Stripe [Ben Cooper Costume Kids/Neca]

You know, if you're not supposed to feed them after midnight, sending them out for candy at night is a risky scenario. Part of Neca's awesome tribute to the Ben Cooper Halloween costumes of old line is this Stripe from Gremlins. He was a gift from the Mrs. last Christmas and I've been waiting until this very moment to talk about him here on the site. Stripe was the central villain in the original Gremlins movie and an obvious costume for that years Halloween. Named after his trademark mohawk, Stripe is one nasty little critter that leads the Gremlins to overtake Kingston Falls during Christmas 1984. Christmas? I thought we were talking about Halloween? We are readers, for not only is this a toy based on a classic Halloween costume... but... look. Nightmare Before Christmas is a Christmas movie and yet it's everywhere all Halloween. We can have a little wiggle room y'all.

These Neca Ben Cooper figures are a great replication of those classic Costume & Mask sets that lined store shelves during my childhood. I did a quick Google to check and the little costume our Trick or Treater is wearing is a great reproduction of the one offered in 1984. That is very impressive as those old costume weren't digital files. Someone had to recreate them. Great job Neca! The figure under the costume is decently articulated and comes with a little Trick or Treat bag to carry up and down the streets. Completing the look is the packaging that replicates the old boxes these would often come in. It's funny, I've had some come on hangers and not in boxes. Of course those were Collegeville Costumes. I think their offerings came in boxes or on hangers. I don't remember any of my Ben Cooper costumes not being in a box.

These figures are available all year round for a dose of the spooky season whenever the mood hits, but obviously are perfect right now. If you've never worn one, I'm sure you've heard the same old worn out comments about them. Jokes about the name on the chest, the rubber band cutting into your skin or breaking. Wearing a jacket or coat over it in more colder areas where it snowed on Halloween. *sigh* Yes, we know Superman doesn't wear a jacket. *we've heard it* However it's impossible not to be flooded with memories of wearing these back then. Of course there's the comments told a million times that I was just being sarcastic about... but the other things. They had a smell that you'll never forget. That costume aisle at K-Mart was filled with it.

I'd always stick my tongue in the little mouth hole, sometimes cutting myself a little. The masks were also super hot. Even if it was freezing cold, the mask had a way of keeping all the heat from your face and breath. You'd regularly take it off for some air in between houses, or wear it more as a hat for a few minutes. The inside of the mask would be coated in sweat and that air felt amazing. Thing is... you still loved wearing it and looked forward to the experience. There's an indescribable feeling that many of us who spent our Halloweens in those outfits have. Despite the worn out jokes and odd complaints, they were pure love. There's a reason these Neca figures are so popular with a certain segment of people. For those of us who worn them, they're a bit of magic that faded away around the same time as we got too old to wear them. It'd be great to see a Ben Cooper Stripe at my door this year, though I'll gladly give the droves of Minecraft kids the same amount of candy.

The Silver Shamrock Trio (Toony Terrors)

Halloween 3: Season of the Witch doesn't have Michael Myers in it. It is a 41 year old movie and that still needs to be explained. John Carpenter really didn't want to  make a Halloween 2, let alone a part 3. So by part 3, he decided to make it an anthology series... which didn't exactly go over to well as the prior two movies were a direct series. So from then on, Michael was the main antagonist with the only deviation being Corey in Halloween Ends. That too has more than it's share of hate. Clearly it's Michael Myers only for the series in most peoples eyes (the darkest eyes)... and that's understandable. However, Halloween 3 is freaking awesome. Hokey and silly, sure, but freaking awesome. It's the only Halloween movie where the holiday is the actual focus. It's like a holiday special on steroids and thankfully it's getting it's due in more recent years. More and more folks are appreciating what a select few of us have been regarding highly this entire time. Fortunately that also means more merchandise!

Neca made a great set of of Silver Shamrock masked trick or treaters a while back, last year they introduced the kids in their cool Toony Terrors line. The Mrs and I exchange gifts at Halloween and I was absolutely overjoyed to see that The Great Pumpkin brought me this cool set. Toony Terrors is Neca's take on classic horror characters in an animated style, I like to compare them to Scooby Doo or Fright Features versions. I've got a few and they're great. This set of the kids is really cool and fits the cartoon theme well. The trio appear in Halloween 3 during the epic montage that's the epitome of local Halloween TV programming for a generation. Even if you don't like the movie, you like them. They're so popular they even appeared alongside Michael Myers in the more recent movies. However... they're still kids. With all the spooky and scariness of the holiday, kids going trick or treating is at the very heart of it. And these kids are the perfect poster children (no pun intended...but I like it) for the spooky season.

