FLASH GORDON — FINAL BATTLE, MING THE MERCILESS — MILITARY SUIT, & PRINCE VULTAN

FLASH GORDON (NECA)

Fun FIQ Fact #0087: Despite my love of Flash Gordon, Queen, and most of the actors involved, I didn’t see the 1980 Flash Gordon in its entirety until 2016.

I’ve been a Flash Gordon fan since I was very young, thanks to my Dad’s copies of the movie series on LaserDisc.  Yes, we were that family.  When I was a kid, the only option for Flash Gordon toys was Playmates’ rather small line of figures from the ’90s cartoon, but boy how things have changed.  There’s, like, options, and stuff.  NECA’s first stab at the license was via Defenders of the Earth, followed by a more comic-based set of figures, now followed by a set of figures based on the 1980 movie.  Aaaaaaaaaaaah!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Flash Gordon, Ming the Merciless, and Prince Vultan make up Series 1 of NECA’s Flash Gordon line, which hit back in January of this year.  All three are based on their appearances in the movie, and, unlike prior King Features offerings from NECA, they’re all at NECA’s “Ultimate” price-point.

FLASH GORDON — FINAL BATTLE

You can’t very well do Flash Gordon figures without the title character, now can you?  Flash has a number of designs over the course of the film, most revolving around the same general design set-up.  This figure specifically is based on his “Final Battle” attire, which is his most distinctive look in the movie, and the one used for most of the marketing stuff.  It’s a natural choice, and one that NECA already referenced previously with their movie-inspired repaint of the Defenders figure.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation.  Flash’s articulation is the standard Ultimate fare from NECA, so it’s fairly posable, but definitely has its limitations.  Still, you can get some decent poster style poses for him, which is really all you need, and he’s certainly the most posable of the three in this set.  The sculpt is all-new, and it’s honestly pretty good.  There’s some really nice texture work on the outfit, and the layering of everything works very well.  He gets three different head sculpts, all slight variations on Sam Jones’ dull surprise expressions.  There’s actually more variation than you might think at first glance, but I definitely think the slightly mouth agape one looks the best of the three.  None of them is a perfect match for Jones’ likeness, but they’re certainly not bad by NECA standards.  Flash’s paint work’s pretty decent; there’s a little bit of bleed over on the shirt, but it’s otherwise pretty clean, and it all manages to look the part pretty well.  Flash is packed with five hands (fists, gripping, and a right trigger finger), a sword, a rifle, and…whatever the small gold handled thing is.  The rifle’s trigger broke putting it into his hand the first time, and the stock is likely to break any moment as well, so that’s not great.  The sword’s at least nicer, but it takes some definite doing to get him holding it two handed.

MING THE MERCILESS — MILITARY SUIT

Flash is nothing without a worthy antagonist, so you gotta have a Ming, right?  Right.  Ming is seen here in his military garb.  It’s a slightly more tactical look, and matches up with Flash’s look, but it’s definitely his *second* most distinctive look from the film, the first being his more ornate robed look.  This one does alright, though, so I guess here it is.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall, and, like Flash, has 28 points of articulation.  His articulation is the same general set-up as Flash, but it’s more restricted to be sure.  Of course, Ming’s a far less mobile character, so it works out okay.  His sculpt’s another strong one.  The uniform is sharp and well-defined, and there’s plenty of fun ornate details going on with it.  Ming also gets three different heads.  His main one is wearing his helmet, while the other two are sans-head gear.  All three get different expressions, and they all get an impeccable likeness of Max Von Sydow.  I honestly don’t have a favorite of these ones.  His color work is alright, dealing with more metallics and such.  There’s still a little bleed-over, especially on the gold.  Ming is packed with three pairs of hands (gripping, fists, and open gesture), and his sword.  For some reason, the left fist is missing Ming’s ring, but otherwise, it’s a nice little set-up.

PRINCE VULTAN

Vultan’s the one odd-ball here, but he’s Brian Blessed, and he’s also by far the most glaring omission from Bif Bang Pow’s run with the license in the early ’00s.  And, you know, he’s Brian Blessed.  How can you not.  Unlike the other two, Vultan really only has the one look to choose from, so that’s the one here.  The figure is a little over 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  He gets an extra mid-torso joint, as well as swivels on the wings.  His build makes him a little more restricted, but he’s a little better than Ming.  His sculpt is another all-new one, and it’s….well, it’s easily the best of the three, to be sure.  There’s so much more layering, and the build is just a great match.  Plus, he’s got four heads instead of three, with a hair piece and a helmet to swap between them.  Blessed is known for his expressive nature, and these four heads cover all manner of expressions.  Well, okay, they’re mostly forms of shouting.  It is Brian Blessed after all.  All of them have a strong likeness of Blessed; it’s certainly very clear who it’s meant to be.  His paint work is decent enough.  He’s fully painted, unlike the other two; the painted skin-tone does soften some of the facial details, but not terribly so.  Vultan is packed with two pairs of hands, his club, communicator, and that clear rock/crystal thing.  They, of course, all pale in comparison to the extra heads, but it’s cool he’s got more than just those to go on.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I missed most of Bif Bang Pow’s Flash Gordon line, so I’ve kind of been looking for a good intro point.  NECA gave me that with these three.  I wasn’t sure when they showed off Flash and Ming, but once Vultan was shown off, I was 100% on board.  Flash is solid.  Not perfect, and the breakage on the rifle is annoying, but solid.  Ming, for me, was along for the ride.  I’d have preferred the robed version, and this one feels a little bare bones, but he’s again a serviceable figure.  Vultan?  Vultan’s perfection.  I love Vultan.  It’s been a few months, and we’ve heard nothing more about this line, so I don’t know if NECA’s planning anymore, but I’d certainly be a fan of getting more characters from the movie.  At least a few more of the main cast, perhaps?

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.