Go back a decade or so, Neca toys made figures more akin to statues: articulation kept to a minimum for the sake of preserving the integrity of the body sculpt and high quality paint apps because it wasn’t like the adult collectors were going to play with them. But time moves on, attitudes change, and collectors want more articulation-in no small part due to the rising popularity in toy photography (aka the part of Instagram that isn’t D-list celebrities on their holiday, or animal abuse) and over the years Neca figures have gone from glorified statues to fully articulated action figures with the same level of detail that put them on the map. So it’s no surprise Neca would revisit characters they made figures of in the past with added articulation and new accessories with their “ultimates" line. So avert your eyes, and warn the neighbourhood watch: the flasher's back!
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| FYI, it's a stand from a funko pop figure |
What we have is the return of the updated gremlin drone- any extra gremlin that has no physical uniqueness to his brethren and only stands out by its outfit. It’s the same figure I got with the gamer gremlin I reviewed a few months ago, right down to the markings. The only difference being the head can be removed. So, like the gamer, this gremlin has your typical Neca sculpted detail, right down to the textured skin, the gloss coat on the eyes, the nodules on the head, the considered paint job that adds dimension to the body just like the ultimate gamer gremlin did. You’d be hard pressed to tell them apart, which is testament to the level of consistent detail you get from Neca’s paint jobs. Normally it would be covered in the accessories section but seeing as it was wearing the trench coat inside the box I have to consider this as part of the figure, and it is excellent. The whole thing is made of fabric- instead of the soft plastic of the original flasher- so it fits nearly perfectly to the form of the figure, with proper stitching in the collar, buttons (albeit non-functional), nylon inner lining, and even a belt to make everything all secure. It comes off easily, thanks to the removable hands. Just take them off, rotate both arms back and the sleeves roll off the arms a treat. Personally, I never want to take the coat off, if only so I can take the cigar from the George gremlin (or make my own with some epoxy putty) and act out my fantasy of Columbo gremlin. But there’s just one thing: the hands. Obviously, they’re sculpted and painted to the usual high, Neca standards but they’re the same hands that came with gamer gremlin, meaning they’re not really made to grip anything. Only the extra right hand can really keep hold, so if you want to recreate flasher's spot in the movie then you will spend some time carefully threading the edges of the coat through the open fingers of the left hand, making sure not to pull too hard or else you dislodge the other end. It really shouldn’t be this much bother to set up the one and only pose it’s known for. Especially when the claws are sculpted to be quite sharp and will constantly dig into your fingers when adjusting the hands.
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| Size comparison with mohawk gremlin |
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| With the original flasher |
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| You like the lining,eh? |
Articulation is the same as the previous ultimate: The head can completely turn around at the top of the neck and tilts up and down slightly. Both ears can rotate nearly 360 degrees and pivot up at a right angle, which is great for giving the figure a touch of personality, especially when combined with the head tilt and the opening jaw. The base of the neck also rotates 360 degrees, so if you turn it back on itself, then turn the head round, you have a looking right up pose. Both arms completely rotate at the shoulders (if you turn the head to the side) and pivot out at almost 90 degrees. There’s a 90 degree bend and complete rotation at the elbow joint, as well as full rotation and a up and down pivot in the wrists giving a gremlin figure the arm movement it always needed. There’s a ball joint in the mid-torso giving a nice amount of tilt any way you want. The legs attach to the hip via a ball and pivot joint, with the legs coming up forwards and out to the side 90 degrees, though they can’t move back due to the body sculpt. The knees and lower legs rotate completely and almost bend at 90 degrees, these joints are really stiff and the claw at the back is quite sharp so getting a grip can be downright painful, if not a chore to pose, but I’d much rather stiff joints that barely move than loose ones that would have the figure constantly crouch down under its own weight (hello Neca Crimson Typhoon). The feet are on ball joints, they rotate all around at the ankle but due to the sculpt, you don’t get much lean in the foot other than forwards, and the joint is quite stiff which is a good thing as the feet are quite small, compared to older gremlins figures, and what with the figure being top-heavy you’re gonna spend a lot of time making constant adjustments until the figure stands on its own. Luckily, both feet have 3mm holes in the bottom so I would recommend that you find some stands with the same size pegs.
