The end of the Target exclusives for the Turtles of Grayskull line?
Thanks to Christmas and my affinity for only posting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle posts on Tuesdays, we have quite the backlog of action figure reviews to get through and this should be the last of them. 2024 is going to be known for a lot of things, and one such thing for me was Mattel’s Turtles of Grayskull crossover series featuring familiar faces from Mattel’s own Masters of the Universe brand and TMNT. It was sold basically everywhere, but the two, main, big box retailers in the US each got their own exclusive figures. For Target, that took the form of a build-a-figure line of four releases that started late in 2023 with the Mouse-Jaw release. That means collectors have had to keep track of these build-a-figure pieces for about a year as the final of four “deluxe” releases hit stores in November of 2024 in the form of Two-Bopsteady.
“Aww boss, we don’t wanna share a body!”
Two-Bopsteady is perhaps the most interesting release of the four. It takes the famous henchmen of Bebop and Rocksteady and mashes them up with the MOTU villain Two Bad. Two Bad, if you’re not aware, is two characters merged into one so for this release Mattel opted to merge Bebop and Rocksteady into one two-headed monstrosity. I love the concept and I’m left wishing this was something the old cartoon had done because there is a lot of comedic potential. And as a toy, it’s an interesting concept to get a two-headed figure and especially so in a toyline intended to be modular. Can they do it right without breaking the format?
Just one big knife? I guess we’re not going with a “Two” gimmick.
The answer to that is yes and no. The torso obviously needed to be unique to accommodate two heads which meant it has to also be wider than typical. It also seems flatter and it is a bit odd looking. The two heads, Bebop on the right and Rocksteady on the left, also seem undersized compared to the other characters in the line which was obviously needed to fit both in place. I also don’t know much about Two Bad, but I do know that the blue one on the right has the fins on his head which have been given to Rocksteady who is on the left of this release. I can see why they wouldn’t want to mess with Bebop’s mohawk, but why not reorder them then? It’s not an issue for me, but MOTU purists might find it annoying.
The flair is just a recolor of the same accessory that came with Krang. A bit weird this non-mechanical character has to remove a hand to use it.
Aside from the odd proportions though, I really like the look of this figure. Most of the figures in this line utilize a lot of colored plastic and this figure isn’t particularly different from that perspective. There is more paint though and the plastic in use has a real matte appearance. The shades are fairly earthy in tone and it all blends together in a very pleasing way. The gray on the torso is painted and it matches the gray plastic of the left arm very convincingly. The vest and harness is an overlay and there’s “metallic” overlays on the legs which have a slight blue hue to them. The paint on the two heads are pretty clean, there’s a tiny bit of purple slop on Bebop’s glasses while the big turtle shoulder pad looks pretty nice. The only really plasticky looking bits are the feet. The torso is a little odd and the figure is sort of bow-legged, but the different shades just work really well for me so I find myself just really liking the look here.
Do these guys strike fear into the hearts of turtles?
Articulation for this figure is exactly like the rest so I won’t go into detail. The ankle rockers work well and I point that out because it’s been the most inconsistent aspect of this line. His feet are tiny though so standing this one can be a bother. Accessories are limited to two, a big, yellow, knife and a ball on chain. The knife is a solid callback to both Playmates figures, more Rocksteady than Bebop due to its design. It’s fine, though I don’t like the use of bright, yellow, plastic here. It looks really cheap which clashes with the look of the figure. Maybe a bronze would have worked better? Or just copy the steel color of the armor. The ball and chain accessory is exactly like the one included with Krang, but it has a blueish chain and a yellow spiked, ball. It plugs into the wrist and it’s a bizarre choice. I think Two Bad comes with a gun so why not get representation for that aspect of the mash-up via the same? I don’t even know if a flail makes sense for Two Bad.
It took about a year, but Metal-Boto is now complete.
Since this figure comes with the final parts needed to build Metal-Boto, we should probably discuss him. He is a mashup of Metalhead and Roboto which makes sense. Despite that, I don’t think this figure shares many parts with Roboto aside from some of the accessories. I also don’t know if it’s all new sculpting, but it’s pretty intricate and detailed. This looks like a MOTU Origins Metalhead to me, and the only real Roboto aspect to it is the red mouthguard. Well, that and the hidden surprise in the chest. This figure has an action feature as the head connects to the torso via a different connection. It reduces the modular functionality, but when you turn the waist it makes the red piece flap up and down. And if you remove the green chest cover it reveals some transparent plastic with plastic gears behind them which also move with the head. It’s the same feature Roboto has and I actually didn’t even know it was there until I put everything together.
The shell can come off, but also be used to store his various attachments.
Metal-Boto is constructed like the other turtles in that he has a removable shell that can double as a shield. His shell also has plug holes for his accessories. On his arms, he has plugs for these extra attachments done in blue plastic. There’s a grabber and an axe head as well as a gun arm and drill bit. He also has an extra forearm which has a bit more of a turtle look to it. To use them in place of his hands you need to first insert an adapter. One came with Mouse-Jaw and one here so there’s one for each arm. They work fine, but they also add length to the arms so they look a little goofy. Especially if you want to use that alternate hand, Why they didn’t make that plug into the wrists I don’t know. I like the look of it, but it looks so stupid on the figure.
Pop the chest piece off to reveal his inner workings.
Aside from that, I do like the look of this one. As I said, it’s very Metalhead even down to the T logo on his belt. There’s a slight luster to the silver parts and the gold accents are well-painted. The green feet clash, but that’s true of the old Metalhead design. He has red trunks, but they don’t look out of place and I rather like the introduction of the soft, green, chest plate. It’s no gold vac-metal, but it has a nice finish. His articulation is basically the same as the rest save for the fact that his head only swivels. He’s a nice looking figure. I can see how this one may have been more expensive to produce than some of the others so it makes sense that it was the build-a-figure. Even so, he basically costs 20 bucks if you figure that extra five for these deluxe offerings fund this guy. Though in reality, you have to spend 100 bucks across four releases to get him. At least he might be the best figure in the line so that certainly helps. I just wish he had storage for all of his accessories. Basically, the adapters don’t slot anywhere so you have to keep track of either them or the default hands if you’re using some of the weapons.
I kind of like the look of this third hand more than the default ones, but in order to use it you need to plug in an adapter first. Then it just gets weird looking.
These two figures basically put a bow on this line for me. Mattel is rolling out more including another set of turtles, a mutated Shredder, and more, but I think I’m content. I do like some of the new designs more than what I have, but not enough to double dip. I do wish I liked one of the He-Man figures because it feels weird to have a MOTU x TMNT display with no He-Man, but I’m not going to buy one for the sake of it (I already did that with the Shredder figure I’m still just lukewarm on). And my shelf is really full anyway. Fitting these two in there is hard enough. As a line though, it’s fun. It’s not amazing, but it’s also limited by the form of the Origins subline which wants to keep a lot of that 80s aesthetic with better functionality. It is a fun combo though as you have the dominant action figure line of the early 80s mixing with the one that took over at the end of the decade. It’s just surprising it took this long. If you’re still looking for this release, it seems to be in stock at Target still and may even be heading for a post holiday sale price. The other releases in this deluxe line may be harder to find at this point since Target put them on sale to make room for the next one. Good luck!
The true fifth turtle (take that, Zach!).
If you missed the other deluxe offerings in this line and are curious if you’re missing out, see below:
Nothing can be simple in this day and age of retail toy sales which is why the new mash-up of Masters of the Universe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toyline features ostensibly 3 SKUs: standard, deluxe, and deluxe with build-a-figure parts. The standard releases are, as you may have expected, released abroad and you can…
It’s a Tuesday, and I have a new Turtles product to talk about, so let’s make it another Turtle Tuesday! And today brings us the second in the line of deluxe Masters of the Universe Origins – Turtles of Grayskull line exclusive to Target – Sla’ker: The evil cybernetic snapping turtle! This is Slash, the…
A couple week back I bemoaned the Walmart exclusive Krang from Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Origins – Turtles of Grayskull line for being particularly troublesome to track down. I couldn’t even find one in store or online to purchase at MSRP and had to buy it from a third party – on Walmart’s website…
Robotic Bebop might be the reason, or one of the reasons, why wave 7 of Super7’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates! figures was so delayed. If you recall, this was put up for order back in the winter of 2022. Robotic Rocksteady, who we reviewed here back in November of 2023, was supposed to complete the pairing when he was released. That figure retailed for $65. Bebop, on the other hand, was $55. Did maybe a pricing error on Super7’s end contribute to the delay? Perhaps. I have no real knowledge of anything, but if the figure priced out higher than expected after solicitation it may have given the company pause. They may have tried to find a different factory to take the job, though with one figure in the wave being a complete re-release of Metalhead it would have meant the tools needed for at least that one were probably with a factory already. And this was a wave that also included Guerilla Gorilla, a massive ape priced at $75, and the almost equally beefy Triceraton who was also $55.
He’s pretty big, though regular Bebop is actually a tad taller if you can get him to stand up straight.
