag design also works well, although there was some paint rub / damage. I score Rocky IV a 4 out of 5. Checkout the Rocky figures available at Kapow Toys

Review : Ivan Drago Rocky 40th Anniversary Series (NECA) Wave/Series : Wave 2 (Rocky IV) Released : May 2017 £22.99 Pros : Arm and upper body articulation, attention to detail on the gloves, shorts and boots Cons : Head sculpt is not quite there from some angles thanks to that mouth After tackling Rocky III in the first wave of the 40th Anniversary Rocky Series, NECA switched to my personal favourite Rocky IV in the second wave. This second wave of four figures could end up being the last as NECA seem on the fence about whether to pull the plug on the other two waves which would cover Rocky and Rocky II. This second wave finally brought us a realistically painted Rocky in the US flag that had previously been a Video Game release. We also get Apollo Creed in his showman outfit. And to square off against both Rocky and Apollo we get two versions of the Russian Ivan Drago. Here we will be looking at Ivan in his yellow shorts. This is the figure that fought, and ultimately killed Apollo Creed at the start of Rocky IV. Each Rocky figure comes in a window box that is black in colour, with the very 80's spotlight star background. Each wave has a theme colour, and wave 2 is red. You first see this in the artistic impression of Drago to the bottom left of the box front and then again on the two spines where the Rocky silhouette is picked out in red. The film name and character name is, in contrast, a bright white. Round the back of the box we find that iconic image of Rocky, draped in the US flag, celebrating at the end of the movie's climax fight. Above this sits a synopsis of the film itself. The box back ends with a four figure checklist that summarises the other figures in the Rocky IV wave. Out of the box, Drago is seated in a clear inner tray that sits in a red card backdrop. He is tied into position with those annoying twist ties. The likeness to Dolph Lundgren is particularly strong, both looking at the figure head on and also from the side profile. The square jaw and the flat top hairstyle are crisp and well sculpted. But there is something about the mouth that does throw off the look, it is maybe turned down a little too much, almost an exaggeration of the look they were going for. While this is essentially a re-release of the earlier Drago figure, the painting has improved with better definition in the hair. There is also an intensity captured in the painting of the eyes. I do think, going back to this issue with the mouth, that this new version uses a more intense lip colour and that is contributing to the exaggerated look that I am finding odd. The body of Drago is pretty much perfect in that it captures the toned and ripped look of a 1985 Dolph Lundgren. Not only do we get muscle definition, but up close we can see tendons and sinew - and all cast in a skin tone that is also glossy and therefore looks sweaty as though pre-fight. There is no paint detail as such on any of the skin areas, the figure relies on the sculpt and the natural lighting to define depth and texture. Once you start looking closely at the rest of Drago you do start to appreciate the detail NECA have drip fed into this release. First off the yellow shorts carry a small hammer & sickle on side while red pin striping goes up either side. The shorts are washed over the base yellow with an orange hue that gives them an almost golden look. If you look at the boots then there is more detail like the intricate sculpted laces, the red striping and again more Soviet icons with the star and half moon on the back of each boot. The gloves too are not just a plain red and white. They are really glossy to start with, and also carry a Tuf-Wear logo on each glove - and this is the actual make of glove used in the movie. Articulation is maybe not as strong as we saw with the Rocky figures to date. The upper articulation is stronger than the lower and starts with a ball jointed head which can be rotated and be angled up or down - down being the best one so Drago can look down at his "inferior" opponent. The shoulders are ball jointed and can be raised above the head and out to the side. The issue with the shoulders is that with the width of Dragos chest the arms can never go directly by his side and will always be set out from the body if you are doing any neutral posing. Boxing poses on the other hand are easy to achieve thanks to the wrist joints and the ball pivot hidden under the gloves. Jabs and Punches are easy to maneuver and the gloves can also be put into a combination of defensive positions. The waist crunch further supports boxing poses allowing Drago to look like he is ducking and weaving. The hip joint is locked in behind the shorts, so there is very little movement here - your choice is between a neutral stance or a slightly wider neutral stance. What you can do however is have Drago stepping or advancing forward. By doing this and using the single knee joint you can further enhance your fight pose. This is supported by some stiff ankle rockers, and that unusual and innovative toe