Premium DNA: Madballs Need For Speed Trashin’ Pumpkin

October 7, 2022

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A new Madballs character has entered the chat. Premium DNA has partnered with Need for Speed: No Limits to introduce Trashin’ Pumpkin, a character who is ready for a fun and freaky fall.

I am sucker for pumpkin-headed characters, and several companies are answering the call this season with some new releases and pre-orders. I also have a soft spot for Madballs, as the Head-Popping action figures are some of my favorites toys of my youth. So, when you combine the two, it stands to realize that good things will happen, and with these new releases, that is certainly the case. I have been passively aware of Need for Speed as a game, but a cool action figure is how you get my attention.

This figure has been brought into he same scheme and style as the standard Madballs, (and the upcoming GPK two-packs), so the “Madular” system is in place. That is, most of the parts are swappable and the figure can be almost completely disassembled and swapped with other Madballs figures. For me, the best part is that James Gorman (the original Madballs designer) was involved in the realization of this figure, so it fits right in with look and feel of Madballs, like this could have just been an unreleased character for the 80s.

There are actually THREE releases of this figure: the standard release, the deluxe set with alternate head (as designed by the aforementioned James Gorman), and the Apparition Edition which includes the extra head, and alternate paint scheme, and a glow-in-the-dark feature. All of releases include the same swappable hands (there are a LOT of them), pitchfork, tire iron, and piston weapons. The color schemes on the accessories are also the same throughout, but he Apparition hands obviously match the different green from that figure.

If you are a fan Need for Speed: No Limits, the standard head (the one without the dangling eye), and the auto-based weaponry give you a pretty great fit for the themes of that game. However, if you are not into that, the swap out of the head (in the deluxe and Apparition versions) along with the pitchfork make this character stand on his own without any prior association. I think that is a really strong feature of the design, and since everything is swappable, you can mix and match to your liking. I think I like the skin tone on the Apparition figure the best, but everything else from the deluxe version, so I am considering how I will ultimately display these. It is good to have the options.

The sculpting work is very strong with this figure, and the paint is some of the best I have seen so far this year. All of the Madballs have had really nice sculpting work, but I think Trashin’ Pumpkin is even a step above those. The alternate Gorman head is my favorite part, and the details there are very nice. The carving knife on the back of the head is the real kicker. The vine and spike work throughout is very cool as well.

The paint might be the overall best part though, and the amount of detail and applications is really something. You can see it in the pictures for sure (again, the best on that alternate head), and there is not any slop or mess to speak of, so all of those applications shine. There is a bit of a thematic “Halloween” color palette here, but there are a lot of subtle tones bring it all out. The details on the eyes are very, very well done.

As I mentioned, there are three releases here: The standard, deluxe, and Apparition. I have combined the standard and deluxe pictures below, with the Apparition following.

TRASHIN’ PUMPKIN

TRASHIN’ PUMPKIN (APPARITION EDITION)

As noted, there is a different color palette for this figure. Additionally, there is a glow-in-the-dark feature on the limbs and heads. The limbs glow pretty brightly, but the heads are a bit more muted due to a paint treatment over the regular colors causing the glow. It is still very apparent in the dark.