Whatever the reason (his heart or his shoes), Robotic Bebop and others were late to the party, but they’re here now. I’ve been looking forward to this one and my anticipation for it went up after getting Rocksteady since he ended up being one of my favorites in the line. If you like those big, chunky, figures, then this one is for you. And like many figures in this line, Bebop is a recreation of an old Playmates design which either loosely inspired the toon version of the same, or was loosely based on it. The main difference with Super7’s interpretation (other than the obvious increase in mass) is the lack of a vac-metal coating and an adjustment to the silhouette. Bebop is even chunkier than his Playmates equivalent. His head is a little smaller relative to his body with the shoulders and chest being inflated. It’s a good update and he strikes a mighty nice profile on your shelf.
Finally, the duo is here!
Bebop, because this wave was supposed to come out so long ago, comes in the standard Ultimates! box with slipcover. Starting with Wave 10, the slipcover is a thing of the past. He stands at approximately 8.25″ to the top of his head and you can add another quarter of an inch to reach the top of his mohawk. He’s not massively tall for the line, but the heft with this one is apparent when picking up the box. The sculpt on Bebop is very detailed. There’s grooves and textures galore with this guy and a few wires down by the calf. He still has the radio controls on his belt, or what look to be radio controls, like the old figure and there are some buttons and dials sculpted onto his chest. The finish on the body is more of a gun metal with Bebop as opposed to a bare steel with Rocksteady. I didn’t notice this difference between the two until Bebop was released, but it’s there in the promo pics. I don’t mind and I like that Super7 differentiated the two. I’m not sure I even have a preference as I like this darker color which adds a menacing vibe to the character, while the shinier approach looks pretty rad with Rocksteady. The mohawk is done with translucent, orange, plastic so he has some light piping just like Rocksteady. It’s not as obvious since the mohawk isn’t going to let in the same amount of light as Rocksteady’s dome, but if the light catches it just right it does indeed work.
Since I don’t have the Playmates ones here’s the Super7 bots with the NECA version from the cartoon.
Paint on Bebop is minimal, but present. There’s some black around the collar and on the sides of the legs which looks neat. The other most present color is blue which is used in a few places, mostly on the chest and the glasses. There’s some on the arms as well and even a little on the back of the shin which didn’t need to be there, but I like it. Of course, it’s not all perfect. The yellow on the chest for the buttons and switches isn’t applied in the most consistent fashion. There’s also a blob of black right at the thigh cut on my figure’s left leg. The green for the shell shoulder pads is a very matte green and it kind of clashes for me. I’m left wondering if the figure would have looked better with a metallic green? The main body has a nice finish though and I can’t tell if it’s painted or not. I’m pretty sure it is since there’s some scuffing on the inner, left, bicep of my figure. The mere fact that I have to question it is a good thing. He looks great and if this was the level of quality we got out of Super7 consistently with this line no one would be complaining. Well, someone would because there’s always someone unhappy, but this guy wouldn’t be.
If you think he needs a shield he’s got it.
I’m going to jump into articulation now because there is an aspect of it that goes hand-in-hand with the presentation. In general, this figure doesn’t articulate incredibly well which I think anyone could guess just by looking at it. This is an aesthetics forward release, not articulation. And it’s actually the perfect type of character for Super7 to attempt since they don’t prioritize articulation in general. You still have the double ball jointed head which gets great range, ball-hinge shoulders with the shoulder pads on hinges to move them out of the way, bicep swivels, single elbows that bend 90 degrees and swivel, swivel and hinge wrists. There is a diaphragm joint, hinged-ball hips, thigh swivels, single-hinges at the knees that swivel, and ankles that hinge and swivel. Range at almost evey joint is compromised to some degree by the sculpt. The abdomen isn’t going to twist all the way because of the boxy design nor does it crunch forward very much. The big, flat, feet only swivel so they lack a true ankle rocker which is a bummer. What’s a little irksome though is that the biceps swivels, especially, aren’t sculpted in such a way that they move freely. You’re probably going to scuff up the shoulder if you twist them a whole bunch. There’s some scuffing on the neck of my figure as well, though I think that was the result of the factory process. The diaphragm and thigh swivels could easily cause scuffing too so be careful. Otherwise, joints are nice and tight with no floppiness which is key for such a heavy figure.
“The filthy reptiles blew off my arm!”
Bebop’s sculpt is going to provide for ample shelf presence and it moves just enough to add to it. The accessories are also going to help in that department. Bebop has a few hand options at his disposal including fists, gripping, and open hands. The gripping hands are very thick and very stiff which is important to note because you will want to heat them up for some of these accessories. The hand you don’t have to heat is the open hand, which has a curl to the fingers. This one works well with the included shield which is the exact same trash-can lid inspired shield that came with Robotic Rocksteady only now it’s cast in blue translucent plastic. It and the two flame effects which plug into Bebops shoulder canons are the only reused parts from Rocksteady (or Rocksteady reused them from Bebop?), which is impressive.
Say cheese?The flame effect for the shoulder canons work in the gun too.“I want to be a..a..dentist!”So this happened during my picture taking which kind of sucks.
For handheld weapons, Bebop comes with a big knife and a gun. There’s not much to say about the knife. The blade is pretty wicked looking and it’s basically the same color as Bebop’s body. It’s handle is painted green and, if you’re careful, you can probably get this into one of the gripping hands without too much fuss. The gun, on the other hand, will need some heat unless you don’t care about taking off paint. The gun looks like a combination of an uzi and a camcorder. It’s more a shiny silver color with a green handle and some blue paint applied to the two viewfinders on the back as well as a little on the side.
“I’m tired of these jokes about my giant hand. The first such incident occurred back in…
Both the knife and the gun are remakes of vintage accessories and so is the next one. Bebop has some interchangeable right hands that double as weapons. There’s this big, blue, connection on the right arm that pops off and can be replaced with this big, robot, hand. For when Bebop needs to smack someone around, he has this thing which looks pretty cool. There’s no articulation at the wrist, but it does swivel where it connects to the arm. I kind of wish the fingers were articulated, but it’s cool and fun and it came with the old toy so it’s good to have. If you prefer something that’s a callback to the original Bebop, there’s also a drill bit. It plugs into the blue adapter in place of a hand and it’s a big, silvery, drill. Bebop is often associated with such since he came with a drill in his original appearance, so as an extra it makes sense. He also has another optional attachment which is a battle damaged limb. I like this one a lot and it plugs into the same spot as the blue adapter. The wires and rods coming out look twisted and crushed which makes me think of Terminator 2 after the T-800 gets its arm stuck in a compacter. What’s not here is the second blue adapter that was featured in the solicitation images. That one had a scope sculpted onto it and was seen paired with the drill bit perhaps as a way to recreate Bebop’s drill gun in a new way? It was cut though, but Super7 never sent out new solicitation images which is kind of shitty. It’s not a big deal that the item was cut, but tell your customers, Super7.
Original promo with the cut blue piece.Good luck, Donnie. You’re gonna need it.
Robotic Bebop is not a perfect release, but what action figure is? For $55, the sculpt, paint, and accessory load-out is pretty damn good. He moves as much as he needs to and this is a figure that will improve anyone’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles display. This is one of Super7’s bests and so was their first take on Bebop. Maybe they just have a really solid rapport with the character? I don’t know, but I do think their best figures are the bigger ones. They play well with Super7’s approach to articulation and their strength as an action figure producer is their sculpts and big figures really showcase that. I was okay with Robotic Rocksteady at $65 so naturally I think this figure at $55 is a great deal. This is one you don’t have to wait for a sale on. The only thing holding it back is that it’s a bit of an obscure version of a popular character. Not everyone wants a robot version of Bebop, but for those who do, this figure should make them quite happy. For now, this concludes my look at Wave 7 of Super7’s Ultimates! TMNT. I had Triceraton on preorder, but that figure has some problems which caused me to drop my preorder. I may revisit that decision if he hits clearance. As for Guerilla Gorilla, I have no attachment to either he nor Sargent Bananas so that was an easy pass considering the price and shelf space required and I have zero interest in the Metalhead repaint. I’m onto Wave 11 which has actually already started shipping so it shouldn’t be too long before we have more Super7 TMNT to talk about.
We have a whole lot more Bebop if you’re interested:
Last week, it was Space Cadet Raphael’s turn to be put through the ringer by me. Super7 didn’t really impress with that offering, but I did tease at the end of that lukewarm review that a more positive one was on the horizon. This is that more positive review. Robotic Rocksteady is the latest villain…
This is a big figure. That’s the take-away and the thing any reviewer has to mention when reviewing Super7’s take on the classic warthog from Playmates. Back in ’88, Bebop was bigger than the turtles, but he was also really hunched over to the point where it was like his neck was coming out of…
2021 introduced a lot of good things for collectors of NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of action figures based on the classic cartoon. The toy maker still kept the line a Target exclusive when it came to brick and mortar, but it also started selling a lot of it online to coincide with each…
The punk rock turtle is here to rock your shell off!
