No Limits Trashin' Pumpkin (Madballs (Premium DNA)) Review

Features

Write a Review

To write your own review, first locate the item in the Checklists. Then find the

Write a Review link for that item.

No Limits Trashin' Pumpkin (Madballs (Premium DNA)) Review

No Limits Trashin' Pumpkin
Madballs (Premium DNA) (Premium DNA)Early last year, we saw the release of Premium DNA's Madballs line, the first line by a new company. I got one during the initial pre-order out of curiosity, and I was so impressed by it, I went ahead and got the rest of the figures. Some time ago, another figure was released in the line, and it's a rather unique one; this "Trashin' Pumpkin" character was created for a promotion crossing over the franchise with the mobile game Need for Speed: No Limits.

The packaging is a lot like the previous Madballs figures, making use of a slip cover over a window box that uses no plastic strips or twist-ties, just trays. The graphics are different, however. There's a mixture of black and purple all around, and the slip cover gets some really nice graphics. The main box doesn't have the cross-sell the others do, but it does show off the figure and its accessories, as well as list the people involved in production.

Trashin' Pumpkin was designed by Carlos Villagra, whereas the sculpt for the figure was done by Richard Force. Unsurprisingly, the head is demented jack o' lantern, with an "X" for his left "pupil", a thorny stem, two big cuts on the back with ooze dripping out of them, and a more greenish ooze coming out his mouth. The likeness is great, with wash around the pumpkin to give it a rotting look, and the carved parts of the face are given some depth, both adding to its appearance.

The body goes along well with the head, sporting a scarecrow-like look. It bears a striped tank top, a rope belt, a crudely stitched-together jacket, and thorns and vines covering the arms and feet. Be careful handling him, as those thorns are pretty pointy. The paint is well-done, with plenty of wash to enhance the look. The jacket can be removed as well, in case you want a slightly different look. One thing that baffles me is the feet, as the right has black toenails, but the left is yellowing around the toes, and the nails are that same color. I feel that having both feet share their colors would've been nicer, with yellowing toes and black nails. These figures stand around 6" tall, but this guy is closer to 6 1/2" because of the stem.

If you've heard about this line before, you'd know what to expect out of the articulation. The Pumpkin gets ball-socket joints at the head and chest, along with swivel/hinge joints at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles. The joints are fairly solid for the most part, and some decent poses can be managed. In addition, you can pop apart the figure at any of the balls or pegs, so they can be swapped with the other figures in the line.

This figure is a good deal more outfitted with accessories than past releases, starting with plenty of hands. There's eleven hands total, including a pair of fists, two pairs of grips (one with vines and one without), a pair of pointing hands, a pair of open hands, and an additional open left hand with vines on it. The hands swap easily, but I noticed the fit isn't super tight on the extra ones, namely the grips, which can get in the way of posing him with his accessories. Pumpkin's weaponry includes a lug wrench with blood and nails on it, a tire iron with vines on one end and an eyeball on another, and a nasty pitchfork with intestines wrapped around it. All three of these items look great, and fit within Madballs' gross nature. Lastly, there's a decaying severed hand. It's nothing too special, but it's a nice extra.

If you pre-ordered this figure directly from Premium DNA or its predecessor, Megalopolis, you'd get an extra head designed by none other than James Groman. This head is much nastier in appearance, with a more decayed look, two bloodshot eyeballs, one of which is dangling out of its socket, more ooze around the head, a knife lodged in the back, and a few worms and a spider crawling around. I definitely prefer this head, since it's much more like what you'd expect out of Madballs, and the whole thing looks incredible. If you missed out on the pre-order, you can pick this version up through Big Bad Toy Store, who also has an "Apparition Edition" with glow-in-the-dark deco.

While Premium DNA is pretty new to the toy world, they've managed to make a good name for themselves with their releases so far. Trashin' Pumpkin may as well be my favorite out of their Madballs figures so far, especially with the extra head. While I'm not interested in the two-packs crossing over with Garbage Pail Kids they're doing, I'm definitely excited to see what they have in-store for the next wave of regular figures.

- 3/12/23