Last week we took a Turtle Tuesday off which feels like a rarity for this blog. And that’s because there seems to be new stuff featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles branding coming out all of the time. And it’s only going to become more plentiful as the franchise celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. I’ve made quite a few TMNT purchases already this year, but this is the first featuring a 40th anniversary logo and it’s appropriate that it comes from Playmates Toys.
Most likely know by now that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were co-created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman as basically a gag amongst the two. They gave birth to this franchise, but perhaps the entity most responsible for a little comic book becoming a global phenomenon is Playmates. Those toys released in 1988 set the world on fire in their target demographic. Playmates was basically a doll maker before it decided to take a chance on TMNT after more noteworthy action figure producers had said “No thanks.” And even though it seems like everyone is making TMNT toys these days, it’s still Playmates that is the primary master license holder when it comes to TMNT.
The legend goes, that one night while drawing together in Dover, New Hampshire, Kevin Eastman came up with the idea of a ninja turtle. He passed the doodle onto his partner in art, Peter Laird, who was amused enough by the concept to do his own interpretation. Sometime later, the idea of a group of four anthropomorphic, ninja, turtles was fleshed out in greater detail and committed to paper. This version of the turtles is now referred to as the “Original Sketch” turtles. Truthfully, I had never heard of this image referred to in that way until recently. The actual image has been less celebrated than the original drawings and the Mirage Studios version that followed for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1. Playmates has chosen to celebrate this sketch in action figure form. It makes sense since the original drawings were of a singular turtle which most resembled Michelangelo. Playmates has already made Mirage versions of the characters and even recently re-released them. This set of sketch turtles is basically untapped, but I doubt it will be the last we see of them.
Shipping now to Target stores, the original sketch turtles come in window boxes adorned with recreations of original Eastman and Laird TMNT art. It has a black and white deco for the most part with a green “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” logo in a font similar to the original sketch. On the top flap and rear of the box are Laird and Eastman’s original take on a ninja turtle as well as a print of the original sketch itself. There’s a brief blurb about the origin of these fighting teens and the sides of the box are reserved for images of the toys themselves.
Each turtle is released separately and in the box you will find a turtle, a broken canister of ooze, weapons, holsters (if necessary) and a piece of a diorama to recreate the original sketch posing when all are purchased. Each character retails for $15, though I was able to take advantage of a sale going on at Target and got them for around $10.50 a piece. There was only one of each character and they were stocked in the toy aisle with the other Playmates products. Some Targets appear to be stocking them towards the back of the store with the collectibles so you may have to hunt them down. It does seem like stores are only getting one set initially, but since it’s a Target exclusive item there are likely to be restocks. So far there has been no online drop, but one could still come.
Even though the original sketch was in black and white, these turtles are depicted in their Playmates colors. That means a different shade of green (or brown, in the case of Donatello) for each turtle plus colored bandanas and pads. These are basically prototype turtles so they look just as funky as the original art. They’re more like tortoises, and if Cecil from Looney Tunes got together with three of his buddies to cosplay as ninjas they might look something like these guys. As expected, there’s a lot of shared parts between the four brothers, but also more differences than folks are accustomed to. A lot of that is due to the four not having a uniform look to start. Leonardo, for example, is the only turtle with kneepads while Michelangelo doesn’t even have a belt. They’re little guys too standing at about 4.5″ in height. The bodies are practically spherical while the legs widen as they go ending in rather large feet. Leo and Donnie feature expressions that are mirror images of each other while Raph and Mikey use the same portrait.
The round body on these guys might be fairly hollow, but there’s a nice weight to each figure. The paint is sparse, but where it’s applied it’s fairly clean. It looks nice around the bandanas and it’s pretty good on the elbow pads. Michelangelo and Leonardo both have a blemish on their right eye, while Mikey’s paint at the elbow pads is noticeably sloppy compared with his brothers. If this were a $35 turtle I’d be more critical, but at this price range it’s acceptable. The black linework in the teeth is a surprising touch and there are a few painted hashmarks on the plastrons of each figure. Someone willing to fully paint these to tone down that plastic sheen could probably make these look really impressive. The only other thing about them I don’t care for are the hollow feet. Sure, you can’t see such a detail when they’re on a shelf so long as both feet are on the surface, but it looks pretty cheap and does remove the option for kick displays.
As expected, each turtle comes with their signature weapons. Even in this early stage, Eastman and Laird knew how they wanted to arm their creations, with only one slight change. Donatello is the skimpiest since he has just his bo staff. It’s fine. The wraps are painted and there’s a little blackwash so it’s about as nice as a bo can look at this price range. Leonardo has two katana and they feature wavy, distorted, handles and blades. This is in-line with the original sketch and not a defect of the product. He has two detachable sheaths which plug into the rear of his belt. The sketch has them going sideways, but they’re on pegs so you can orientate them however you wish. Mikey has his two nunchaku and they’re done with real chains. In a departure from most versions of the character, his weapons storage is on his forearms. The handles of the ‘chuks slot into them and it’s something I think Mikey should do more often. Raph has his sai and I like the shape of them compared with most versions of the character. He also has a sword because the original depiction of the character had one. He comes with the same sheath as Leo and it plugs into the rear of his belt. The weapons are all either painted or make use of colored plastic so they look rather nice and the figures have no trouble holding them.
You can probably take one look at these guys and figure that articulation isn’t going to be anything special, and you would be right. It’s pretty much standard Playmates for their modern TMNT toy lines. Hinged pegs are used for the neck, shoulders, elbows, knees, and hips and they get solid range, but I personally hate the approach for hips. The shoulders actually have really good range because of where they’re placed. There’s no ankle articulation and the wrists just swivel. Some of the joints are a little tight, but nothing is loose. They can basically do the poses they’re supposed to so you can recreate the original sketch or do your own thing. My only real gripe is I wish the wrist cut could have been better blended into the sculpt and the same is true for the knee. Leo has the benefit of knee pads to hide the knee cut, but none of the others do.
Each turtle also comes with a diorama piece and the previously mentioned ooze canister. The canister is broken and there’s a sculpted puddle to go with it. It’s not something that was present in the original picture, but it’s obviously a big part of the origin story of the turtles. It looks okay with the canister bits painted. It serves another purpose though as there’s a slot in it to hold the included image of the original sketch. It’s printed on a thick piece of cardstock and it works as intended. A fun inclusion and it comes with each figure. The diorama pieces are part of a city street. Leonardo’s piece includes a manhole cover that is non-removable while Mikey also comes with a box and board so he can be positioned above his brothers to recreate the sketch. The board and box are surprisingly nice with a little dry-brushing on them. Raph and Donatello come with the same piece and all four can clip together to form a display. It’s fun, and better yet, it works as these guys can basically nail the pose from the drawing. The only shortcoming is Mikey was depicted spinning one of his ‘chuks, but Playmates didn’t include a spinning accessory. It’s the one detail I feel like they missed.
For 10-15 bucks, depending on your luck with Target sales, these are pretty solid and fun figures to own. No one has done turtles based on this sketch before and it’s cool to see Playmates tackle it. I’m sure others will follow and we already know that NECA is at least planning on doing the original two turtle sketches in figure form, though neither has been formally announced as of this writing. This is likely just the first of many 40th anniversary celebrations for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and it’s something I think most fans will want to add to their collection. It’s presently only available at Target, but Playmates stuff seems to rarely stay exclusive. I would not be surprised to see it offered later at online shops, or maybe even as a black and white variant (you know that’s coming) so don’t fret if you’re having a hard time tracking it down. Patience will be rewarded in the end.
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