The Toyark crew attended the NECA Fan Event 2019 at YESTERcades in Westfield, NJ. We did a bit of live Twitter and Instagram photo sharing (you can see a few of those photos after the jump). We will have a full, high resolution gallery of the displays from the event some time tomorrow. At the event, Randy Falk and a large portion of the NECA team were on hand to meet with fans, talk toys and generally just hang out and have a good time. As a side note, the YESTERcades location proved to be a great choice. It was a nice large arcade, a solid mix of old and somewhat modern games, and a wall of consoles ranging from the common classics (NES, Atar, SNES, Genesis), to the not so common classics (3DO, Jaguar) and all modern machines. The game assortment was outstanding, and the seating was comfy enough. The tone was much more upbeat, fun, and far less formal than a Comic-Con type event.
Both Tony Bacala and myself were on hand, and we met with some great people from NECA and the fans in attendance. While there were some new items on display (see below), the event was aimed much more at letting the fans meet with the people behind the figures, as well as the NECA crew meeting the fans they talk to online, or who are fans of the products. Below, we’ll list off the new reveals or first time packaging displays.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- TMNT Cartoon 2-Pack (Wave 3) – Slash and Leatherhead
- TMNT: Turtles In Time – Shredder
Toony Terrors
- Hellraiser – Pinhead
- Halloween – Michael Myers
- Packaging Design Revealed
Other Items
- Shape of Water – Amphibian Man – Production Figure with Diorama
- SDCC 2019 Exclusive In Packaging
Throughout the event, Randy and team took time to talk about upcoming products, including a live sculpting demo for a new reveal! Those were expanded on in the Question and Answers session as well. I took the time to record the entire QnA session. After the jump, you can watch the entire thing (broken into 2 parts). Be warned, this is my first video recording, and it’s a raw “Record and Upload”. It’s just over an hour long in total. Below, I’ll highlight items talked about and announced during the night (check out the videos for more). There were little to no additional details on these.
- Sculpting Demo – Snowflake the Dolphin and Ace’s Dog for a new Ace Ventura 8″ Scale Figure
- TMNT Cartoon Foot Clan 2-Pack coming to target
- TMNT Cartoon Turtles may see a re-release as their own 2-packs with updates
- A TON of TMNT figure in development from the cartoon, the TMNT 1990 Movie, and Secret of the Ooze
- NECA once again has a Hellraiser license, and there’s more to come in the future outside of the Toony Terrors Pinhead
- The next Kenner Aliens figure is a massive Rhino Alien. Large figure; Bigger than a standard Xenomorph, smaller than a Queen.
- Godzilla: King of the Monsters – King Ghidorah is definitely not happening. Target won’t carry it, and that was their only option.
- Strongly hinted (but stopped short of confirming) that the SDCC 2019 TMNT set would see a release individually with changes
- Exploring the possibility of Bill and Ted Face the Music figures (aka bill and Ted 3). Depends on how the characters look, and direction of the film.
- Friday the 13th Jason Voorhees figures will be on hold after all previously in-development figures are released due to legal issues
- A Nightmare On Elm Street license will also be on indefinite hiatus, possibly due to a similar situation as F13
- The NYCC 2019 Exclusive DC vs Dark Horse Sets are Batman vs Joker Alien, and Green Lantern vs Sinestro Corps Predator
Quick Round Up of the NECA Fan Event 2019 - QnA Videos and More
A SINESTRO PREDATOR??!!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT?!!!!!!
I will never be able to get that one on their Con exclusive rush. I was already worried because of the cool Joker Alien but add that to the mix and it will be a mad rush to get those. Hopefully they will have some insanely cool TMNT that everybody rushes to get and I can slip through and get the other DC sets again like this time.
I CANNOT wait to see that Sinestro predator though. It is going to look so cool. I am sure it will be at SDCC. CAN'T WAIT FOR NECA SDCC LIKE ALWAYS.
P.S.
You did great Joe. Not as good as your photography but pretty good. Thanks for going up and making the effort!
NECA should crowdfund King Ghidorah. This way the production run is brought and paid for. I'm sure there will be more than enough interest.
What about an online exclusive?
And I haven't seen a single NECA item in a Target store for months.
Has there been any news on the TMNT Dimension X arcade figures? I really hope those aren't cancelled in favor of just the cartoon versions. I actually really like video game versions.
