NECA's "Reel Toys": ED-209 Review

[Hursticon]

After a 4 month unexplained manufacturer delay, my 10" tall NECA: ED-209 arrived earlier in the week and after putting off taking photos due to the heat - I've finally got something to share.

Before we get to that though, here is a short review of the figure:

The Bad

• It's much lighter than what I expected it to be; I suspect this is due to size and balance issues derived from the ED-209's design and NECA's choices of materials & joint implementation.
• Due to the above, ED-209 really gives off the feeling of a well painted kids toy as it is extremely hollow.
• The box states "Fully Articulate", well...; Its toes & feet are completely solid blocks so there won't be any recreations of "the stairs scene", its also unable to push its arms forward as with when it cocks its guns in the films and it also doesn't have the lateral torso/head tilt which is essential for the ED-209's locomotion.
• NECA has provided absolutely no instructions; One is left to explore the figure's articulation limits completely blind, the button to activate the usual sound-bytes (The quality of which sounds like they're ripped from a VHS) is rather small & entirely nondescript - residing at the rear of the torso/head on the right-hand side, as well as how to slide up the missile rack on the right arm.
• The sound-bytes aren't particularly loud or clear, it's also missing the "Squealing Pig" noise that the ED-209 shrieks when it has been disabled or is unable to correct itself from falling over.
• The lower-leg segments have a pair of protruding panels on either side that are meant to represent the "locks" when the upper-leg segments slide down for the ED-209's stationary state in the films; these panels are literally held in place by friction on a tab roughly 2mm x 1mm in size - DO NOT Place Any Inward Pressure On These Panels!, you'll see the result below.

The Good

• NECA's strengths lie in their sculpts and paint applications; ED-209's are absolutely spot-on with perfect placement and ridiculously high accuracy to its on-screen appearance.
• The mold looks absolutely superb from every angle; every piece is brilliantly proportioned and its total scale is excellent, feeling "just right" with NECA's other figures.
• Every single joint, apart from the sliding legs, are friction-based swivels which could be considered just as much a negative as a positive, but they all seem to have just the right amount of "resistance vs. freedom" - Results may vary.
• Points of articulation include:
  
  • "Soft-ratchets" for the leg-slides.
  • Swivels at the "Hip".
  • A limited "Waist" swivel.
  • Swivels at the "Shoulders".
  • Hinged "Elbows".
  • Swivels at the "Upper Forearms".
  • Hinged "Shoulder"-guards.
  • Hinged-Sliding missile rack or the right "Forearm".
• ED-209 is very well balanced considering; the two major sources of weight are its feet, anchoring him quite successfully, and its "Voice Box" which resides rather ideally centered just above its hips within the "torso/head".
• The sound-byte selections are quite good with everything one would expect to be present (Save for a single notable omission mentioned earlier); NECA has even decided to go with the "Extended-Cut" sample of the machine-guns blowing away the poor "volunteer" in ED-209's initial demonstration to the OCP Board.
• Every hanging wire or bundle of wires that appeared on ED-209 on-screen has been rendered by NECA here too; the wire looms at the "elbows", the missile rack and the muzzles of the guns are individually present with only the gaps between the "toes" receiving sculpted wires.

NECA's ED-209 is easily the most superior offering of the OCP Enforcement Droid ever released at an affordable price point; it is extremely accurate and looks utterly imposing and its size will just leave one in awe.
It's not without its issues, however, but as a whole it serves its role brilliantly with a commanding presence.

If you love the original 1st two Robocop films and you must own an ED-209 but cannot afford a Hot-Toys or Sideshow figure, then I highly recommend NECA's offering.


Now, on with the pictures!

[Sinnertwin]

Another great, detailed review, Hursti
He looks like he stepped straight out of Rob Bottin's workshop

[CBratron]

Agreed. Pity about the non-posable toes.

