In 1985, one of the greatest sci-fi comedies of all time debuted in Back to the Future. The film kicked off one of the most beloved film trilogies in history, sending it’s characters from the 80’s, to the mid-1950’s, the Wild West, and to the far off future of 2015! Back to the Future follows young Marty McFly and his scientist friend Doctor Emmet Brown. Doc Brown invites Marty to check out his latest invention, a time machine built into a DeLorean. But when a group of terrorists, that Doc Brown stole Plutonium from attack them, Marty is accidentally sent back to 1955. Out of fuel and lost in an era he knows little about, Marty seeks out the help of the Doc Brown from 1955. Along the way, Marty will bump into his parents, and other younger versions of the people he knows from 1985, causing him to disrupt the time line. Morty and Doc Brown set out to correct their mistakes before sending Marty back to the future!
Earlier this year, during Toy Fair 2020, NECA debuted their first Back to the Future action figures. The first assortment of figures are beginning to hit stores now, with three version of Marty McFly, and a Biff Tannen. Doc Brown is coming in a future assortment, and we’re likely to see many more. Today we’re taking a look at two of the Marty McFly figures. Our friends at NECA have sent over the Ultimate Marty McFly, and the Ultimate “Tales From Space” Marty McFly figures. Read on to see a full gallery and to read my review.
Back to the Future – Ultimate Marty McFly 7″ Scale Figure by NECA Toys
Pros
- Solid likenesses on the two portraits
- Good articulation
- Nice paint work
- Great attention to detail on the skateboard
- Includes proper hands to play the guitar
- Really good overall selection of accessories
Cons
- Would prefer the standard head to be a closed mouth portrait
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Back to the Future – Ultimate “Tales From Space” Marty McFly 7″ Scale Figure by NECA Toys
Pros
- Great take on the scene
- Clever construction of the hazmat helmet
- Good articulation
- Perfect accessories
- Solid likenesses
- Great paint work
- Hair Dryer can fit in the belt
Cons
- Both portraits have the same expression
Overall
The figures are packed in collector friendly flapped window boxes. The front of the box for the Ultimate Marty features the iconic poster from the film, while the back showcases the figure and the included accessories. The figure includes two portraits, interchangeable hands, a backpack, a camcorder, a skateboard, a guitar. The “Tales From Space” Marty uses the Tales From Space comic as the cover, and is a nice deep cut to use as the box that ties in perfectly with the figure inside. The “TFS” Marty includes a masked and unmasked portrait, mask pieces, a hairdryer, and a walman.
Back to the Future is one of those licenses that has flown under the radar for years. Collectibles mainly centered on the DeLorean time machines, or on figures that didn’t require actor likeness rights such as vinyl figures, retro style figures, and Minimates. That changed a few years ago, when Hot Toys debuted high end figures of Doc Brown and Marty McFly. But, fans looking for a more retail friendly series of action figures that featured the authorized likenesses have been left out in the cold. So, when NECA debuted the Back to the Future line earlier this year, there was a lot of excitement about the lines many possibilities.
I’m happy to say that I’m enjoying NECA’s new BTTF figures, and have been impressed with most everything I’ve seen from the line. The likenesses on the included portraits are pretty good. From certain angles, the likeness is amazingly realistic. Throughout the 3 Marty’s that are coming, all use the same open mouth expression as the base portrait. I really do wish they would include at least one with a closed mouth expression (without sunglasses), that could be used on any of the figures. That aside, the portraits are all recognizable as Michael J. Fox. Articulation is pretty similar between the two figures. There’s roughly 25 points of articulation throughout, and the range of motion is excellent on both. They both feature double jointed elbows, ball jointed torsos, and all the articulation you’d expect from a modern NECA release. Paint work is excellent on both figures, with some digital printing tech used on the portraits. The bodies use multiple layers of paint to add nice depth to the sculpted details. I didn’t run into any issues with the joints, and parts swapped out easily.
The Ultimate Marty has some pretty spot on accessory choices. His second portrait, and one of the sets of hands, are meant to work with the guitar accessory to portray the opening scene from the film. The backpack slings over his right shoulder nicely, and the figure has a specific hand to properly hold the camcorder. The best accessory here is the skateboard. It’s a fantastic looking piece that looks near identical to the one from the film, right down to the Valterra and Madrid logos. The wheels spin as well. The torso has a soft vinyl jacket and a soft vinyl life preserver (which are glued on). The button up shirt is fully sculpted underneath, which makes me think that they have plans to do a version of Marty without the jacket on, as all they’ll need to do is swap out the arms.
The Tales From Space version of Marty was a nice surprise when it was revealed. The figure is currently a Target Exclusive in the US. However, this is a timed exclusive and the figure will have a full general release in the near future (no date given). There is some very clever engineering on this figure, that isn’t immediately apparent when looking at the product images. I initially thought there were 3 portraits, a full masked, a semi-masked, and a fully unmasked portrait. However, found a way to make it so the portrait with the helmet and face shield acted as the fully masked version. A hood piece attaches to the back, and a bib piece attached to the bottom of the face shield to complelte the look fully masked look. Alternate hood and bib pieces are included, so you can display this portrait with the face shield raised. The second portrait is a fully unmasked version, which looks to be the same standard portrait as the Ultimate Marty figure. The torso of the figure is soft vinyl, and hides the underlying ball jointed torso. A removable soft vinyl belt is used here, which can be adjusted to allow for the hair dryer to be place in the belt. The hair dryer and walkman are soft vinyl as well, so there’s no fear of snapping the power cords. The hands hold those items perfectly.
I think the Back to the Future line is off to a strong start, and I can’t wait to get Biff and Future Marty (which are also hitting stores now). Check out an assortment of images below, and the full gallery after that.
CompaniesNECA
CharactersMarty McFly
Scale7 Inch