NECA Rocky 40th Anniversary Series 1 – Toyark Photo Shoot

Back in 2011, NECA launched a line of figures based on the Rocky franchise. These 7″ scale figures sold well, and featured some of the most iconic characters from the films, as well as variant versions with alternate head sculpts and boxing gear. The line ran for three assortments before ending. For the 40th Anniversary of the original Rocky film, NECA has relaunched the line. It’s going to feature a mix of reissues, new figure releases and new variants. All are coming in collector friendly window boxes.

Rocky – 40th Anniversary Series 1 features Rocky Balboa and Clubber Lang from Rocky III. there are two versions of each figure. The new figure is a Rocky Balboa based on the promotional poster for the film, with black trunks and a great championship belt. The other three figures are reissues of Rocky in his gold trunks and Clubber in his black trunks as well as his blue trunks. Since I missed out on these the first time around, I’m going to be taking the entire run and doing up full galleries. We have the figures via Toyark sponsor Entertainment Earth. There are over 90 high resolution photos to check out.

Related Entertainment Earth Links: Rocky Series 1, Rocky Series 2, All Rocky Merchandise

NECA Rocky – 40th Anniversary Series 1 – Rocky III

Pros

• Great sculpts all around
• Good likenesses
• Solid articulation
• The championship belt has some amazing details
• Nice attention to small details
• Really good paint application

Cons

• Double-jointed elbows would have been amazing
• Championship belt doesn’t come off

Overall
The Rocky figures come packaged in collector friendly window boxes. They feature an overall black design with nice foil detailing for the portraits and silhouettes. The box design is consistent on all four figures, with the back of the box being the same for each. The back features the iconic Rocky III poster as well as photos of the figures in the assortment. The figures sit on a plastic tray, each held in by a single twist tie. They’re easy enough to remove from the package and pop back in very easily to store or display.

Other than the Sega Master System Rocky Figure, this is my first real foray into the Rocky line. The figures each stand about 7″ tall and have roughly 17 points of articulation. They don’t include any additional accessories, though the line doesn’t really call for heavily accessorized figures. Across all four figures, the paint apps are handled well. For the most part, paint lines are very clean. Skin tones are handled very well, with Clubber looking especially realistic at times. There’s stellar attention to detail on each figure, such as logos on the gloves, and Rocky’s name on the back of his shoes. Joints were solid throughout, with no paint locking or breakages. The elbows would really have benefited from being double jointed. There’s enough movement there for nearly any boxing pose, but NECA handles their double joints really well these days, while keeping them looking natural, and it would have made these even better. The hips joints have some restricted movement due to the thickness of the trunks, but this also keeps the figures stable in the assorted boxing poses. I heated them up a bit, and got far greater range than I expected.

The Rocky Balboa – Rocky III Poster Version, the first new variant of the line, is likely to be one of the most sought after in Series 1. It is modeled after the Rocky III promotional poster, which was a look not actually seen in the film itself. Here, Rocky has red gloves, black trunks and a new belt accessory. The belt is what fans are going to really want from this figure. It’s beautifully detailed, has very clean paint apps and looks great on Rocky. It features portraits of the different fighters Rocky has faced through the first four films. The best part, the portraits are actually photos of NECA figures. If the belt was easily removable, it would be even better. Right now, you need to either cut it off or separate Rocky at the waist. It’s a minor point, and one that doesn’t take away from a fun release.

The two Clubber Lang figures are the same as the original releases. The two head sculpts are handled really well. They have a good likeness to Mr. T, with the snarling face being especially perfect for boxing poses. Gold trunks Rocky, also a reissue, is a great looking figure as well. It clearly evokes Stallone’s dead eye stare. As mentioned above, detailing is excellent on all three figures. I ran into no issues while posing. They have good weight distribution, so standing them in fight stances was easy.

I am definitely pleased with my proper introduction to the Rocky line. They are really fun to pose, especially if you have a boxing ring (the Jakk’s Pacific WWE rings are perfect). If, like me, you missed out on the original releases, then these are definitely recommended. Those that collected the original assortment will at least want to grab the Poster Rocky. Check out some boxing action shots below and over 90 photos after that.