It’s been awhile since we last took a look at a figure from a wave of Super7 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates! It was back in July 2024 that I gave a rather glowing review of the first of a presumed four turtle figures based on the old Playmates Rock n’ Roll Turtles – Classic Rocker Leonardo. Leo had the distinction of being the first released from that set, but the first solicited was Super7’s take on Punk Rock Donatello, or Punker Don. I ordered this figure way back in March of 2022. He is part of Wave 7 of this line. Leo is part of Wave 10. What the hell happened?! I don’t know. Super7 never provided any real updates or reason for why this wave lagged so far behind the rest. There were some big figures in the wave, there could have been issues with licensing, or maybe it was funding? I don’t know. Brian Flynn of Super7 mentioned that they probably undercharged for one of the figures in the wave (which we’ll talk about in due time) so maybe they more aggressively factory-shopped to get the best rate they could which maybe pushed them to the back of the line? I don’t know, but Wave 7 is here and has been out for a little while now (we’re still clearing out a backlog here) so hopefully the extra time in the oven did some good.
Donnie is still trying to figure out how this whole punk thing works.
Punker Don has always been an amusing release to me. Each turtle needed to be matched with a genre of music for this set. Leo as a fan of classic rock? I suppose that makes sense since he’s always been displayed as the closest to his father, Splinter, and classic rock is essentially “dad rock.” Raph a fan of the loud, aggressive, and abrasive heavy metal? Sure, makes perfect sense. Mikey as a hip hop artist needs no explanation, but what does Donnie listen to when he’s working in the lab? Punk rock? It doesn’t really jive for me. Donatello would probably be into prog rock. I see him being way into Rush or King Crimson. The problem there is prog rock isn’t as popular a visual as punk rock. Not even close. I’m not sure any genre of rock is more visually interesting than punk with the crazy hairstyles, spiked jackets, torn pants, and smashed up instruments. It works too well as a toy, so someone had to be the designated punker and it fell to Donnie.
I guess it being poorly painted makes it punk rock?
That’s not the only reason why this design is so amusing to me though. The other is the chosen instrument: the keytar. I don’t really know if the keytar truly belongs to any genre of music, but I know it does not belong to punk. I get it. Leo and Raph both came with guitars and while they could have given Don a bass, a bass guitar isn’t exactly visually distinct from a guitar. Especially since the guitars included with the others aren’t accurate to the actual instrument when it comes to string count. I wish he came with a drum kit, but maybe Playmates saw that as too expensive back in the day? And sticking a lone drum around his neck like the Little Drummer Boy would have looked just as ridiculous as a punker with a keytar.
He even comes with a record like the old one.
All that being said, this is a fun release. It was back then anyway, and it should be now. This Donatello is a pretty faithful recreation of the vintage figure with some minor differences. I don’t have the old one for an easy comparison, but we do have the good old internet where such pictures exist. The main differences here are that some sculpted details on the old figure are now off on their own. The necklace is the most obvious as here it’s an actual necklace on a real chain. There was also a sculpted chain on the left arm of the old figure and that has been turned into an accessory. He still has his big mohawk and classic turtle grimace. The color of said mohawk seems a little more yellow this time around as opposed to orange, but it’s a subtle change and probably not even an intentional one.
And he’s turned his bo staff into a flute/recorder/clarinet/whatever.
Mostly, this is just a new version of an old toy. The details have been upped and the paint hits increased. The leather jacker looks especially good with a nice finish. The part of it on the torso is a soft overlay and even the parts of the shell showing through on the back are part of it. It blends well with the harder plastic arms where the sleeves are sculpted and the trim work with the silver paint is very crisp and clean. The “NO” button on the lapel is painted now which was probably a reference to the War on Drugs which was quite popular back in the day. The knee and elbow pads are sculpted to look like they’ve been tied on and they’re separate, soft, pieces. The belt is part of the sculpt and only what’s visible is what’s sculpted, which is fine. The underside of his boots are sculpted like LL Bean boots and it’s quite sharp.
I like how they sculpted the shell as part of this jacket overlay.
Not everything is great though. The jacket is well painted, but the paint hits elsewhere aren’t so clean. The pink portion of his pants is a little thin so you get a sense of the blue poking through. The green boots with yellow laces are also really sloppy. There’s little specks of yellow throughout the pants that seem to have transferred from there and the laces themselves look pretty bad. The left boot, especially, is really poorly done on my figure. The ripped portions of the pants are painted all right, not perfect, but mostly I don’t like the finish on the pants. I can’t tell what these are supposed to be. They don’t look like denim so I guess they’re spandex or something. They’re just bare plastic and look really cheap. The T patch on the right thigh has also been left unpainted, like it was on the old figure, which is a shame though with how bad the detail work turned out on the laces maybe that’s a good thing? These pants needed a wash or something though because they look really out of place compared with the rest of the figure.
The yellow for his laces got everywhere. Also, I need to dust under the musical tour turtles.
What bothers me more with this release is the articulation and an old enemy has resurfaced. These figures are never great when it comes to articulation, but at this point we should be able to expect the same level of quality on the turtle figures especially since they’re all basically the same from an engineering point of view. I was really happy with Classic Rocker Leo, but the same is not true for Punker Don. The articulation points are all the same: double ball head, ball-hinge shoulders and hips, single jointed elbows and knees, and so on. What suck is the range in the arms seems less than what we had with Leo. He’s a little harder to pose with his keytar than Leo was with his guitar. The right elbow, especially, doesn’t bend well and it’s frustrating. What’s worse though are these dreaded Super7 hips. Yup, they’re floppy again. There are slip points on both sides where the legs just won’t stay. Now, I have been able to get him to stand without falling over, so it’s not as bad as perhaps it could be, but it’s still unacceptable. I was hoping Classic Rocker Leo was a sign of things to come, but Punker Don didn’t get the memo. Get your shit together, Super7.
Donnie has a couple of new heads this time around.
The good thing about this figure being from way back in Wave 7 is that it still has the old Super7 amount of accessories. There’s not a whole lot missing from this package. We even get the rare triple portrait approach. There’s the default head, and then there’s another mohawk head with an open mouth and goggles sculpted on. It looks pretty fun, though the paint between the eyes is a little iffy. The third head contains a totally different hairstyle with big, purple, spikes and a tongue hanging out the side. He’s biting down on his tongue which feels very “vintage” and the hair is certainly very punk rock. The paint is a little sloppy in that it doesn’t go all the way to the roots. Still, I like it and I might even like it more than the classic interpretation.
When you only have three digits on your hand, a pointing gesture also doubles as a middle finger.
We get the customary allotment of hands as well. There’s a set of fists, gripping hands, pointing hands, and a set of keytar hands which is basically a C-grip left hand and an almost open right hand. All of the hands have horizontal hinges which is less an issue for Donatello being a bo staff handler. And he does have a bo staff. It’s basically Donnie’s bo repurposed as a recorder or clarinet. It has little holes or buttons and an end with a mouthpiece on it which is clever. The old figure may have referred to it as a flute, but that is not a flute mouthpiece. He also has a record with a purple center label, a direct callback to the vintage toy. It’s really thick and not convincing, but it’s fine. There’s also a tuning fork, a new accessory, which I guess is a decent way to reference Donnie’s more nerdy tendencies, though is really out of place for a punk rock guy. There’s also the chain I mentioned earlier. Previously part of the sculpt, it’s now just an accessory. It sits very loose in Donatello’s hands and feels a bit pointless. I wish they had rigged up a way to make it function like a wallet chain or attach to the figure in some way, but oh well.
This Punker Don figure may not be as good as the Classic Rocker Leo, but they still look pretty cool together.
Donatello also has a repeat accessory – his mic and mic stand. It’s the same as the one included with Leonardo just with a new deco. I liked it with Leo, and I like it here. Lastly, we have the most important accessory for any punk rocker: his keytar. Like the vintage figure, it’s sculpted in yellow. Unlike the vintage figure, the keys are painted. Unfortunately, that’s all that’s painted. This thing is really well-sculpted as it looks like it’s held together by tape. Leonardo’s double guitar received a fantastic sculpt and paint job, but this looks like shit. The sculpt is great, but the lack of paint is so cheap and I feel bad for whoever sculpted this because Super7 did them dirty. Someone needs to tell Super7 that no one cares about the extra stuff like the chain or tuning fork if the keytar, the featured accessory, is going to look like crap. In their defense, this is how it looked in the solicitation so it’s not like they did some bait and switch, but it looks bad and I’m calling them out on it. It looks so poor beside Leonardo’s guitar that I’m thinking of just returning it to its box and making Donnie the vocalist of this fake turtle band.
