Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year or so, you know what Pacific Rim is about. It’s the battle to save Earth from “Kaiju” using giant “Jaegers.” Kaiju is a Japanese word roughly translated to mean “monster” and Jaeger is the German word for “hunter.” See? You can learn things from watching movies! Giant monsters vs. giant robots is nothing really new to the movie world, but visually this movie has kicked it in to high gear. And thank the geek gods that NECA was the one that has chosen to give us figures based on characters from the movie.
The first series of Pacific Rim figures was great, but had a few “issues.” Gipsy Danger, the main Jaeger, was lacking in the articulation department, and the first Kaiju, Knifehead, was really lacking articulation and had scale issues. I only bring that up because NECA decided to go back and start fixing those issues that plagued series 1. For this review, we will just discuss the “redo” of Knifehead and will save Gipsy for when he gets a new version. In these few pictures you can see a number of changes between the first Knifehead and the battle-damaged Knifehead. The new Kaiju body is 50 percent larger than the series 1 body and features over 20 points of articulation. Also, the paint job is much more movie accurate on the second release.
Want to know what “Ultra Deluxe” really means? You need to hold one of these bad boys in your hands to truly understand. The sculpt detail from head to toe on this guy is amazing. Every tiny wrinkle and scale is captured in this figure. On his back is a large armored plate that has two giant spikes on either side. He also features a bendy tail that can be used to help pose him, but it’s not needed to get him to stand.
The figure features four arms, two large main arms, and two smaller lower arms. Unlike the series 1 release, the arms have some good to great range of motion. The wing span on these deluxe figures is crazy insane.
The head sculpt on Knifehead is mean and scary looking. I will note the point on his “nose” is nowhere as sharp as series 1, which I think is a good thing. The head features not only a hinged jaw, but an articulated tongue as well. My figure’s tongue was a little stuck and required a bit of care when getting it to pull out. So be careful with yours and take your time. Once it breaks free, it works very well. The paint job on his eyes and in his mouth almost makes them look like they are glowing.
The paint on most of the body is a gray with blue highlights. He also features yellow lines all around his body. And, of course, he has his battle-damage paint job on this chest and head, showing his blue blood. Personally, I would rather have a non-battle-damaged “redo,” but it still looks amazing.
The second Kaiju in this series is the Trespasser. I know a lot of people ask why not call this guy “Axehead”? So I went to the man himself, Randy Falk.
“Axehead is a concept model. Different head, hands, deco. He evolved into Trespasser. Axehead will be our first concept figure for the line.”
Most of his sculpt is the same as Knifehead. But that makes perfect sense if you have seen the movie. The only main sculpt change on his body is the massive fin that is coming off his back.
His head is also new and features the same kind of fin or blade going down the middle of his head. This is one mean-looking dude that I would not want to meet in the middle of the ocean. His jaw is hinged and works great. There is no tongue action on this guy.
His paint job is mostly gray with some brown highlights. The shade on his face, fin, and chest really help to bring out all those great sculpt details. His lines are more of an orange than a yellow. He does not have any battle-damage paint.
These guys do retail for a bit more then the normal 7-inch NECA figures, but they are well worth the extra money. Shop around and you can get both figures for around $25 each. The first Kaiju released may not have lived up to the word “monster,” but trust me, these guys are monsters! NECA has committed to giving us the best figures they can from this movie, and I for one can not wait to see what they come out with next. Come back next week and I will be checking out the two new Jaegers from series 3.