articulation to allow for a "stepping" position. In the movie Drago was named "Death from Above" amongst other things, and the figure replicates the 6ft 5inch frame of Drago/Lundgren and the figure towers over the Rocky counterpart from the same wave. While Drago cuts an impressive solo figure, the real beauty of these NECA figures is the fight poses and making the most of the fight injury parts that NECA throw in with certain figures. Here is Drago meting it out to Rocky and standing over our hero while we wait for a 10-count. I have to recognise that this is one of two Drago's in the wave, but I don't mind that as each has a place on the shelf - this one to square off with Apollo Creed (if I can ever find one) and the bloodied red short Drago to go up against Rocky. Considering this is my favourite Rocky movie, and one of my overall 80's favourites I am going to try not to be too biased while I sum up and score Ivan Drago. From a sculpt point, this is an excellent figure aside from that slightly exaggerated mouth. The articulation is dated, but does enough for what you want out of a boxing figure. Paint and detailing is good, but I would have liked some more paint application on the skin tone - something akin to what they did with the black short Rocky in wave 1. These are all small issues, but do detract from what could have been a pretty perfect figure. Considering NECA are keeping these under £25 while smaller and less detailed figures are exceeding this new barrier in 6"-7" figure pricing - Ivan Drago is pretty good value for money. I therefore score him a 4 out of 5. Checkout the NECA figures available at Kapow Toys

Review : Apollo Creed Rocky 40th Anniversary Series (NECA) Wave/Series : Wave 2 (Rocky IV) Released : May 2017 £22.99 Pros : Two figures in one, with the ring entry Apollo and the in-ring fighting Apollo. Despite complex design, the paint apps are spot on Cons : Minor gripe around leg articulation. The jacket is a tad tough to remove The original Apollo Creed 7" figure from NECA was released in 2012. This 2012 version was Apollo as seen in the first Rocky movie in 1976 where he went head to head with the titular character. After this, figures of Carl Weathers have been very short on the ground with NECA seemingly unable to translate Weathers likeness to the Predator licence or indeed replicate any more of Apollo's Rocky appearances. Roll forward to 2016 and it was announced that the Rocky figures were going to get a new lease of life in a 40th Anniversary collection spanning 4 waves, each based on one of the first four Rocky movies. After the first wave focused on Rocky III and included figures of Rocky and Mr T, the second wave was confirmed as being based on Rocky IV and fans of Apollo Creed were delighted to find we would now get the "showman" figure - complete with top hat and Stars & Stripes tailcoat. Apollo was released onto store shelves in the Summer of 2017. The Rocky 40th Anniversary figures are now boxed releases rather than the original blisters. The standard design is a black box with spotlight star icons as a backdrop. Over this we get a theme colour, which for the Rocky IV releases is a bring red. This red design is used to create a two tone image of Apollo in the bottom left, and on the side spines the red is used for the silhouette of Rocky in that iconic arms raised victory pose. The movie name is picked out in a simple white text, with the character name underneath. The figure is presented in a window on the front of the box which wraps over the top flap. While the front of the box is tailored for the figure, the reverse of the box is standard for any of the four figures in the Rocky IV wave. We get a short synopsis of the movie and how World Champion Rocky faces off against new challenger Drago. Under this is an image of Rocky from the end of the movie, wrapped in the Stars & Stripes. The box reverse ends with images of the four figures that make up Series 2 - Apollo, Rocky and two Drago figures. The bottom of the box, if you are interested in this detail, confirms the development team for the figure and also carries the NECA and MGM logo's. The figure is accessed via either the top or bottom flap. It slides out within an inner cardboard tray which is a deep red to create a backdrop to the figure and is consistent with the overall red theme. Apollo is strapped into the clear plastic tray with four black twisty ties. Either side of the figures head sits the top hat and the alternative head. The likeness to Carl Weathers is exactly as you would expect from NECA. Not only is it very well sculpted likeness, it also captures the smiling fun loving Apollo that we see dancing to James Brown as he makes his journey to the ring to face Ivan Drago. The head is cast in a skin tone plastic with the eyes and mouth painted over the top. The teeth are visible thanks to the beaming smile, something we don't always see on Action Figures, and these are painted with impeccable detail. Moustache and Hair are sculpted with texture - but are a plain black colour. Moving down from the head and you start to appreciate some of the other detail in the outfit including the individually painted stars, the