[lancalot]

cool review and pic hurst ... I didn't know about the missile siding up!! lol ...
my came with the leg bend in at the knee , I had to twist it straight , and had to use a lot of force to do it... it actually snap really loud but now can move freely spinning side ways

[Hursticon]

Another great, detailed review, Hursti
He looks like he stepped straight out of Rob Bottin's workshop

Thank you very much dude, I tried to cover as much of it in detail as possible with an unbiased opinion.

Rob Bottin? - I take it he's the original concept/designer of the ED-209 for the original film?

Agreed. Pity about the non-posable toes.

It is a pity, but looking at it in an engineering sense - If they were to of given it poseable toes it would probably be in detriment to the stability of the whole figure.

It's weighted beautifully, but those heavy & solid feet are essential & key to its good balance.

cool review and pic hurst ... I didn't know about the missile siding up!! lol ...
my came with the leg bend in at the knee , I had to twist it straight , and had to use a lot of force to do it... it actually snap really loud but now can move freely spinning side ways

Glad you were able to take something away from my little review dude , but I've got to say that the rest sounds absolutely frightening and I'm not entirely sure the legs are supposed to rotate as you describe!

This is part of the problem with the lack of instructions, you're left to blindly fumble through the limits of the toy's articulation & joint-strength whilst running the very real risk of breaking it; it's to my understanding that due to its size & the logistics behind the ED-209's development/production - the figure had to be made to order and that there's every chance that it wont get another production run.
(This might also suggest a non-availability of spare parts!)

[Lint]

Looks sick , a fantastic display piece

[Hursticon]

Looks sick , a fantastic display piece

It really is.

Ever since childhood I've loved the ED-209 design and have wanted a decent-sized effigy ever since; Hot-Toys/Sideshow's offerings are just WAY out of my price range, so when NECA popped up and said "Here you go and it'll only cost you $80 all up" - I couldn't preorder it quick enough.

[King Atlas]

Nice review. Shame about the limited foot articulation but if it isn't recent Alien or Predator, there is a high chance Neca will skimp out.
Where is Cain?

[Slag]

Great pics man! Pity about the toes as everyones said (how are we supposed to replicate ed walking down stairs???) as longs as it has the "(insert number here) seconds to comply" sample, i'll be happy

[Hursticon]

Nice review. Shame about the limited foot articulation but if it isn't recent Alien or Predator, there is a high chance Neca will skimp out.
Where is Cain?

Cheers man.

From what I've been able to discern, these "Deluxe" figures are REALLY difficult for NECA to produce as major retailers simply aren't interested in stocking them - hence preorders are put out to Online Retailers and then they're made to order - The ED-209 & Spider-Mohawk (Gremlins 2: The New Batch) are the only 2 "Deluxe" figures released thus far, more are on the way apparently.

Yeah, from what I hear NECA's Predators, Aliens and Batman figures are selling extremely well - Hence the very evident focus.

Where's Cain? - Well I interrogated Officer Duffy rather forcibly but to little avail.

I did, however, happen to bring this up with Randy (Lead NECA Bloke) via twitter about the possibility of a Robocop 2: Cain "Deluxe" figure should the ED-209 & Spider-Mohawk prove successful.
He stated that there's a very slim chance, but he fears the development time, license expiration and a lack of consumer interest will likely kill our chances of receiving a NECA produced, Nuke-addicted Criminal-cyborg sadly.

I told him that that is really unfortunate and should a minor miracle occur, he'll have a guaranteed sale with me.

Great pics man! Pity about the toes as everyones said (how are we supposed to replicate ed walking down stairs???) as longs as it has the "(insert number here) seconds to comply" sample, i'll be happy

Thanks dude!

Indeed; the feet are definitely a design compromise that, taken the figure as a whole, was probably a necessary choice to make - however it is unfortunate.

I can indeed confirm that the line "You have 10 seconds to comply" is present, unfortunately it doesn't have the counting down version of that line.