While lot of IGN staff are currently poking a hot piece of wire into petri dishes of their blood to see who secretly caught the San Diego Comic-Con exclusive COVID variant, there’s one Thing we’re very glad we brought home from the show: this action figure based on the poster for John Carpenter’s The Thing, courtesy of NECA.
NECA always pulls out all the stops for SDCC exclusives (even when there’s no actual convention) and this year was no exception, but this particular figure was worth writing home about. Based on the Drew Struzan poster for the classic horror movie, this 7-inch figure comes features interchangeable faces to recreate the stylized rays, and even has an LED feature for the full effect. This is clearly meant as a standalone display piece, but there’s plenty of articulation for anyone who wants to set up a diorama of Kurt Russell torching him with a flamethrower. Even if it’s left in the box, this Thing looks great displayed thanks to lenticular packaging featuring the original poster without any unnecessary branding or logos.
Another NECA exclusive was a four-pack of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures (none of which are technically mutated or turtles, and only one is actually a ninja) including pre-mutation (IE, human) versions of Splinter, Bebop, Rocksteady and Baxter Stockman. The pre-mutated turtles are in there too as a tiny accessory, ready to fall out of their jar into a sewer drain — or more likely, get lost under your desk.
Speaking of horrible green things that are created due to improper handling of liquids, there’s also a 7-inch Greta the Gremlin figure. Decked out in full wedding attire, this figure faithfully recreates the final shot from Gremlins 2: The New Batch, as well as all the uncomfortable feelings that came from viewing it as a small child.
There was also a four-pack of Dungeons and Dragons figures based on the “Lost Wave,” replicas of an unproduced set from the original 4-inch LJN toy line, recreated from the original prototypes. NECA even made their own logo look like the LJN logo, which is such a fun detail.
Finally, who doesn’t want an 8-inch figure of Zombo from Rob Zombie’s upcoming big-screen remake of The Munsters? You know, Zombo! In a pile of action figures based on deep-cut pop-culture references, this one might be the most esoteric. As near as we can tell, Zombo appeared in one episode of the original Munsters show, and he’s returning for the movie… and the person who’s most excited about Zombo’s return is, well, Rob Zombie himself.
Convention exclusives are infamously hard to track down after a convention is over, but keep an eye on NECAonline.com to see if there are any plans to release more down the line. Maybe during New York Comic-Con? Huge thanks to NECA for providing IGN with samples.
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