NECA is releasing a repainted version of the Deluxe King Kong Figure. The King Kong “Illustrated” Version 7″ Scale Figure is based on Basil Gogos artwork for the cover of a 1974 issue of the Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. The paint scheme has a heavy, colorful, hand-painted look to it. Like the original release, it includes two portraits, and two sets of hands. The figure will be released between February and March. It will start off as a Walmart Exclusive. However, it will then come to general retail after the exclusivity period is over.
Our friends at NECA have sent over the figure. Read on to check out our thoughts and photo gallery for the Illustrated King Kong.
King Kong “Illustrated” Version 7″ Scale Deluxe Figure
Pros
- Sculpt is still solid
- Good articulation
- Easy to swap out parts
Cons
- I do wish the hand painted look was carried over to the whole figure to better match the Poster Godzilla
Overall
The figure comes in a box that is similar to the original release. The photos and art were updated to use the new figure. It’s a flapped window box. The figure includes a modern style portrait, a vintage style portrait, a set of open hands, and a set of fists. For the most part, this is the same enjoyable figure we got last year. The sculpt is still strong, and there’s plenty of good articulation. Double jointed knees and elbows, a ball jointed torso, etc. I didn’t run into any quality control issues here. The joints were strong, but not too tight, there was no paint chipping, and none of the joint connections are loose. The portraits and hands swap out fairly easily, and didn’t require any heat to snap into place.
The big change here is the paint scheme. The portraits, shoulders, and upper torso feature a near perfect match for the Basil Gogos artwork (seen here) that inspired the release. The main downside is that the paint deco isn’t carried down to the rest of the figure. While the body has washes of greens and yellows that slowly fade out from the top to match the colors used on the portrait, it’s not applied as heavy or in the same way. For me, the cel-shaded style paint decos work best when the whole figure is like that. When it’s only on a portion of the figure, it doesn’t look quite right.
If you’re a fan of more colorful decos, Basil Gogos, or just King Kong in general, I’d say give this one a look. I think the initial release is better suited for most collectors’ tastes, and wouldn’t be surprised to see a monochrome release in the future, as a call back to the black and white films. Check out some select photos below, and the full gallery after that.
*Side note, the little screaming turtles are my wife’s, and she wanted a couple pics of Kong with them. I thought they were funny, so enjoy!
NECA Deluxe King Kong Illustrated Version - In-Hand Preview
Full gallery coming later this week.
Kind of an odd looking deco, glad I'm not too interested in it since it's an exclusive.
Timed exclusive. Available at general regular retail after a month or so.
I'm not sure I like the effect on this. He looks more like a mandrill. Did they paint the ass with purple butt cheeks too or is that a DIY project?
that's just too goofy.
I knew there would be a repaint.
But this is not what I wanted -at all.
Easy pass.
I assumed the inevitable repaint was just going to be black and white, this is definitely the weirder alternative. I love the original release but I can't see any repaint of it getting my money since I have the first.
yeah, unless the original becomes scarce, this thing is going to join the e.t. cartridges.
Ehhhh, maybe if it came with a new "calm" head, but this is a pass.
It appears to be based on the cover of an old Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine cover.
Attachment 62603
This figure announcement came out of nowhere (for me at least). Usually, this is the sort of stuff I see on their Twitter, but they haven't posted anything there since October. Anyone know what's going on with that? Are they done with Twitter? Are they making their announcements somewhere else? I feel like I'm out of the loop.
I know Twitter can be a toxic wasteland (it's why I'm not on it), but it was nice getting regular news and previews.
I know Twitter can be a toxic wasteland (it's why I'm not on it), but it was nice getting regular news and previews.
Randy seemed to operate the NECA Twitter himself, maybe he took a break.
I love Neca products. But this is a swing and miss. I hope you guys make some more Horror figures.
Have a great day everyone. God Bless.
If they had gone all the way with the paint job I'd consider it. It looks like they started at the head and gave up at the chest.
I know Twitter can be a toxic wasteland (it's why I'm not on it), but it was nice getting regular news and previews.
I talk to him here and there, but last time was a little before Christmas. I know he was busy working on project approvals leading up to the new year. He's normally swamped from December to the week leading up to (what would usually be) NY Toy Fair.
I know Pete (@PetesuhPan) on Twitter has been sharing some of the news Randy normally would. He handles their other social media stuff (FB, Instagram).
I'll just get the regular Kong when I have the extra funds.
Why?
But this is not what I wanted -at all.
Basil is mostly heads but here are some quick examples inspired by him to illustrate our point....
Yeah, I know this is NECA's own Kong design with some stylistic attributes from the '33 Kong, but since it's their own design they could've gone nuts with it! Brown/black/orange hair variant, sepiatone variant, black and white variant, I'd have bought any of those before this!
Yeeeah... I like the idea of a repaint along these lines, but it needed more to really sell this style. A brown repaint along the lines of some of the old movie posters would have worked better for me.
Deluxe King Kong "Illustrated" Figure by NECA - Toyark Photo Shoot - The Toyark - News
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