Gremlins/NECA

## NECA Gremlins

The melting Witch Gremlin prototype that was last seen at San Diego Comic Con 2013

## Collectible Information

### Status

Found (Green Type 1 Gremlin, Mogwai Series 3, Spider Gremlin, Ultimate Mohawk, and Greta were released after years of near cancellation)Lost (Witch Gremlin and Gremlin Scaler)

### Location

The Type 2 Brown Gremlin and WB Tattoo Gremlin is still in the NECA warehouse studio, along with (most likely) the melting witch gremlin prototype

## Product Information

### Year(s)

2011-2020

As far back as the early 2000's, NECA has been making action figures and other sorts of products based on the *Gremlins* series. Much of their content from the revamped 2010's series were nearly cancelled indefinitely while at least a few of their other unproduced items remain unseen.

## Summary

NECA’s first venture with the *Gremlins* franchise was in 2003 with semi-articulated and detailed action figures of 1984 Gizmo, Stripe, Poker Gremlin, and Brain Gremlin.  An action figure of Mohawk was released with the first Cult Classics line in 2005, along with a large limited edition replica statue.   Both these figures would be rereleased in 2008 with Brain Gremlin going to Cult Classics Icons right when the line was running out of steam.

In 2011, NECA decided to revisit Gremlins by producing updated action figures featuring the mischievous Mogwais and reptilian creatures from the films with more articulation, better paint application, intricate detail, and had a special feature on the back of the Mogwai heads that allowed their eyeballs to rotate at a 90 degree angle. The revamped line mostly focused on characters from *The New Batch* first as Series 1 consisted of Gizmo (an SDCC variant of him with a miniature souvenir bag and sunglasses), George in both his Mogwai and gremlin forms, Lenny Mogwai, Daffy Gremlin, and the Flasher Type 1 Gremlin. Series 2 consisted of “Combat” Gizmo with his *Rambo* style headband and arrow “grenade launcher,” Mohawk Mogwai, Daffy Mogwai, Lenny Gremlin, Phantom Gremlin, and a generic Type 1 Brown Gremlin.  Many of the figures in this line have a notorious habit for being ready for production and release yet nearly cancelled at the last minute. First off, let’s go way back to Toy Fair 2011 when the “New Batch” was first announced. Revealed among the Series 1 and 2 figures was a generic Type 1 Green Gremlin that was the same sculpt as the Flasher figure, just without the plastic trenchcoat. It is unknown if this guy was going to be his own standalone figure or was just there to show what the rest of the “Flasher” looks like. But the biggest elephant in the room to address right now is a deluxe figure of Mohawk after he drinks the Spider serum from the Slice of Life Laboratory, turning him into an arachnid-gremlin mutant. He was shown once and never again while the other figures were released. Some Gremlins fans (like myself) assumed that NECA didn’t have much confidence this license would sell well for them and that it was too expensive to produce. However in 2013, the phoenix rised from the ashes as they announced the Spider Gremlin would be going into production and released by December that year. There was much rejoicing within the fandom and was such a successful toy that NECA decided to reissue it in 2018.  But our story isn’t over yet, no, we got more to cover!

Originally, the Lighting Gremlin action figure (not really a figure considering it’s a flat piece of plastic) was going to be straight-up cut from the line until NECA decided to make it a Toys R Us exclusive during July 2012.  In San Diego Comic Con 2011, an action figure of Stripe, the evil leader from the first movie, was going to be made in his Mogwai form for the Series 2 “Mogwai” division that was originally planed for an October 2011 release, but was pushed back to the next year.  Come SDCC 2012 and Stripe was shown again along with a 1984 version of Gizmo sporting a sad face and Haskins, the Mogwai who turns into the gremlin that gets “microwaved.” The display card next to them said they were part of Series 3 which had a “tentative” release date for early 2013.  This led Gremlins fans to believe NECA was hesitant on releasing these figures and made a petition in favour of their release. The uncertainness was overturned as NECA released these guys as part of Series 3 in spring 2013 (a Santa version of 1984 Gizmo was released much earlier as a Christmas 2012 TRU exclusive).  Now’s the part where things get confusing. Taking the time machine back again to SDCC 2011 reveals an accessory piece based off the gremlin cocoon egg along with the other figures slated for Series 2 release as part of the Mogwai line in October. As usual, the line was pushed back to next year and the cocoon was shown again during New York Toy Fair 2012 along with a new figure: Greta, a gremlin who was originally a male until he drink a serum from the Splice of Life Laboratory that changed his hormones and caused him to become female (in some ways, a transgender gremlin). They were shown again during San Diego Comic Con 2012 and 2013 in which the latter introduced three more figures: The first one is a retooled version of Mohawk Gremlin which is so much better than the Cult Classics version as his paint job is more accurate, his face looks more menacing with an articulated jaw, is full-on poseable, and came with the Uzi machine gun he tried to kill Billy with. The next figure is a Type 2 Green Gremlin and the reason I say Type 2 is because not only do The New Batch gremlins (excluding the four spawns of Gizmo and some mutants) have two different colour schemes (green and brown), they also have different facial features. Type 1 Gremlins (the Flasher and Brain, for instance) have a pointy chin, straighter ears, and plenty of eyebrow spikes that line up with each other. Type 2 Gremlins (the one that turns into “Lightning” and the one that sprays acid onto the “Phantom’s” face, for instance) have a rounder chin, half-bent ears, and less eyebrow spikes that are a few spaces apart from each other. This exact figure would have been the latter category, though what makes this figure unique is that he would have been based on a specific character during the scene where Brain’s army gathers in the lobby of the Clamp Tower. This gremlin can be seen getting a tattoo done by a Tattoo Parlor Gremlin in a sleeveless jeans-type jacket with the tattoo being none other than the Warner Brothers shield logo as they each have a laugh about it. The next figure would be based off the gruesome finale where the Lightning Gremlin is released and kills all the gremlins while in the process of spawning even more creatures. The figure in particular being one of the rapidly melting gremlins dressed in a witch costume while uttering the iconic final words of *The Wizard of Oz*’s Wicked Witch of the West who met a similar fate: “I’m melting! Oh, I’m melting! Aah! What a world! What a world!” Both Mohawk, Greta, Tattoo, Witch, and the egg were shown once at the event and never seen again.

