Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Donatello

It’s a Christmas miracle! After more than 14 months of waiting, I finally received the fourth and final turtle to complete my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in glorious 7″ scale – Donatello! It was October of 2020 that Donatello and the rest of wave four went up for preorder and, at the time, we were looking at a 9-10 month wait. That meant by the end of 2021 we were basically assured of having all four turtles together at last. Then 2021 happened and factories closed by COVID re-opened with skeleton crews, docks were shuttered, truck drivers were in short supply, and bottlenecks at every step of the manufacturing and shipping process were interrupted. It soon became apparent that getting the last turtle in-hand by the end of 2021 was no sure thing, but sneaking in right at the end was my order for Donatello.

If you’re new to the line, the Super7 Ultimates! are 7″ scale action figures modeled after the vintage Playmates toyline. Each of the first three waves was anchored by one turtle with Donatello reserved for the fourth wave. And since Super7’s products are made-to-order, each wave takes awhile to arrive after first going on sale. That meant collectors had to wait more than a year to assemble all four turtles, but that’s how it goes. And considering that each turtle is essentially the same figure, it’s not the worst thing to have them spaced out.

And since this figure is basically the same as the one I’ve now handled three times, Donatello arrives with considerably less fanfare than the others. By this point, I pretty much knew what I was in for and Donatello was further harmed by the fact that his only unique accessory is his bo staff. Still, if you’re a fan of the one who does machines then this was probably a really long wait, but at least it’s over. Because Donatello is so familiar, this will probably be one of my breezier reviews, because everything about him has basically been done. He comes in the same window box as the others with the green slipcover and a little bio on the back. It looks nice, but it’s also a lot of paper and plastic that can feel excessive when you have a figure that doesn’t need to fill out that packaging. It is convenient if you want to reseal it though, and it looks nice if you’re a mint-in-box collector.

Donatello stands about 6″ tall making he and his brothers rather short for the line, which is appropriate. He’s basically brown in color, in keeping with the classic toy, and features a vintage inspired headsculpt. The belt crosses his chest, like the old toy, and features a holster on the rear for his bo which is likely more durable than the old toy. His belt is all black, save for the yellow D on the buckle, so Donnie’s attire more matches Michelangelo’s than it does Leo and Raph, which is more in-line with the vintage figure as well. Unlike Mikey, his finger and toenails are painted a yellow-green indicating that’s likely what was supposed to happen with the Michelangelo figure. Donatello basically looks the part of an up-scaled, modern, Playmates figure with one exception. Super7 failed to include his belt pouch. If you had the vintage Donatello, then you may remember he was unique amongst his brothers in having this little, sculpted, pouch on the left side of his belt. It had a slit in the top so you could fit a throwing star or one of those little, three-pointed, bladed, weapons they all came with. I was legitimately looking forward to that being included as I was hoping his Turtlecom accessory would fit in it, but it’s not here. Bummer.

Donatello comes with basically the same assortment of stuff as Leonardo and Raph. He has vertically hinged gripping hands equipped upon arrival, with horizontal ones in the box. He also has fists and open hands which work well with the pizza and Turtlcom. And yes, he has a slice of pepperoni pizza which is colored more in-line with Raph’s (Leo’s looked dirty), and he also has the two Turtlecoms: one opened and one closed. His Turtlecom is plain looking, like Leo’s, so apparently only Raph gets a personalized one with red piping. Beyond that, he has the generic ninja weapons all of the Playmates figures had. He also has a classic weapons rack of brown, unpainted, weapons. His are fairly light in color in keeping with Super7’s releases having slight variations either purposely or not.

The items unique to Donatello are what you would expect. He has his bo, and he gets two for good measure, and they come on the rack and in painted varieties as well. There’s some nice dry brushing on the bo which brings out the faux wood grain and makes the tape in the center look a little dingy. The bo does seem rather short though. It’s only about 4 3/4″ which is nearly the same size as the vintage one, which came with a considerably smaller figure. It looks a bit puny in his hands and I’m puzzled why Super7 wouldn’t have maintained the original scale. Was it in response to Leo’s swords being too long? I don’t know. One staff is also “bowed” a bit and I’ll have to try to straighten it out with hot water or a heat gun. His other unique accessory is the alternate portrait. This one is fairly understated, which suits Donatello. His mouth is entirely closed and it has a very “Mirage” look to me. I like it, which is good as I’ve been displaying my other turtles with the alternate head, though I do really like the default one with him too. It’s probably my favorite of the four. Raph still has the best alternate portrait.

The articulation for Donatello is exactly the same as his brothers, so I’m not going to repeat myself again. It’s suitable, but flawed. These turtles would look good with a proper neck joint at the base and the elbows are done poorly. The hips are the worst part though as they continue to be too loose. Donatello isn’t the worst offender of the four, but he’s still too loose for my liking. Aside from that, I will say this turtle had the best, overall, joint situation out of the box. The only joint stuck was the left thigh twist, which was solved with a quick, firm, jerk. Everything else though was free and easy with suitable tolerance as well.

Donatello may not be the most exciting action figure release of 2021, but he is one of the more satisfying by virtue of the fact that he completes the gang of four. He’s exactly as expected, no better or worse than his predecessors. There are flaws in this design, and I’m bummed at the missing belt pouch and staff situation, but not enough to cause me to regret my purchase. I like having a set of vintage inspired turtles, and Donatello gets the job done. Being that he’s part of wave four means this is the last turtle we’ll get at the original price of $45, so that’s a bit bittersweet. It’s also a reality we’ve been living with basically all year. As for me, I ordered this guy direct from Super7, but later added an order for Muckman from a retailer. If you want to know how he turned out, I’ll have a review eventually in 2022 whenever the figure gets to me. If you want to know how Casey Jones and Mondo Gecko turned out, well you’ll have to go elsewhere as I passed on those ones with nary a drop of FOMO so far.

Super7 action figures are made-to-order, but if wave 3 is any indication, Donatello should be plenty easy to get even if you didn’t preorder. Several outlets still have the figure available for preorder and they should have the figure in-stock now, or soon, too. Super7 has also made all four turtles available again multiple times so there should be plenty of them out there at retail or with only a minor mark-up.