golden tassels on the shoulders and the red tassles on the boots. Overall the outfit works well and even with such stark contrasting colours like red and white, there is very little bleeding or issues. The blue front collar of the coat is bring and also carries a sculpted texture. My only grip for the coat and costume is that from the back it does make Apollo look a little hunchbacked. Of course this is because the coat is a separate piece, and the issue is negligible considering no-one will display Apollo from this angle. The Top Hat is a separate piece and cast in a rubbery plastic so it has a degree of give. It too is painted really well with more red and white stripes and individually painted white stars. It fits neatly onto Apollo's head and does not look oversized or unnatural - or at least no more oversized than it was in the movie - excellent engineering. The jacket is removable, although there is nothing on the package that indicates so. It is not the easiest to remove, and you will need to pop off the gloves and then position the arms behind Apollo and slide the coat off. It is tight completing this maneuver and I would not recommend doing it too often. There is however no obvious damage to the paint of the coat or to the joints of the figure. With the coat off you now have Apollo in his ring attire ready to fight. The body is a re-use of that original 2012 release figure, but it certainly doesn't show its age with well defined musculature and body tone. The shorts are a new piece with the higher blue waist band. Again, these are very well decorated with more red & white striping and white stars on the blue trim. The gloves appear to be the same as the 2012 figure but are repainted white with red trim to be accurate to the Rocky IV movie. They even carry a decal for Tuf Wear, the company that supplied the gloves in the film. The boots, like the shorts, are new and are white in colour with red trim and tassels and red & blue stripes down either side of the sculpted laces. Of course once in the ring the happy-go-lucky Apollo demeanor changes to the meaner and more focused Apollo we know. To replicate this, NECA provide an alternative head sculpt of Weathers. This is cast in the same skin tone plastic with the same level of paint detail on the eyes and hair. The head is on a slim peg with a notch to keep the head in place, the smiling head pops off easily and the replacement slides down and clicks in place neatly. The 40th Anniversary figures from NECA have been mixed in terms of articulation and it seems to depend on whether the figure is a new release or if it uses a 2012 sculpt. The upper articulation is excellent on Apollo. The head is free moving on that peg, and beneath this neck joint we have a ball jointed torso that allows the abs section to be bent forward or backward - crucial for that specific boxing stance and guard. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulder with a wide range of movement upward and outward - although if you have the coat in place this will be reduced. The elbow is a single joint, but it bends to 90 degrees and also rotates. You have a similar rotation on the gloves also for the final position of the hands. The hips on any NECA Rocky figure are restricted by the rubberised trunks that they use. While this hides the hip joint neatly, it does stop Apollo hitting anything other than a standing pose. You can rotate the hips under the trunks to vary the pose slightly and to line up the joints underneath as needed. You then have a single jointed knee which will only bend to about 90 degrees. This knee does rotate like the elbow, but doing so goes against all the laws of human joints and rotating it also exposes a hole in the joint which ruins the look of the figure. To aid the stances, we have ankle rockers built into the boxing boots. And the cleverest part of the foot joint is the jointed toe which allows stepping forward & backward poses. Just in case you want a stern looking Apollo in his coat and hat, I can confirm the hat fits the serious head as well as it fits the smiling one. Apollo Creed is the star of the Rocky IV releases, and is arguably the star of the 8 figures that NECA have released in the 40th Anniversary collection. Sadly, he may be the last as sales don't seem strong enough for NECA to continue with the Rocky I and II figures - denying us further Apollo figures. Apollo is bordering on the Ultimate level of release coming with two head sculpts and a distinct outfit change - and all of this is painted and sculpted really well. Articulation is limited around the legs, but nothing that stops me lining up Apollo in a boxing pose against Drago or entering the ring and dancing to James Brown. The only criticism you could level at Apollo is his scarcity. He sold out from initial deliveries really quickly and this was certainly helped by the raft of Predator collectors who wanted to grab the Weathers head to make their own Dillon figure. Even as we write this review just 6-months or so after release, you can be paying anywhere up to twice the original RRP to bring Apollo into your NECA collection. I score Rocky IV Apollo Creed a perfect 5 out of 5.

