NECA’s Giant Size Gypsy Danger Stands Tall

Pacific Rim’s main mech, Gypsy Danger, is even better in a new, mega-scale figure from NECA.

Space is a serious factor for many collectors, and I’ll admit I’m no different.  Bigger size toys are always a tough decision for me, because finding a spot to keep them becomes a challenge.  It’s the reason I’ve passed on many cool toys, from Mattel’s Castle Grayskull to Hasbro’s SHIELD Heli Carrier, to NECA’s outstanding 18″ mega-size figures.  However, when I saw the Gypsy Danger at this super-scale, I knew there was no way I could say no.

If any property deserves the mega-scale treatment, it’s Pacific Rim; the Jaegers and Kaiju of this cool universe are just begging to tower over everything else on the toy shelf, and I’m glad to see NECA felt the same way.  As much as I like the 7″ Pacific Rim figures, the 18″ Gypsy Danger is even cooler, a huge, hefty hunk of plastic packed with more screen accurate detail, working lights and a pure “cool” factor that puts virtually any other toy to shame.

Gypsy Danger stands a full 18″ tall, featuring a sculpt as loaded with detail as we have come to expect from NECA.  Every armored plate and hydraulic piston is present here, adding a realistic texture to the mech’s iconic silhouette, and it looks fantastic.  The paint apps are clean and precise, including the military style markings and insignias all over Gypsy’s shoulders and chest.  The figure is painted a flat blue that offers a very non-plastic appearance, and the dark wash adds to the grimy, lived-in realism of the Pacific Rim universe, while helping to show off the intricacies of the sculpt.

The Jaeger is decently poseable, with an articulated head, shoulders, mid-torso, elbows, hips, knees and wrists and ankles.  It’s a good number of moving parts, and each joint is sturdy enough to comfortably support the substantial weight of the figure.  The articulation pattern mirrors much of the smaller 7″ Gypsy, and it’s one of the few aspects of this figure which is good, but not great.  The shoulders and elbows are limited due to the character design, but the hips, which sport a forward-back and hinged side motion, do not swivel, leaving the legs parallel and somewhat stiff in terms of posing options.  Most of the articulation limits are dictated by the design, but the lack of hip swivels and solid-molded fist hands seem like two areas which could have been further enhanced in the articulation department, without intruding on the overall look of the figure.  Neither of these issues is a deal breaker, though, especially compared to the remarkable detail of the sculpt and the strong sense of design in keeping Gypsy sturdy and easy to pose and stand upright.

The large scale also allows this version of Gypsy to include a cool light-up action feature– the mech sports a glowing turbine in its chest, as well as the spotlight on its head, just above the visor.  Both lights are very effective, and add to the accuracy and overall cool factor of this figure.

Speaking of the cool factor, that’s where Gypsy Danger truly shines.  I’d be hard pressed to find a toy collector who isn’t stoked to experience a huge figure firsthand… there’s something undeniably cool about playing with a solid, hefty toy that feels sturdy and appears massive.  Gypsy is a great example of that kind of heaping hunk of plastic, a toy you will spend hours posing and activating the lights on and just messing around with.  The size and thematic nature of the mech makes Gypsy feel like a throwback to the giant Mazinger toys of the 70s and 80s, but with the added detail and modern quality that has made NECA famous.

At about $100, Gypsy Danger is big and detailed enough to feel like a solid value.  It comes packed in a nice window box, complete with a backdrop of a coastal city in need of protection, and it shows off the figure very well.  That being said, I can’t imagine anyone picking this thing up and not immediately tearing it open– Gypsy Danger is a great toy, incredibly cool to look at, good to pose and a hell of a lot of fun to play with.  I can’t wait to pit him against the 18″ Knifehead Kaiju coming next Spring!