Dimension X figures?
It would have been nice to go to this. I think this thing will get bigger and bigger. This was their own mini convention before SDCC.
I really wish I was still in NJ to attend the event, looked like fun!
Killer croc looks awesome
It's strange that NECA says the Godzilla figures are so dependent on Target, when 90% of the Targets don't even have the new Godzilla figures from NECA in them. I also find it odd that Target can find space for that gigantic Alien Queen figure but not King Ghidorah?
I can't recall a video game with Shredder having a lightsaber and using that color palette. It's been years since I've played it but I could've sworn that you only fight Super Shredder in Turtles in Time.
What about an online exclusive?
And I haven't seen a single NECA item in a Target store for months.
HD Pics up!
NECA Fan Event 2019 – HD Pics!
Guess it depends on the level of excitement the community shows for Neca stuff.
Guess it depends on the level of excitement the community shows for Neca stuff.
*sigh* I REALLY regret not going to this. I live NY and totally within driving distance, so I really don't have much of an excuse. If it happens again next year I have to go. Plus, it would have been cool to meet the ToyArk crew and thank them for all their hard work in helping to drain my fucking wallet with their awesome reviews/photo shoots.
Oh, cool, it's Asian John Connor:
I also question why King Ghidorah would be so much more expensive than any of their deluxe or Quater-Scale offerings. In roughly the same scale, they are able to make a $20-$25 Godzilla figure where S.H. Monsterarts makes a $75-$80 figure of the same design. S.H. Monsterarts Ghidorah figure is retailing for around $150-$180. What on earth is NECA doing that makes an attempt so financially unfeasible? They’ve proven that customers are willing to throw down over $125 or more a figure or set of figures. And I seem to recall there being preorders for a 1/2 articulated Deadpool figure for nearly $700. How is there any kind of market for that online or otherwise, size and price withstanding and yet a Ghidorah figure is simply not possible?
Also, Also they are selling Diorama pieces that never see the light of day on a retail shelf for over $100 and somehow there is still enough of an online market for more pieces of the detail and scale of the street scene Diorama they just released. Obviously the work that goes into an articulated three-headed dragon is likely more complicated than a building that's just supposed to look pretty, but still.
I always imagined a NECA Ghidorah would require some assembly anyway. Detach the wings, the three heads, and the tails and artfully cram those pieces in a box the size of the Queen Alien and I’m sure they could make work for $50 cheaper than the Monsterarts offering.
I don’t pretend to know the numbers and the folks at NECA must know what there talking about, but the excuses they've given so far sound like stretch. Regardless I’ll take them at their word, because that’s honestly the only thing you can do at this point.
In reality I’m OK if they don’t make King Ghidorah. I’ll take a MUTO from the 2014 movie instead.
They said multiple times that Ghidorah would be a minimum $150 figure. It's a one use design that Target wasn't interested in. Hard to justify the tooling cost for something that's a hard sell to your largest retailer, and you probably won't be able to use again. You can watch the video, he's fairly candid about it.
It's a massive design that would be larger than a Queen Alien, which is in a fairly small box all things considered. The MonsterArts box is about 20" long. The box for the dio sets are long as well, but then depth is only a few inches, and retails for it is well under that $150 price point. MonsterArts has a larger distribution network in Japan. That thing will be in multiple retail stores there, and then get its own distribution via Bluefin.
Were there pics of the GL/ Pred set or did they just mention it'd be the final exclusive?
It's a massive design that would be larger than a Queen Alien, which is in a fairly small box all things considered. The MonsterArts box is about 20" long. The box for the dio sets are long as well, but then depth is only a few inches, and retails for it is well under that $150 price point. MonsterArts has a larger distribution network in Japan. That thing will be in multiple retail stores there, and then get its own distribution via Bluefin.
But as I said, there are other avenues for which NECA has released larger more expensive items with sculpts that also have a one-and-done use. Apples and Oranges I know but still, while $150 is a lot, people would pay for it based on the character alone. I just think it’s odd that it’s so impossible that’s all.
But as I said, there are other avenues for which NECA has released larger more expensive items with sculpts that also have a one-and-done use. Apples and Oranges I know but still, while $150 is a lot, people would pay for it based on the character alone. I just think it’s odd that it’s so impossible that’s all.
Keep reading: NECA Fan Event 2019 News and Videos - Page 2
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