Lexington

NECA: "Smaller figures in the Gargoyles line will come with folded wings for the larger figures." Also NECA: "Not this smaller figure though, screw him." One of the rookery trio (alongside Brooklyn and Broadway), Lexington is fascinated with modern technology and has become the clan's resident tech expert. Hey, look at that, character-specific text! It's only on NECA's website, not on the packaging, but at least we didn't have to transcribe a three-decade-old trading card this time. All three of the Trio have adapted well to modern times, but to different parts of it: Brooklyn loves the people, Broadway loves the culture, and Lexington loves the technology. Remember, this is a character who was born in the 10th century, but almost immediately after waking up in the present day, he's working computers, rebuilding motorcycles, and repairing high-tech helicopters. Like, a matter of months. At some point (per his recollections, during the writing of Season 2), creator Greg Weisman decided that Lexington should be gay. As he put it to someone who asked, "I didn't make him gay. He always was gay. It eventually became clear to me that this was the case." Obviously it was never brought up on the show, partially because 1990s Disney would never allow that, but partially because Lex hadn't realized it about himself yet. This was revealed in 2003, but unlike some super TERF-y, Holocaust-distorting auteurs we could name, Weisman didn't just drop this as convenient lip service to inclusivity after the fact and then do nothing with it, he's actually followed through as new stories have been told, rather than just asking us to trust that it's true. Imagine that! Lexington is the smallest of the Manhattan Clan. Like, yes, his "at rest" posture is usually crouching with his hands on the ground, but even if he stood straight up, he'd only come up to about Goliath's waist. Like the others, he was sculpted by Djordje Djokovic and has that exaggerated musculature, but there's one feature that stands out as very odd here: for whatever reason, he has an exceedingly small waist that doesn't look too out of place with the torso, but is ridiculously undersized when you compare it to the hips and thighs. Seriously, this is like a Victorian drawing of a woman wearing a corset. How did he end up so tiny in the middle? While all the other Gargoyles have their wings coming out of their backs, Lex is different. His wings are attached to his sides, like an overgrown sugar glider. For this toy, they plug into his arms and legs, as well as having the pair of vestigial arms or whatever you call those limbs that support the middle of the wing, which also means this is the first toy to not need a second pair of wings to show them folded. Instead of stiff plastic, they're soft PVC, because otherwise you'd never be able to move him at all. The wings don't really look natural when they're "at rest," and make moving the arms and legs a little difficult because you have to work around them, but this is still a fairly fun way of doing it. As is the style of the line, the figure includes a second head with an angry expression and blank eyes. These alternate eyes are larger than the normal ones, and he's got his mouth open to show off his fangs. The figure has a barbell head, and cleverly, there's a notch in the back of the neck so the toy can actually look all the way up. Nice! We also get a few alternate hands: fully open, balled into fists, or designed to hold accessories. Anthony Minichino handled those accessories. There's a headset that's actually large enough to fit his ears, a large remote control (like for a vehicle, not for a TV), and then, following the lead of the Brooklyn and Broadway releases, an accessory inspired by the old Kenner line: a crossbow with spiked limbs and a string made from actual metal chain. There are four loose bolts to use with it, rather than the big launchable missile of the '90s toy. With the release of Lexington, NECA's successfully made every Gargoyle in the Manhattan Clan. There are more characters to be made (and currently one more that already has been), but this little guy still counts as an important milestone for the line. -- 04/04/24

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