[Joe Moore]

Packaging For Pacific Rim Striker Eureka Ultimate Figure

[Zorn88]

This is my favorite Yaeger, so this is a definite buy for me.

[Harbinger]

Same here. Just wish i could open it without break fear. Both my tactic ronin and, i forget the name, dark blue one had arms come off right out of the package. I may just leave this in the box.

[En Sabah Nerd]

The "dark blue one" is probably Romeo Blue. I expected from day one that Romeo Blue and (especially) Tacit Ronin would have fragility issues because they're so thin and/or lanky. My Tacit Ronin didn't break but I have to treat it like a small statue to avoid trouble and while my Romeo Blue didn't break and it's actually very easy to mess around with it I did see some people whose did break, usually at the arms.

Cherno Alpha is my favorite jaeger. I like the unique shape and even the idea that it's the last of the mark 1s just sounds cool. I know some different promotional materials called Cherno Alpha a mark 4 but in the movie Idris Elba's character clearly says Cherno is mark 1. I do like Striker Eureka and am considering getting this figure but I'm really still holding on to my fool's hope that we'll get a Karloff figure among the kaiju.

For what it's worth this is a total upgrade not just a re-release with some new pieces so I would hope that the breakage mainly experienced by the first two waves won't show up here. I haven't had any from series 3 and on break on me but we know that Tacit and (to an extent) Romeo had some problems.

[scarecrow]

Been waiting awhile for this to finally come out. This is must-buy for me, because it's my favorite like everyone else

[Cyclopswc]

My favorite is Crimson Typhoon! I like Cherno Alpha too, and yes, it should be a Mark 1, look at it, it looks like the Russians just slapped a nuclear reactor on top of arms and legs! Ha!

(does anyone actually like the Gypsy Danger?!?)

I had pretty good luck with all my NECA Pacific Rim toys. None broke yet, but then again, I don't really play with them. I don't think they're meant to be played with.

This Striker Eureka will be a must-buy for me as well. I know the movie's not popular, but I personally really enjoyed Pacific Rim. Looking forward to Pacific Rim 2 and see all the new jaegers and kaijus!

[Dolemite]

I've had no issues with any of my Pacific Rim figures in terms of breakage. The right forearm of my Tacit Ronin was backwards, but I managed to force-ably swivel it around to the right direction without breaking it and it's perfectly fine now.

Cherno Alpha remains my favorite Yaeger...actually, I've been collecting more of the "odd" (read as: interesting) Yaegers like Cherno, Romeo Blue and Tacit Ronin. I picked up a Gypsy Danger just because, and maybe I'll grab this one too if he looks great enough in-hand.

BTW, can someone relay the story behind why NECA decided to re-make some of their earlier Pacific Rim figures? Didn't it have something to do with cheapening the line down for a possible Walmart retail release that got pulled at the last second or something? Because there's a huge increase in quality in the later waves.

[En Sabah Nerd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyclopswc

I don't think they're meant to be played with.

Nothing NECA makes is meant to be played with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

Cherno Alpha remains my favorite Yaeger...actually, I've been collecting more of the "odd" (read as: interesting) Yaegers like Cherno, Romeo Blue and Tacit Ronin. I picked up a Gypsy Danger just because, and maybe I'll grab this one too if he looks great enough in-hand.

BTW, can someone relay the story behind why NECA decided to re-make some of their earlier Pacific Rim figures? Didn't it have something to do with cheapening the line down for a possible Walmart retail release that got pulled at the last second or something? Because there's a huge increase in quality in the later waves.

CHERNO ALPHA! The pilots both look like Ivan Drago from Rocky IV and it has piston fists!

I know they re-released Crimson Typhoon and Striker v1 because they were going for ludicrous prices on the second market. Series 1 and 2 were supposedly made with the intention of getting stores like Target and Walmart in on it hence those first two waves were full of stinkers (I do like Leatherback but I got mine from the two pack). For one reason or another the stores eventually backed out of the deal and so we can see a clear quality gap going from series 2 to 3 which brought the awesome with Cherno and Coyote Tango.