There is a lot about Punker Don that disappoints me, there is also a lot that I like. This is basically a mid tier Super7 release in that the sculpt is there, most of the paint is acceptable, but there’s enough eyesores and poor articulation to dampen the enthusiasm in the end. It’s just a shame because Classic Rocker Leo turned out so well and gave me hope for this one. Maybe Super7 had finally ironed out all of the kinks after ten waves of Ultimates! and this was the level of quality we could expect going forward. Sadly, that’s not the case here. It’s not a bad figure and I mostly am happy with what is on my shelf, but it could and should be better. This one will also set you back $55. Is it worth it? That’s hard to say. If you’re on the fence then you can probably safely wait for a discount to come at some point. Since this is Wave 7 there’s really no danger of the ordered amount being impacted by the massive discounts we saw on Super7 products in the past year. There should be plenty to go around. If you’re like me and love these silly rock n’ roll variants and can’t wait any longer then you may have a touch of buyer’s remorse, but hopefully it fades with time.
There are plenty more reviews of Super7’s TMNT offerings, both good and bad:
When I was a kid, I had parents with divergent musical tastes. Dad likes oldies from the 50s and 60s while mom was more into modern rock (then 80s). One area where their tastes overlapped was Bruce Springsteen. We had several of his records in my house and I distinctly remember that cover to Born…
Late in 2023, Super7 started shipping the ninth wave of its line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates! action figures. I bought none. It was a wave with no compelling characters for me as it contained Slam Dunkin’ Donatello, Scumbug, Wingnut & Screwloose, Zak the Neutrino, and a flocked Master Splinter variant. Scumbug had been…
It feels like it’s been awhile since we had a proper Turtle Tuesday around here, but today that streak ends. It also feels like a long time since we had a new wave TMNT Ultimates! from Super7 to talk about – and that’s because it has! Not including the glow-in-the-dark variant of Leonardo I looked…
Every hero needs a villain, and for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that number one villain is The Shredder. Setup as a foil in his original appearance, Shredder really became the main guy when the cartoon series was put into development. That show needed a villain who was always around and Shredder was the best choice. Ever since, he’s basically remained in that role with few exceptions so whenever a new company steps in to put their stamp on the franchise they usually bring old Shred-head along with them.
He’s a little Shredder.
JoyToy’s 1:18 scale line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures got off to a strong start with the four turtle boys. Whenever I approach a new take on the property, I always like to start with the turtles and Shredder. If I really like what I’m seeing then I’ll start to fill in my collection. Shredder is the seventh character in this line to go up for order and my fifth addition. Though technically I committed to Bebop and Rocksteady first, but they haven’t shipped (I think I’m going to have to change vendors). I’m fine with that though as when I first saw JoyToy’s take on the turtles I really wanted to see their Shredder. And once he was unveiled it turns out he looks pretty familiar.
These turtles scale much bigger than typical turtles.
Shredder arrives in the same style of box as the turtles. His design is that of a heavily armored Shredder and, for me, it’s impossible not to get 2k3 vibes from this figure. He has huge shoulder pads, a slim face, and a sash fashioned with the red Shredder logo from that show. He’s basically all silver and black and his eyes are little white points in the blackness of his helm. The main difference between the two designs is the texture of the armor of this figure is a bit more realistic and also weathered, to a degree. And his eyes aren’t red. The number of blades on the shins and forearms is different and this Shredder has a fashionable, purple, cape and sash.
And if JoyToy is indeed going to copy that 2003 look of the villain then that’s a pretty good one to copy. I love Shredder in that show and I was really impressed with his portrayal back then so this is a great foundation for this figure. It’s a lot of colored plastic, but there’s a dark wash applied to grime the figure up a bit. There is some white on the sleeves which is oddly placed, but the metallic armor does a decent job of selling the illusion of metal. The one aspect of the presentation I’m a little down on is the height. At 4.25″ this Shredder isn’t much taller than the turtles who stood right around 4″. This puts Shredder at about 6.375′ if he were a real person. That’s well above average and seems about right for Shredder so I guess my issue is more with the height of the turtles, not Shredder.
I don’t know what these weapons are, but they’re pretty gnarly.Ninja stars? Why not?
Shredder comes with a bunch of stuff, some expected, some familiar, and plenty new. For hands, Shredder has gripping, tighter gripping, and bladed. The bladed hands are fists with his customary blades that are held affixed to a band that slide over his fingers. They look cool, but if you want to utilize his weapons then you’ll have to go with the gripping hands. And for weapons, Shredder has a katana, a short sword, and a pair of double-bladed weapons. The curved nature of the bladed portions makes me think of the weapon included with the Playmates turtles that resembled a hook of sorts, even though it’s a different shape this time around. Shredder does not have storage for those, or technically any weapons. He has a pair of scabbards on his belt, but they have dummy handles that plug into them. The scabbards are a bit warped from the package so maybe that’s why? I’m surprised they don’t just function as intended. There’s also a pair of throwing stars which work well with the tighter gripping hands and Shredder also comes with a disc stand with his own logo on it. Like the turtles, he has a quadrant of a larger display stand. This one is made of white “stone” with a center manhole so it’s different from what the turtles came with which is cool. I’ll need more figures if I want to make a whole base.
He has better range going out to the sides at the hips than the turtles, but kicking forward is still an issue.
Articulation for Shredder is similar to the turtles, but also different. The head feels like a double ball peg and the softness of the helm allows for a decent range of motion. The ball hinge shoulders work fine and the shoulder pads are soft and can be dealt with there. Peg and hinge elbows allow for swivel and 90 degrees of bend. Wrists are ball-hinges, rather than double-ball pegs, and they work as intended. The diaphragm features a ball joint with another at the waist. Between the two, Shredder gets good rotation and even decent forward and back “crunching” motion. It can get a little gappy, but it’s not too bad. Hips continue to be a problem for JoyToy though. Shredder can almost hit a split, so that is much improved over the turtles. He can kick back an okay amount, but kicking forward is dreadful. I don’t know what they’re doing to so severely limit the forward movement of the legs, but they need to correct that. There’s just not enough room between the top of the leg and the abdomen so if you push it beyond what it wants to do you’ll probably separate the figure at the waist. Since it’s a ball joint, this isn’t a scary thing, but it makes it easy to see what’s going on. There is a thigh swivel which does what thigh swivels do. Double-jointed knees go a little beyond 90 and the ankles work well with a hinge and rocker setup.
Shredder triumphant!
I really like this Shredder. It’s not perfect, but for a 1:18 Shredder it’s pretty much all we have in this scale. And that by no means is an indication that I’m settling here. This is a nice figure. The upper body poses really well and you should have no trouble finding some intimidating poses for this figure. And I think it’s a better overall figure than the turtles and I really like those figures. If you’re into this scale and took the plunge on those turtles, then you owe it to yourself to add this Shredder to your collection. He’s great and it makes me want to see more from this line. Maybe I should get the Foot Soldiers I passed on? Can I continue to hold out hope that BBTS will get Bebop and Rocksteady? I’d hate to miss out.
We’ve got more Shredders and more JoyToy Turtles for you to check out:
It’s been said before and it will be said again: everyone is making Ninja Turtles. It feels like the list of companies not making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is smaller than the list of those who are. Viacom has not been shy about licensing the brand out to toy makers and it’s reaching a point…
Where do you take your heroic comic book franchise when you kill your main villain in the first issue? Well, you first undo that rash decision by bringing him back! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird famously killed The Shredder in the first issue of their comic. They never intended to…
For today’s latest Turtle Tuesday action figure review, I think we can go a little light. That’s because I am looking at yet another action figure release from the Mattel Masters of the Universe Origins – Turtles of Grayskull crossover line between the heroes and villains of MOTU and those of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.…
JoyToy is coming in hot at the end of the year with its take on TMNT.
It’s been said before and it will be said again: everyone is making Ninja Turtles. It feels like the list of companies not making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is smaller than the list of those who are. Viacom has not been shy about licensing the brand out to toy makers and it’s reaching a point where there isn’t much for companies new to the brand to do. How does one stand out? There’s been different versions of the gang throughout the years, but even the hideous Christmas turtles received figures this year. We’ve got toys based on the old cartoon, the kind of old cartoon, the cartoon that feels new (but is actually a dozen years old), movies, old comics, new comics, toys of toys and did I mention the ugly Christmas turtles? Yeah, it’s crazy, and I guess we’re in the midst of a new golden age when it comes to TMNT action figures, but one aspect of the brand that has not been tackled much is a smaller scale. Specifically, 1:18.
These turtles are pretty little. Left is a Super7 Ultimates, right is a Playmates Raphael.
The 1:18 scale basically owes itself to Kenner and its original Star Wars line. Kenner wanted to be able to sell action figures of characters like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, but also their spaceships. Prior to that, most figures were pretty damn big. Think classic G.I. Joe. If your figure is 8″ tall well then the spaceship he rides in is going to be both massive and expensive. When Kenner did its Star Wars line there really wasn’t a science to it they just arbitrarily settled on 3.75″ for the figures. It’s basically been retrofitted as 1:18 scale and after the success Kenner had Hasbro would follow suit with the original action figure, G.I. Joe. Over the years, scale has become more uniform. Or at least, close to it. Most figure lines (and collectors) seem to prefer 1:12 or six inch scale for their figures. Of course, there’s “import 1:12” and “Marvel Legends 1:12” so nothing is completely scientific. There’s also a tendency for taller characters to get shrunk a little and smaller ones made bigger to find a middle ground of sorts. Usually there’s an anchor character and others are supposed to scale off of that character. And often times we’re talking scale with characters that don’t physically exist and different artists draw them differently. It’s very much an inexact science.
