TECHNO-PUNCH TERMINATOR

TERMINATOR 2 (KENNER)

Back in the 90s, tie-in toylines were all the rage.  They were so the rage, in fact, that a fair number of movies that weren’t exactly “kid-friendly” ended up getting some very kid-aimed action figures.  One such film was Terminator 2, which got a fairly nifty line of toys courtesy of Kenner Toys.  A good chunk of the line consisted of figures with looks quite divergent from the movie, but a few, such as today’s focus figure the T-800 Endoskeleton, stuck pretty close to the movie designs.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Endoskeleton was released in the first assortment of Terminator 2 figures from Kenner.  His official name was “Techno-Punch Terminator,” in reference to the figure’s special action feature, which I’ll touch on in a bit.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  He also features movement at the waist, but it’s tied into his punching feature: when he is twisted to either side, he snaps back into place, and if the hands are placed right, this simulates a punch…sort of.  Not sure it was worth sacrificing actual articulation, but there it is.  Also, the lack of knee joints is somewhat baffling, seeing as there are joints sculpted there, they just aren’t mobile.  The sculpt on the figure is fairly decent.  Obviously, it’s not on par with NECA or Hot Toys’ takes on the design, but it’s hardly expected to be.  For a figure from the early 90s, it does a respectable job.  The basic details of the Endo are all pretty much there, just a bit more simplistic.  The proportions have also been tweaked a bit, presumably to make the Endo a bit more imposing (provided you overlook the monkey arms).  The overall result is a figure that is clearly meant to be a Terminator, and that’s what counts.    As far as paint goes, this guy’s pretty simple.  He’s straight silver, up and down, with the exception of the eyes, which are molded in clear red plastic and use light-piping to light up a bit.  The figure was originally packed with a blaster and some sort of bent metal thing, but my figure doesn’t have those pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This guy is a relatively recent acquisition (though he does predate the site by a small margin).  A few years ago, Cosmic Comix picked up a pretty sizeable collection of loose figures, and this guy was amongst them.  The figure shows his age, to be sure, but he’s actually not a bad figure at all, and he’s certainly better than some of his compatriots.