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This may be the most pointless review we ever write.
Here are the facts: starting last year, NECA began releasing a series of toys based on Paul Verhoeven's 1987 satirical masterpiece, Robocop. Well, "toy": the entire line consisted of a single figure
of Robo himself; no villains, no variations, no nothing other than Robocop in a clamshell. And while that first figure had some problems, it obviously sold well enough to warrant NECA going back to Old Detroit this year. There was one with battle damage and one with a possibly racist name, and now one that makes all our dreams come true.
In the ruins of old Detroit, a crime ridden ghetto of the not too distant future, a good cop, Alex J. Murphy, is killed in the line of duty. A team of doctors and scientists are able to piece him back together as an unstoppable crime-fighting force called Robocop. Impervious to bullets and bombs, and equipped with high-tech weaponry, Robocop quickly makes a name for himself by cleaning up the streets of violence ravaged Detroit. Despite his new, metal exterior, Robocop is tormented by fragments of memories of who he used to be. As Robocop discovers his past and the identities of his killers he is out to seek more than justice... he wants revenge!
That bio is from the original release - we only include it here because somebody forgot to do so before.
All that's on the back of this insert is the same tagline the battle-damaged figure had. And hey, speaking of things that are printed on the packaging, this figure was apparently sculpted by Thomas Gwyn. And that might be entirely unremarkable, except that the first one was credited to Kyle Windrix and Roger Mutt, which seems to imply that NECA isn't just reusing molds with all these variants, but actually paid to sculpt and tool this guy twice, even though nobody would ever notice.
One thing that this figure definitely does better than the original is the paint. Part of the reason I passed on NECA's first crack at Robocop was that he was very blue - this one still has a bit of that, to keep that metallic sheen, but he's a much more appropriate silver. This is the way Robocop is supposed to look, and it's nice that he finally does.
The articulation is the same we've seen on the other three Robocops, and so are the accessories: the big Auto-9 pistol, and an interchangeable "data spike" hand. So why, then, is everybody clamoring for this figure? Because NECA has fulfilled one of our wishlist items by giving him a leg holster for his gun. See, Robo can store his big-ass gun inside his right leg, and that was a feature all the toys have been missing until now.
Actually, there was one Robocop toy that had the thigh holster: the Japanese "Figma" release, which is more or less in a 6" scale. But that one was just a cheat, using interchangeable pieces to fake the look of an opening leg; NECA's is actually functional! A NECA toy you can buy off the shelf at Toys Я Us has jut outclassed a (semi-)high end Japanese release! Press the button on the back of Robo's leg, and the two halves of the shell automatically pop open, revealing the gun stored inside. Wicked! Then you press on the front panel, and they both slide closed with a very firm click.
When the first Robocop toy came out, NECA said they didn't have any intention of making one with a holster leg. We love the fact that they changed their minds, because it shows that the company is always trying to innovate, always pushing forward rather than resting on their laurels.
Just giving this figure the new leg would have been enough to send us running to the store to buy it, but improved paint and what may or may not be an entirely new sculpt make this is the best Robocop you can buy.
-- 11/25/12
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