Review : Clubber Lang* NECA, Rocky III Wave/Series : Rocky 40th Anniversary Series 1 Released : June 2016 £22.99 *2 versions of Clubber are available in Series 1. Blue Trunks with Angry Head. Black Trunks with neutral head. This review covers both figures but at this stage we are working with the blue trunk version and will update out gallery with the alternative version in due course. From 2012 to 2014, NECA produced a small series of Rocky figures - with characters taken from the first four films including the titular Rocky Balboa, Ivan Drago and Apollo Creed. The series has taken on almost cult status and finding any figure from this original run of clam-shelled figures will mean paying considerably over the odds. In 2015 it was announced that NECA would return to the Rocky licence with a 40th Anniversary series of figures. Within this they would re-release figures from the original range, as well as add in brand new sculpts. Wave 1 of this 40th anniversary range would be based on Rocky III and contain two versions of Rocky and two versions of the main protagonist, Clubber Lang. In this review we look at the Clubber Lang figure. The first considerably change vs the original 2012-14 range is the move to a collectors box for these 40th anniversary figures. The box is a sleek gloss black and of comparable size to other collector lines including Funko's Legacy range and Star Wars Black Series. Starting at the front of the box, and the black background is actually made up of spotlight stars. The film and character name is presented in stark white text to the bottom right. And to the bottom left is a high shine foil stylised image of Clubber (Mr T). The window shows off the majority of the figure and wraps round the top flap, but not to either side as we sometimes see on this type of packaging. The colouring of the foil character images and the backdrop of the figure tray will apparently be changed for each series. The two spine sides are identical with the Rocky text logo at the top, and under this the 40th Anniversary wording. In the centre is another foil image, this time of the iconic silhouette of Rocky's celebratory fist in the air pose. Under this is the character name, and confirmation of the series. The box back is made up of the movie poster for Rocky III. To the top of this poster is a short paragraph laying down the premise of Rocky III. To the bottom of the poster is a four figure check-list detailing all the figures in the line, and on top of these is the wording "The Greatest Challenge". Like the Rocky figure, Clubber is a hefty figure in hand - with plenty of weight compared to other modern NECA figures. He stands just over 7 inches tall with the Mohawk. This is taller than Rocky, which is how I remember the movie - although research on Google reveals Mr-T and Stallone are actually the same height. There are two Clubber versions available in Series 1. The first, with black shorts, comes with a neutral looking head which is a great likeness to the icon that is Mr-T, and captures his moody mean look with furrowed frowning eye brows and scowling lips. The other head, with blue shorts, is a grimacing version which can be interpreted as angry or perhaps pained if he has just taken a jaw shot from Rocky. This alternative head is not as crisp as the neutral version and looks a little blurred. The eyes are closed so there is no detail other than the eye brow, and the mouth is now open with the gum shield revealed but there isn't a clear definition between shield and teeth. On both versions the hair is well done, including the Mohawk. All the head paint applications are neat with no obvious factory issues. Like Rocky Balboa, the figure is predominantly cast in a skin tone over which are some detailed paint apps to bring out muscle definition and body details. This is not as pronounced as on Rocky, nor is Clubber as "shiny". All of the body proportions are really good and there isn't a lot of impact from the joints which are all done with a great deal of sympathy to the look of the figure - there is obviously nowhere to hide joints on this type of figure. The gloves are larger than those on Rocky and this is brilliant as I had assumed they may have just been re-used. The gloves are high gloss and with stitched detail and a neat decal to the bottom edge representing the brand of the gloves. The trunks are well detailed, plenty of folds and creases and topped off with an elasticated textured waist strap. Colouring is basic, but neat, and the word Clubber is emblazoned on the waist band on both colours of shorts. The boots are very similar to Rocky with almost knee height stitched textured socks and then ankle height boxing boots. The boots also carry the tassels, but again look to be sculpted for Clubber and not interchanged between the other