Batman and Terminator Join NECA's Line of Video Game Figures

I've noticed over the years that if toy companies want to make extra money from an action figure line without increasing production costs, all they have to do is re-release an existing figure sculpt with a different color scheme, different accessories, and a different packaging design. Case in point: NECA has been appealing to toy collectors' sense of nostalgia by re-releasing existing figure sculpts of popular movie characters from the '80s (e.g., Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Predator, etc.) but with color schemes that match their first appearances in 8-bit tie-in video games. In other words, it's high-definition action figure sculpts with low-definition color schemes, packaged in boxes that deliberately emulate the packaging design of video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game console. NECA recently announced that two other characters, Batman and Terminator, will be added to this growing line of tie-in video game action figures.

The Batman sculpt is based on how he appeared in the 1989 live-action movie, and the coloring is based on the movie's NES tie-in video game. Thus, instead of a Dark Knight clad in black, we'll be getting a neon purple Batman with neon blue trim and a neon blue face (!). Unfortunately, even though NECA has also produced a figure based on the Adam West version of Batman, I doubt it will release the same figure with an 8-bit color scheme (regardless of how awesome such a figure would be).

In contrast to Batman, Terminator is getting an upgrade from 8-bit to 16-bit. According to NECA's press release, the color schemes and accessories for its upcoming Terminator action figure two pack is based on how the character appeared in RoboCop vs. Terminator, the 1993 video game for the 16-bit Super NES. Terminator did have an 8-bit game for the NES, but apparently NECA sees this as an opportunity to re-release its 8-bit RoboCop figure under the Robocop vs. Terminator title, albeit with different accessories.

NECA's 8-bit RoboCop figure.

For as shameless as NECA's re-coloring and re-release scheme is, this marks the first time that Robocop and Terminator action figures will be released as complementary pieces within the same toy line. Alien and Predator merchandise have overlapped for years since Dark Horse Comics' first published Aliens vs. Predator in 1990, but RoboCop and Terminator have largely remained separate since Frank Miller's 1992 crossover miniseries and its subsequent tie-in video game.