Jun 19, 2020

It came from the Toy Chest: NECA Bebop and Rocksteady

I was able to finally get a set at a reasonable price from a reseller. Translation: I paid less than $100 for them SHIPPED! Usually they go for $100 plus shipping and handling... one of the few reasons why I hate Target exclusive is because there's no Target in my neck of the woods. Which means I have to pay secondary market prices by default.  all I need is Casey and April to complete this and maybe a  Master Splinter.

At least the movie figures slightly more accessible to me since I can order them online from Walmart, if they don't show up in my area.

Bebop and Rocksteady are Shredder's number one and number two Goons. Humans enhanced with the power of a warthog and a rhinoceros. The Ooze works in mysterious ways for the cartoon.

Articulation:
NECA WARNING: you must be extremely careful with moving the articulation points. Painted Parts can gum up some points of articulation add they could break if you force them to hard. This is true even if you heat up the joints by blow drying them or using very hot water. This royally sucks and for some reason NECA does not want to fix this quality control issue that has an adverse effect in all their lines.
Shredder: Is this like the time Bo and Luke
were replaced by Coy and Vance?

With that said, both of my figures have some joints that are kind of stock in the leg area. I stated before I'm not going to force them and risk breakage because I bought them from a third-party seller through the internet and not straight from Target. So if something happens NECA is going to basically tell me to fuck off.

IN THEORY, they have Marvel Legends level of articulation. In execution they are not. Frozen joints, big, bulky, and top-heavy bodies limit the amount of possible poses. Out of the two Rocksteady is the more problematic figure.

One unexpected surprise was that they possess an articulated jaw. I discovered it watching the Pixel Dan video while looking for a way to fix an issue with my Bebop figure.
Bebop: 4.0
Rocksteady: 3.5

Paint and sculpt:
I'm not a huge fan of the "cartoony paintjob" with drawn lines painted and exaggerated cartoon shading. Despite my dislike of the stylistic choices, the paint job is really good on them!
Leonardo: Turtles fight with Honor!
Rocksteady: Look at me I am a Toitle Zuko!
Raphael: Did you actually made that up on the spot
or did you spent some time practicing it!
Bebop: He was up all night practicing it!
Rocksteady: Was not! OK, may be a little, but now you
Die, Toitles!!

The sculpt on them is phenomenal and catchers the look of the characters much better than the Playmates figures did.  Bebop even has real metal chains on his body sure they're painted in a cartoon gray color but I didn't expected the change to be metal. Just in case be careful with Rocksteady knife on his back it's not removable but it's called it in soft plastic and I'm afraid it could tear up from the thin harness.
Bebop: 4.5
Rocksteady 4.5
Haha! The Cam Clarke has been Doubled!!
  Accessories 
4 extra hands per mutant. They kind of look like they're the same hands but painted in different colors. Beige for Bebop and Gray for Rocksteady.
2 guns and 2 rifles. They are exactly the same that's why I put the small gun Bebop and the bigger rifle and Rocksteady. Sadly that available hands do not allow Bebop 2 dual wield the smaller guns.
1 communicator. I believe it's the same Communicator from the previous box set but I don't have it so I can not compare.

Swapping hands can be a hassle especially Bebop's left hand. He has a metal chain wrapped on his left forearm and putting it back together after swapping a hand can be a huge pain in the ass.
Right now I'm a bit torn on the score for accessories because by here number they should get a 5.0 but I cannot give him a 5.0 because there are issues with the accessories. None can dual wield. The communicator tends to fall off their hands. Alsp, Rocksteady is missing his helmet... Yes, I know he didn't always wear it in the cartoon but there were certain times that he did.
Both: 4.0

Overall:
Bebop gets a 4.17 , while Rocksteady gets a 4.0 as his final score. I feel this set should have waited a bit higher but the quality control issues that plague most NECA lines to hinder them a little bit the uselessness of the accessories hurts them as well. I hear Leatherhead reuses some parts from these two wo but I can't Gwa-ran-tee it!
If I didn't have any stuck joints or the hands would actually allow me to pose them a a bit better I would rate them bit higher. But these are the figures I have and some issues are more commonplace than others.

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