[StaticShin27]

My series 1 striker broke at the arm & leg, the plastic ring hinge was just not a good joint and just left it with floppy arms and legs. My buddy's series 2 version suffered from the same problems too.

I personally love Cherno Alpha too and I find it funny he's the most articulated out of the entire line.

This Striker is a MUCH needed update and that boxed packaging looks pretty dang nice. Hopefully it's much sturdier. Series 1 Crimson Typhoon actually wasn't too bad but I'd be open to an update; perhaps with interchangeable hands for saw blades.

[Trivial Psychic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

BTW, can someone relay the story behind why NECA decided to re-make some of their earlier Pacific Rim figures? Didn't it have something to do with cheapening the line down for a possible Walmart retail release that got pulled at the last second or something? Because there's a huge increase in quality in the later waves.

It was the first wave of figures (Gypsy, Striker, and Typhoon) that was re-released, and the line was stamped as "2nd Deployment" on the packaging so that it would not kill the MIB values for those who managed to get their hands on the originals. I've heard a number of reasons for the re-release, ranging from NECA trying to fix distribution woes that happened with the first wave, to attempting to appease fans who were not able to get their hands on the original waves and were complaining about the extravagant second hand market prices. Make no mistake though, there was absolutely no difference in the quality of the figures, as I picked up one of those with the intention of replacing a certain figure on my shelf that I loathe, and ended up returning it as it had even worse QC issues than my original figure.

I would also go as far as to say that while I'm not sure if it was an actual trend, but in my opinion, the paint apps were worse on the 2nd deployment as well, as many of the figures I saw in the wild lacked the precision and crispness of the original wave 1 figures.

You know...I just checked on my pre-order at BBTS wondering if this had been cancelled...and then this story hits. Good to know it's still coming, cause I hate my first release Striker Eureka. I ended up grabbing him on the secondary market when it first came out, and I can tell you, while I don't regret many purchases, that one disgusts me so much that I want to throw it at a wall. This one will be replacing him on my shelf. I'm hoping that this is not a one shot, and that we eventually get a retooled Crimson with his saw weapons and perhaps some ratchets joints in his legs, so I can finally replace my original with one that can stand on it's own. The newer Gypsies have actually been pretty good, so I don't really think we need an ultimate version of her...

With the exception of the last few Gypsy releases and repaints, I have all of the Jaegers released thus far, and with the exception of Romeo Blue and Horizon Brave, I've never had so many issues with a toy line. Loose joints right out of the packaging, warped limbs that never reset when heated, accessories that break, stuck joints that won't unstick, improperly assembled joints where the pegs aren't pushed through properly or are broken altogether, you name it. I love the film though, and when you get a figure that finally works in your hand, this line is like a ex-girlfriend that you hate, but just can't seem to stay away from.

My fave Jaeger that actually appeared in the film for longer than three seconds was easily Crimson, I really dug the triplet concept, and it looked almost as intricate as the Kaiju themselves. Toy wise however, it's easily Horizon Brave, as he was one of the only two figures I had no issues with out of the package, and feels the most like an honest to goodness toy in your hands. The fact that the huge missile pack on it's back is removeable is a huge plus as well, allowing it to strike some awesome poses. Romeo Blue (the only other one I managed to find without QC issues) was also amazing and one hell of a fun figure to pose around when you get a working one.

[En Sabah Nerd]

I actually found my Cherno's shoulders to be too tight for the first couple of days but eventually, without busting out the hair dryer, I got those balls moving. I wouldn't say Cherno has the most articulation as much as Cherno has the least hindered articulation, I'd say tweaking the hip design probably helped this a bit.

Re: Crimson Typhoon. It was one cool looking mech and the saw blade stuff was neat but man Crimson went down like a punk on screen, Cherno would die like a minute later but it was getting tag-teamed at that point and tried to put up more of a fight.

[Dolemite]

I was really bummed about how badly Cherno got owned, but at least he got a little offence in before succumbing to the double-team. I hope the ass-kicking Russian husband-wife duo managed to make it out and to the shore...if so, maybe we'll get Cherno Alpha 2.0 if the sequel ever gets made.

