I
love Pacific
Rim. I
think it’s an absolutely incredible movie. Visually it’s
breathtaking every time I see it – and I’ve watched it several
times now. I saw it in the theater by myself and then went back so my
son could see it on the big screen. I want him to have big movie
memories like I do. He loved it.
Side
Note: I do wish there were Pacific Rim toys for kids. These NECA toys
look great, but they are fragile and chock full of dangerous, pointy
parts.
People
that are generally unhappy with life talk about Pacific
Rim
having a weak story or poor character development or whatever other
problems such people like to come up with to attribute flaws to
things that are fun, but I think it was perfection in storytelling.
This movie was not about building a cast of characters that would be
remembered in the annals of great cinema for centuries to come. If it
had been about that it would have been boring as shit and I wouldn’t
have liked it.
I
suppose I can’t mention all of this without saying something about
the recently announced sequel.
First
of all, of course
I want a sequel. I’m not entirely sure how it’s going to work
since they blew the invaders to hell and sealed the breach, but
whatever. I want more giant things fighting other giant things under
the direction of the mad genius Guillermo del Toro.
Apparently the
only cast members that are sort of possibly almost certainly
returning are the aforementioned Day and Gorman. I’m okay with
this. While Charlie Hunnam’s schedule is probably lighter at the
moment, it’s not like Raleigh Becket was all that great or, quite
frankly, even the sixth most interesting member of the cast. I would
like to see more of Mako Mori, but so far it doesn’t sound like
she’s on the radar.
Whatever
the case casting-wise, I am beyond excited for another installment in
the franchise.
Which
is way more excited than I’ve recently been about new Pacific
Rim toys
from NECA.
In
general the figures have looked wonderful. But of course, there’s a
“but”. The “but” is that none of the Jaegers have quite
the articulation that I would expect out of action figures of robots.
All of the joints stop just shy of operating as effectively as I
expect them to. And most of them are very loose, which makes standing
these guys up tough.
The
Kaiju are similarly limited in their range of movement, but I can
accept it more because their designs are so specific and complicated.
And when you’re using the same base body for most of your figures,
there’s only so much variation that’s going to happen. Which
leads me to:
Most
of the Kaiju have the same base body. And yes – of course I
understand that this is correct in every instance and that NECA has
to be smart about the way they release these. I’m actually shocked
that this line has already lasted as long as it has. I never imagined
we’d actually see an Otachi make it to retail (though technically
we haven’t, yet).
Scunner
was almost the last straw. The first time I saw Scunner at retail,
Toys R Us had four of them. And every single one had a bad paint job.
Not the whole body – just the shoulders. The figure has a big,
rubber piece over the shoulders and neck because it uses the same
basic Kaiju body as Knifehead and Trespasser (and Axehead) and
Scunner has a different shoulder/neck structure. But the highlights
(the illuminated lines that each Kaiju has on its body) on Scunner’s
shoulders looked terrible. The colors didn’t penetrate into the
ridges of the flesh, only sitting on the upper surfaces of the
sculpt. It looked really bad. So as much as I love Scunner’s
design, I didn’t buy one. This was a tough decision for me, but I
would have felt like a chump every time I looked at those crappy
shoulders on my shelf.
And
no – painting them myself was not an option. I don’t believe in
that. When I buy a toy it should look like it is supposed to look
without any assistance from me. If I wanted to customize paint jobs
I’d buy model kits.
Side
Note: This does not apply to complete customization of a toy.
Obviously if you want something to look entirely different that’s
another story. But touch-ups should never
be necessary.
I
was disappointed in Scunner and to a certain extent the line overall.
To be fair, a significant portion of my disappointment came from the
fact that the Phantom Zone was in desperate need of rearranging. I
had a bunch of toys that didn’t have homes and my
Pacific Rim stuff was among that lot; just sitting in a pile. I’ve been working on making space all year, but the last couple of months have been very busy and, quite frankly, depressing. Without going into too much unimportant detail, I’ve been doing my annual questioning of all of this Phantom Troublemaker business. I think it’s a combination of Post Dragon Con Depression and the looming renewal of all of the services I have to pay for to keep the site and the podcast going. It’s expensive (and you can help out by donating via the PayPal button to your right!).
Pacific Rim stuff was among that lot; just sitting in a pile. I’ve been working on making space all year, but the last couple of months have been very busy and, quite frankly, depressing. Without going into too much unimportant detail, I’ve been doing my annual questioning of all of this Phantom Troublemaker business. I think it’s a combination of Post Dragon Con Depression and the looming renewal of all of the services I have to pay for to keep the site and the podcast going. It’s expensive (and you can help out by donating via the PayPal button to your right!).