figures in the series. On the blue shorts these boots are an off white and look a bit grubby and don't capture the lace detail. On the black shorts the boots are still a white base, but now carry some stark black panels and edging. Articulation starts with the common ball jointed head, and like Rocky this can rotate fully and look up and down - the looking up (leaning back) position being ideal for posing Clubber to be taking a punch. Shoulder joints have a full range of movement, and there is then a single joint rotating elbow and a pegged wrist under the glove. Like Rocky this allows Clubber to get into a good selection of boxing poses, and the only gripe is the inability to bend the elbows back on themselves to get the gloves close to the face in a defensive pose. The chest joint is lower down and hidden better on Clubber around his abdomen. And then as an extra piece of articulation there is a very loose waist joint, a joint I can't find or get to move on the Rocky figure. Combining the abdomen with the waist joint and the top torso can be ducked and dived into a variety of hunched boxing poses. The shorts are rubber but still hold the top of the legs in a reasonably fixed position, and I don't mind this. I'd rather the trunks look realistic than NECA having tried to go with hip articulation, which I think would have made the figures look like they were fighting in adult nappies. The hips do move to widen Clubber's stance, and you can then combine this with the single knee joint to plant the legs for in-ring positioning. The ankle rockers and toe joint then allow the feet to be naturally placed, perhaps in a forward shuffle motion, although you won't get Clubber to pose like this without a stand - and thankfully there are feet holes to allow you to peg Clubber onto a stand. Clubber is arguably a better figure than Rocky on the strength of that extra waist joint alone. He looks great, albeit with the neutral head being my preference. Some would argue that packing in two heads would have suited collectors better - but you have to look at the commerciality aspect and a project like this will only survive if NECA can maximise their investment by re-using sculpts in different options. I give the mean and nasty Clubber Lang a 5 out of 5 and I can see him disappearing from shelves really quickly - after all unlike Rocky we know we won't see Clubber again in any of the planned 3 series. Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US Buy from Forbidden Planet

Review : Rocky Balboa* NECA, Rocky III Wave/Series : Rocky 40th Anniversary Series 1 Released : June 2016 £22.99 *2 versions of Rocky are available in Series 1. Black trunks with title belt and blue trunks. This review covers both figures but at this stage we are working with the black trunk version and will update out gallery with the alternative version in due course. From 2012 to 2014, NECA produced a small series of Rocky figures - with characters taken from the first four films including the titular Rocky Balboa, Ivan Drago and Apollo Creed. The series has taken on almost cult status and finding any figure from this original run of clam-shelled figures will mean paying considerably over the odds. In 2015 it was announced that NECA would return to the Rocky licence with a 40th Anniversary series of figures. Within this they would re-release figures from the original range, as well as add in brand new sculpts. Wave 1 of this 40th anniversary range would be based on Rocky III and contain two versions of Rocky and two versions of the main protagonist, Clubber Lang. In this review we look at the first of the Rocky figures. The first considerably change vs the original 2012-14 range is the move to a collectors box for these 40th anniversary figures. The box is a sleek gloss black and of comparable size to other collector lines including Funko's Legacy range and Star Wars Black Series. Starting at the front of the box, and the black background is actually made up of spotlight stars. The film and character name is presented in stark white text to the bottom right. And to the bottom left is a high shine foil stylised image of Rocky. The window shows off the majority of the figure and wraps round the top flap, but not to either side as we sometimes see on this type of packaging. The colouring of the foil character images and the back drop of the figure tray will apparently be changed for each series. The two spine sides are identical with the Rocky text logo at the top, and under this the 40th Anniversary wording. In the centre is another foil image, this time of the iconic silhouette of Rocky's celebratory fist in the air pose. Under this is the character name, and confirmation of the series. The box back is made up of the movie poster for Rocky III and in this case it is this original movie