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| "Is that a kid on a flying bicycle?" |
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| "I can finally reach it *coughs*" |
As with the gamer, the flasher’s accessories are plentiful and based from its specific scene in the movie, so with other ultimate gremlins you can recreate other characters from the bar scene. First off is a fedora which, combined with the coat, makes a great detective look but is actually to be worn alone to make the jazz (or as I call him, the Tom Waits) gremlin. To complete the look you can insert one of the cigarettes into the mouth, which holds it perfectly tight, or the extra hand which is sculpted in a more clenched position and holds the cigarette between the thumb and index finger. I would like to point out that Neca could of just of easily included the cigarette from the original flasher but they’re a new sculpt with a drooping trail of ash at the end. And you get four of them so you have spares for when you inevitably lose it. Very good, Neca. But the extra hand has a second use, holding mallet which has a nice bit of a dry brush and a wash on it to give the impression of wood grain, and the business end is hollow so it won’t weigh the arm down. Remember the idiot gremlin with the glove puppets? Well you can have him too, albeit with just the one puppet, which fits onto the exposed wristpeg of any ultimate gremlin and is a excellent depiction of the puppet with a great fur effect in the sculpt. And there’s another character you can make, the card dealer, using the visor which looks like the strap should secure around the head but it’s pretty much decorative and just rests on top of the head. There’s a bowtie, which does have a proper strap and goes around the neck by removing the head. On top of all that you get a pile of poker chips, a static piece that has few cards and chunks of popcorn strewn in the pile for extra detail. There’s a hand of playing cards. I say a hand because it’s four cards fused together as a single sculpt. The detail is spot on with the backs having that typical pattern you get on any playing cards you’ve ever played with. Another great edition is a glass of beer, in an old fashioned glass (much harder for Phoebe Cates to spill your pint) with a clearish brown (I think the landlord isn’t cleaning his pipes) insert representing the beer- a nice extra touch is the beer piece is removable so you get an extra display option shoved in. Lastly, and leastly, are the sunglasses, which are an essential part of the flasher’s outfit. Only problem is they completely warped in the box so they were stuck in the plastic insert tray and, as I found out, are made from a very brittle plastic because one tug and they snapped in half. Luckily the gamer gremlin came with the same pair of shades so they’ll have to substitute.
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| "How do" |
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| "Nn der kids can get n ice creem cos der maarkit burned down" |
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| "What's he building in there is overrated, eh?" |
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| I'd send that back if I was you |
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| DOWN IN ONE! DOWN IN ONE! |
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| One tug and there it went |
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| "whoever shall hold this hammer..." |
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| "I give you puppeteers union!" |
Compared to the original flasher figure I’m in two minds about this ultimate. The soft goods coat is excellent and serves the added articulation well but those hands make setting up the trademark pose such a pain. But as another addition to the gremlin extras- which includes one I’ve wanted since Neca started making gremlins figures- this is an excellent addition despite the short comings I experienced, especially if you have other ultimate gremlins to utilize the accessories. So as a pedantic nerd, who was one of the millions who has banged on the front door of Randy Falk's twitter demanding Neca makes a character that appears in a film for 30 seconds, I’m quite happy. I just wish more care was taken with making sure the eponymous gimmick worked by including two hands that could grip the coat. But otherwise, like the gamer, this is an excellent addition to your Neca gremlins collection with enough variety in accessories to hide the identical nature of these army builders. But is it a worthwhile replacement to the original figure? The figure is more screen accurate in terms of colouring, accessories and body sculpt, and the added articulation gives you more than one display option. So it depends what kind of figure you want: a virtually static gremlin that will stand firm on your shelf or an articulated one that needs some effort to set in a pose and, preferably, a figure stand.
Company: Neca
Price paid: £36.95
Age: 14+
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