Review of Demona - Gargoyles
Action Figure

Introduction

NECA has been releasing a number of their figures with Target over the last month, calling it the 'Haulathon'. This week I scored the last one on my want list - Demona.

She's the fourth figure they'd done so far for the great show Gargoyles. Following Goliath, Thailog, and Bronx, she is currently only available through this special promotion with Target, but once it's complete, she should go up for order at various online retailers.

She's $37 right now, and this higher price point might become an issue for NECA.

Packaging - ***1/2
Like most of the Ultimate figures and other recent NECA releases, she comes in an attractive box with a J hook hanger. She's packed in a collector friendly way, and you can pop her out, along with her accessories, with little damage to the overall package.

I particularly like the cover art this time around, capturing the look of the cartoon with an updated style.

Sculpting - ****
Demona comes with not one but two face sculpts. Notice I didn't say head sculpts, but rather face sculpts. She is designed to swap the face plates, giving you two very different expressions.

One is slightly devilish, with a glint in her eye and a smile on her lips. The detailing is excellent, yet remains true to an animated style character.

The second is full on crazy, with fiery eyes and snarling mouth, exposing her fangs. Having both gives you a tremendous number of potential poses on the shelf.

Both face plates also have real metal earrings, a nice touch that ensures you won't damage them.

The large wings have a leathery texture, and they attach to the back very tightly with no worries about popping them off every time you pose her. It's quite the wingspan too, at about 12 inches across.

The hair sculpt is wild and free, and the rough clothing has an excellent texture. Overall, this is my favorite sculpt of the four released so far.

This is a 7" line, as you'd expect from NECA, and Demona comes in at 7 inches tall.

Paint - ****
The paint work is super clean, particularly for a mass produced figure in this scale. The red hair looks great, and the consistency of the gold on the crown is just about perfect. The blue skin color is also very consistent across the faces and body, a really important aspect in this category.

The leathery look of the wings is accentuated by the excellent paint job, giving them just the right variation in tone and color. The teeth, tongue, and mouth on the snarling face look fantastic, and there's a dark wash on the clothing that really brings out the sculpted texture. There's never a ton of small paint details on an animated figure, but what's here is really clean and sharp, adding to the overall look.

Articulation - ****
She is surprisingly well articulated, and while I have a couple minor nits, you should have no trouble getting great poses.

I was particularly impressed with the ball jointed neck, where I was able to get more tilt and lean, including forward and backward, than with Goliath. You can add a lot of attitude to any pose with this joint.

The rotating hinge shoulders, double pin elbows, rotating hinge wrists, and cut biceps allow for natural arm poses, and you can get some good one and two handed stances with the weapons as well. I do wish the wrists could also rotate at the hand, as is the case when the pin and ball are not part of the hand itself, but it's a minor gripe.

The torso can turn and lean at the chest, hidden by the clothing, and the wings have rotating hinge joints at the back. They are rachet joints as well, and when they click into place, they should be able to maintain the weight of the wings without any issue.

The legs have ball hips, double pin knees, pin ankles, and a pin half foot. You can get some rocker movement out of the feet, but the only twist you have in the leg is at the hip, and it's minor.

The half foot does allow you to pose her up on the balls of her feet, but you'll want to use the tail to help stablize the pose. The tail is bendy and has a joint at the place where it attaches to her butt, and comes in very handy when creating more dynamic stances.

Accessories - ****
I already mentioned the second face plate, but it goes a long way to improving the score here as well. They swap easily, but stay attached when posing.

The same is true of the hands. She comes wearing a pair of grasping hands, and there's a set of fists and a set of specific grips to go with them.

The tail comes as an extra piece, but you'll want to attach it right away. I had no trouble getting it to snap into place, and there's a joint at the top of the tail as well.

Also separate are her wings. Splayed out wide, they look terrific in place, and are lighter weight than Goliath's, making it easier to keep them in various poses. You don't have to use them if you don't have the shelf space though, and I added a couple photos of her without them to give you a feel for what she looks like.

She also has two big honkin' guns, and she can hold these in various one or two handed poses. Finally, there's a book, which can open and has a printed set of pages in the middle. The book does not have paper pages however - it's all one sculpted piece. You open it only to this one location, but it's still a fantastic accessory for the display.

Fun Factor - ****
With a ton of extras, a fantastic sculpt and paint job, and plenty of articulation, you should have a ton of fun setting her up in the display. I'm also betting you return to her regularly to create new looks, especially as we add more characters to the set.

Value - *1/2
With tax, she cost me $40 - that's a steep price for a 7" figure. While collectors will be happy to pay that for key characters from their favorite licenses, NECA is going to have a tough time selling some of the lesser characters that helped make them so popular.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. Everything is sturdy and well made, and I had no worries about breakage or damage when I was working with her.

Overall - ****
Another terrific release in their Gargoyles line, one of the few series out right now that I'm going to go all in on. My kids and I watched the cartoon, and I still have a few of the old figures around as well, but much like MOTUC, it's not nostalgia that's driving me, but the cool character designs.

Out of the four released so far, Demona has quickly become my favorite. I'm really looking forward to the release of Hudson and Brooklyn, and my wallet is ready for whomever else they announce.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ****
Articulation - ****
Accessories - ****
Fun Factor - ****
Value - *1/2
Overall - ****

Where to Buy 
Right now, this one is only at Target, where she'll run you $37. Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth also has Hudson and Bronx up for preorder, at $38 each.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Earlier I checked out Goliath and Bronx.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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