I am back! If you’re a regular reader then you probably didn’t notice much as far as content goes, but I’ve been out of commission for weeks now due to my laptop crashing. I was able to fix it, but it took some time to get around to it and it’s been a really long time (for me) since I’ve talked about toys. I’ve been going a little crazy not being able to do so because it’s a compulsion – I like to voice my opinions on the stuff I buy. I wasn’t sure where to start when it came time to finally making a new entry, but I figured I should make it as topical as possible and talk about a new NECA drop from its mega popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line and that’s Ultimate Shredder.
Shredder was included as part of the inaugural release for this line way back at San Diego Comic Con 2017. That Shredder was a reworked version of the original Mirage Shredder that was cancelled (but eventually released) and then repurposed for a set based on the 1989 arcade game. Because of that, the likeness to the cartoon version of the character wasn’t perfect, but it was still far and away the best representation of the character ever committed to plastic. Not that the competition was stiff. I didn’t go back and re-read my thoughts on the figure (I think I will after I write this), but I’m pretty sure I was pretty happy with it. It’s a very good representation of the character from the show and it was done with a level of quality we hadn’t seen before. In 2025, the figure is certainly showing some age, but it’s still not even close to being a bad figure. The thing that stands out the most to me when I look at it is just the torso. It’s lacking in articulation and the figure doesn’t have the same amount of paint figures in the line are prone to contain so it looks a little cheaper.
NECA seemed to think that was enough to warrant a redo. And since Shredder is THE villain from the show, it makes sense. Revealed last year is this “Ultimate” take on the character. It’s a noticeably chunkier Shredder that largely corrects all of the aspects of the original release that were inaccurate to the source material. And as I theorized when I looked at the recent Archie Shredder, it contains some of the parts used to craft that figure (but probably not as many as you would have expected). And by and large, it’s an improvement. If you opened this review wanting to know if this Shredder is better than the old one then the answer is yes, in almost every way. The real question when it concerns this figure is will most want to spend $35 on another Shredder?
Shredder comes in the Ultimate style packaging designed to mimic the old f.h.e. home video releases. Titled “Start Shredding the News!”, this is a figure sculpted by Tomasz Rozejowski with a credit also going to Kushwara Studios. Paint was handled by the frequent duo of Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo and Susan Capone is credited with tailoring. The artwork for the box was done by Aaron Hazouri and it’s a fun image of Shredder in front of several villains from the show all of whom have been captured in plastic by NECA save for Mr. Ogg (and I’m fine if he never gets a figure). There are product shots of the figure and it’s all pretty nice. I will say that Shredder looks off model to me, but I also don’t save the packaging so it’s not something I care about. And if you enjoy reading the little blurbs they put on the boxes, then you’ll probably get a kick out of this one.
Shredder stands at approximately 6.875″ tall to the tip-top of his helmet. If we bring in the old Shredder, we find he’s closer to 6.5″ while Archie Shredder is basically right at 7″. I do like this height differential when we bring in a turtle. More than the height though, this Shredder is chunkier, thicker, and it fits in better with the turtles than the slender old one. The wraps on the forearms are now accurate to the show as are the spikes on the shoulder pauldrons. The sculpt is all new compared with the original so there’s not much else to compare aside from the paint job and overall approach. That original Shredder had some embellishments on it to give it a gritty feel. Maybe it was a holdover from the Mirage take, but he has little scuffs and marks on his armor. The blades are also painted gray where as they’re white on the new Shredder which is more in-line with the show.
The paint is what stands out the most as a change. The paint on the original Shredder has cel-shading with grays and blues on the armored parts. On this new Shredder it’s all light gray with white blades. There is no cel-shading. There’s black linework throughout, but not shading like we saw with most of the line. I’ve always been kind of torn when it comes to NECA’s cel-shading. I don’t think it’s bad, it’s just not that ambitious and the black outlines and such seem good enough to me. I do wish this new Shredder had some shading on the helmet, at least. Just a little hit of white in places would help to create that illusion of steel the cartoon often utilized. A black line in the center of the faceguard might have worked well too, but that’s something that may have been tried and was nixed because it didn’t look right. Both the old and new have a soft approach to the chest in contrast with the Archie Shredder which is pretty faithful to the show. NECA reused the abs from the Archie Shredder which isn’t accurate, but it doesn’t look bad. I would have preferred total accuracy, and maybe just not doing the black lines for the abs would have done it, but it’s not ruining my enjoyment of the figure or anything.
What is not different across all three figures is the cape and this cape kind of sucks. It’s a very cheap looking material and it’s an almost shiny purple. The cartoon Shredder had a softer purple color to his cape and the way this one bunches up around the neck also doesn’t look great. We should be able to see his neck, but it’s all swallowed up by the cape. And there’s no wire in it. There’s some tailoring around the neck to keep it in control, but it’s nothing extravagant. Capes are a weak area for this line with only Dark Turtle having a good one. It’s a shame that the big villain of the series couldn’t get a comparable one to the Loot Crate figure.
