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Film & Television Series Toys & Collectibles

Too Much Monkey Business: NECA Shapes “Apes” Series 1

NECA's 7" Caesar, King of the Apes Action Figure
NECA’s 7″ Caesar, King of the Apes Action Figure

Mr. Mojo Risin’…
20th Century Fox’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens July 11, 2014 and early reviews are promising a spectacular addition to the solid reboot of the much loved franchise. I will admit that after the misstep of the 2001 “re-imagining” by Tim Burton I was skeptical about future films, but the James Franco and Andy Serkis performances in 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes won me over and I have been looking forward to this sequel.

Since the denoument of the original 1968 film revealed the apes’ planet to be Earth itself, the question was always “how did we get there.” “Rise” and “Dawn” tell that story in a thoughtful and effective narrative. A third, currently untitled, installment is set for summer 2016.


Sneak peaked at last winter’s New York Toy Fair, NECA Toys already has their first wave of articulated action figures on the shelves. Series 1 includes 6 inch renditions of Caesar, Koba and Maurice. Each comes with interchangeable hands and appropriate weapons. Check out NECA’s site for some really great posed studio shots of these three.
Dr. Zaius, as played by the late Maurice Evans, is perfectly portrayed as part of NECA's Classic "Planet of the Apes" Series 1.
Dr. Zaius, as played by the late Maurice Evans, is perfectly portrayed as part of NECA’s Classic “Planet of the Apes” Series 1.

Classy Classics…
NECA is also poised to release beautiful likenesses of the original film characters this month. Planet of the Apes Classic Series 1 includes 7 inch Cornelius, Dr. Zaius and an armed Gorilla Soldier.

Skeletonpete Says…
Follow NECA on Twitter for their #monkeymonday communiques and news about their other great collectibles.

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Toys & Collectibles

Such An Evil Child: NECA’s “Bad Blood” Predators Previewed @ NY Toy Fair 2014

NECA's Dark Horse Comics Inspired "Bad Blood" Predator @ NY Toy Fair 2014
NECA’s Dark Horse Comics Inspired “Bad Blood” Predator @ NY Toy Fair 2014

NECA (National Entertainment Collectors Association) displayed their prototypes for both Series 12 and 13 Predators at the recent NY Toy Fair, giving the press a peek at the still to be finalized designs for what will be on the shelves in the coming months.

In The Pines, In The Pines…
As the longest running of NECA’s action figure licenses Predator continues to be extremely popular and collectors anticipate where inspiration for the next wave will come from. For Series 12 the company looked to the printed page with two of the three figures representing characters in Dark Horse Comics’ four issue adventure Predators: Bad Blood from the 1990’s. The standalone story told of a “serial killer” Predator on a rampage in the wild Pine Barrens of New Jersey (also the home of the legendary “Jersey Devil”) and his battle with an Enforcer determined to thwart him. Fortunately for humanity the Enforcer did not have to use the George Washington Bridge on a bad traffic day to get to NJ.

Dark Horse's "Predator: Bad Blood" Comics Inspired 2 of NECA's Series 12 Figures
Dark Horse’s “Predator: Bad Blood” Comics Inspired 2 of NECA’s Series 12 Figures

NECA’s “Bad Blood” sculpt is one sweet looking piece, bound to make fans of the franchise happy, and I think also bring in the casual collector. He’s like a walking, stalking, trophy wall adorned in the bones of his victims. He appears blood spattered from a fresh kill, whose heads he’s happy to brandish. His nemesis, The Enforcer figure is clad in silver armor, with shoulder cannon, disk and rod ready to bring the rogue to justice.

Younger Edler…
The third figure in Series 12 is a revamped Series 3 character, the Elder from the Predator 2film. NECA says “Elder V2 features additional articulation, a shoulder cannon, new straps and belts, and new feet, all upgraded and improved from the original version.” The models sport 25 points of articulation and stand approximately 8” tall.

Expect to see these in their final form around June of 2014, followed closely by the revealed but undesignated Series 13 figures in August.

NECA Predators Series 12 Prototypes – Not Final Product

NECA Predators Series 13 Prototypes – Not Final Product

Blade Fighter Vehicle Joins the NECA Predator Collection in August 2014
Blade Fighter Vehicle Joins the NECA Predator Collection in August 2014

Blade Rider…
In addition to the series 12 abd 13 reveals, NECA showed off its first vehicle of the collectible cache with a really hot Predator Blade Fighter complete with Viper rider. It’s sure to bring back fond memories of those who collected Kenner Predator toys back in the 1990’s.

NECA's NES Game Styled Predator
NECA’s NES Game Styled Predator

Blues Clues…
There’s more fun and nostalgia as NECA expands it’s spin on 8-bit video game characters. this time it’s Predator, looking sharp all in blue as depicted in the 1989 NES game. Expected in May 2014, it will be sold in a special flapped window package reminiscent of the original video game box and limited to one production run only.

More To Come…
I have plenty more NECA goodies to be posted in the coming weeks, including gigantic Pacific Rim Jaegers and Kaiju, an uncanny Dark Knight Joker, some amazing Planet of the Apes figures, Diablo and more.