And here is Leo with some other dainty figures (left to right): Vintage Collection Boba Fett, ReAction Michelangelo, Plunderling
With Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the original Playmates line didn’t really have a scale. Characters were all pretty close in height and the taller guys would be sculpted all hunched over and such. Modern lines have adopted more of a scale with NECA hitting something close to 1:12 with its toon line and 1:10 with its movie figures. Super7 goes for 1:10, Mezco 1:12, and so on. No one is doing 1:18 though unless you count Super7’s ReAction figures, but they’re more like the old Kenner stuff in that there isn’t really a scale.
JoyToy took an interesting approach to the shells.
When I was a kid, I can remember my mom telling me that Burger King was going to have Ninja Turtles in its kid’s meals soon. I was excited because I liked Burger King and I loved TMNT. In my head, they were going to be mini figures similar what I already had, just on a smaller scale. In reality, they were badges and pretty lame. That idea of small TMNT figures never left my brain though and was something I wanted. I kind of liked neat, tidy, things. I didn’t really associate size with value unless we were talking about “deluxe” sized figures like the 12″ stuff. And as an adult, I collect mostly 1:12 and 1:10 rarely dipping into the larger or smaller scales, but that’s not because I dislike either. I think the 1:18 Star Wars figures are actually pretty cool, I’m just not that into Star Wars. When I saw a company was doing 1:18 turtles, I immediately took notice, even though I had never heard of the company before.
Everybody gets a skateboard, some pizza, and a Turtlecom.
And that company is JoyToy. They’re a Chinese toy producer that seems to be mostly known for Warhammer stuff. I took a look at some of the stuff they’ve done, thought it looked pretty cool, then searched for a place I could buy these things. I’m guessing that JoyToy only has a license to distribute these in Asia because a lot of the usual places aren’t carrying them. I ended up ordering from 5k Toys, a vendor I’ve heard a lot of good things about, but never used myself. The figures were around 30 bucks a piece so not cheap, but not as high as some other figure lines I buy. I had to wait a bit, but they arrived eventually right around Thanksgiving. It’s taken me while to get to talking about them because of Christmas and all, but now I’m ready to and I have a lot of good things to say.
These figures don’t really need it, but they do each come with a small logo stand.
The JoyToy turtles all come in their own window box with modern logos printed on. These are official products, just not made for distribution in the US. The turtles are almost comically small inside these boxes which are bigger than most S.H.Figuarts boxes I have, but they do offer a good look at the product inside. The turtles are all a unique design, but it’s a design that’s a bit familiar. They all feature the standard colored masks and pads, but they also have tape around the wrists and ankles which is similar to the 2012 Turtles. I get a DreamEx vibe from them, a company that made TMNT figures several years back, and also a bit of a Mortal Kombat one. It’s mixed with a touch of the 2003 turtles which I see in the faces. The whited-out eyes with smiles (for Mikey and Donnie, at least) are the biggest contributors to that impression.
JoyToy’s approach to the belts has stirred some controversy in the TMNT community.
Each turtle is the same shade of green which is a fairly dark, saturated, green. It’s very close to what I think of as the default Leonardo green in a lot of TMNT media. There’s liberal use of paint washes on them, but there is also a glossy quality to the green. It’s almost like they’re sculpted out of hard candy. It’s weird since typically one associates shiny figures with cheapness, but these don’t look cheap. The plastron has a more scalloped appearance than is typical and it’s partly due to the articulation cut. All of the turtles also have a chest strap. In an odd quirk, the belts do not continue onto the shell, but behind it. For weapon holsters, Leo and Donnie have sheaths bolted onto their shells. Raph has a spiked piece of steel while Mikey has a license plate, for some reason. He’s also the only one lacking weapon storage options, which is odd. There’s a chain on the license plate that you can finagle his weapons into, but it’s a curious choice to make.
These effect weapons are pretty rad. Raph’s is probably the worst of the four as there isn’t an obvious effect for a sai.
All of the figures seem to utilize the same body. The chest and heads are the only different parts as they all have a different chest strap. Leo’s is just a basic belt, Donnie’s has a pouch sculpted in, Raph has some kunai, and Mikey has what looks like an old iPod sculpted onto his. Portraits are obviously different which is often the case for TMNT. Leo has a scowl on his face with a slightly pointed beak. Donnie has a wry smile while Mikey is showing some teeth. Raph has the classic Turtle grimace with exposed teeth on each side of his mouth. With these heads, I’d say the beaks are slightly understated, but the overall shape is still pretty much traditional TMNT. The elbow and knee pads have more of a standard sports equipment look to them with some nice texture. They’re also floating and each turtle has a different piece of thigh armor. Leo has these studded thigh pads on both legs while the other turtles only have one. And they’re different for each with Donnie having more pouches, Raph more knives, and Mikey some spray paint canisters (non-removable). Donatello also gets a satchel that appears to be a med kit which he can remove if you like. I suppose the thigh parts are also removable, but you would have to pop the legs off in order to get at them.
Like the 2012 versions of the characters, Mikey gets the shortest bandana tails.
And then there’s the size. These turtle boys stand pretty much right at the 4″ mark. A four inche turtle in true 1:18 scale would come out to these being 6′ tall in “real life.” That’s big for a ninja turtle who typically are much closer to 5′, but this is also JoyToy doing their own thing. Proportionally speaking, they look like taller turtles. The torso is longer and more like a typical comic book super hero. It will be interesting to see how other characters in the line scale with them. I’d prefer Shredder, for example, be at least a little taller. I guess we’ll see. In terms of actual height, they’re not much smaller than vintage Playmates figures, but one look at the proportions tells you this is a totally different scale as they’re not nearly as chunky. And if you’re going to do TMNT in this scale I think it makes sense to go a little bigger. If these were much smaller they might not look or function as well as they do.
These guys pose pretty well with nice, tight, joints.
And function is certainly what JoyToy is going for. These maybe something closer to Kenner sized, but they’re far from Kenner articulated. Each turtle articulates about the same and they feature double-ball pegged heads, shoulder hinges, single elbows, double-ball peg wrists, ball-jointed diaphragm, ball-jointed waist, ball-socket hips with thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, and hinged ankles that also feature an ankle rocker. The biggest limitations are found at the elbows, hips, and knees. Elbows will only bend 90 degrees while the knees will get just better than 90 as the kneepads seem to impede the range. The hips are a bit puzzling. They only go out to about 45 degrees which is disappointing. The thigh armor gets in the way, but even on the legs without they still don’t go much farther. It seems the thigh swivel catches on the belt and they basically all have pouches on their belts which get in the way. They also can’t kick forward 90 degrees and it just seems like something is off with how the joint was engineered. It’s easily the weakest aspect for these guys. The added joints in the torso also aren’t going to really deliver a proper ab crunch, but they will allow for swivel and tilt points.
Each figures comes with a quadrant of the below manhole cover diorama which can be snapped together.
The accessory load-out for these guys is pretty similar from turtle to turtle. You’re going to get hands, weapons, effect weapons, a skateboard, and something unique. For hands, each turtle has gripping hands, fists, open hands, and tighter gripping hands. Getting them on and off was okay for 3 of my 4. Raph was the troublemaker and the double-ball peg for the wrist kept popping out of the arm on me, but a little dunk in hot water fixed that. Some hands also won’t go on nicely the first time and may also need a dip. Each turtle has a chunk of road with a piece of a manhole cover on it that can go together to form a little diorama. There’s a single foot peg on each piece too which is kind of cool. If that’s too cumbersome, there’s also an included disc stand with the TMNT logo on it. The skateboard is the same across all four, it’s just painted slightly different to match each turtle. There’s a foot peg and real wheels and it’s fine, if you want a skateboard. Each turtle comes with an open Turtle-Com. It’s painted pretty well and resembles the old cartoon, it’s just pretty big for a 1:18 scale version. It’s almost the size of their entire forearm, but I guess cell phones were pretty big in the 80s. Each turtle also has a pizza slice in some state of consumption. It too is pretty big so I guess these are those massive New York style slices. Paint isn’t great though as the yellow cheese has a green tint to it. I’m guessing it’s molded in green and painted over. I can’t see myself using them.
There’s a foot peg for each turtle on this thing once assembled plus plenty of room in the middle.
Each turtle comes with the weapon you would expect. And like the 2k3 series, they’re colored as well to match each turtle. Leo has his twin katana, Donnie his bo staff, Raph a pair of sai, and Mikey his nunchaku. The nunchaku are all plastic, no chains, and one is slightly open and the other features the handles closer together. Donatello also has the previously mentioned satchel and he also has a wrench, for some reason. It can fit onto a loop on the med kit, but it’s not that secure. Each turtle also has effect weapons and these are pretty cool. They’re done with translucent, blue, plastic. For Leo, it’s done like an afterimage effect with his swinging katana. They’re painted really well and the effect is awesome. Donatello has a spinning bo, though it doesn’t actually spin unless you spin his hand at the wrist. Mikey has two, whirling, nunchaku and they too don’t spin, but still look awesome. Raph has a thrusting effect that makes me think of video game moves or something. One of them has some yellow paint on the translucent section which sucks. I’ll have to see if it will rub off with a Magic Eraser. All of the effect weapons are self-contained, they’re not effects that clip onto the normal weapons, and they all look terrific. I honestly can’t see myself displaying these figures without them in most cases. Raph’s are the least dramatic, but still useful. I’m in love with the Leonardo sword effects. Other companies need to rip those off.