As Toony Terrors, you've got a solid set of the 3 kids going trick or treating wearing their Silver Shamrock masks. Each one has a bag for collecting candy and wearing a costume made from various items and their masks. Now to be clear, these are not super articulated action figures. They're more along the lines of expressive display pieces. There's a small range of movement in the arms and a small amount in the legs/feet. The witch, for example, can either put her hand on her hip in a sassy manner, or that arm can hold her masks hood open. You can use that arm to hold her bag... but it's not as natural looking. Skeleton kid can hold up his pillow case from the sides or top. You can tell he's excited. The pumpkin headed one is taller and has more of an awkward stance. I like to think he's nearing the end of his trick or treating years and is feeling a bit out of place. He's kinda just slumping there. The pumpkin kid has always been my favorite of the 3 and this figures just adds to that. I could see him getting really into Radiohead and writing bad poetry. Well... assuming he makes it out after the big give away.

Warduke (NECA)

I've never been super big on Dungeons and Dragons. I tried, but pen and paper RPG just isn't for me. However, I've loved the old D&D cartoon since childhood. During it's time, I had a lot of fun with the toy line by LJN and the assorted kids books and stuff. I was actually quite disapointed that I couldn't get into the game itself despite multiple tries. The occasinal video game, sure, just can't do pen and paper RPG. That being said, how I've enjoyed D&D lead to me appreciation of one of the most badass villains of all time. Warduke.

I've actually spoken about my admiration for Warduke here before. This weird occult flavored cousin of Darth Vader who of course set off the Satanic Panic folks back in the day. My original action figure was destroyed thanks to a jealous cousin and replacing it hasn't worked out in my favor. There's various homages to him in independent toys (especially in the Glyos area), and I did luckily find his Funko Pop a while back. NECA recently has put out some premium D&D figures including the Duke of War here. Thankfully he was a birthday gift from my wife who absolutely spoils me on holidays.

NECA nailed it with this incarnation of Warduke. He looks 100% like you'd expect a 'serious collector' premium toy to look. All of his classic design is here with leveled up detailing and paint. I'm especially fond of the metallic pain on his helmet and the flame effect that can be attached to his sword. Warduke has his additional daggers and short sword as well as his trademark shield. They're all sorts of magical and NECA made them look it. The figure has a ton of articulation so the EVIL ACTION FIGURE can be put in all sorts of menacing poses. There's also a range of extra hands for this purpose.

Warduke is one of those characters that I keep on an untouchable high shelf. Thankfully this figure really drive home some of that prestige. He's pretty large, about 6 inches and scales pretty well with Masterverse figures from what I've seen in MOTU groups. Despite being from different series, he fits in nicely there. Warduke comes from that same 80's fantasy boom that He-Man came from, and both respective toy lines set off the Satanic Panic alarms of the time. This is an amazingly great figure of an all time favorite villain of mine. I'm definitely glad to have it and grateful of my wife for giving it to me.

Two more days till Halloween...

Halloween 3: Season of the Witch is one of my favorite movies. When it comes to the Halloween movies, the first 3 are my favorites. I loved the idea of turning the movies into an anthology series based around the holiday. However you can't rewrite history and they already had made two movies about the same story by the time they had the idea. Last year when Neca announced they were released a set of figures based on the doomed trick or treaters from H3... I was sold instantly. I found them in January. I chose to cover them now. Seemed fitting.

Inside the themed box is the figures representing different costumed kids from the infamous montage sequence from the movie. Each kid has trick or treat bags and two separate versions of the masks. One as it should be, the other as they're dying after watching the big giveaway. If you remember the scene of Little Buddy writhing around on the floor while snakes and all sorts of nasty creatures poured from his face then you know what I mean. The set also comes with a lenticular screen TV to recreate the scene. Fun fact, the original planned ending of the movie was all the screams of the dying children. They didn't go with that, but you can pretend it did with this set of toys!

The level of detail is pretty amazing. Each mask had it's Silver Shamrock button and really looks like it's on screen counterpart. The kids are pleasantly articulated and you can swap around the cloth costumes and accessories if you want. I really should have paired the witches cape with the pumpkin kid for the picture to be screen accurate, but that's how she came out of the box. This is a great set of figures of one of my favorite movies. As the season winds down to a close they felt just right to play with. Halloween is Sunday, that means we've got an entire weekend of spooky fun ahead. I know just the movie to watch.

Trick Or Treating With Michael Myers

While the bag of Chucky capsule toys was pretty great, the best of NECA's surprise offerings is the Halloween II bag. Not only because Michael Myers is better than Chucky, but also because they made a better set of treats. Literally the perfect bunch of prizes for Halloween. As it should. It's the name of the fucking movie.

This bag is specifically themed after Halloween II from 1981. Considering the 2018 film reset everything after the 1978 movie, it's nice to see the original sequel get some love. It may not be the most critically praised film of all time... but movies people actually like never are. 

As much as I love the original movie, it never quite feels like it takes place on Halloween. Despite a few looks at kids in costume, it could be on any day. They captured that feel of the spooky season much more in all the sequels and I've always really loved them for that. 

The capsules are orange and black again, but this time with the Halloween II logo molded on them. I can't tell you just how much I appreciate that. It's just a little thing, but they could have just did a sticker or nothing at all. Mold toolings are expensive, considering the two different capsule logos when they could have just been plain is impressive. Inside each capsule is an individually wrapped prize.

