Back in February it was announced that along with the new cartoon hitting Nickelodeon this Fall, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would be getting a new wave of figures from Playmates. Well, last week I received a text message from Kill-tacular-tron saying “OMG! NEW TMNT FIGS OUT! GOT 2 GET THEM LOL!” In all fairness, Kill-tacular-tron doesn’t text like a dumbass, but you get the idea. I was at work at the time, but it just so happened that my lunch hour had just started and I work near a Toys ‘R’ Us, so away I went.
It’s been a while since I’ve gone “hunting” for figures, but much like Doom Bot, the thrill of the hunt is half the fun to me. Sure, I could have checked online if this particular location had any of the TMNT figures in stock, but the thrill of just going, walking up and down the aisles trying to find something specific is something I find to be a lot of fun, especially when you find exactly what you are looking for as I was lucky enough to.
This first wave of new TMNT figures consists of the four turtles, Splinter, April O’Neil, Shredder, Kraang and a Foot Soldier. I opted to pass on the others for now and just purchase the four turtles, and that is what we will be taking a look at here. Be sure to check out the gallery at the bottom of this post for pictures of everything highlighted about these figures!
Starting off with the positive (and there is a lot of positive). First off, the molds for each turtle is different – no same bodies with different heads here. Each turtle has their own mold that varies in height, color and detail. Donatello is the tallest of the bunch, sporting a stern look on his face. Leonardo is the next tallest figure, followed by Raphael both with some pretty aggressive-looking expressions. Standing the shortest is Michelangelo with a sort of “aggressive smirk”. Figure height is not achieved just by leg or torso length, but the differences even appear in forearm length.
These turtles are sporting a new look, while still maintaining classic elements. All four turtles have essentially their classic belts, minus the letters that appeared on the classic figures, and Leonardo’s sheaths on his shell are parallel as opposed to crossed. There is also some decorative “metal” on Leo and Don’s belts that go across their chests. Knee and elbow pads are well-sculpted, showing some wear and tear. These new figures feature some support taping around the ankles and hands. Personally, I really like this touch and the color of the tape varies slightly on each figure ranging from a pure white to a kind of cream color. The turtles’ masks vary, with the knots on the back each differing, for instance Don’s appears to be hanging while Raph’s appears to be blowing in the wind. Speaking of Raphael, a really nice touch is a crack on the front of his shell. Any fan knows Raph has a tendency for being aggressive, and this chunk missing from his chest is a very nice touch to illustrate this.
These figures have a nice amount of articulation, making them easy to pose, but it can be a little clunky at times. Some nice poses can be achieved for posing on a shelf, but don’t expect to get too dynamic with them. Of course, the turtles each come with their classic weapons; Raph has his sharp sais, Don has his bo staff, Mike has his nun-chucks and Leo has his katanas, one of which is interestingly a bit shorter than they other and this is reflected in the sheaths on his back. The weapons are well molded, but the paint leaves something to be desired, more on that later. One of my favorite kind of nod to the classic figures is the inclusion of a “ninja arsenal” with each figure; remember the weapons that came with the classic figures that you had to pop out of the plastic molding? Yeah, this is included on top of the turtles’ standard weapons. The ninja arsenals vary for each turtle, but each includes a variation of throwing stars, a different version of their classic weapons, and various other knives etc. It’s a great touch and adds some nice variety.
While I am very pleased with these figures, I do have a few complaints. Many of the prototype shots released showed corresponding colored tape on each of the turtles’ weapons, but this is missing from the actual production figures. This is by no means a deal-breaker, but would have been a really nice touch. Also, Michelangelo’s nun-chucks once again have plastic chains, but were shown to have small metal links in the prototype shots. Even as a kid, the plastic “chains” bugged me, and now as an adult it’s still a bit irritating. I would even prefer a small line of string linking them, but I’m sure production costs play a big part in this so I understand. Other than these minor gripes about the weapons, I really can’t find anything else wrong with these figures worth putting into words.
I have been looking forward to these figures for several months now, and now that I have them I am very pleased – and at $8.99 they are a great value. Very nice molds and paint, the plastic is durable but gives the appearance of a softer material, articulation is very good, and the fact that there are distinct differences between each turtle to set them apart is just fantastic.
If you are a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, then I would highly recommend picking these figures up. I found mine at Toys ‘R’ Us, or if you aren’t a fan of hunting figures down like I am, you can order them online from the Big Bad Toy Store!
Be sure to check out the gallery below!
