Robocop Mcfarlane Toys vs Neca Comparison & Review

 Seeing as I'm a huge fan of anything Robocop, and giving the fact I recently got the new Neca Robocop figure, I thought I'd go ahead and do a comparison review of both the Mcfarlane and Neca figures.

(It's probably worth mentioning now that the Mcfarlane figure came out about 4/5 years  ago)

To get things started here they are side by side

Sculpting - Neca 4/5 - Mcfarlane 3/5

Hmm this is a tough category, both figures have strengths and weaknesses, Ok first the Mcfarlane attempt, the legs are great and really strong looking. All the lines are deep and stand out which I love. The feet are perfect and the ankle hydraulics are spot on, however this figure suffers in the upper torso. The chest seems too squat and squashed giving him a barrel chested look, and whilst I applaud them for attempting to give him the correct proportioned face, they kinda messed it up and gave him an odd small head. If only they had taken the whole upper torso/head and stretched it out by 1mm or 2mm. Some lines are bit too deep and some of the details are bit small like the elbow pins. 

The Neca figure is oddly almost the other way around, the legs are way off and far too thin. Plus his feet are a little petite. Additionally the sculpting on the legs is way too soft. However they've done well with the  chest area and arms getting the chest panels the perfect size. I am however a little disappointed with the head, the face has good detailing but alas there's just too much of it tsk. Plus they sculpted his nose as being visible, come on Neca did you not even look at any movie stills? The rings on his shoulders are a little over the top too but thats not such a major thing. Overall both are good but I'd have to say Neca slightly pips it if only for the chest, Mcfarlanes chest always put me off.

Neca

Mcfarlane Toys

Neca

Mcfarlane Toys

Neca

Tsk too silver, feet and legs are too thin (all be it the picture doesn't quite reflect it) and the hydraulics are missing the little tabs on the top.

Mcfarlane Toys

Paint - Neca 2/5 - Mcfarlane 4/5

I guess here is the biggest difference in the two, Mcfarlane Toys went with a blue tone (probably a bit too blue) the paint job catches the lght great and really is reminiscent of Robocop in the films. They've also done a great job giving the armour a wash in a darker blue and black which really makes the sculpting stand out. Mostly its clean and with minimal slop for this scale, bravo Mcfarlane Toys.

Urgh the Neca version, what can I say? I hate the paint job they've gone with. Firstly its way too pale, his legs look almost white in certain light. There's a tiny bit of blue in there but only in certain places for example his left hip is very blue and his shoulders are quite blue, but in parts its very light silver all the way. The lightness of the paint job makes the sculpting on the legs wash out and disappear. 

Neca

Mcfarlane Toys

Articulation Neca 4/5 - Mcfarlane Toys 3/5

You might think I'm being generous in this category but bear in mind I've scored them based on the articulation of the character and not against other 7/8" figures. ** edit, Originally I thought the Mcfarlane figure only had a cut neck joint but Straker kindly pointed out that its in fact a ratchet joint with a cut joint. The plastic was stuck so I heated him up and it moved freely. Who would have guessed! I still maintain that the neck/head has very little movement but he can look down, and I still maintain that such a simple feature as a ball joint makes a figure way more dynamic. Anyway other than that the articulation isn't too bad, hips are ball joints and knees work well (a little loose however) I sometimes find the shoulders a bit of a pain like the arms are set slightly too low on the torso. 

The Neca version does however have a ball jointed neck hooray. Meaning he can look up and down, it gives the figure much more life. He also has a ball joint in his upper torso and a cut joint at the waist meaning you can get quite a bit of range from him. The legs are essentially the same articulation as Mcfarlanes. His arms a better than with Mcfarlanes too and seem to sit right in most stances. I'm a little disappointed that neither went with a ball joint in the shoulders but hey ho, plus theres no real articulation in the wrists on either figures which could have added +1 rating to these both of these figures. (both figures do have cut joints higher up in the forearm)

Neca

Mcfarlane Toys

Accessories - Neca 3/5 - Mcfarlane Toys 3/5

Mcfarlane Toys Robocop comes with a natty little stand with a dustbin and bullets/guns sprayed about his feet. Pretty cool and adds to the impact of the figure (why a dustbin and not just a piece of bullet riddled wall?) plus of course his gun which is nicely sculpted but a little on the small side with some crappy detailing. 

The Neca version comes with a changeable right hand that has his data spike in the deployed position. Pretty cool and a nice bonus. He also has his gun which is big and chunky just like it should be.

I've given both figures lower scores basically because there's so much more you could do in terms of accessories, like swappable battle damaged head/removable helmet or either a leg that opens or a panel that swaps out where you can place the gun inside. I know these figures are only small but the upcoming figma Robocop has both these features and is much smaller than these two figures.

Overall - Neca 4/5 - Mcfarlane 3/5

It was a tough one to call to be honest because like I said, each figure has things I like and dislike.

I can't overlook the lack of articulation in Mcfarlanes neck however and the slightly off proportions in the torso. I can live with Neca's slightly thin legs and slightly silvery white paint job however. I look forward to getting my hands on the Figma release of Robocop, I hope they put these two figures to shame.

Max Factory Figma

Kotobukiya Robocop

The above figure is only like 4 inches tall ha, still cool though I love him. Below are some of my Robocop toys together to give you an idea of scale. 

Hope you enjoyed!