When someone who’s not a gamer finds out how much time I’ve spent playing Fortnite, they inevitably ask what the draw is. And while I’ve cycled through a long list of reasons over the years, it always comes back to a core truth: Fortnite is a digital toybox filled with my favorite digital action figures. So now that NECA is turning those digital figures into actual action figures, I don’t know what to do.
At the annual Toy Fair in New York on Feb. 14, collectible toy company NECA revealed its partnership with Epic Games for a line of Fortnite action figures, each of which comes with a digital code for use in the game. Polygon has reached out to Epic Games for more information on what the code will unlock and will update the story if we hear back.
Let’s be clear: There are already plenty of Fortnite toys you can already buy, from Lego sets to Peely figures to Nerf guns. NECA is going one step further, though. The company is producing action figures of established characters, as they appear in the game.
At this point, Fortnite crossovers keep the game moving forward as beloved fictional characters and non-fictional humans arrive at a steady pace, adding more and more digital figures to my toybox (rumor has it that Solo Leveling is headed our way soon). But what the hell am I supposed to do with physical figures of those digital figures?
It doesn’t matter, because I want them. When I first got a text from a friend about these, the very idea smacked of being a crass cash grab. Then I saw them. And, while I’m not prepared to say this isn’t a cash grab — of course, it is — I’m already opening my wallet to give NECA easier access. I mean, I won’t be a completist with this line, but surely I should get figures of my regularly used skins, right? (Note: All of the announced figures are of cosmetics in my regular rotation; this is going to get expensive.)
To kick things off, NECA revealed its Fortnite x Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line, which launches with five figures — the four turtles and Shredder. The figures, which you can see above, are based on the Fortnite-exclusive designs that have been featured in the shop as recently as December.
The figures capture the Fortnite skins perfectly and would look excellent alongside any TMNT fan’s NECA collection. And they’re really putting my stance on Fortnite‘s Ninja Turtles to the test. While I was previously a completist on the company’s line of TMNT figures based on the live-action movies, that ended when they released a playset based on a deleted scene from one of the movies. I don’t have the spare room or money for something like that. And yet, here I am, figuring out if I should just get Donatello or all four turtles. And if I get the four turtles, I should probably get Shredder too, right?
After all, there’s plenty of room for this particular line of Fortnite figures to grow, as there are definitely more cosmetics to pull from. Beyond these five, Fortnite has previously released Splinter, April O’Neil, Casey Jones, Bebop, Rocksteady, Krang, and Super Shredder. And even if the line ended there, a complete Fortnite x TMNT collection would look incredible on display.
Ninja Turtles fans aren’t the only ones NECA is feeding well, though. The company also revealed a trio of horror icons, as interpreted in Fortnite. The first batch of Fortnite horror figures includes Halloween 2‘s Michael Myers (with emote keyboard), Saw‘s Billy the Puppet, and Texas Chain Saw Massacre‘s Leatherface with the skin of Peely as a back bling. Unlike the existing Ultimate NECA figures of these characters, the Fortnite versions are more cartoony, with less detail. Also, just as he appears in Fortnite, Billy the Puppet is the same height as Michael and Leatherface — a horrifying thought that’s bound to happen in a Saw movie someday.
Given how deep the rosters are for NECA’s various action figure lines, there’s bound to be a lot more on the way in the coming months and years. If there can be four different Casey Jones figures from the same 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie — another reason I stopped collecting that line — there are no guardrails for Fortnite. We could, somehow, end up with three different Michael Scott figures based on Fortnite’s crossover with The Office. So whatever happens, make sure you’re purchasing carefully, or you’ll share my fate: looking at a pile of action figure boxes in the closet that I simply don’t have space for, wondering how I got here… before opting to just play Fortnite instead.