While NECA still released products in 2014 like the aforementioned Spider Gremlin and Series 4 of Mogwai figures which consisted of conceptual characters made by Rick Baker for The New Batch (Brownie, Doodah, and Penny) and was followed up by a fifth wave (Patches, Zoe, Gary), some Gremlins fans began to lose hope over NECA continuing to keep the toyline on life support and that they would never see any of those prototypes again. Then 2016 came with the release of the Bat Gremlin action figure in spring season which brought joy yet again, but during the summer season, they released a figure of the Mohawk Gremlin that looked like the prototype from SDCC 2013 (Uzi gun and everything), but was coloured black, grey and yellow in order to match his sprite appearance from the NES video game adaptation of *Gremlins 2: The New Batch*. NECA reusing molds and painting them to match specific colours from their video game sprites isn’t too surprising as they’ve been doing this ever since the NES Jason “exclusive” (originally) for SDCC 2013.  But what makes this figure so interesting is just like with Atari & Ultimate Leatherface, they release an alternate variant of the prototype a month/year earlier before the actual colourized version.  Well in 2017, the same year they released the Ultimate Gizmo action figure, NECA finally released the updated Mohawk Gremlin action figure with movie accurate paint applications, an open mouth play feature, Uzi machine gun, and was the last Gremlins action figure to be packaged in plastic clamshells before they reverted to boxes.  Throughout 2018 to 2019, NECA mostly focused on making action figures of the Chris Walas Gremlins as seen in the 1984 film with different variants (Normal, Gamer, Winter Carollers) and an updated version of the leader Stripe.   On October 4th 2019, NECA announced a partnership deal with Lootbox for the then-recently-announced Loot Launcher project that featured an exclusive action figure named "Dress Up & Play;" which would've included all sorts of costumes and accessories based off the ones seen in the scene where they raid Dorry's Tavern. It's primary costume would've been based off the breakdancing gremlin wearing pink legwarmers and a *Flashdance*-esque sweater while alternate accessories included a poker chip pile, bow tie, visor, maller, hand puppet, fedora, interchangeable hands, sunglasses, frosty mug, cigarettes, playing cards, and a brown raincoat to turn it into the gremlin that flahses itself to Kate Beringer.  It sames like this figure never came out and its accessories, minus the "flashdancer" attire, would be repurposed for the Ultimate Flasher figure that was released in 2020.  Neither of the other remaining SDCC 2013 figures would be seen for a long time until February 2020’s New York Toy Fair where one reveal brought hope to the hearts of fans.  Long thought to be dead were the prototype models of Greta, the Green Tattoo Gremlin, and the transformation cocoon which was included in a diorama based off the bar scene from the first movie by Gremlins super fan, TJ Gremlins Guy, who played an avid part in supporting the toyline during their darkest hour and was personally chosen by NECA to make convention dioramas for the Gremlins figures.  The only 2013 prototype that did not come back was the melting Witch who appears to have been replaced by a Brown Type 2 Gremlin. Greta was eventually released as part of the "Ultimate Collection" in March 2021 and in July that year, revealed along with the revamped Brain Gremlin, the Type 2 brown gremlin was shown as part of “Demolition” 2-pack; along with a recycled mold of the Series 1 Green Gremlin originally shown at Toy Fair 2011.  Though it'll only be a matter of time before the Tattoo Gremlin is released.

Action figures aren’t the only products that NECA has done for the *Gremlins* license as they’ve also done snowglobes,  bobbleheads,  motorized friction toys,  foam replica stunt puppets,  and even a shovelware video game for the Nintendo DS & Wii.  Introduced on October 29th 2013, Scalers is a line of products by NECA that are essentially stylized cord accessories modelled after licenses they own like *Alien*, *Predator*, and DC Comics.  Released in 2014 as part of the first series was Gizmo, though planned as part of the second wave was a green gremlin that was nowhere to be seen in the final set. NECA replied to a Twitter comment on December 2nd that they were focusing on some of the hotter licenses they had at the time (*Godzilla*, *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*, *Guardians of the Galaxy*) and that they would release the gremlin in a later line next year, but the plans seemed to have fell through as he was never seen again.

