Biker Mice From Mars by Nacelle

I'm surprised they sprung for different bodies for all 3, from the preorder shots I expected them all to share 1 sculpt, so that's a big plus. They kinda looked like Mattel's WWE figures to me but the review actually helps a lot, I'm much happier with the end product than I expected to be. 

The inner elbow and knee joints they went with is absolutely baffling because they look really quite bad. Besides that, the figures look a lot better than I was expecting and I'm leaning heavily toward picking them up. It's not really a small decision since I absolutely would have to get all three, and in Canadianite Dollar Bills that's like over 160 bucks with shipping, easy.

That being said, they're sold out on BBTS and I don't know if anyone else is carrying them so maybe that makes the decision for me.

The elbows are absolutely fine. 

The elbows are definitely not fine. They look unfinished, sort of overly mechanical or bare. Anyone is free, of course, to simply not be bothered by it, of course. We're talking about aesthetics after all. But I think one would need to be a bit dishonest to claim they don't see it at all. Even ToyShiz pointed it out and he's generally quite positive in his reviews (and is ultimately very positive about these figures despite sharing my opinion about the elbows).

I ended up ordering these guys from Nacelle directly once I realized they were sold out at BBTS and they arrived today. Usually not something I care to mention - but Nacelle packed them really well. And they threw in a fridge magnet? I also generally don't care about little trinket bullshit with my toys, and I genuinely would not care if this wasn't included - but it IS a neat little piece and it's on my fridge right now so there you go.

The figures are loads of fun. There's some choices here, and some concerns. But I'll preface anything else by saying I like these figures a lot. Anything I am feeling more negatively toward doesn't detract from these being really fun, cool action figures that I am glad to own.

The biggest issue right off the hop, which I knew going in, is the hips. While not the same construction, they're aesthetically -very- similar to the least ugly versions of the classic TBML-style ball hips. This area on action figures has come a long way in the last decade, so I'm not sure why this wasn't done better. Again, it's not -as bad- as the worst of the TBML figures, but it's also not nearly as nice to look at as many/most modern Hasbro MLs, for example.

The inner elbows are definitely kind of ugly and mechanical looking. It's definitely far less pronounced when they're on the shelf and you're 10 feet away, of course. But up close, it's hard not to notice it. Again, this just feels like a bit of a weird decision that's fairly easy to correct.

While talking about overall construction; I'm very torn on joint tolerances here. Almost all of the articulation is VERY smooth. It's a double-edged sword because I don't want the artic to be so tight you worry about breaking stuff just moving it, but I'm also not keen on articulation that feels like if it loosens up even a little bit the figure won't really be poseable anymore.
So it's a wait-and-see game, but it is definitely something that's in the back of my mind as a potential problem later. For now, though, it's fair to say that these figures are definitely on the higher end for me of having no problems moving them right out of the package, but also no problems getting them to hold poses.

I don't love the limited mobility in the tails, but I also have zero suggestions on how to make that better. Without making them bendy (which I would not advise here), I don't see what else they could have done. I will say that, in my little perfect world, the helmeted heads would have been included with the bikes, and the figures would have come with a different accessory there.
In such a case - an alternately-posed tail or a different facial expression head would have been better. Because honestly, the helmeted heads are pretty useless without the bikes.

Modo's bigger gun is also basically useless. His arm articulation is not tight enough to allow him to be posed with that thing.

I'll also say they outright made a mistake with Vinnie and it causes kind of a stupid problem; his wrist balls should be black. If they were black, then that would allow his hands, wrists, and the wrist-cuffs to look like gloves. But instead he has black gloved hands, white wrist balls, and a little black bracelet on each forearm. Which is, of course, what it ends up looking like; gloves and separate bracelets. Not sure if this was a late mistake by the factory and it was too far along to be fixed or what, because the early deco/control art we were shown, or digital sculpts or whatever, definitely had black wrists. And the cuffs seem to be glued down, so you can't just take them off or swap their placement.
It's not the end of the world or anything - let me be clear about that. But it's a particularly silly problem to have considering how incredibly obvious the issue is, and also how simple this is to fix.

Lots of nitpicky kinds of complaints, but again I really like these figures. Loads of fun. Enough heads and hands that it's not crazy to keep track of it all, but enough to get some great personality into the posing.

