NECA Ultimate Battle Damaged RoboCop with Diagnostics Chair

Image © Dan's ToyBox 2023

In spite of the setbacks over the weekend, Dan's ToyBox is still pumping out new content and reviews! Today we're looking at the NECA Ultimate Battle Damaged RoboCop with Chair. I have an older RoboCop and really wanted a battle-damaged version, so when I saw this one, I had to jump on it.

In old Detroit, crime runs rampant. The Police are controlled by Omni Consumer Products and have been strategically deployed to increase the possibility of finding a "candidate" for the RoboCop program. Soon, officer Alex Murphy is gunned down in the line of duty. His body is rushed to OCP where he is soon rebuilt as the "future of Law Enforcement." RoboCop enters duty and in the course of fighting crime, learns of significant corruption at the top of OCP. However, as Murphy moves to arrest company Vice President, Dick Jones, he suffers a catastrophic failure as the hitherto unrevealed Fourth Prime Directive in his programming initiates a shut down. This directive prevents RoboCop from arresting officers of OCP! As Robo fights to remain functional, Jones brings in the Enforcement Droid, series 209 to end RoboCop once and for all. The cyborg officer valiantly battles the ED-209 and barely escapes, only to discover he faces a new threat... his own fellow police. Already weakened by his battle with ED-209, Robo takes more damage from his one-time allies. Robo is rescued just in time by his partner, Anne Lewis, and soon the pair find themselves facing the same gang of criminals responsible for Murphy's death! All RoboCop character names and references are property of Amazon.

As regular readers know Dan's ToyBox looks at Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability and assigns each a score. Once all are considered, we will then give the figure an overall rating of zero to 10 toyboxes! Without any further ado, let's jump into it!

Image © Dan's ToyBox 2023

ACCESSORIES

The Ultimate Battle-Damaged RoboCop comes with some pretty cool stuff. He has an alternate, unmasked head, a hand with extended data spike, his powerful Auto-9 pistol and a weapon firing effect which ports on to the gun barrel. Additionally, he comes with the Diagnostics Chair we see in the movies. There are multiple screens on swivel arms that can be moved around. Unfortunately, when I received and opened mine, I accidentally broke the dual display off its arm when removing the seat. I was able to glue it back on but can no longer swivel the upper display arm. That bummed me out, but in the grand scheme of things, it didn't deter me from enjoying this great accessory. In spite of the break... there is some really cool stuff with this figure and I'm a big fan of the unmasked head! I like the accessories enough to give this an easy 8 out of 10. I'd have liked another alternate left hand, maybe in a fist or something but what it does have is good enough.

Images © Dan's ToyBox 2023

APPEARANCE

This is an absolutely SICK looking figure. The battle damage alone looks amazing. In addition to the bullet holes and cracks in the armor plating, the figure is "stained" with the leaking lubricants from the mechanicals. The sculpted design looks simply fantastic, and both the masked and unmasked heads do the character absolute justice. I was looking at old stills from the movie and am impressed with the amount of accuracy to the movie damage that this figure carries. The unmasked head, especially, is really cool, though admittedly, the flesh tone is a bit odd, but the face sculpture is very "Murphy-esque"right down to the bullet hole scar on his upper right temple. The oil/dirt wash over his black torso is also very noticeable and adds even more enjoyment to the figure. I also like the gunfire effect that you can add to his pistol, though perhaps a hint of yellow color might have given it a more realistic look. Either way the effect looks very cool in firing poses. The diagnostic chair set up is done really well, with solid paint applications on the control knobs and switches and nice details on the display screens. Admittedly, when RoboCop was in this shape, he wasn't in the chair, so it was kind of an odd choice to go with this figure. If you have any other NECA RoboCop though, it will look good with this chair. I really like the look of this, and the total package gets a solid 9 out of 10 for me.

Images © Dan's ToyBox 2023

ARTICULATION

Unfortunately, this is where the figure suffers the most. Granted, RoboCop isn't the most agile character out there and the design precludes really solid engineering, but man, what there is, is disappointing. Both heads turn left and right easily enough and, thanks to the neck peg design can look down, but not up. The shoulders will fully rotate but can only elevate out to maybe 20 degrees from the side of the body. The elbows are single jointed and can bend to just about 90 degrees. Both hands have a forearm swivel and that's all. There is a waist swivel, but no crunch at all. The legs are, probably, the worst feature. due to the hip design, the legs will kick forward, but rotate outwards. They will also do the same backward. There is no split to the legs either. The knees have a single joint which bends 90 degrees and there is ankle upward and downward hinge. Overall, this is a clunky figure due to design limitations. What makes it worse is trying to sit him in the chair. As you can see from the pictures, he tends to "manspread" and doesn't really sit properly. In fact, his feet don't touch the footrest and there is a gap between his backside and the actual seat. This bums me out simply because promo shots show him sitting reasonably well. If the torso had some type of crunch to it, he might be able to sit correctly. Again, I realize that the character design prevents him from being agile but perhaps it's time to re-think the design aesthetics enough to give him a bit more mobility. Additionally, and most disappointingly, he lacks the pop-open holster option that previous RoboCop figures have. His gun will either be in hand or laying on the seat at all times. I was very let-down to discover this when I first opened the figure. I'm sorry NECA, you kill it when it comes to appearance, every time, but the articulation piece leaves a LOT to be desired and sadly, RoboCop earns a very low 4 out of 10 in this department.

Image © Dan's ToyBox 2023

AFFORDABILITY

This figure retails online at BBTS for $69.95. Surprisingly, I felt this to be a very affordable price for the amount of plastic you get! In spite of the limitations to his ability to sit, the fact that this figure comes with, essentially, his own mini diorama for under $75 isn't bad at all. NECA does a great job of keeping their pricing reasonable for collectors and this is another example of that. For all that came in this package, I didn't bat an eye at the price. I'll easily give this a 9 out of 10 for affordability.

Overall, the NECA Ultimate Battle-Damaged RoboCop with Chair is a solid collectible piece. Sure, you aren't going to do much posing with it, but in terms of static shots of more "traditional" RoboCop poses, he'll do the job nicely. As a fan of the character, it is nice to have a "clean" Robo and a damaged Robo on my shelf and as such, I'm totally happy to give this figure a stout...

7.5 out of 10 ToyBoxes!

As always, I really appreciate all of my readers and am so happy that you take the time out of your day to stop by and play in Dan's ToyBox. Until next time... GEEK OUT!!!