But Crimson indeed went down like a little punk bitch, yes.

[Trivial Psychic]

Sigh....Here we F*****G go again...

So I finally get around to opening up my Ultimate Striker tonight, and as I'm pulling him out from the tray this happens...



And I'm not exaggerating or kidding either...you can see the accessories for the figure are still in the tray, having yet to be removed. Keep in mind, I'm not a rough or careless collector. I've been doing this for years, and I treat these things as if they are freshly dug up dinosaur bones....



From the looks of things, as you can see in the photo, there is no broken pin, as the leg is not held on by a traditional pin and socket running through the hips like most action figures. The legs in fact are separate pieces that are not held onto the figure by anything other than glue. Yes...you read that right. Glue.

Whether this is intentional and by design due to the bad QC issues that has plagued this line over the years, (in other words..."Hey, I have an idea. Since our older figures always seem to break into pieces, how about this...we'll design it so that if it falls off, you just simply have to glue it back on! No more breakages!") I'm really just beside myself, and expected better. Seriously NECA? F*****G GLUE? On a figure that you're calling the "ULTIMATE" version of? Come on!!!



Here's where it gets better. I reach up to grab my older Striker (which I have repeatedly have discussed how much I loathe,) in order to compare the design...that Striker's leg falls completely off, broken at the hip. Same friggen leg. And you know what? Good F*****G riddance. I hated that figure



So now I'm left with no Striker. I've contacted NECA already on Facebook in hopes they might be able to help with a new one, but after the last two releases (Horizon Brave and Romeo Blue, both of which were really good, and are among the only figures I have yet to have an issue with,) my faith in the line has once again been shaken. Strongly considering cancelling my Ultimate Gypsy Danger now, and if NECA doesn't replace Striker here, I probably will, and will be forever done with this line.

Anyone considering picking up this figure, you have been warned! Buyer Beware! Keep a tube of Gorilla Glue in the house!

[En Sabah Nerd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trivial Psychic

I've contacted NECA already on Facebook in hopes they might be able to help with a new one

Contacting them through Twitter via @NECA_CS yields much more results than the Facebook account.

[Zorn88]

I actually just bought this guy last night, and I think it's pretty sick.

Although, mine did have broken pieces as well. But mine was the little nuclear pack thing. I popped it out of the packaging and two things fell right off. I don't really care, because I don't want it on the figure anyway.

[Trivial Psychic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by En Sabah Nerd

Contacting them through Twitter via @NECA_CS yields much more results than the Facebook account.

I don't have a twitter account, and I have no intentions of creating one SOLELY to try and get the attention of their customer service department. If there is one thing I can say about NECA, is that they suck in that department. Their website offers little in the way of help, and we shouldn't have to sign up for specific social networks when a simple phone call or email should suffice.

It's the weekend, so I am not expecting to hear anything from them, but we'll see how it goes when the week arrives.

[En Sabah Nerd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trivial Psychic

I don't have a twitter account, and I have no intentions of creating one SOLELY to try and get the attention of their customer service department. If there is one thing I can say about NECA, is that they suck in that department. Their website offers little in the way of help, and we shouldn't have to sign up for specific social networks when a simple phone call or email should suffice.

It's the weekend, so I am not expecting to hear anything from them, but we'll see how it goes when the week arrives.

I tried using their official website customer service once and it pretty much dead-ended so yeah it was crappy. I have no idea who runs their facebook, I don't use facebook, but from what people on Twitter seem to say it's not nearly as well run as their Twitter accounts, which I am aware could possibly just be people on Twitter saying "facebbok is so old news." I created a Twitter account solely for the purpose of contacting NECA and they are notably responsive on there.

[vegito680]

For some reason mine only has paint on one side of the head...haven't bothered to take it out of box yet. Probably just buy some gold model paint but still annoying none the less

[Joe Moore]

I will have a review of this tomorrow. Didn't run into any of these issues. Hate to see this stuff happen. For some reason, the person handling the NECA CS Twitter seems the best bet to get issues fixed.

[sh002]

My entire Pacific Rim Jaeger collection is still unopened and that's how it will stay forever.