NECA Does Justice To ‘RoboCop vs. Terminator’

The cult classic Dark Horse comic miniseries inspires a pair of great new action figures by NECA.

We’ve seen NECA delve into the world of Dark Horse comic books to expand their Predator and Aliens toy lines, and now they’re doing the same thing for RoboCop and Terminator. And they’re not mutually exclusive properties in this collection– Future RoboCop and Endocop are both based on the 1992 comic series by Frank Miller and Walt Simonson, which saw Alex Murphy travel to the future to prevent Skynet’s uprising. The most interesting thing about Simonson’s character designs in the story is how RoboCop assumes some physical traits of the Terminator endoskeleton (it’s too convoluted to go into in detail, but it’s a solid read I’d highly recommend, if you want to learn more). Suffice it to say, NECA’s figures incorporate pieces from both their RoboCop and Terminator action figures, and the result looks great.

Future RoboCop is the new version of the hero himself, and he’s a great mix of new tooling introduced to the existing figure. He features the same base body, head, and legs as the movie style RoboCop, along with Endoskeleton arms, and a brand new rocket launcher forearm and a very involved rocket pack rig fixed to his back.

The figure matches Simonson’s art perfectly, and the new parts feature the same intricate level of detail as the base figure, providing an excellent sense of sculpted continuity. RoboCop gets a slightly revised paint pattern, sporting a bright, shiny silver with a light blue wash, and some unique accents such as the silver chin guard replacing RoboCop’s typical black one.

Endocop is the other figure in this lineup. Essentially he’s a drone built by RoboCop using Skynet’s Terminator factories, and as such he is largely the same as Future RoboCop, with Murphy’s body and an Endoskeleton’s arms. But he sports a great new headsculpt which features an Endoskeleton’s lower face instead of RoboCop’s human mouth.

The other thing that makes the Endocop appealing is his pack-in, a Terminator Dog. This all-new sculpt is awesome… and a long time coming. NECA introduced the figure years ago in a Comic Con display, as part of the video game inspired RoboCop vs. Terminator collection. But it never saw release in that series, and has been hanging in limbo since, so I’m very glad NECA finally found a way to release it.

There’s a ton of detail in this sculpt, which– like the human Endoskeleton– leans heavily on actual skeletal anatomy of dogs. The menacing creature is painted in silver with a black wash, allowing it to fit in well with the Robocop vs Terminator figures, as well as the cinematic Terminator toys NECA released previously.  It’s well articulated, with a hinged jaw, a ball joint neck, a lower thorax ball, ball shoulders and hips, and two hinges on each leg. This affords the dog a solid range of motion, and its head is remarkably expressive, thanks in large part to the neck and jaw articulation.

Each Cop figure is equally well articulated, maintaining all the joints of NECA’s other RoboCop and Terminator toys. Future RoboCop’s torso joint is a little restricted by the rocket pack rig, but he can manage some poseability, and maintains a good sense of balance, despite the heft of the backpack. Each figure also includes RoboCop’s gun, which he holds pretty well in the Terminator hands, despite being sculpted for the smaller hands of the original RoboCop.

Like many recent NECA releases, the RoboCop vs Terminator figures are packed in fifth window boxes, and these particular designs are great. They sport Simonson’s eye catching artwork from the comics, with a foil stamp logo that feels true to the toys’ comic book roots. The figures are so well displayed in these cool boxes, it was honestly a little difficult to feel motivated to unpack them, even for a perpetual opener like me.

The RoboCop vs Terminator collection is available now at Toys R Us and specialty retailers, as well as directly in NECA’s eBay store. If you’re into either film property, the Dark Horse comics, or just awesome action figures, give these guys a look.

Thanks to NECA for sending us a review sample of the Future RoboCop!