SDCC 2010: NECA and Their Niche

There are only so many hours in a day and at San Diego Comic Con, those hours fly by at twice the speed of sound. At Toy Fair, we have all day to shoot action figures...but at SDCC, we get put in rooms with the most awesome people you could imagine working on projects we love, so we've got to plan our attack wisely! Unfortunately, some companies get left behind as result. By the time we got back to NECA on Sunday, they'd already decided to call it quits and the newest prototypes were packed up, leaving behind tiny little footprints in the dust where they once stood. Luckily, we've got some sales shots of these new figures as well as NECA's own Twitterifications live from the show.

Coming to the pegs in the near future...

Predators Action Figures: Series One should be hitting stores right now and Series 2 including the Tracker, Unmasked Berzerker and a Battle Damaged Classic Predator. I'm not sure how the rest will be released, but we also saw a Cloaked Predator and were told the Predadogs would get a separate release. We shall see. Expect Series 2 this October. Then in November, we get a classic Alien VS Predator 2 pack! It's been a long time since anyone put the pair together, so expect them to sell out all over. Translation..pre-order NOW.



























Bioshock: Alpha Sinclair wields a trusty Grenade Launcher to scatter the plastic beasties this year as the Splicers look on, wondering if they can make themselves prettier by collecting those spare body parts! Is it clear I know nothing aboit Bioshock? I'm a good faker. At any rate, I don't recall this many Splicers in the lineup before, so get ready to snap up all you can handle. NECA have announced Crawler and Brute joining the fight and debut'd little masks we hadn't seen at the show. Want full sized masks allowing you to terrorize the noisy neighborhood children? FEAR NOT!! NECA rises to the occasion with Lady Smith and Welder Splicer Masks.

Twilight: Ahhhh..Twilight. The itch at the back of your throat that won't go away. Like it or not, these pups must sell TONS of units at Toys R Us, so alongside the standard Edward, Jacob and unsmiling femme fetale action figures, they do their best to introduce a new character with every wave. For Eclipse this October, not only do we get some new sculpts for the crew, but a new character in Rosalie. At this rate, we'll get Jasper in December of 2012.

Harry Potter continues with the Deathly Hallows lineup featuring 3 new figures. Included are Snatcher Chase Harry Potter (which sounds all sorts of dirty) with Glasses, Wand and Backpack, Fenrir Greyback and Severus Snape. Watch for them this November.


Player Select: Rounding out the coverage is NECA's video game action figures. Bioshock and Gears if War get their own line, but Altair of Assassin's Creed 2 will join the core line, wearing his signature white and black outfits. We showed you the Splinter Cell and Borderlands toys last time around, and nothing new to report on that front save the small detail that Sam Fisher will come with his Tri-Goggles. I guess begging does make a difference, huh?



For Gears Fans, expect new figures of Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. Looks like a slender year for the Gears.




As a side note, we'll also be getting a new Jason Voorhees from the last, updated Friday the 13th film. He'll be packed wearing the sack head and mask randomly, but each figure will contain both heads.

NECA Predators Figures Will Eat Adrien Brody

Now THAT would be an action feature I'd welcome. Not that I have anything against Brody, but I figure the Predators would know Brody screws monsters (see Splice) and not wanting to be groped, might eat him first...thus, the perfect action feature. Ta daaaa.

For the first time almost 20 years, there is a brand new Predator film featuring a whole new breed of Predators! These hunters are even more ruthless and deadly than the Predators that came before. Fans of the series will want these figures of the Classic Predator, the Falconer Predator, and the Berzerker Predator. Each figure stands over 7" tall and is fully poseable. New, killer blister card packaging was made for each one. Expect them on the pegs this August.

NECA's SDCC Exclusive Lineup

NECA jump into the battle with a small grouping of San Diego Comic Con exclusives that represent the movie and video game properties they crank out product for all year long. This year's lineup includes...

Cult Classics: Terminator 2 T-1000 Liquid Metal Version Action Figure
Gears of War: Jace Stratton Action Figure
Bioshock 2: Eleanor Lamb Unmasked Version Action Figure
Predators: Berzerker Predator Cloaked Version Action Figure

Unfortunately, that's all we've got for now, but when we get a hold of edition sizes and further pics of the Predator, Bioshock 2 and the packaging, we'll be sure to do an update.

In other NECA news, there have also been announcements of Assassin's Creed 2 action figures featuring a standard and black clothed Ezio and a Bob Marley figure from "Live at the Rainbow" in 7 and 18 inches.

Meet Royce from Predators

Honestly, like Edgar Wright, you say the name Robert Rodriguez and I'm there. Even Spy Kids. Now the man who loves monsters sets his sights on the Predator franchise with a pseudo-reboot of the original...

Predators, a bold new chapter in the Predator universe, shot under the creative auspices of Robert Rodriguez, stars Adrien Brody as Royce, a mercenary who reluctantly leads a group of elite warriors who come to realize they've been brought together on an alien planet ... as prey. With the notable exception of a disgraced physician, they are all cold-blooded killers - mercenaries, Yakuza, convicts, death squad members - human "predators" that are now being systematically hunted and eliminated by a new breed of alien Predators.


Predators Character Profile - Royce
Uploaded by dreadcentral. - Classic TV and last night's shows, online.

We caught up with Alice Braga at the Repo Men press junket who said Brody stepped up to the challenge, beefing up for the role and giving her a run for her money for the title of "biggest gun on the set." She also mentioned that it would be extremely difficult for this movie to get a PG13 rating, as the content is so dark. July 7th will be here before you know it, and then we'll find out for ourselves!

Predators Trailer is LIVE!

Predators Movie Trailer - Trailer

UK Toyfair: NEW Toys for Tron, Predators, Jonah Hex, How to Train Your Dragon and The Last Airbender

The first bits of info are coming in from UK toyfair, so as we sort it out, I thought we'd start with items we didn't know were coming.

We knew NECA has the new Nightmare on Elm Street and is currently slated to put out human and burned up Freddy Krueger figures. We also knew they were doing Perseus from the new Clash of the Titans movie and perhaps a second version of him, at the very least. What we didn't know is they also have the new Predators movie and Jonah Hex! I'm sort of cold on the whole Pred/Alien thing, but Jonah Hex toys from NECA has me grinning from ear to ear. Couldn't think of a more perfect match! NECA also will continue current lines with Twilight: Eclipse, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and their popular Cult Classics line. NECA also expands their Wizkids Clix line with HaloClix!

As for Tron, Spin Master has the goods with 3 3/4 action figures and a big baddy whose head has inner projection to show FX from the new movie. Sources say Spin Master also had "How to Train Your Dragon" and "The Last Airbender" toys. The Airbender toys are said to be a small line, but it contains a "lovely Appa".