poster that provides the inspiration for the figure itself and it's packed in Championship Belt. To the top of this poster is a short paragraph laying down the premiss of Rocky III. To the bottom of the poster is a four figure check-list detailing all the figures in the line, and on top of these is the wording "The Greatest Challenge". Out of the box and Rocky is strapped into the usual inner tray, and this sits in the gold/yellow coloured backing card. Once unstrapped then Rocky comes out of the box fully ready to enter the ring, there are no accessories packed with him and the Title belt on the Black version is already attached to his waist. Rocky stands 6 3/4 inches high, mirroring Sylvester Stallone's stature of 1.77m and that will accurately sit with fans as Rocky always shorter than the opponents he faced in the movies. Rocky feels a nice weighty piece, more so than other recent NECA figures - not sure if that is intentional? The head sculpt is a strong representation of Stallone, and captures what I think were more refined chiselled features in the 1982 Rocky 3 vs the fresh faced Stallone we saw 6 years earlier in the original 1976 Rocky movie. The hair is perhaps a little less "bouffant"than we see on the film promotional posters, but is a compromise between the promotional images and the mid-fight Rocky. The beauty of the Rocky figure is the decision by NECA to cast this figure in a very glossy flesh tone plastic. This is then washed to add muscle definition and makes the whole body pop whilst also looking glossy and sweaty as any boxer would be during a bout. On top of this the eyes are well painted as is the mouth. Clothing wise and Rocky is wearing a pair of boxers trunks which are essentially a rubber piece applied over the top of the body sculpt. On one version of Rocky the trunks are gold with his name monogrammed on the side. These gold trunks are the ones worn by Rocky in his first, unsuccessful, bout with Clubber Lang. The other version is a set of black trunks. These are not actually seen on screen, but are rather the ones used on the promotional posters. The trunks hold loads of sculpted detail with fold after fold of the cloth and them also holding a high ridged elasticated trim. The black trunk Rocky also comes with the Championship belt. This is a work of art, with a really intricate design of an elasticated yellow strap, over which is a red, white & blue over strap. There is then a huge gold eagle design central piece, and around the side some smaller circular images which are of the actual Rocky figures themselves - Clubber Lang, Rocky, Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago. The belt sits loose on the figure, but has no clear clasp to remove it - although I would guess it would slide (carefully) off via the legs with patience. The boxing gloves are well sized and neatly painted in a high gloss finish. They are red on the black trunk figure, and gold on the gold trunk. Both versions hold a decal logo to the base, as well as intricate stitching up the palm to the base. The boots are again identical on both figures other than colouring - black and gold on the poster Rocky, gold and white on the gold trunks version. The outer socks are textured with neat lines applied, but not overly neat so they don't look like a stitched material. The boots hold two tassels either side which hang independently away from the boot rather than being a sculpted part of it. And like the gloves they have a neat lace up sculpt, although one of the boots on mine had some heavy handed painting in its white colouring which lost some of the detail. Articulation is key for a figure like Rocky, the range is crying out for action shots and to replicate boxing stances. To that end the figure doesn't disappoint. The head is ball jointed so looks fully round 360 degrees as well as looking up and down. The shoulders are ball jointed and move out to the side by a full 90 degrees as well as up above the head. There is no bicep swivel but rather the arm rotates at the elbow as well as moving 90 degrees again via the single jointed elbow. The arm ends in a pegged wrist which is hidden under the gloves. This does give the arms a full range of movement for throwing punches, although you would need a wider elbow articulation (double jointed?) to be able to bring the gloves in to the face in a defensive pose. The chest joint sits under the rib cage, and looks a touch unwieldy on a figure - but then again there isn't anywhere to hide on a figure that is essentially naked apart from a pair of socks and trunks. This chest joint is a big piece of the articulation as it allows you to hunch Rocky over to that familiar boxing pose. The shorts hide the leg articulation at the hips. The shorts are cast in a rubber material so they do allow the legs to move to