Right before Toy Fair 2016, NECA revealed their first, in what could be, a long line up of Weird Al Yankovic Retro 8″ Figures. NECA has said we can expect more variations of Weird Al, all based on his assortment of great song parodies. The first figure, which has a look similar to his appearance in the cult comedy UHF, features both classic 80’s and a modern head sculpt for Al, allowing fans to display him however they like (and likely change heads between upcoming Al figures). The figure also includes an accordion, and interchangeable hand and a microphone. Like all of their Mego style figures, Weird Al stands at 8″ tall and features a fabric outfit.
We grabbed the figure from Toyark sponsor Big Bad Toy Store. There are over 50 high resolution images. Read on to see the full gallery and check out our review.
Related Big Bad Toy Store Links: NECA Weird Al, All NECA Retro Figures, All NECA Figures
Weird Al Yankovic Retro 8″ Figure by NECA
Pros
- Fantastic likeness on both head sculpts
- Eyeglasses are well done on classic head sculpt
- Packaging is perfect
- Very good articulation
- Easy to swap out parts
- Strong joints
- Perfect use of Mego style design
Cons
- Odd paint build up on side of my classic head
- Modern head is less smooth than classic
Overall
The Weird Al figures comes packaged in a window box, as opposed to the clamshell design. I prefer these window boxes myself as they’re easy to store and you can open and place figure back in without need to cut the plastic. The design is reminiscent of a crazy 80’s VHS box. While they didn’t get a license for UHF itself, the box definitely feels like an homage to that movie. Al is held in by a twist tie and a few rubber bands and can always be placed back in the box without any trouble. It includes a cardboard television static backdrop.
The figure has over 17 points of articulation and stands 8″ tall. The figure is perfectly poseable. There were no locked joints, but they were solid all the way around, and I ran into no issues posing Al. The cloth outfit works well here, as it doesn’t hinder the figures poseability, nor does it look oversized. Well, the shirt does a bit, but that’s appropriate for Weird Al’s look. The head sculpts and hand all swapped out easily, and didn’t require any heating to loosen up the connections. Al can hold the accordion and microphone perfectly as well.
Both head sculpts turned out great, each capturing Al’s likeness, with good use of paint. Eyes are very clean, and there’s nice gradation in the skin tones. The hair sculpts turned out nice as well, as I can’t imagine how hard it is to make very curly hair look that good as a hard sculpt. The sculpting of the heads is mostly clean. The modern Al head sculpt has a lot more texture to it compared to the classic head sculpt. It doesn’t hinder the likeness at all, but does stand out a bit compared to the other sculpt. My classic head sculpt also had a couple odd spots of thick paint on the right cheek. That looks to be isolated to my particular figure, as other photos I’ve seen don’t have that same paint spot. They’re pretty minor issues for me, as the figure does look great in hand.
A figure of Weird Al feels like one of the best ways to use their retro Mego style designs. It’s a character that just works perfectly in this format. A retro style figure, calling back to a classic era with an iconic personality who’s just as popular today as he was in the 80’s. If you’re a fan of Weird Al, this is an easy recommendation. It’s a fun figure to pose, looks really good in hand and has wonderfully 80’s packaging as well. We have over 50 photos to check out. You can see them after them below.
