NECA Ultimate Robocop review

Robocop is my favorite movie of not just 1987, but of the entire decade! Yes, moreso than Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Terminator, Back to the Future, Predator, and Batman! What makes Robocop my favorite 80s movie is how much of an intelligent satire it was on the society of America at the time, showcasing the wrongs of public greed, privatization, and the way the in-universe commercials demonstrated everything that could go wrong with seemingly neat products. And who can forget about "I'D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR"? But the biggest thing about Robocop is how it depicts the titular character as not just the coolest thing to come straight outta Detroit, but also as someone who is slowly rebuilding his past memories to find out who he truly is behind the chromedome. It's something that was sadly not touched up on with the sequels, and the third movie really dropped the ball already with Peter Weller not reprising his role in the third movie (this amusingly predated how Batman was recasted in the more negatively-received Schumacher half of his old quadrilogy). But with NECA making a figure like this and claiming it is the ultimate version of Robocop, I decided to see if it is actually worth obtaining.

Here we have Robocop in-hand. Right off the bat, this figure is very movie-accurate to the character design in the movie. Robocop's meant to represent this fresh-off-the-assembly-line look of a car, down to how the silver from the Detroit Steel pops hard. This character design represents the right balance of sci-fi and is grounded in realism for a late-80s movie. This design represents how cool Stormtroopers think they are (Clones are equal to Robocop obviously). The proportions resemble the right physique Robocop has in the movie, where he has a slight bit of bulk yet is meant to be practical for a human actor like Peter Weller wearing the suit. You even have some of the details that are practically required for Robocop, such as the piston near the heels, the black gloves, the pectoral chest armor look, and the black forearms. All painted and sculpted with the right level of precision that NECA is known for, and I love it.

His head sculpt is accurate in terms of character design, though some may find the proportions will vary depending on the angle. It's a little narrow than it is on the movie. His lips are a little more pronounced than they normally would be, especially on the Keaton Batman side of things. And there is a small bit of paint discrepancy between where the flesh and the black part of the headgear meet. His articulation, while movie-accurate, is fairly limited. With a ball neck that allows for the standard head movement while having less range than on other figures. His shoulders swivel front and back but hinge in and out somewhat. His elbows can only bend while there is no bicep rotation. The hands rotate past the wrist because of the forearm-swapping gimmick we'll get to. There is a diaphragm joint that doesn't work as much as the waist swivel, but the hips move front and back on Y-joint hips. The knees bend and the ankles hinge without pivots but there are pistons. His Auto 9 pistol can be held in his right hand and is a standard black-plastic accessory but it is accurate to how it looks in the movie. An effect piece representing the muzzle flash is included, but the cloudiness and the feel of it looks more like some rock candy.

The pistol is able to store away in the signature spring-loaded holster by pressing a button on the back of the right thigh so it can open up and peg the weapon in place via the trigger. It is advised to only push the front panel in place and not the side panel or else it'll work incorrectly. You also have a Cobra Assault Cannon, initially used by Clarence Boddicker, then Anne Lewis, and finally Robocop...who I realized should have been posed with the visor removed when holding this weapon since his face was more visible when he shot the ED-209 in the movie.

His right hand could be swapped for a clenched fist with a data spike that is surprisingly stiff and a bit pointy. I don't know if it'll draw blood or anything so be careful not to end up like Clarence when he went Sayonara instead of Robocop. He also has an alternate Alex Murphy head, which I believe is new to this release. It accurately has the face etched onto the mechanical detailing as it should. Annoyingly, it looks like the pupils overlapped on the eyelids...

As far as reuses are concerned, this is the battle-damaged Robocop that comes with his chair, which features interfacing computers for him to hook onto. A similarly-detailed Battle Damage Robocop has been released on its own. This figure's accessories are otherwise the same as before.

We get one weird repaint based on the old toys that came out in the 80s despite Robocop being an R-rated movie (you see, this, Terminator, Alien, and Predator were made when some R-rated movies would would come out with toylines made for kids). The one on the left looks like a resin prototype with how clear it is, but it's actually a glow-in-the-dark repaint called Night Fighter Robocop. On the right is the more logical reuse made for Robocop 3. The movie may have sucked, but at east the jetpack he utilized was cool. Still, it was clearly meant to make the series more appealing to kids, predating the family-friendly and toyetic nature of Batman Forever and ESPECIALLY Batman & Robin.

Other Robocop figures also popped up here and there. One of them is retooled to have Terminator arms and more rockets strapped on his back than Buzz Lightyear in the first movie. His arms are swapped with ones you'd find from a T-800. There is a full-on Terminator Robocop as well, but that is too freaky-looking. So instead have this set of Robocop repaints. One with fire effects on his torso and head that are permantently attached and another with flame effect pieces he can use like in the old video games. I don't get why the former could have those pieces as swappable parts either.

For a size comparison with some other 7-inch figures, here he is with Master Chief from Jazwares and, after being namedropped a few times, Batman. Specifically, the Knightfall version from the McFarlane DC Multiverse line. Robocop definitely won't scale with your 6-inch guys, but he looks pretty appropriate next to Batman if we are to remember that Batman is a little taller than Robocop is. Meanwhile, Chief should be taller than both of them. I wish I could have Marvel Select Spectacular Spider-Man to go with Batman since it would show the duality of my interests (sci-fi armored characters and comic book superheroes). Honestly, while Robocop looks nice, I don't think the limited articulation, accurate as it may be, will justify the price it's going for. There are a few great accessories to boot, and the level of paint and overall heft are higher in value and quantity than the average Hasbro or Mattel figure, but maybe a few more accessories would have helped justify the $30+ price tag it's going for. Maybe some alternate hands would have helped for clenched fists (had the left arm's nub be reworked so it would be easier to remove). Maybe some swappable chest pieces would help add a bit more for display options? How about some rudimentary paste for him to shoot instead of consume because he probably doesn't need to eat? Robocop is a good figure when it comes to what NECA could offer, but not at the price he is going for. Get him for less than $30.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