Tron 2.0 - MERCURY!

Reel Toys: Tron 2.0  Action Figures Series 01 - Mercury - NECA 2003

Tron 2.0 is a first-person shooter game from 2003 originally released for Mac/PC. It is not official Canon to the Tron film franchise and features new characters and unique designs. As a video game rube, I had never heard about Tron 2.0 until I game across these action figures clearanced at FiveBelow a decade ago. I was immediately drawn in by the Mercury character and her sculpt which I could tell right away was by Sam Greenwell. He was my favorite DC Direct sculptor at the time so this discovery was exciting. In reading about the game, it's my understanding that Mercury is a non-playable character (voiced by Rebecca Romijn) who is the primary source of game objectives and information but who ultimately gets fridged. Still, it's great to have another female in the Tron franchise. They are pretty scarce indeed and this is by far the best action figure representation so far. One of my biggest wishes right now is for a Diamond Select Yori. Fingers crossed! Let's check out Tron 2.0 Mercury below!

This is actually the second Mercury figure I have purchased. With my first figure, I convinced myself that she was assembled incorrectly and her shins and feet were swapped. This was because (1) she has an odd knock-kneed stance, and (2) I didn't take a pic, but if you look at the soles of her feet it appears like her insteps are on the outside. But because of the internal angle of the knee joints, they can't be switched. After I had boiled and re-attached her legs, I realized I had damaged the plastic of the knee joints. So that first figure has been in my junk pile for years. I finally re-bought her this summer.

Mercury has 11 Points of articulation, but like most of the older Neca figures, she is not very poseable. She has a swivel neck, swivel shoulders, swivel hips (with a v-shaped cut that only allows for played-leg poses), hinge knees, hinge elbows, and swivel gauntlets. The cuts are all there and they don't distract from the sculpt, but with no ball joints or hinge-and-swivel combos, the motion is very limited.

Mercury comes with a figure stand (the Tron 2.0 logo is stylized to look blurry, it gives me a headache), and a glow rod weapon. I was afraid the accessory would be would actually be an amusement park trinket glow stick. While that gimmick would be cool for the immediate playability, the long term visuals would be lame. This is a clear rod covered in carved circuitry lines (which have a bright blue wash applied). Very cool effect.

Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!

Cheers!