Here’s a helpful tip to all toy companies. Make Robocop figures and I will give you my money. Some people have a weird nerd fascination with Boba Fett, but for me it’s Robocop. Besides loving the movies, well two out of three ain’t bad, I’ll even happily suffer through episodes of the often terrible TV series just because I love Robocop so much. I’ve looked at more than a couple of the various vintage Robocop figures that have been produced over the years, and while some of those have their charm, I’ve been jonesing for a really solid modern figure of Robo for a while now and I was happy to see that NECA stepped up to deliver.
Robocop comes in what has become NECA’s standard sealed clamshell with a printed insert. The artwork and presentation is a tad on the cheesy side, but than watch the credits for the original Robocop film and you’ll see this presentation really suits it well. I love that they printed his Prime Directives on the insert and the back of the insert has a nice little blurb just in case you don’t know what this Robocop business is all about. The front insert does block the figure a bit, but only from the knees down. The best thing about NECA’s packaging is that a little deft work with a razor blade and you can get the figure out without damaging the package. And that’s cool, because this baby is going to hang on my wall.
In terms of sculpt, NECA really nailed it with this figure. The armor is beautifully recreated with all the tiny little panel lines and OCP writing right where it should be. Even the lower part of Murphy’s face looks right on target. There is one thing to watch out for, though.The little pistons that connect his ankles to his calves are only pegged in and one of mine flew off the figure when I removed him from the package. Luckily I was able to find it, but I’m definitely going to drop a dab of glue on each of these to keep them from popping off and getting lost. The big question most people have about this figure concerns the leg holster. Is it represented? Nope. And honestly, apart from having a whole piece that replaces half his leg, I can’t see anyway it could have been done on a figure in this scale and price range while still maintaining the sculpt. On the other hand, it would have been nice to get a second head showing Murphy without the visor and helmet.
Speaking of extra bits… you get only two accessories with Robocop. You get his trademark Auto-9 sidearm and an extra hand that has his computer interface spike deployed. The gun is obviously a requirement, but the spike hand is a nice extra bonus. I still would have liked that second head, though.
Robocop sports 14 points of articulation. These include: A ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, rotating hips, hinged knees, hinged ankles, a swivel at the waist, and a ball joint in the chest. There’s certainly the right number of points, but some of them, like the elbows, don’t offer a huge range of motion. I’m not going to complain, though, as Robocop isn’t exactly the most agile crime fighter around and the figure really can hit all the poses that he should be able to do. The only thing I would have added would be lateral hinges in the ankles. Robocop’s legs can achieve a nice wide stance, but without these extra points, his feet can’t lay flat on the ground. Not a big deal, but I still thought I’d mention it.
If you can find him at Toys R Us or a specialty shop, NECA’s Robocop should run you about fifteen bucks. Mine set me back $20 with shipping and I think it was well worth it. Great sculpt, good articulation, nice heft and quality, and an all around fun figure for the scale and price range. Is it a definitive Robocop figure? Nope, and I’m still looking into picking up the forthcoming Figma version to satisfy my ultimate Robocop itch, but for now, this one suits me pretty well.
FigureFan Zero 