[Dolemite]

Strolled into Target yesterday and discovered that they were fully-stocked with the re-releases of the NECA Ultimate Jungle Hunter and City Hunter figures. I at first assumed they were straight-up releasing the same exact figures as before but both of them feature several differences from the original Ultimates, so I thought I'd post some impressions here in case anyone was curious.

First of all, both figures now feature hands with hinged wrists that peg into the forearms, as opposed to the original figures where the forearms pegged into the hands. Nice upgrade, but it also eliminates any up/down motion the original hands had in favor of going solely side-to-side.

Now, I'll go into individual impressions of each figure.

I had a lot of issues with NECA's initial Ultimate Jungle Hunter release (sloppy paint, deformed wrist blades, glue damage, and a stinky oil stench), and I'm happy to say that this re-release addresses pretty much all of them.

On the original JH, the torso was totally 100% painted, but on the re-release the torso is cast in yellow flesh with paint details added over it, giving the figure a much more realistic look. Paint is clean, and the colors are also more vibrant overall as well.

Also, no problems with globs of dried glue and/or glue damage. No heavy, stinky oil smell or oil residue in the cracks of the armor sculpt (it literally took weeks for the smell to dissipate). Improved wires on the shoulder, arm, and plasma caster. The plasma caster isn't jammed into a tight cavity on the tray that damages the wire this time around. Plus, tight joints all-around.

Plus, the wrist blades on the original JH were all warped and slightly deformed-looking. This appeared to be an issue across the board with the Ultimate JH. I'm happy to say that the wrist blades on the re-release are prefect, nice, smooth, sharp, and well-defined.

The neck peg appears to be slightly modified. The heads sit slightly higher on the neck now and seem to have a greater range of motion.

Overall, the JH re-release is a great improvement over the original. I replaced the two I had on display (masked and unmasked) with this new release without a second thought.

As for the City Hunter, I'm a bit more mixed on this re-release. If you missed out on the original, then you should totally pick this one up. However, I didn't feel the need to replace my original City Hunter figures...unlike the Jungle Hunter, I feel NECA knocked it out of the park with the original CH release. The changes to the re-release, while fine, don't make the figure a must-buy IMO.

First of all, the CH also has a new paint job, but I personally prefer the original release in this regard. The first figure has a very realistic look to it's skin. The CH's entire body was cast in a pale, off-white-ish skin tone with numerous brown paint accents laid over it in varying shades, ranging from dark to not-so-dark to light. The new release, however, goes with a far brighter and more vibrant color scheme, and if you look at production photos of the original CH movie costume, this new look isn't as accurate. The skin tone is now much more yellow, and the browns laid over it are overall much brighter/vibrant as well. Also, the flesh is cast in a much less glossy plastic, which makes the figure look slightly more "painted" and less like actual flesh (this is especially evident on the unmasked head). I think it's much too colorful now, but that's just my opinion. I'm sure there are people out there who will prefer the new paintjob.

The masked head also has some changes, although not as radical. The color is slightly more shiny/bronze than the original, and there's more of a blue-ish wash over it (almost too much). Also, the little metal bits on the dreadlocks aren't painted as well as the original...there's several that are only half-painted, or not painted at all.

Oh, and remember the brittle hinge on the wrist computer cover that was prone to breakage? Not a problem this time around.

One minor QC complaint...whereas the Jungle Hunter has universally tight joints, the waist and hips on the City Hunter have a little bit of a wobble to them. It's not horrible, but it stands in stark contrast to how firm the JH is. In contrast, I have two of the original Ultimate CH's and every joint is absolutely perfect.

Again, NECA nailed the original City Hunter so perfectly that I'm not swapping mine for the re-release. I mean, the hinged wrists are neat, but it's not worth it (the original wrists have a perfectly fine range of motion anyway). Plus, I very much prefer the old paint job over the new one.

So to wrap things up, the new Ultimate Jungle Hunter is a great improvement over the original release, and I feel it's worth trading up (especially if the problems with the original bugged you). The new Ultimate City Hunter is fine and perfect if you missed out on the original, but I feel the first release slightly edges it out with (in my opinion) a much better paintjob and sturdier joints. Still, I did buy one new CH just to have an extra lying around in case I need it. I love the City Hunter and Predator 2 is a vastly underrated flick.

Sorry about no pics. I don't feel like moving my Predator shelf around to get out the original City Hunter figs from the second row. Everything is now optimally placed and I don't want to fuck it up, heh.

Whew! Done!