This Shredder comes with a whole bunch of new stuff as is befitting the Ultimate release model. For hands, we get fists, gripping, open, and a left hand with a tight grip. That hand is designed to hold some of his smaller accessories like a wad of bills which appear to be Shredder bucks and a little blue floppy disk. He also has an amulet which he can hold in that tighter hand or with basically any hand since it’s a necklace. The gripping hands are for use with the Medi-Laser, an item from the first episode of the third season. It’s a gun that heals things, so not exactly a dastardly villain weapon, but Shredder stole it in the episode so that’s why it’s here. And it’s a new sculpt. It’s painted really well and looks pretty nice. The gray piece in the handle is also removable which I think is intentional because it was pulled out in the episode as a way to deactivate the gun. It’s tiny, so don’t lose it, but that’s a cool touch. Shredder also has a yellow book which is the diary of the Kojima brothers. It’s from a season 5 episode and Shredder used the book to summon some dead guys. Shredder also comes with a picture of his mother (aww!) which is in the same style as other pictures in frames we’ve seen before. The image inside is a render of the character and it looks okay, but it’s obviously not a figure and I wouldn’t hold my breath on one coming in the future.
Lastly, we’ve got some extra heads to talk about. Shredder’s default portrait is what you would expect, but it has the creative inclusion of being able to remove the crest. This is useful for the other helmeted head which doesn’t have a faceguard. but has the crest with the completed Eye of Sarnath from the season two episode “Curse of the Evil Eye.” The face sculpt and paint looks nice and the crests swap easily so you can power-up Shredder if you want. It unfortunately doesn’t swap with the Baxter Stockman head with Shredder’s helm and I’m surprised the Eye wasn’t on that Baxter head. Removing the crest on either head allows for the use of the included chef’s hat. I think this is from “Pizza by the Shred” and it’s the kind of silly, goofy, inclusion I like. We need a proper delivery boy Michelangelo now. Lastly, there’s a completely unhelmeted head which is very well done. Swapping heads is, unfortunately, just as difficult with this release as it was with the Archie Shredder. Use heat and I guess try to keep the cape dry if using water. If you wanted to, you could also probably use any of these heads with the Archie Shredder, but I can’t get the head off of mine and I don’t want to heat it up and find out. The hands, at least, are pretty painless to work with. One note with my figure is the right gripping hand is really loose. All of the other hands are find, save for that one. A little coating of super glue on the post could possibly remedy that.
Shredder looks pretty good and he comes with a lot of stuff, but can the thing move? As is often the case with NECA, the answer is “Ehh, for the most part.” NECA never sells out for articulation and this Shredder is basically the same as the Archie one when it comes to articulation. It’s completely pinless and the elbows and knees were lubricated at the factory so they move pretty freely. Nothing is loose or overly tight. With Archie Shredder, I couldn’t get the waist to do anything, but this one has a waist swivel that is unencumbered and moves fine, but it’s just a swivel. There’s no ball peg so all of your crunch is going to come from the diaphragm joint, and like Archie Shredder, it’s not very effective. It rotates and tilts a bit, but it barely moves forward and back. The posing is very basic. It’s better than the original Shredder from 2017, but not by a lot. It did drop the toe joint though, but since that old Shredder has a bad toe joint I don’t consider it a loss.
And that’s NECA’s “Ultimate” take on the Shredder. Does it live up to that name? For the most part. It looks like the character from the show which is what the line places the greatest amount of importance on. There’s no real quality control issues and it comes with a lot of stuff for $35. I have seen some people complaining that he doesn’t come with a sword and I suppose that’s valid. If you have been collecting this line for awhile then you probably have no shortage of swords laying around so I don’t personally care, but if you’re going to call a Shredder release the ultimate version then I don’t blame you for thinking it should have a sword. The same could be said of the lack of a communicator, but again, that’s another thing I personally don’t need more of. My only real complaint is just the cape. I don’t like this cape, I’ve never liked it, and I know NECA can do better.
If this release is something that interests you then you can currently find this guy at Target stores. As of this writing, the first online drop has not happened and I don’t know when Shredder is going to be made available there. I found this guy in stores and there were a lot of them. It’s part of yet another Haulathon and this time the figures are being stocked in a cardboard display stand which, from my experience, could be literally anywhere. I nearly missed it in my store because it was in a little opening between sporting equipment and home lighting. Yeah, really odd placement. He was stocked with Dark Leonardo, Hunter Leonardo, and the Mirage Battle Damaged Shredder. This is the only release I personally wanted and I’m not sure how much I’ll be buying from this latest round of releases (a pair of two-packs are expected, Panda Khan, and more Mirage figures), but this is the one I had to have. And since it’s Shredder, I’m guessing it will be the most sought after, but also the most plentiful so don’t panic if you haven’t found it yet and keep looking out. And help each other out, if need be. Good luck!
If you’re interested in more Shredders and all things turtles, we got you covered:
NECA TMNT Adventures Shredder
Conventions are always a great time, even from home, because lots of toy companies use them to show off their latest and greatest. Last year had a number of surprises from NECA where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were concerned. And some of those surprises were pretty damn big. When those conventions end, it’s always fun…
Keep reading
NECA San Diego Comic Con Exclusive TMNT Animated Series Action Figure Set
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the franchise that won’t go away for me. I’ve been involved with it since the 80s when the cartoon series debuted and the first line of action figures started popping up in retail. I dropped the series when The Next Mutation came around, but picked it right back up when…
Keep reading
NECA Cartoon TMNT Accessory Set
We’re well into the cold of winter and spring feels like it’s just around the corner which means it must be time for another NECA Haulathon. Haulathon, if you don’t recall from last year, is basically a tandem promotion between NECA and Target which was just an excuse to get NECA some more visibility in…
Keep reading
The Nostalgia Spot 
Leave a comment