I got shoelaces, a lanyard, a magnet, an eraser, a pin, a keychain,a patch, and two mini masks. The masks and the patch are the most awesome. Most of the stuff has a general Halloween/Michael Myers theme. The eraser has the Halloween II logo, but the patch takes it a step further. It's the patch an employee of the Hadonfield Memorial Hospital would wear on their uniform. Super cool way to go a little more in depth of the bags theme. But the mini masks? Those are the absolute best part of the whole set.

There's Michael's mask perfectly recreated and the skull Silver Shamrock mask from part III. Despite the set being themed after part II, they threw in a little love for good old Season of the Witch. The little masks are REALLY great considering they're tiny plastic toys based on 40 year old movie props. 

The skull mask looks just like the Don Post mask used in part III. It's hollow, has eye holes, and even the little slit on the back that most masks have so you can fit it over your head. The Michael mask though was the best. The same real mask touches as the skull, but they NAILED they was it looks. 

NAILED IT. 

WITH A HAMMER.

For those who may not know and for those who just like hearing things they already know, I'll go over the history of the Michael Myers mask. When they were making the original movie, the crew had a hard time finding the perfect Halloween. Eventually they took a William Shatner mask, altered it a little and spray painted it white. Voila, scary boogie man mask. 

Nick Castle (The Last Starfighter Nick Castle) played Michael in the original movie (among others) and pretty much just shoved the mask in his back pocket when not wearing it. Afterwards, Debra Hill threw the thing under her bed after filming. There it stayed until the production of part II in which they used it again.

Now after years of being in a heavy smokers house and the rough handling during the first movie it was a little worse for wear. Not to mention, it fit differently on Dick Warlock. That's why it looks a little different in the movie. They captured the way it looks in part II perfectly.

A little more trivia, if you watch part 4, you'll notice a scene in the school where the mask looks weird. They gave Dick Warlock the mask after making part II and recreated it for part 4 with a few new William Shatner masks. Somebody grabbed a non altered one when they filmed that scene and the crew didn't care enough to fix the mistake. Hollywood magic.

 

Bag Of Chucky

I don't know who at Neca started reading Zone Base, but they made exactly the perfect thing. Upon first seeing the Chucky and Halloween capsule bags on Instagram I knew I had to have them. This lead to finding them just in time for Halloween! These bags contain 9 gashapon style capsules each containing a prize. I'm not certain if the prizes differ per bag, but everything indicates that each bag is the same.

Starting off with the Chucky bag and I have to say the attention to detail is great. The bag itself is in the style of a Good Guys package aside from the Chucky logo up top. A small touch maybe, but than appreciated one. This leads me to wonder if any later bag series will be themed to other Child's Play movies.

Tear the bag open and you get 9 capsules each with Chucky's logo molded onto the plastic. Another nice little touch.

 

Each capsule is orange and black leading me to believe these are a special release for the Halloween season. I don't recall seeing anywhere if they are or aren't. I'd think the Chucky balls would match his packing more if not. Each ball contains an individually wrapped prize matching the theme.

The bag contained one of each: shoe laces, lanyard, pin, eraser, magnet, key chain, iron-on patch, bracelet, and a Chucky pencil topper. Either directly featuring Chucky or based on Good Guy packaging. Honestly I really liked that. I've been required to wear lanyards at previous jobs and something cool but not completely obvious like this would have been great to use.

 

My favorite prize was the Chucky pencil topper. It's a dead on head sculpt of him that can slip right on top of your pencil or pen. I really like how it's based on his Good Guy toy more so than the scowling expression it takes on when he's not playing possum. 

While I could see where somebody would prefer that or even his more popular sewn up appearance from Bride of Chucky, following series could be based on other movies. I also prefer the original the most. Not because it's the first, but because it's a great story.  

I like the Good Guy theme overall. It's not completely obvious and makes the prizes a little more varied than just a bunch of Chucky logos. Of course there is a good balance of direct Chucky stuff as well. Neca could have went the easy route with what's basically a novelty item. Instead they put some thought and followed a general theme. The original Child's Play had that level extra thought and that's one of the things that helped make it a great movie. Remember the ending song they originally intended?

Atomic Blast Shin Godzilla

One of the great gifts from my wife this Christmas was this really cool Shin Godzilla figure from Neca. The figure is a great sculpt of the crazy scary Godzilla from the movie Shin Godzilla with his mouth open to breathe fire!

Godzilla is gnarly looking, really bringing the unique version from Shin Godzilla to life. I really appreciate his super long tail and tiny grubby hands. They did a great job bringing the way his mouth opens in the film when letting that atomic blast go to life. It's a bit uncomfortable to look at, just like the king was in the movie.

Neca saw to include two atomic blasts that could be inserted into his mouth to simulate that groovy atomic beam. A nice touch was that the beams are wire bendy type toys, so one doesn't have to worry about the long pieces getting bent out of shape. Just a little adjusting and you can straighten it back out. The toy is really nice. It's super heavy and features a bunch of articulation (not needless joints, but where they should be) with a gimmick that just looks great.