And
of course my miserable day job is always a factor in my mental
health, now more than ever with my Christmas Day shift coming up. I
only have so many years to spend with my son while he’s young
enough to truly embrace the magic of Christmas, and thanks to that
job I’m missing this one and next year’s, as well. I’ve been
super bummed out about that.
While
the Christmas situation has not improved, I couldn’t help but get
excited about the retooled Gipsy Danger (with ship “club”
accessory – something I had specifically asked for) and Tacit
Ronin. As I have mentioned, I love Pacific
Rim, so
I was more than ready to keep giving the toy line chances. A new
Gipsy showed that NECA understood the limitations of the original and
the fact that they were releasing Tacit Ronin – a Jaeger only
briefly seen in the movie – seems to me to be a sign of confidence
in the line.
I
knew that Axehead – a concept Kaiju that is actually an early
version of Trespasser – was coming out, but between the
disappointment with Scunner and the fact that Axehead was using that
same body again
I didn’t have any plans to buy it. But then I saw it in the store
and the paint job is beautiful.
So I bought one.
This
might be the longest intro I have ever written and left intact as
part of the toy review. Usually I would make this a separate post,
but I don’t feel like there’s enough standalone material there.
When
I started this it was going to be a review of Axehead, but as I got
into it I realized it would be fun to compare the concept versus the
fully realized Kaiju, so here’s Trespasser versus Axehead:
FIRST
GLANCE
Trespasser
looks like a massive weapon, perhaps more so than any of the other
Kaiju. He’s a significant entry into the toy line because he’s
the one that made me realize that several of the Kaiju shared the
same basic body structure. I was disappointed to make this discovery,
but at the same time if it helps NECA and keeps the line going, I
suppose I’m good with it. And we do have Leatherback
and the upcoming Otachi (my favorite) to break things up. I’d also
wager that we’ll see a second, winged, version of Otachi. I was
really hoping we’d get one deluxe release with interchangeable
arms, but that might have been untenable.
The
paint on Axehead is so striking that I had to pick it up. Since it’s
an early version of Trespasser it is very
reminiscent of that Kaiju, but it has enough different going on to
work. This makes it look very different from any of the other Pacific
Rim
Kaiju, which might put some collectors off. But I like it.
PACKAGING
Trespasser
comes in a clamshell, so let’s just move on.
I
think that the Toys R Us Exclusive non-battle-damaged Knifehead was
actually the first Kaiju to utilize the new box that Axehead comes
in, but I could be wrong.
Side
Note: I am extremely irritated about the TRU Knifehead. If I’d
known NECA was producing a clean one I never would have bought the
battle damaged one. You guys know how I feel about battle damage. And
in case you don’t, I don’t like it. I just really dig Knifehead
and wanted to have the larger scale version, so I overlooked the
paint. I suppose I should have known when the battle damage was just
paint and not actual sculpt.
This
box is fantastic. This is packaging that is worthy of the majestic
Kaiju and
serves to make them seem fancier and deserving of the $24.99 price
tag. I’m a huge fan of window boxes with top and
front windows that allow light to shine in and highlight the toy
within. The graphics are beautiful and the cardboard is nice and
heavy, adding to that feel that this is a pricier, higher quality
toy.
LOOKS
I
just want you guys to know that I put extra effort into this review.
I hadn’t even reviewed Trespasser yet, so I still have the pictures
on my drive. Once I started taking a closer look at Axehead I really
wasn’t sure about which parts had been reused. Aside from a few
obvious things like the back pieces and the talons on Axehead’s
thighs, the figures appeared to be almost identical. But once I
started doing side-by-side comparisons – and I’m talking really
scrutinizing, here – I saw that the concept figure has a lot more
new parts than I expected. After going back and forth, I decided to
just combine the reviews into a sort of comparison piece.
The
heads look very similar and if I hadn’t looked I probably would
have thought that Axehead was just a repaint. But NECA isn’t
Mattel, so we got a proper new sculpt.
Trespasser’s face blade has
a smoother edge and is narrower where it meets the face. The overall
shape is also slightly different. Each Kaiju has four eyes, but they
are placed differently. Axehead’s are visible from the side while
Trespasser’s face front. The mouths are very similar, with the jaw
pieces seeming identical. Axehead appears to have slightly
more sculpted definition, but it could just be paint.