Of course, we can’t forget about the pizza. Raph’s kind of looks like an alien profile.
What I haven’t really mentioned is the feel these figures possess in-hand. Despite their small size, they’re sturdy. Joints are pretty smooth, but also tight. I’ve had Mikey in a running post on my desk for weeks where only one foot is on the surface and he hasn’t fallen over. He looks so awesome in this pose that I don’t even want to move him for pictures, but obviously I’ll have to. These are great desk buddies as they’re just fun to mess with. They come with useful hands and extra stuff, but I’ll be unlikely to swap out their gripping hands because I like my turtles with weapons in hand. The only negative is that the hips suck. If JoyToy could fix those then these would be even better. An extra portrait for each turtle would have been cool too, or the ability to swivel the bandana knots, but those are nitpicks. I’m pretty happy with the look of each turtle as-is.
Be sure to check back because we’re not done with JoyToy yet!
I think JoyToy is onto something here with TMNT in this scale. It’s too bad they’re a little harder to come by in the US, but not impossible. There are plenty of retailers selling them and with reasonable shipping to the US. Big Bad Toy Store did list the Bebop and Rocksteady from this line for a little while, but have since taken them down which makes me think they won’t be carrying any product from this line likely due to distribution issues. I reached out to them to see if the figures were still coming and they just said they were working out some details with the manufacturer and that they’d be back on the site soon. That was weeks ago so I’m guessing if I want that duo then I’ll have to go elsewhere. By the time this goes up I should have Shredder and hopefully that review isn’t too far away. These are great though. They aren’t perfect, but I quite like them and they’re among my favorite toys of 2024. If you like the look of these turtles and are interested in a smaller scale then I definitely recommend checking them out.
We have other TMNT reviews and even some 1:18 stuff if you haven’t had your fill yet:
If you know anything about me then you probably know that I like collecting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures and I like Christmas. Strangely, those two things have not come together all that often. Most of the television shows featuring the famed four opted not to feature the holiday in an episode. And without…
I’ve been collecting action figures in some capacity for my whole life, and it occurred to me now that I’ve never owned the Fett man. That’s Boba Fett, who is one of the most iconic characters from Star Wars and also pretty noteworthy in the world of action figures. I am not the place for…
Pack your bags and grab the sunscreen because today we’re heading to Florida! It’s vacation time folks, and even the bad guys deserve a little fun in the sun sometimes. Coming from NECA Toys we have another fun variant of the duo Bebop and Rocksteady. Always more comic relief than true threat, the boys come…
After putting a real hurting on my wallet in 2023, Mondo decided to take it easy in 2024 with its line of sixth scale action figures based on the animated series X-Men which ran from 1992-1997 on Fox Kids. Two figures ended up getting released this year, Rogue and now the leader of the X-Men Cyclops. With Cyclops though we get a slight change because easily the biggest thing to happen to the X-Men in 2024 was the release of X-Men ’97. Well, some would argue for a movie staring a foul-mouthed merc and an old man as being the biggest business in the X world, but I’m going with the Disney+ series. Since the show turned out to be quite the hit, and because it’s a continuation of the original X-Men series, Mondo decided its figures could use a little rebranding which is why Cyclops is the first release to be billed as hailing from the new show. What does this mean for the figure itself? Not a whole lot.
Yeah, I know, this isn’t a fair comparison.
Cyclops still comes in the same style of window box with artwork from storyboard artist Dan Veesenmeyer. The difference between his release and the others is that the character model definitely resembles the look from X-Men ’97 and not the original show. That’s not a huge change as the costume is the same, but Cyclops has a slightly slimmer profile and the detail work is a dead ringer for the same in the new show. For the figure, there’s really no change and Mondo via its YouTube channel has basically admitted that the figures are going to hew closer to the original series. It’s just now they will be able to toss-in items and accessories pulled directly from the new show where it makes sense.
“To me, my X-Men!”
And we pretty much know this to be true because concept art for Cyclops was shown well before X-Men ’97 debuted. Here we have another sculpt by the awesome Alex Brewer with paint by Tomasz Rozejowski that really harkens back to 1992 and that original Fox series. Cyclops stands a full 12″ and is clad in his yellow and blue Jim Lee outfit which he wore almost exclusively in that show. Like prior figures in this line, there were two editions of Cyclops made available and I opted for the limited version which came with extra stuff which we’ll get to.
You may want to separate these two on your shelf.
The sculpt for Cyclops may not be complex, but it gets the job done. He’s well-muscled and proportioned with a portrait that evokes the original series. The details one would expect are in place like the segmented straps on the belt or the pouches and straps. There’s even a little extra detail where the chest strap attaches to the lower belt that I don’t remember seeing in the show. The hair and the visor are all appropriate and the placement of the thigh straps appears spot-on as well (they’re also floating and slightly annoying as a result). That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for some nitpicks. Cyclops was nicknamed Slim early on, but by the 90s he was a pretty massive dude. This figure depicts him as a big guy, but maybe not quite as big as he could be. The legs look fine and so do the arms, but the chest and abdomen strike me as a bit undersized. It’s almost like Mondo aimed to fit this Cyclops figure in-between the 92 and 97 version. It could also be for a different reason which ties into the extra stuff. This version of Cyclops has removable arms and an optional flight jacket part like the Logan figure. If he were any bigger he might look huge with the jacket. If so, I disagree with the approach as the jacketed look should be a secondary concern, but the feature also seems to play a role with his shoulders being set apart from the body. These are all things mostly noticeable when the figure is just standing straight up and down, pose him and it’s less an issue, but it’s an expensive figure so we have to nitpick where it’s warranted.
He scales well enough with the bad guys too.
What really offers no room for disappointment is the paint. Mondo just slays when it comes to that part of the presentation and Cyclops is no different. The base blue is the perfect royal blue and the lighter blue used to shade it and the blacks all make him pop. The yellow is the right shade with just a hint of red of in it to lessen that lemony look the Hasbro figure of the same has. The different shades of gold used to apply the cel-shading for the yellow looks great and everything is rich and full. There’s an impressive lack of paint slop and issues as well. With such an ambitious paint job some of that is expected, but I’m finding it hard to notice with this one. There’s a visible brush stroke on the chest strap, but apart from that I’m at a loss. This is some really impressive execution so Mondo better hang onto whatever factory put this one together.
Mondo decided it was important Cyclops be able to do stuff like this.
Cyclops comes with new branding, but he also comes with new articulation. Mondo tends to keep things basic with its figures as they prioritize aesthetics over function. And at this scale, I think that’s the right approach. However, there’s no denying that certain characters need to be able to hit certain poses and for Cyclops it’s being able to place a hand on the side of his visor to activate his optic blasts (even though we also see him do so without pressing a button in the show, but lets just go with it). In order to achieve that function, Mondo opted to incorporate double-jointed elbows into this one. And they work great, no problem hitting that pose and he can pretty much put his hand to his X communicator on his chest as well. And the aesthetics trade-off is nil, as far as I’m concerned. We’re all toy collectors and we’re used to double-jointed elbows. They look fine, better than the swivel joint used on Wolverine and Sabretooth that has some miscolored plastic, so I hope they do this more going forward.
This is a team that loves a good, brown, jacket.
Aside from that, the articulation is pretty much the same as other figures. The head is on a double-ball peg and the range is pretty nice. It is a little more gappy than past figures, but I’m guessing they prioritized plus range at the head given his unique skillset. The shoulders are the usual ball-hinges with a bicep swivel past that. Wrists are ball-hinged and they can be tight, but I didn’t experience any issues. The torso is where things get less impressive. Cyclops has the usual ball-jointed diaphragm and waist, but he also has that unique belt that goes around his chest. It’s connected to the belt at his waist so it’s going to get in the way. It has some play and will float when you manipulate the chest, but the range is okay, at best. Hips are ball-sockets with thigh swivels built in, but the rubber trunks will hinder the figure’s ability to kick forward and back. I can get him into one knee poses, but it’s awkward and one must be mindful of paint rub. Knees are double-jointed and the ankles hinge forward and back with an ankle rocker. The ankles are pretty tight, but I didn’t need to heat them up to get them working. Shoulders are really tight too, but again, no heat needed as I just went easy.
Multi-blast!This is the big one.It sags a little.