some degree. You wont get Rocky sat down or kneeling, but there is enough movement in the top of the legs to get into wider boxing stances. The knees are only a single joint, but this is fine as a double joint would not have added anything significant to the poses you can achieve. The knees do rotate at the joint, which does help stability. Into the feet and there is a rocker joint at the ankle and a clever toe joint, which allows you to plant the back foot in a more realistic position with toe's flat on the floor. The weight and balance of the figure will mean you wont get a good stable stance using this toe joint, but putting the figure on a NECA pegged stand or similar will help you get some brilliant action positions. As a start to the Rocky 40th Anniversary relaunch, this figure is almost flawless. It looks great, feels really robust and poses particularly well with just a few exceptions. You would argue the title belt version is better value for money, but then again purists will maybe plump for the gold shorts in being more screen accurate. Either way it's good to have a choice... whether we will still be as enthusiastic by the end of Series 4 and we have somewhere in the region of 8 Rocky figures in our collection. As a début I am going to score Rocky a 5 out of 5, applicable to either version. Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US Buy from Forbidden Planet

Review : Mega Action Destroyer Droid Star Wars Power of the Jedi (Kenner) Wave/Series : Mega Action Released : 2000 Price : N/A So here is an interesting one as this review is for a 6" Star Wars figure, but it is not Black Series. Wind back the clock 16 years to the year 2000. The Phantom Menace was released the year before and the Star Wars Toy market is saturated with the new toys, still produced by Kenner at this point. Although the majority of the Phantom Menace figures were 3.75", Kenner did try to land a pioneering 6 inch range of figures - badged "Mega Action". The Mega Action figures consisted of a Darth Maul, Obi Wan Kenobi and Destroyer Droid. Both Obi Wan and Darth Maul came with action features to allow them to battle and both looked quite cartoonish with over exaggerated muscles and fairly fixed stances. But look past these two and the Destroyer Droid was a really nice piece even after 16 years it holds its own in the 1/12 scale. The Destroyer arrives in the Green Power of the Jedi style packaging, with Episode 1 Obi Wan over Darth Vader helmet serving as the POTJ logo in the lower left corner. The box is considerably taller and deeper than the Black Series of today but if the Destroyer got a release now he would have to be a deluxe or repacked release due to his size. The box includes a large window at the front through which you can see the full figure, this window wraps round to the left hand side of the box. To the right hand side you get a full picture of the figure on the POTJ green background, and underneath this is an insert of the Destroyer as seen in Episode 1. The rear of the box is a bit busy, starting with the POTJ and Star Wars logo's and then a short paragraph about the figure and the "Mega Action" functions. There is then an insert containing an image of the Destroyer from the movie and a short bio. Underneath this is an illustration of the "transformer" function that the figure includes as well as a visual check-list of the other figures in the wave - Maul and Obi Wan. Old school fans will smile when they see the cut out Jedi Points Proof of Purchase. The inside of the box is a shaped backing card onto which is then strapped a clear plastic insert and into which is strapped the droid... Yes, it will take you a while to get him out. To the right of the tray is the visual step-by-step instructions for the transforming function. Once unpacked the Destroyer stands around 6 inch high. I say around as the height will vary depending on how you pose him. Essentially the figure is built around a flexible circular spine piece. At the top is the head for want of a better word, and off this comes the two weapon arms. These arms are jointed in three places so are really quite pose-able. The head itself will slide back and forth on the spine piece. This is part of the transforming element, but can count as articulation and will help posing. The lower piece is the circular hub from which comes the three legs. Each legs is joined in two places and can be splayed out as you see fit. To keep the Droid looking like he did in the film you will find leaving the rear leg splayed out further than the front two will keep the droid upright and ready for action. Just above the leg section are two rear flaps which can extend in and out and form the final piece of articulation. Now the transforming element is a nice touch, and works reasonably well. The instructions