The
back pieces are entirely different. Trespasser has a massive
blade-like fin and Axehead has essentially the same piece as
Knifehead – a flatter, but equally as defined attachment. For the
purposes of the creature design, I prefer Trespasser’s fin. Without
it, the Kaiju just looks like Knifehead with a different head. It
really needs that extra piece to be different enough.
It’s
subtle with the smaller ones, but both sets of hands on the creatures
are different. The final movie version – Trespasser – has hooked
claws that look capable of grasping. The smaller hands even have
thumbs. But all four of Axehead’s mitts are sloth-like claws that
look like they’re made for swiping strikes. I like Axehead’s
large arms and Trespasser’s small, thumbed hands as far as
functionality goes, but I guess Trespasser has the more visually
interesting look. Axehead’s large hands look menacing, but on film
they just wouldn’t have been very dynamic.
The
torsos and tail pieces are the same, but NECA’s paint job makes
them look different. NECA is very good at this. The bendy tail is
very
solid and seems durable enough that it won’t be breaking anytime
soon as these things are wont to do. I’ll be curious to see if
they’re intact a decade from now. I’ll also be interested to see
if Pacific
Rim 2
has actually been released a decade from now.
I
love Axehead’s paint job. Those starbursts (or whatever) look
fantastic. And while the luminous patterns that adorn the Kaiju in
the final version of the movie look great and serve as a way to make
even the vastly different creatures like Leatherback
and Otachi seem related, I’m not totally satisfied with the way
that NECA pulled them off on the toys. Like I said above –
Scunner’s shoulders just look bad, but to a certain extent all of
NECA’s Kaiju suffer from this. The markings all look just a bit too
painted on. It isn’t terrible, but each monster just seems very
slightly less great than it could be. I feel like I’m being picky
here.
The
thighs are the same, but while Trespasser’s are kind of dull,
Axehead has a wonderful paint job that gives definition to the armor
plates that are barely detectable on the final version. The general
shape of the lower legs is the same, but Trespasser has these great,
vicious hooks. I definitely like these and I’m not sure why they
would have been dropped.
FUN
These
guys have a fairly large number of joints, with about as much range
as their wacky designs will allow.
Head
– ball joint
Jaw
– hinge
Upper
shoulders – rotating hinge
Elbows
(upper arms) – rotating hinge
Wrists
– ball peg
Lower
shoulders – rotating hinge
Lower
wrists – ball pegs
Abdomen
– ball joint
Hips
– ball joint
Knees
– rotating hinge
Ankles
– ball peg
When
playing with these figures, you’ll find that each joint has a bit
more range than you expect, but you do need to carefully loosen them
up to get that range. This is part of the fun of the figures –
finding out exactly how many poses you can get from a body that
initially might seem to have limited articulation. I feel like NECA
has done a great job of working in as much flexibility as they could
while maintaining the beautiful aesthetics of the Kaiju. Sure, a
Japanese line might incorporate more joints with more range, but the
figures simply wouldn’t look as nice. This is what I’ve found
with Bandai’s Godzilla lines.
I’m
not a huge fan of NECA’s ball peg joints – the ones they use for
ankles and wrists. They rotate fine, but don’t allow for much
pivoting. And depending on the build of the figure they can make
posing problematic. If the figure has a certain stance or is heavy
the ankles don’t support well and if the figure has heavy
accessories the hands won’t hold them well (see my upcoming Gipsy
Danger 2.0 review for more on that). In this instance, though, the
pegs work okay. These creatures don’t require a huge range of hand
or foot movement and the peg joints do what they need to do.
If
I could, I’d add elbows to these guys. Other than that they’re
pretty great.
OVERALL
Both
figures are beautiful with fantastic paint jobs. Each one has a few
minor spots that could be missing or could be part of the design.
They mostly just look incredible.
I
like both and I’m happy to have both, but I think I prefer Axehead.
Trespasser has that great back fin, but Axehead has enough design
aspects that appeal to me more to take the win. I like his
side-facing eyes, the rougher fin, and those hooks on his legs. And
the paint job is just gorgeous.
I
also want to mention the sheer size and bulk of these creatures. The
$24.99 MSRP may be a bit daunting, but these figures top seven inches
and are huge.
Initially I wasn’t too sure about spending that much on this scale
of figure, but that Battle Damaged Knifehead
sold me. I’m so glad that NECA bumped up the size and did right by
this fantastic franchise.
I
can’t call these guys perfect, but they’re darn good and I’m
thrilled to own both of them.
4
out of 5
The
prices on these have been going up remarkably fast, as NECA has been
doing two runs at most. Buy yours now and help out Needless Things!:
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