These characters occupy an interesting space for me. I had a bunch of the toys, but they existed as basically additional TMNT or X-Men characters. I don't think I ever played with Biker Mice toys for their own sake, and I only watched a few episodes of the cartoon, which never really managed to grab me. So these guys are a lot like Street Sharks for me - just ancillary toys for the stuff I actually liked. But I really liked the figures even if I didn't bother much with the cartoon. And they managed to feature prominently when paired with other lines. So where these guys will go in my collection? I'm really not sure. Especially because I think I do want to get the bikes, and that's so much real estate.
For now I don't have too much on display anyway, so they're hanging out with a little bit of everything. I think eventually I'd like to see how these look with a few cartoon Turtles, but I don't have any of those anymore right now.

I appreciate the long review, Knight, and understand analysis doesn't always equal displeasure. People in this forum are like sports peoples, you break down every game because you care and are passionate. 

I think one of the most rewarding scenarios in toy collecting is getting something that you didn't get because of the IP, but because it was a cool toy and that alone pulled you in. It's my preference over obligatory buying something because you love the character, when the actual product is meh. 

@theknightdamien so you're saying it's possible to make good, quality, action figures of obscure properties that are fully painted, come with a solid assortment of accessories, and cost less than $55? I am shocked, I say, shocked!

@hopethisworks That's a very kind way of saying I talk too much - which I absolutely do. I for sure get really passionate about action figures and kind of the industry as a whole. Particularly when I see nitpicky problems that seem like they would have been really easy to notice and deal with. Bizarre and disappointing to have a 5 star action figure be a 4 star action figure over something relatively easy to spot and cheap to fix.

Agree about good toys, though. That's always the coolest thing - getting drawn in to stuff that's just interesting because it's a good toy. Something I'm trying to move away from a lot more these days is buying sub-standard products just because I want that character. Like yeah, I want a Hoth Luke really bad. But Hasbro's only attempt at a 6" Hoth Luke sucks. So instead I'll buy something I care less about, but is way more fun.

@misfit  LOL
Right? Not to get too in the weeds about it, but I do. not. get. it. I don't get how some companies can just do good work with minimal input early on (Jada, Nacelle, BFS) while a larger company with HUGE licenses seems utterly baffled by the very idea of making a decent action figure conforming to what the customers actually want to see even after YEARS of customers telling them exactly what they want.

And yes, I absolutely thought about S7 when I opened up the Mice, and just shook my head that basically the first super-articulated figures from a totally niche brand that this company has ever made are already better than Super7's figures after years and dozens of waves of product. And, in my opinion, it really comes down to one thing:
Nacelle cares about what they're doing, and Super7 does not.

I couldn't afford them when they first dropped at BBTS, but thankfully, they all went back up for preorder, with my favorite Modo coming into stock quickly, followed by Vinnie, but now I'm waiting to ship my Pile of Loot for Throttle, but am worried I'll get one of those e-mails "Sorry, they're not gonna send us anymore..." 😥 

Yeah I unboxed my Modo and Vinnie and love them a lot.    Wouldn't have minded a slightly better hip design  and feel like the leg length to torso length is a tad long - more McFarlane than Ultimates or Marvel Legends - but even so the figures are fantastic.      '

If there were going to be a wave 2 - what would we get.   Stoker, Carbine and Harley would likely be my choices for another wave -  but what do we think the odds are - would they instead give us a figure of human Charlene Davidson?   Bad Guy Lawrence Limburger?    

I put in a pre-order for Throttle

I have absolutely zero connection or interest in the Biker Mice brand, but I saw Nacelle’s Moo Mesa figures (a cartoon I did watch occasionally, an arcade game I did enjoy a lot, and a property that actually does go with TMNT) and figured in for a penny, in for a pound and decided to get Throttle

Passing on Vinnie because I think he’s a little boring, and Mondo’s robot parts no matter how show (comic?) accurate they might be are clunky and off putting to me, but having a Tom’s of Finland Mutant Mouse on my shelf would be funny as hell. (I mean, they have to know what they were doing right? He’s shirtless under a leather vest… his name is Throttle!)

I should still have my original figures, though I doubt they're complete. I at least had all three Mice & Lawrence Limburger (I do probably still have his human mask at least).

I never had any vehicles, unfortunately. And it wasn't because they were too expensive, as my parents got me most of the TMNT vehicles (though the Technodrome, Blimp, and Sewer Lair were definitely too expensive - but I'll never complain about what they were able to afford, they made sure my collection was well stocked ❤️).

Okay, Nacelle, I'm getting nervous, now.

Where's that refresh of Throttle? Please don't stick me with only 2 out of 3 Martian Mice... 😰 

I like 'em.