NECA Toys have acquired the rights to the likeness of Actor Elias Koteas, who portrayed the Casey Jones in the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. This new release offers better articulation and is all around an improvement than the one you got in 2020, along with the new unmasked head sculpt. Originally, the previous figure did not come with the unmasked head sculpt as NECA did not have the rights to it, but thanks to a little luck, lots of patience, and maybe a little push from Judith Hoag, who portrayed April O’Neil, we finally have the Casey Jones figure we always wanted!
Thank you to NECA Toys for providing their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990 Movie Ultimate Casey Jones Figure for review.
Availability: August 2021 – Wal-Mart Exclusive
Casey Jones is making his debut as a 7″ scale action figure and he’s one of the most anticipated characters that fans have been waiting for. As most you of should be aware, the mask is no removable, and this is because Elias Koteas, who played Casey back in the 1990 movie, did not want his likeness in this line. The rumor has it that he changed his mind since then, and NECA apparently has a head sculpt ready to go in case that happened.
Casey Jones is given a new release with a new unmasked head sculpt featuring the likeness of Actor Elias Koteas, upgraded elbow articulation, and includes a new mask that he can hold. Casey Jones is based as he appears in the 1990 film, with his dark grey vest that is made of soft plastic, a dirty white shirt with some great paint washes, grey pants, leather looking gloves with a sculpted texture, black shoes and white socks. The clothing includes wrinkles and paint washes to make it look warn, and around his torso you can place the golf bag to hold all of the accessories/sports equipment he uses against the Foot. The masked head sculpt looks great, and is done in a light metallic grey, with his eyes poking through, so at least you can see a little bit of his face. The straps go around the back of his head and over his hair, and the hair is long and black and sculpted.
The unmasked head sculpt is the primary attraction of this new figure, as this is something that has never been done before. The facial details and likeness is spot on, and the photo-realistic details and likeness makes this the best Casey Jones movie figure ever released. Last years release was great, but it didn’t come with unmasked head sculpt with the likeness as NECA was not able to obtain the rights to this. At the time, they did have the unmasked head sculpted and ready to go, but Elias Koteas was not on board. Thankfully, that has changed and what we have here is the figure that we’ve been waiting for since 1990.
The updated elbow articulation is an improvement, and visually much more appealing than the 2020 release. I can appreciate what they did in 2020 with the double-hinged joints, and for his sporting good accessories this works extremely well for posing and much better range of motion. However, this line is about quality and making it look at its best, and this new release surely shines where last years release fell short. The new elbow joint works extremely well for him, and while you don’t get as much range of motion out of this line, visually it’s at its best.
Casey Jones comes with four sets of swap out hands, a hockey stick, a goalie stick, a golf club, 2 baseball bats, a paddle, and a golf bag to carry the weapons. Also included is a new mask that he can hold, but cannot be placed on the unmasked head sculpt.
Casey Jones is also fully articulated, including a ball jointed head, ball hinged shoulders, swivel-hinged elbows, swivel-hinged hips, ball jointed torso with no range of motion as the shirt prevents that, waist rotation, ball joined hips, swivel-hinged knees, hinged and rocker ankles.
Overall, this new release is more than worthy of adding to your collection, and historically this one is going to be remembered for many years to come. It’s possible we could get more Casey Jones figures offered with a different facial expression, including variants such as Casey in a Foot Soldier outfit, and that leaked Farm House Casey and April set… This release opens the possibilities for more figures given the unmasked head sculpt, so anything is possible now. This is such a great time to be a turtles fan, so make sure to start checking your local Wal-Mart store for him, and like this figure, make sure to go in wearing your mask!
Purchase:
Additional figures are available on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Hobby Link Japan, Things From Another World, Zavvi – U.S./Canada and Zavvi – U.K.