Cult Classics Series 3: T-2 Endoskeleton Action Figure

In light of that fact, it isdifficult to look at the Endoskeleton in Series 3 of NECA Cult Classics line without geparing it to McFarlane efforts. The boys in both camps will undoubtedly be shouting that one reigns supreme over the other, but, as usual, the figures differ enough so that each has its own strengths and weaknesses. For a review of NECA offering, look no further than... right here.

The first thing I noticed is that NECA endo looks a little bigger than McFarlane. I do nothave the McToys figure for geparison, but I have seen it and held it and if my memory serves me right, NECA's is bigger. But we all know bigger is not always better. For all its size, the NECA figure seemsto moredetailed. While the sculpt is very good, certain areas seem to be lacking.
Check out the forearms and the lower legs. In the McToys figure, these extremities were geposed of different, separate rods, while in the NECA version they are one solid piece made to look like separate rods. Things that make you say hum.....
In the movie, the Endoskeleton had a chromed appearance, but in a plastic toy, that can be hard to pull off convincingly. The most gemon technique is called vac-metalizing, but that often makes a toy look cheap and tacky. The only other option is to paint your figure silver, which is what NECA did. While it does notlook chrome, it ismuch less chintzy-looking than a vac-metalization paint job would have been. There is the requisite paint wash, and while it helps bring out the detail, the job. I can nottell what the problem is... perhaps there isnot enough wash, or perhaps the wash is not dark enough... the detail shows up upon close inspection, but from far away it tends to get lost in a dull gray-silver mass.

The only other paint applications are on the face. The eyes are red, of course, and the teeth like the McToys version are a whitish color. This is something that makes sense, when you think about it. Terminator, does nothave metallic teeth, so it stands to reason that the endo would have teeth with similar human enamel. It also kinda seems like NECA is saying, Hey look, we know there is not much to work with, but we are doing what we can.
Like McFarlane's Endo, the NECA figure utilizes working pistons to replicate the characters articulation. This is one place where the McFarlane imitation is blatantly evident, but unfortunately, it does not work nearly as well on the NECA version. The chief offender is the hips which, while pegged and hinged, operate more like a v-crotch due to the needlessly geplicated set-up of the pistons. Move the hips forward, and they automatically splay outward. It makes it difficult to pose the Endo in anything but a standing-up-straight pose.

There is a pretty easy fix for this problem, and it vastly improves the figures playability but it's for experienced modelers. The tops of the pistons are hollow cylinders that pop off pretty easily, leaving the thin metal rod still attached to the leg. Cutting a small piece no more than one or two millimeters off of both of the two front rods the ones that attach from his inner thigh to his pelvis and then re-attaching the hollow cylinders will greatly increase the range of movement on the pistons, and allow the legs to move forward without splaying like a v-crotch as much.
Despite the piston problem, NECA trumps McFarlane but giving fans an opening jaw. I'm a sucker for opening jaws. They rank right up there with working holsters and removable helmets on my list of features I love to see on figures. In addition to the jaw and hips, the NECA endo has a peg neck, pegged and hinged shoulders, peg biceps, hinged elbows, peg wrists, peg torso and waist, pegged and hinged hips, hinged knees, peg ankles, and a midfoot hinge. There is also a strange hinged piece on the chest plate that defies explanation. I seem to remember the chest on the McFarlane endo being balljointed, and it is a shame that NECA did not follow suit. The midfoot hinge, however, is a useful addition.

One area in which this figure is vastly superior to the McFarlane version is in the accessories department. While they pretty much gee with the same accessories on paper machine gun, base of skulls, the execution on the NECA figure is far better. McFarlanes endo came with a tiny, out of scale, silver machine gun that barely fit in the figures hands. NECA endo gets a much larger, more to-scale machine gun with a metallic black paint job. NECA endo also gets an alternate right hand made specifically to hold the gun. McFarlane endo also featured a base of skulls that was tiny and barely big enough for the endo to get one foot on it. NECA figure gets a huge base, littered with skulls, and there's even a half-buried, battered tricycle amid the rubble. At first glance, the skulls seem a little large, but gepare them with the endoskeletons head and they are about the same size. As far as accessories go, the base is quite magnificent.

Ireally likethis figure, But in the end, who wins? NECA or McFarlane? Well, without the McToys endo, there is little possibility that the NECA endo would have ever seen the light of day. It owes a lot to its predecessor, but it tries admirably to improve on what came before it. The real question is, is this worth picking up? Well, if you are a Terminator-phile, you have no choice.NECA's figure is the way to go. Sorry, about that McFarlane...You was targeted for termination!!!!

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