Ernie (Sesame Street (Neca)) Review

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Ernie (Sesame Street (Neca)) Review

Ernie
Sesame Street (Neca) (Neca)No matter when you were born, chances are you've seen Sesame Street at least once. Going in since the late 60s, the show has had over thousands of episodes, and plenty of fans young and old. With the show joining Netflix soon on top of YouTube hosting its older episodes, I imagine it's a good time to be a fan. It's gotten plenty of merch over the years, including more than a couple of action figures. Palisades, who did a great Muppet line in the 2000s, had plans for the license, but they were only able to get out one figure (and a SDCC exclusive, at that) before bankruptcy killed their chances. NECA now has the license, and so far they've given us the pair of Ernie and Bert as well as Count von Count in Ultimate form. Not sure when the other figures they've revealed will come out, but I may as well tell you why these three are worth buying.

If the art style on the boxes looks familiar, then that's because they were done by Aaron Hazouri, who's been doing illustrations for the TMNT toon line. They're styled after the old Treasury books, and the artwork on the front and sides looks great. These are also numbered by "volumes," which is either good or bad for completionists. There's not much in the way of ties inside the tray, so as long as you have some scissors handy, these should be easy to open.

First up is Ernie, and the Sesame Street Muppet designs tend to be pretty simplistic. Ernie's one of the more human-like ones, save for the orange skin, and the likeness is very good, better than what the Palisades version would've been. He has two head options, and there's not much difference between them, with one having a closed mouth and another having an open mouth. The hair is different on both, and while I found it easy to pop them out of the scalps, you can't swap them between heads. There is a texture to the skin, similar to Palisades' Muppets line (which these were partially designed to fit in with), but it feels a bit more subtle. A majority of the sculpting for these figures was done by Paul Harding, with Brodie Perkins getting credit for some of Bert's accessories.

Standing a bit below 6" tall, it's worth noting the scale on Ernie and the others is meant to go with the Palisades Muppets, which weren't scaled to go with actual human figures like what Diamond Select did years later. The work on the sweater is pretty good, with a nice texture and clean stripes, but paint is also an issue as there are various areas of bleed and slop. His jeans have a baggy appearance, with plenty of creases and texture, and the paint wash helps make them look a bit more realistic. I love the work on the shoes, as they have a dirty wash to make them look more worn out, and I'd imagine they would be with how active the Muppets of Sesame Street tend to be.

Even though Palisades did some well-articulated figures back in the day, times have changed, and NECA's SS figures are much more poseable than theirs would've been. Ernie, as well as Bert and the Count, gets a barbell neck and chest, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles, ball-jointed hips, and swivel thighs and calves. The joints move very well (though one of Ernie's calves was stuck tight and needed heat to get moving), and I had no issues swapping heads or hands. They pop on and off easily, and you won't need to heat anything up. Bert's ankles are less restricted than Ernie and the Count's are, but that aside, everything has plenty of range.

Ernie is pretty good when it comes to accessories, even though he has a bit less than the others. Aside from the extra head, he has three pairs of hands: open, gripping, and loosely gripping/semi-pointing. He also has a rubber duck, one of his favorite things, and it's based off a toy duck by a company called Alan-Jay Plastics, but colored a more vibrant yellow than white with orange highlights like the base prop. There's also a framed painting of him and Bert, with a hole in the back so you can hang it up, and the letter C. The letter has a goofy little pair of eyes, and the bottom is flattened so it can stand up. The extra hands work great with the accessories, and the tighter grips go with the picture, but you may need some heat to fit it into his hands.

Next is Bert, and his frame is about the opposite of Ernie's, being taller and more slender than he is. Bert has a cone-like head, and the expression is notably different on both; the closed-mouth head has a surprised look, while the open-mouth head has the usual grumpy Bert look. The kicker here is that the eyebrows can be swapped between heads, which is depicted on the bottom of the box, allowing for more emotion out of the portraits. The hair, like Ernie, is different on both heads and can be removed, but not swapped. The paint is pretty good on the heads, but the outlines around the eyes could be a little thinner and cleaner.

At 7" tall, Bert is also wearing a sweater, and the tops with these are all soft plastic so they don't get in the way of neck and chest movement. The paint on his sweater is cleaner than Ernie's, but there's still a bit of slop and unevenness here and there. His slacks have a more subtle texture than Ernie's, partially due to the more solid finish. The socks are red, though the hinges are brown plastic with red paint that chips off easily, and the loafers have a clean look, but I did notice a bit of chipping on the left foot. It's mostly covered by the pant leg, so I don't consider it too much of an issue, but once you notice it, you can't un-notice it.

Like Ernie, Bert has two heads, three pairs of hands, and a letter (A in this case), but he has a few more other extras. Like us, Bert's a collector, but not of action figures. He has a standing frame of his bottle cap collection, as well as a cigar box full of colorful paper clips, and with a hinged lid, no less. Such mundane collections are a part of Bert's character, and both will fit in a display well. He also comes with an open book entitled "Boring Stories," because that's another representation of the kind of guy Bert is, and his favorite bird, a pigeon. The pigeon has a pretty realistic appearance, and the detail of the sculpt helps a bit, though the paint could be a little better.

Lastly, there's Count von Count. As a vampire, he has some of the attributes of such, like the pointy ears and fangs, but he also has a long, pointy nose, with the eyebrows and monocle being sculpted as part of it. The eyebrows are soft, which makes it less likely for them to break, and the monocle is solid, clear plastic with a metallic rim. He has open- and closed-mouth heads like the others, and the paint and sculpt work on both is great, though the hair edges on the default head could be better.

Another 6" figure, the Count is dressed differently from the more casual duo, being dressed in a fancy suit with dress shoes, and the paint on the body is mostly clean, though there's some bleed and slop on the white sleeve cuffs. Separate from him in the box is his cape, which is mostly cloth save for the upper part, which is a very soft plastic. It fits into a slot behind the neck, and there are rubber bands on the edges for the wrists to hold them into place. The slot tends to come unhooked, which is a little annoying, but the execution in general is good. There's also a wire in the bottom of it, so it can be posed in plenty of ways, and combined with the range of motion in the arms, opens the door to various dynamic poses.

As for accessories, the Count's hand options are a little different. He still has open and gripping hands, but he also has counting hands, because that's his whole shtick, including a "one" right hand, a "two" left hand, and a "three" right. In lieu of a letter, he has the number two instead. I like the mopey expression of it, but the eyes could benefit from better paint. Other than all that and the extra head, he also has a rotary telephone and a candelabra with four candles. The paint on these props is good, and the metallic finish really helps the candelabra.

Never did I think NECA would produce Sesame Street figures like this (I thought Super7 would be the one to do 1/10 figures given their ReAction line), but they did, and they pulled it off. With great sculpts and plenty of articulation and accessories, these'll be plenty fun to even those who aren't too familiar with the show. The other figures they've revealed, including Big Bird, Oscar, Herry, and a Grover/Mr. Johnson two-pack, look pretty fun as well, and hopefully we'll get some release info for them soon. This line is plenty promising so far, and I want NECA to be able to get as deep as possible.

- 9/30/25