Terminator Endoskeletons from Playmates

3.75″ Terminators from Playmates

Having already been disappointed by the T-800 Endoskeleton from NECA, I wasn’t too keen on picking up any new toys from the Terminator franchise. There’s something about the endoskeleton from the original 1984 that doesn’t translate to plastic. If they’re true to the animatronic effects, they get a toy with limited articulation. If they take creative license, geeks get all riled up about it not being accurate. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded a few more ball joints.

Though NECA got the Terminator 2: Judgement Day license, it was Playmates that got the rights to do toys based on the new Terminator: Salvation movie. I honestly don’t know if this was a good move on either the studio’s or the toy manufacturer’s part. Playmates has been known as a manufacturer of toys for the younger set. Choosing them to make toys based on a franchise that has been traditionally R-rated is counter intuitive if you ask me. Since the new film was rated PG-13, they could argue that it’s for a younger audience, but their toys are generally for the 5 to 12 crowd, so no.

The result of this odd pairing is some really silly looking toys that remind me of the end of the old classic GI Joe molds when Hasbro was painting them neon colors. These guys are supposed to be suffering a post-apocalyptic dystopia and they’re wearing day-glo orange. oh-kay. The effect through out the lines (3.75″, 6″, 12″, and the role play toys) is of Terminator for kids, which is pretty dumb since kids aren’t supposed to be seeing it.

The exception is the 3.75″ endoskeletons. Though they suffer the same kind of kidification effect as the human figures, at this scale it’s harder to notice. For the most part, it the influence is limited to the head, which looks less like an angry skull and more like a surprised monkey. Thankfully, the rest of the mold is pretty much spot on, with much of the same faithfulness to the original that they had in they have in the 6″ version, only littlized.

Little or not, Playmates was able to pack in a lot of great detail. There are tiny little rivet holes, lines where metal panels join, hydraulic pistons, and the requisite doohickery. They’ve even got a coat of paint on them so they’re not so blah. You can either go with the evil silver coated T-800 (the one that Arnie played) or the evil-er dark gray T-700. I basically got several of the dark ones and have the silver one playing “Sarge”.

Both of the versions comes with a couple of accessories, though I gotta say they aren’t that impressive. The T-800 comes with two pistols, one “ray gun” and one relatively normal looking weapon. Like the NECA version, neither really fits in the buggers hands. They look pretty good for Joes though. The T-700 gets a nicer looking rifle. It’s not really film accurate, but it fits much better in the figure’s hand and looks pretty mean. He also comes with a bent I-beam that he’s supposed to have… well, bent. It doesn’t really fit well in his hands and he looks ridiculous carrying it around. I tossed all 7 of mine.

Articulation is hit an miss. The shoulder joints are excellent, offering the unit a wide range better than most Marvel Legends (the yardstick against which all toys are measured against). elbows and knees are basic hinge joints with about a 55 degree arc. More than adequate really, and better than some GI Joes. However, the rest of the toys joints are the suck.

One, no thigh cut or equivalent. Two, no ankle joint. Three, no outward movement of the leg. With its tiny footprint the endoskeleton has, these three joints are essential for stability. Any other position is basically out of the question. Four, No wrist pegs. You can get his rifle into a two handed grip, but you need to bend a lot of plastic to do it. Five. No waist. This is just retarded. Six, no neck. Wtf, Playmates? Essentially, you’re little endo-man can only stand up with his gun pointed sideways at the ground. If you try any more dynamic positions, he bites the dust.

Some killing machine, huh? They might as well have included a fluffy bunny.

But then again, the real reason I bought these wasn’t so they could overrun the human race but so that they could get their asses kicked by the Marvel Universe. They’re very good at that sort of thing:

They also look good getting the shit kicked out of them by other toys:

At the original price of p400.00, it would be pretty ridiculous to try and build a terminator army with these things. 400 bucks is simply too much to ask for these. Nice looking or not, they simply aren’t on the same level as 25th Anniversayr GI Joes which retail at less than that. The plastic is much softer, there aren’t many paint applications, and you don’t a lot of accessories. Heck, you don’t even get the IOF (Idiotically Oversized Firearm) that the new Rise of Cobra figures have.

Luckily, they’ve recently gone on sale at 50% off. That means they’re only p200.00, or about $4 each. That’s not bad for something like this.

Now if only NECA would make me a 3.75″ Arnie so I could put him on a motorcycle…