## Final Verdict

Time will only tell if they’ll do any of the remaining characters like the Vegetable Gremlin, Robber Gremlin, or even some of the humans like Billy, Kate, and Mr. Wing, especially with an animated prequel series in the works over at Netflix. As for characters like Mogwai Series 3, Spider Gremlin, Ultimate Mohawk, Greta, and Type 1 Gremlin, we can safely consider them **FOUND** due to the massive fan support that nearly saved them from being cancelled. As for the generic Tattoo Gremlin,, Melting Witch and Gremlin Scaler, it'll be a matter of time before we see them released and while they may be lurking within the NECA studio; it's safe to consider them: **LOST**.

## **Gallery:**

The Spider Gremlin prototype when it was first revealed at New York Toy Fair 2011The generic Type 1 Green Gremlin that was shown off at New York Toy Fair 2011The Gremlin Cocoon at New York Toy Fair 2011The currently released Greta with the Tattoo and Type 2 Gremlins that are currently in development limboThe scrapped Lootbox exclusive "Dress Up & Play" Gremlin action figure in its flashdance costumeThe Ultimate Mohawk figure when it was first unveiled in San Diego Comic Con 2013The accessories originally planned for the "Dress Up & Play" that would ultimately be included with the Flasher GremlinThe Green Gremlin that was originally planned to be included in Scalers Series 2

## References

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20031203110108/http://www.necaonline.com/news.html
2. ↑ https://news.toyark.com/2016/01/21/look-back-cult-classics-neca-s-line-horror-cult-icons-188184
3. ↑ https://www.ebay.com/itm/173853620545
4. ↑ https://www.parrygamepreserve.com/newsDetail.php?jID=598
5. ↑ http://theclearancebin.weebly.com/review-neca-gremlins-mohawk.html
6. ↑ https://www.collectors.com/action-item/gremlins-brain-cult-classic-action-figure-series-7-neca-toys/-662192674961632061
7. ↑ https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/22324/toy-fair-2011-the-gremlins-attack/
8. ↑ https://necaonline.com/2013/06/gremlins-deluxe-action-figure-deluxe-boxed-spider-gremlin/
9. ↑ https://necaonline.com/2012/05/presenting-the-toys-r-us-exclusive-lightning-gremlin/
10. ↑ https://news.toyark.com/2011/07/22/neca-gremlins-display-at-sdcc-2011-4476
11. ↑ https://www.seibertron.com/events/fullsize.php?event\_id=260&size=2&image=29
12. ↑ https://necaonline.com/2012/09/mogwai-action-figures-series-3-confirmed-for-january-or-february-2013/
13. ↑ http://www.mwctoys.com/sdcc2013/sdcc2013\_neca\_bottom.htm
14. ↑ https://news.toyark.com/2015/03/06/neca-8-bit-gremlins-2-mohawk-figure-images-and-info-154846
15. ↑ https://necaonline.com/2013/06/sdcc-exclusive-video-game-jason-voorhees-action-figure-coming-to-comic-con/
16. ↑ https://news.toyark.com/2015/12/09/neca-texas-chainsaw-massacre-leatherface-classic-game-figure-toyark-gallery-184382
17. ↑ https://necaonline.com/2017/02/gremlins-2-7-scale-action-figure-mohawk/
18. ↑ https://necaonline.com/2018/05/gremlins-7-scale-action-figure-ultimate-gremlin/
19. ↑ https://necaonline.com/2018/07/gremlins-7-scale-action-figure-ultimate-stripe/
20. ↑ https://bloody-disgusting.com/toys/3587486/neca-offering-exclusive-gremlins-dress-play-action-figure-loot-crate/
21. ↑ https://necaonline.com/2020/01/gremlins-7-scale-action-figure-ultimate-flasher-gremlin/
22. ↑ http://thehorrorsyndicate.com/2020/02/the-horror-of-toy-fair-2020/
23. ↑ https://mobile.twitter.com/Tj\_Gremlin\_Guy/status/1352420799685283840
24. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Gremlins/comments/onm5vv/neca\_brain\_gremlin\_and\_demolition\_gremlin\_2\_pack/
25. ↑ http://thefwoosh.com/2021/03/neca-gremlins-2-ultimate-greta-review/
26. ↑ http://www.collectorsgalleryonline.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store\_Code=CG&Product\_Code=GREMLINSSNOWGLOBE&Category\_Code=NECA
27. ↑ https://www.vectis.co.uk/lot/neca-gremlins-bobble-head-head-knockers-trio-1\_696372
28. ↑ https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10125351
29. ↑ https://necaonline.com/2017/05/gremlins-2-prop-replica-stunt-puppet/
30. ↑ https://toynewsi.com/139-17954
31. ↑ https://necaonline.com/2013/10/neca-introduces-scalers-new-line-of-figural-character-cord-clips/
32. ↑ https://mobile.twitter.com/KovisFox/status/539915517017206784