Cyclops has a ton of extra stuff to go through so let’s not waste any time. We’ll do the standard version accessories first which include a stoic head and a yelling head. Both feature interchangeable visors and come with a standard one by default. Getting the visors off and on is pretty painless, and both heads can use all of the visors. The extras are a visor with a lens flare and one with a slot in it for blast effects. And for blast effects we get two by default. The first is a pretty standard Cyclops blast. It’s 4″ long or so with a splash effect at the end. The easiest way to put it on is to slot it through the visor first, then plug it into the head. It can only go in one way so if it doesn’t fit just spin it around. The other blast effect is an arc with four short blasts. It strikes me as a very Marvel vs Capcom effect and it looks pretty cool. Both are done on translucent red plastic which feels appropriate for a Cyclops effect. They’re rigid so hopefully none arrived warp. I love the look of the blast, and the lens flare part is also pretty cool, so settling on a display is actually quite challenging with this guy. You’ll want to swap some stuff from time to time.
“I was raised by a cup of coffee.”
Cyclops also has an assortment of hands to make use of. By default, he comes with a set of fists which are always useful. In addition to that he has two clenching hands, two “finger bang” hands, a set of two-finger hands for his optic blasts, and a single right gripping hand. The gripping hand is for his cup of coffee which is included. This was seen a few times in the first season, most memorably for me in “Deadly Reunions,” and it’s a pink cup with sculpted steam wafting off of it. Even though Mondo included a gripping hand for it, I find the clenching hands work just as well to hold it. Swapping heads and visors is painless with this guy, but the hands are tough. The pegs going into the arms are ribbed when they probably don’t really need to be. The ball hinge also plugs into the hand and each hand is on its own, which is how Mondo always does it. Initially, I felt like the fists were more likely to come off at the hand and not where they’re supposed to in the forearm, so I heated the forearms of my figure with warm water. It’s made easier by the fact that the arms are designed to pop off. I was then able to get the hands out, but it was dicey. I’m reluctant to really jam any of the hands into his forearms as a result, though I haven’t had the same level of difficulty with the other hands.
Sometimes it gets cold out there.
That’s all the stuff that comes with the standard, $220, version. The $240 limited edition has a few more things including the aforementioned jacket. Swapping the arms isn’t too bad and the jacket arms come with bare fists. The fists are actually the exact same as the standard fists just painted flesh colored. They are removable, though I haven’t bothered since they’re in there pretty good. He sometimes wore gloves with the jacket in the show so the other hands work with this look as well. The arms are also double-jointed at the elbows just like the standard ones so there’s no loss of articulation in swapping them. I think he looks great with the jacket and it’s a tough call on how to display him. Right now, I’ve gone without, but I’ll be changing it from time to time for sure. Oh, and I had to try because this look is so close to Morph, but the Morph heads don’t fit. The opening is way too small, which is probably good so that I’m not tempted to attempt a very expensive custom.
The big blast needs a little help.“Take that, hairball!”
Cyclops would wear the jacket in the field plenty, but sometimes also to look more casual. To that end he has an uncowled head. It looks great and his eyes are painted red, which makes sense. Maybe some would have preferred brown eyes for the few times he was depowered in the show, but many won’t display him like that because he also has his shades. They’re black with the red lenses that have some white shading on them which looks nice. They’re a little brittle feeling, but have held up fine so far. They slot into his temples and look great when in place. He also has yet another visor that’s been removed so he can either hold it or stick it around his neck or something. It’s a nice touch. I will say, this head is the most X-Men ’97 looking part of the package, which could be intentional. This version also comes with another effect part that is one, massive, blast that’s almost 8″ long. It has a large splash effect at the end and it looks cool, but it’s heavy. There’s some drooping with this one so I’m reluctant to leave it in place for long stretches of time. It probably works best in tandem with an enemy getting blasted so there’s some added support for it.
Probably not going to be the preferred look for most collectors.This head can make use of the blasts though.
Oh, but we’re not done! Mondo likes to toss in a goofy accessory with all of these special editions. We had the elf Jubilee portrait, Gambit as Mystique, and the Morph heads. With Cyclops, it’s a Sentinel head styled to resemble Cyclops. This is taken from the episode “Till Death Do Us Part – Part One” where Wolverine is battling Cyclops robots in the Danger Room. It looks the part and is pretty ridiculous when placed on the head of the figure, but it’s there if you want it. And Mondo went the extra mile and also included a swappable visor piece so he too can make use of the blast effects. It’s a little tighter a fit than the other visor, but it works. I’ll never use it, but it’s funny. Maybe it can be used as a head of a fallen Sentinel with Wolverine or something? Lastly, there’s also the usual Mondo stand. I don’t use them so I didn’t even take it out of the plastic. I wish they’d put an X emblem on it like the Logan one, but it’s fine.
“How do I turn these darn things off?!”
Ultimately, this is another home run by Mondo. Cyclops is a much needed addition to the roster of characters and he turned out pretty great. Did I have issues? Yeah, because nothing is perfect. I’d have liked to see a little more beef in the torso, but that is basically the end of my complaints. I do think the hands could have been made to swap easier and the hands are a longstanding issue with the line (though it’s been better, Magneto was rough). I get why things are tight though because these are big, solid, figures and loose joints would kill them. This figure poses reasonably well and the swappable effect parts and heads are all a ton of fun. This is probably the figure that is the most fun to pick a display, though Gambit and Jubilee are pretty great at that too.
It’s the Blast Squad!
Cyclops is definitely the last figure from this line to see release in 2024, but on-deck is another Wolverine. Alex Brewer has sculpted all of the figures in the line since the original Wolverine so Mondo wanted to get his take on the character and the looks we’ve had are promising. There’s also a retro Cyclops coming based on his look in the season finale of X-Men ’97. I have not gone for the variants in this line and I didn’t go in for that one either. We should also start seeing the first figures from the Spider-Man ’94 line very soon. I don’t plan on going all-in with that one, but expect at least a couple reviews of that line. Beyond that, we don’t know what’s next, but it sure seems like this line is going strong. If I had to guess, I’d say Storm will follow Wolverine, but I hope we get all of the core cast from the ’92 series. Even though it gets harder and harder to find room each time one arrives.
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Yesterday, we took a look at an obscure Christmas special I had no familiarity with. Today, we’re looking at an obscure Christmas special that I do have some familiarity with. Pillow People were a line of pillows with faces created by Penny Ekstein-Lieberman (you can see a commercial here, if you’re curious). According to the website Mental Floss, Ekstein-Lieberman created the dolls in response to a nightmare her kid had thinking a friendly face would be some comfort after such a traumatic event for a child. The dolls were basically just throw pillows with faces and there were stuffed limbs added to them. Despite their simplicity, Pillow People ended up being a pretty big deal. They must have been hard to come by because I can remember my mom being pretty jazzed to find one for my sister and I. My Pillow People was Punky, the sunglasses wearing pillow holding a record. I can’t remember what my sister had. I can recall not being that impressed with the toy and I may have even responded in a bratty way, “I wanted a toy, not a pillow!” I wasn’t very attached to old Punky, but he may still be spinning records in my parents’ attic for all I know.
The logo for the Pillow People with Sweet Dreams serving as the “O” in pillow. That thing was supposed to help prevent nightmares…
Pillow People were big and big in the 80s which meant an animated TV special was practically a certainty. Animation was so cheap back then that companies were willing to commission them basically as an advertisement. And in 1988, the Pillow People made the jump to television with a Christmas special. If you’re into animation, then you know the name TMS. Tokyo Movie Shinsha is one of the premier animation studios out of Japan. They worked on various Warner Bros. series and were pretty much always the best looking episodes for those shows. Remember Clayface from Batman: The Animated Series? That climactic scene of Clayface’s visage distorting and warping between looks was TMS. Ever see Akira? That’s TMS. By the mid 90’s, they were firmly established to the point where they didn’t need American television jobs, but in 1988 they weren’t there yet and actually were in position to take on a project like Pillow People Save Christmas. I’m curious if TMS proper actually animated this thing. Sometimes big studios basically sublet their projects to smaller places and maybe that happened here. It’s still a Hell of a get for Pillow People and it’s my primary motivation for checking out this otherwise forgotten television special.
The voices bringing these characters to life. Who they voice is a mystery.
Pillow People Save Christmas is so unimportant that it doesn’t even have an entry at IMDB.com. That’s truly remarkable and I think it’s a first for me with this blog. I’ve looked at some dumb stuff and some of them have entries on that database that basically just say “This is a thing that existed and we have no other information on it.” With this special we don’t even get that so I can’t include voice credits like I normally would as we get to each character. The special itself does of course feature credits at the end, but they’re not detailed. It’s basically just a list of names, some of which are quite familiar.
“Go to bed, you idiot!”
This one begins with a skyward look at a small town. The Pillow People logo pops in, but it’s missing some letters. That’s because they’re going to be provided by the actual Pillow People and they soon drop in. How cute? We then head for a home where a kid named Billy is getting ready to go to sleep on Christmas Eve. He’s worried about monsters under his bed even though Billy looks like he’s at an age where such concerns should have long faded. His parents assure him that no monsters are going to appear, but not because they don’t exist, but because they don’t attack kids on Christmas. Maybe this lack of denial is why Billy is still fearful at an advanced age. His parents are assholes. Billy thinks they might be dumb monsters though who have no idea it’s Christmas and he makes a good point, though if they’re dumb then he should be able to outsmart them, no?
