Paul’s Peg > Terminator Salivation?

Hey y’all, Paul here to talk a bit about the Terminator Salvation toys from Playmates. Since Poe is so awesome at reviewing toys, I’m just going to go ahead and give my two cents on the overall line as well as one figure I picked up. First of all, I think as collectors that the line overall looks kind of like balls. From the first pictures that published online, we all knew that this line wasn’t going to be the kind of quality in our toys that we’ve come accustomed to in the last few years. The human figures are laughable and only a couple of the robots look presentable. The other toys in the line that look passable are the T-1 and the HK, and perhaps the 6-inch endoskeleton if you’re desperate for more Terminator toy action.

The role-play stuff for kids is simply hilarious. The movie does not look at all appropriate for children, yet kids will be able to dress up as their favorite killing machine. I know if I was a kid though, the pieces that make you look like a battle damaged endoskeleton T-800 would have been a must have when I was a kid.

Out of all the figures I have seen in the store, the only one that I’ve purchased so far is the T-R.I.P. due to the fact that it most looks like the endoskeletons seen in the old films. Plus, it was one of the only figures that didn’t look like puke. I’m sorry Playmates, but the line looks horrific. The human characters are beyond laughable and that John Connor that doesn’t even have Christian Bale’s face is a bloody shame. Wasn’t it possible to at least get the rights to the likeness of one of the other four actors who have played John Connor? Collectors might have actually bought one of the things then.

The packaging looks way too busy and it reminds me a bit what generic toy packaging must look like. There’s really too much here. The bio, the terminator eyes that are DNA helixs, the “includes movie card,” the “HIGH TECH RIFLE” calling out the extremely lame gun, it’s all too much. It looks like a toy I’d buy at the grocery store.

As for the figure, the T-R.I.P. is fairly decent, especially considering how bad the rest of the figures look. I’m not picky about the paint and since he’s a dirty silver then I’m happy. He’s got a lot more articulation than I thought he’d have. I wish it had forearms that turned and it almost looks like he was supposed to by the way he’s holding the rifle in the picture on the back of the package (the rifle that he doesn’t come with). I really hate that he can’t turn his head though. He can’t turn his torso either, so my T-R.I.P. is always going to be facing in one direction. Despite these drawbacks, I’m probably going to get a few of them along the way to fight my G.I. Joes and Indiana Jones figures and since I don’t really have any other 3.75 scale Terminator options, these are the ones to get.

Overall, this figure pretty much proved all my preconceived notions about the line. It’s a real shame that Playmates has so badly screwed the pooch on this one. It would have been nice to have a wide variety of Terminator figures in 3.75 and 6 inch scales that were of a decent quality.