are not overly clear, but essentially you slide the head on the spine and then bend the spine - which is flexible - so the head piece starts to slide round to meet the leg area. As the head tucks round it will hook into the lower section to keep the spine bent in a circle. From here you rotate and fold in the legs and do the same to the arms. The transformed droid looks pretty good once you've figured it all out, although as it clearly states on the box - he won't stand without support in this mode. I do wonder how much transforming that flexible spine will stand up to. It is already quite floppy and the more it bends the more you will lose the ability to keep the droid stood up straight - drunk looking destroyers may be an unwanted side effect of Kenner making this able to transform. The paint job and sculpt on the Destroyer are pretty good, certainly nothing inferior to what you would expect on a modern day Black Series figure. The bronze areas have a nice sheen to them and some depth. The grey areas are fairly plain, but do have a metallic sheen to them - they may look a little better with a dark wash to bring out the detail. Now these Droids are 16 years old, so finding them is the hard part. The good news is that they aren't massively expensive yet, so you should be able to pick up a boxed one for less than £30 - perhaps less if you are lucky, or find one loose. If you didn't know anything about the range and were presented with a loose figure then I suspect you would assume this is a Black Series figure as it scales perfectly and doesn't show its age at all. In fact if Hasbro (who obviously now own Kenner) pulled out the plans and moulds and then released this as a Black Series release then there would be few complaints. I am so impressed with this figure I am going to rate it as though it was a new figure. It's not 100% perfect as that flexible spine worries me. It does however tick most boxes and regardless of it being 16 years old, it rolls away with a 4 out of 5 score from me.

NECA have just announced this revised version of their Ultimate Gremlin. The Gamer Gremlin will come with a new suite of accessories including Arcade machine, a box for a Gremlins Video Game and a Joystick. You also get a popcorn bucket that he can also wear on his head, sunglasses, fizzy drink cup and a propeller hat that really spins. Gamer Gremlin will arrive in May 2019 but will be exclusive to Gamestop in the US. That makes UK availability unlikely. "There's a Gremlin on the loose, and you can only find him at GameStop! The Ultimate Gamer Gremlin comes complete with new accessories including: Table Top Arcade Game (joystick is articulated) Gremlins Video Game Box Classic Joystick Popcorn Bucket (can be worn on head too) Propeller Hat (really spins) Sunglasses Soda Shipping in May. Pre-orders available here: https://neca.io/2Qerp4t"

"Diabolik - super criminal, antihero, and ruthless master thief with expertise in chemistry, mechanics, and technology. Typically stealing from criminals for his own gain, he is known to do whatever is necessary to accomplish his deeds." The Mezco One:12 Diabolik figure has been doing the rounds on display at Conventions for a while now, but it seems he has finally made it to the release schedule with this full announcement of the One:12 release and an arrival sometime in Summer 2019. The figure, based on the cult Italian Comic, comes on a highly articulated body with 30 points of articulation. The classic spy genre "wet suit" is tailored for the body and around it is a variety of accessories including a back pack, wrist straps and holsters and a thigh holster. The figure gets two head options and eight hand options. Equipment includes night vision goggles, a wrist watch and a set of wall climbing suction cups. He comes armed with throwing blades and a knife. And there are even items for a master thief to steal - a diamond and an Imperial Egg. As with any One:12 release we also have a display stand. Diabolik is priced at the standard RRP of $80 and US pre-orders can be placed now via the Mezco website with a $20 non refundable deposit. UK pre-orders should open shortly around the £70 mark. "The One:12 Collective Diabolik figure is presented in a sleek, all-black bodysuit with only his eyes peering through his cowl. Two wrist sheaths hold his throwing daggers and a thigh sheath holds his combat knife. The master burglar comes well equipped with the necessities including a pair of night vision goggles, suction cup climbers, and a removable backpack with hinge. Raised as an orphan on the secret island hideout of a criminal organization, Diabolik became a master of disguise – crafting lifelike masks that allow him to assume virtually any identity. Specializing in grandstand burglaries, the super criminal keeps the loot all to himself."