NECA Uncharted Ultimate Edition Nathan Drake Review

Have you ever found yourself purchasing a figure just because it looked really nice? I’d never played the Uncharted games. Having only recently purchased a Playstation 3 this figure wasn’t something I was expecting to buy. However, when I was editing the Hardship review I went over to eBay to check what NECA was properly titling the item, and that’s when I ran into Nathan Drake. My first thought was “I didn’t realize this was out,” followed by “that looks like a nice figure!” So I did what I shouldn’t have done and impulse bought a figure … but how could I not? He IS really nice looking!

In addition to being being great looking and handsome, I generally like to support video game action figures. You’d think there would be a large crossover between gamers and toy collectors, but there really isn’t. Video game action figures are generally one shots or half complete collections because that second wave got cancelled. Of course there are exceptions to that rule such as JAKKS Pacific’s World of Nintendo line or Mattel’s Minecraft.

Mr. Nathan Drake comes packaged in a window box with a front flap that opens in order to show off the figure inside. It’s the same type of box NECA uses for all of their “ultimate” figures. He includes the following accessories: an alternate head, a pair of extra hands, a climbing rope, a coiled climbing rope, a pistol, and an AK-47.

The accessories are all pretty great, but the stand out to me are the two heads. The underlying sculpt is incredible. When I found out that it was sculpted by Djordje Djokovic everything made sense. He’s sculpted some of my favorite Masters of the Universe Classics heads such as Fisto and Jitsu, so I can tell Nathan was in good hands. His head sculpt is helped by a very solid paint job. They appear to have found the perfect mix of flesh colored plastic and paint.

I have a little concern over the longevity of the wrist pegs. It takes a substantial amount of effort to pull those hands out of the sockets. The pegs are of a decent thickness and don’t look overly fragile. I also haven’t noticed any wear on the pegs yet, but I’ve only had him for a couple of days now. The head connects via a similar peg, but it is much easier to switch back and forth.

Nathan has about the standard articulation scheme for a human NECA figure. He includes a few cuts you don’t usually see NECA do like the double knees and bicep swivel. There is also an ab joint hidden under his shirt, which is only partly tucked in. I’m told that is an Uncharted thing? I do wish his elbows and ankles had a little more range of motion.

This figure is all I would have ever wanted for a character I know nothing about! However, I hold out hope that if they could make Nathan Drake this great imagine what they could do if they picked up a game franchise I liked?

Resident Evil? Street Fighter? Probably not since they’ve already been there.

Metal Gear Solid? Silent Hill? That would entail working with Konami, so again probably not.

To be honest, I wouldn’t mind some kind of ultimate Lara Croft to go with him. The new version from the reboot and Rise of the Tomb Raider, obviously.

I have to imagine that if you are an Uncharted fan, this figure would make you very happy. It makes me happy. They really went all out with making him as “ultimate” as possible, and I still can’t get over how good those head sculpts are. This will probably be the only figure from Uncharted NECA does, unless you want the Nathan Drake Sackboy … that exists too!