Review of Ultimate Brain Gremlin
Gremlins 2 - the New Batch

Introduction

NECA has been producing terrific figures based on the iconic Gremlins movies for almost 20 years. They've hit all the major players, plus quite a few of the background crowd pleasers. For a few, they are returning to do them up a second time. One of my personal favorites, Brain Gremlin, is getting this updated treatment.

He was first produced way back in series 1 in 2003. Rather than just re-release that figure in their Ultimates line, they've given him an updated look, wearing a cloth suit rather than sculpted clothes. There's some other improvements as well, but we'll get to those in a minute.

He's currently shipping, and will run you around $35, depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***1/2
The boxes they use with their Ultimate figures are great, with excellent graphics and sturdy cardboard. They are also relatively collector friendly, and you can remove the figure and accessories without much damage. You'll may have to cut a bit of tape or a plastic tie or two, but it's a pretty minor issue.

Sculpting - ****
One of the areas where they've improved the figure is the sculpt. While the original is still great, you can see the advancements in the texturing and detail work. There's more realism, more attention to detail, and greater definition. He's still the same scale, and he fits in perfectly with the previous releases, but you can clearly see the improvements in sculpting that come with 20 years.

The mouth is sculpted to look good with or without the pipe between his lips. That's a nice touch, since some may want to display it that way, while others will not.

The hands come sculpted in a couple different grips, but I didn't find any of them to be particularly useful with specific accessories. You can get them to work, but it takes some effort. He stands 6 1/2 inches tall.

Paint - ****
Another area of improvement is the paint work. The colors are richer, and there's more detailed paint work on the face and ears.

I particularly like the work around the mouth, lips, and teeth. It really pops, and creates a much more realistic portrait.

Articulation - ***
One area that's always confounded them is the articulation. The design of the figures doesn't allow for the joints to be particularly useful, even when they are plentiful.

The neck is perhaps the most annoying. The ball jointed neck doesn't allow for much tilt or lean and the head tends to sit back too far in the torso. You can get a little forward tilt out of the torso itself, but you need to accept that he's going to be looking somewhat upward no matter what.

The rest of the joints in the arms and legs, including shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles, allow for decent stances. Earlier releases had a lot of trouble just standing, but I had no issues with this guy. I was able to get the center of gravity over the feet, and the ankles and knees are tight enough to remain standing.

Accessories - ***
He doesn't come with a ton, but he does have a couple key extras.

There's a couple hands of course, and they swap pretty easily. As I mentioned earlier, none of them work great for holding the accessories, but you can make due.

The best extra is his pipe, which fits neatly in between the teeth on the mouth sculpt. It looks great, and will definitely be included in my display.

He also has a flask with 'brain serum', and a syringe to inject it. The syringe plunger actually moves in and out. You can get the syringe in one of the hands, although it looks a bit wonky.

Outfit - ***1/2
Unlike his predecessor, this guy has a cloth costume. And it looks quite good, even in this scale. That's something they probably couldn't have pulled off as well 20 years ago, when manufacturers tended to use cloth that was too thick and out of scale.

He has his blue shirt, as well as his gray pants and jacket. The tailoring is pretty good considering the wonky shape of the body, and while it rides a little high on the torso - you won't be able to expose quite as much of the shirt as we saw in the film - it's still a very nice look, and is different enough from the original to warrant the purchase.

There's even a little cut out in the butt, so his tail can stick through!

Fun Factor - ***
The limited articulation will also limit the amount of posing you can do, but he does stand well on his own, a big improvement over some of the past releases.

Value - **
The price on the NECA Ultimates is edging up. At $30, I was good with it. Now at $35, it's getting harder to justify, and means fewer will get purchased. I fear $40 is right around the corner.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.

Overall - ***1/2
I'm really happy with the series overall, and it's great to get some new figures to add to the display. I wasn't sure I needed another Brain, because the first release is really good. But I'm glad I picked him up, and he's definitely different enough to stand out.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has him at $35.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've got most of the NECA Gremlins, but I've only reviewed a few. There's one of the Xmas two packs, as well as Ultimate Gizmo, Penny, Doo-dah and Brownie, Haskins and Stripe, Lenny and Phantom, George and Lenny, George, Daffy, and Flasher, their series 1 that included the first Brain, and the original Cult Classics.

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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