A Santa sighting?! No way!
Dad reminds Billy that the quicker he gets to sleep the quicker he gets to presents and that’s basically all the motivation Billy needs to put monsters out of his mind. He’s also wondering if he can catch Santa in the act as his parents leave the room as he lays down to go to sleep. I can recall doing the same on Christmas Eve which is why i know this kid isn’t real because he actually does fall asleep. The worst sleep sessions of my life have probably all been on Christmas Eve, and here’s some advice for you would-be parents, it doesn’t get that much easier! Anyway, Billy is soon roused from his slumber by a sound downstairs. He creeps to the stairs and sees the shadow of Santa on the wall. Score! Then he hears some scary noises and the cackle of what sounds like a witch as the shadow morphs into something sinister. Then his Christmas gets sucked up like someone is running a super-powered vacuum. Billy gets a look at the culprits, which in addition to the creepy witch shadow, are Pillow People! I thought they were the good guys? The witch notices Billy and orders her minions to grab him. Billy runs back into his room for safety, but when he dives under the covers a hand reaches out and grabs him!
Welcome to Pillow Valley, Billy. It sucks here.
Billy wakes up to find he is no longer in his room. It’s a bright, sunny, place and it’s populated by living pillows. The two beside him seem to know who he is. One is a boxing pillow named Pillow Fighter and the other is a girl pillow named Sweet Dreams. Both were part of the initial wave of Pillow People released to stores. Sweet Dreams introduces them as Pillow People and even adds, “Your huggable, lovable, friends!” You have to get that marketing in there. Above them in a tree is a baby pillow rocking in a cradle – seems safe. The two pillows take Billy on a little tour of the place and I’m not going to name everyone they introduce him to because this is basically a commercial. It would appear they were pushing new Pillow People with a face on one side and a different expression on the other, like sleeping and awake. It’s so cynical.
My boy Punky only gets a cameo in this one.
This leads into a brief musical number about the Pillow People that is just another commercial. It’s horrible, but it is the only place where my boy Punky is featured. Plus it contains the most ambitious animation we’re going to see with these wild tracking shots. This is too good for Pillow People. When the song is over we find an inspector pillow guy who speaks with a French accent snooping about. He’s clearly based on Inspector Clouseau. Nearby is Mr. Sandman Pillow sleeping on the curb who Sweet Dreams is eager to point out. Then a Dr. Z goes skating by with something called 40 Winks. There are these little pillow guys bounding after him and I don’t know if 40 Winks refers to one or all of them. Either way, he’s the typical professor character who probably has all of the good ideas that advance the plot or something. Or he would if this became a series (it did not). There’s a bell ringing in his laboratory or something and apparently he knows right away that it’s Santa Claus. Billy is rightly surprised to hear that the real Santa would be in Pillow Valley, but Sweet Dreams just replies matter-of-factly with an “Of course,” when he asks if it’s really him. She’s so smug.
Dr. Z is another 80s character perpetually on roller skates. You can tell he’s an 80’s character because they’re roller skates and not roller blades.
When we see Dr. Z get to the lab we see how he knew it was Santa. He has some big machine in there that’s like a video phone and that must have been the special Santa ring. Santa is calling because The Noises in the Night are keeping he and his elves awake and without rest they can’t finish all of the toys they need to make for Christmas. The Noises in the Night are basically the Pillow People we saw in Billy’s house. One looks like a door, one a window, a thundercloud and…I don’t really know what the fourth one is supposed to be. He sort of looks like an egg with clown shoes. They were toys too and I specifically remember the window guy as he was in the background a lot in Full House. I think my neighbor had him too. They obviously represent noises that might keep kids away at night and we soon find out they’re followers of someone called Nightmara (Night-mare-ah). She’s some evil being that can’t sleep so she makes it her mission to keep kids awake at night to spread misery, I guess.
Santa and his elves just lay back and take the abuse. What chumps!
Dr. Z suggests to Santa that he move his base of operations from the North Pole to some secret Santa hideout in Pillow Valley called North Pillow. That’s pretty convenient that he has a satellite operation there. Santa agrees with the suggestion and soon he and his elves arrive in Pillow Valley. We check-in with them to find Santa and the elves all asleep at their work bench. You would think Santa would allow his workers to retreat to actual beds, but no. Unfortunately for them their sleep is soon interrupted once again by the Noises in the Night. They come barging in, go up and down the work benches being kind of loud, and then depart satisfied in a job well done. They also warn that now it’s Nightmara’s turn to do whatever her job is. Santa can only bemoan the fact that the Noises tracked them down. No one seems to consider just, I don’t know, kicking their asses? These guys are strictly pacifists it would seem. It also probably wouldn’t hurt to lock the door. Or get ear plugs. All I’m saying is this seems like a real minor problem with a variety of simple solutions.
This Nightmara sure casts a menacing shadow. Can she possibly live up to it?
Billy and the others soon drop by only to find out that the elves have hit such a state of exhaustion that they’re now in a deep sleep. The problem now is that they’re too close to Christmas and can’t possibly finish all of the toys in time. Billy has the bright idea to suggest that they assist in making the last of the toys. Everyone seems to think this is a great idea so I guess they all have experience making toys? They get to work and we see that it’s okay for the boxing pillow to punch stuff that isn’t alive, but I guess he can’t punch one of the Noises in the Night. Everything seems to be going well until Nightmara’s shadow falls across the land. More evil laughter is heard as soon all of the presents get sucked away. There doesn’t appear to be some massive vacuum device, it just sort of happens like it’s a property of the shadow she creates. And that shadow kind of looks like a dragon and I’m actually eager to see what this being looks like. With the presents all gone Nightmara takes her leave and Santa, the funny guy that he is, announces that it’s “Ho, ho, hopeless,” and that Christmas is cancelled. Where have I heard that before?
The answer is, “Eh, sort of.”
In a sinister looking castle with a giant dragon’s maw for an opening, we find the Noises in the Night apparently enjoying the gifts their master stole. We then get our first look at this Nightmara as she descends a staircase with what appears to be a raven on her shoulder. She’s…unimpressive. She has a visage like Mother Brain from the Captain N show and a body like Venger from the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, only it’s purple instead of red. Maybe they date? She has either a cape or bat wings and she’s just all together some creepy old lady. Not really scary or imposing, though certainly ugly. She’s pissed at her minions for playing with the toys and making a bunch of noise, but making noise is essentially all that they do.
Where are the stolen presents go. Very efficient.
Upon seeing Nightmara, the ugly pillow with the big feet collides with Thunderclap. He was on a skateboard and Thunderclap was playing marbles. The two then smash into a toy train being driven by the other two, the squeeky door and window. Nightmara then gets a chance to explain her rationale here which is that she stole Christmas from the kids so they couldn’t sleep? Okay, she reasons that kids go to bed early on Christmas to wake up early and open gifts and since she can’t sleep no one can. I get the last part, but the promise of presents in the morning is what makes kids NOT sleep on Christmas Eve. Her plan should have something to do with that. No presents means kids are just going to be sad (which probably doesn’t bother her), but they’re just going to go to sleep again. Her plan should be somehow to prolong Christmas. Anyway, we do finally get to see what she’s using to suck up the toys. It’s a tiny, black, chest and she uses it to suck up all of the toys in her castle so that the Noises in the Night can’t play with them. I’d say she’s a mean boss, but I suppose they had it coming when they decided to work for someone who refers to herself as The Queen of Nightmares.
Oh great, these two are coming along.
Back in Pillow Valley, Santa informs the others that there isn’t enough time to make new toys to save Christmas. Pillow Fighter finally makes a useful suggestion which is to just go kick Nightmara’s ass. Billy likes that idea, until Pillow Fighter informs him that Nightmara can turn into basically any horrible creature she can think of. Still, the others apparently agree as they start to head out. First, we need to highlight Rockabye, the little baby pillow, who wants to go too, but Sweet Dreams informs her this mission is too dangerous and puts her in her cradle and rocks her to sleep. Before they can leave, Detective Peter Pillow returns (he was the inspector guy from earlier) and he’s also bringing a dog pillow guy with him because we need to advertise the Pillow People Pets! He’s bringing along Drowsy Dog because a narcoleptic canine is sure to be useful in tracking down an evil sorceress. At least the rest of the gang look bewildered at the thought of bringing these two clowns along.
If you hang out with the Sandman you have to be ready to cover your eyes at a moment’s notice.
Drowsy Dog, who walks like any other bipedal Pillow Person, leads them to a random spot on the ground and then goes to sleep. The detective seems to think this is all part of his plan, while Mr. Sandman thinks going to sleep is just a good idea. He tosses his magic sand in the air and Sweet Dreams is quick to remind everyone to cover their eyes unless they too want to fall into a deep slumber. Billy wonders how they’ll ever reach Noisy Canyon (that’s apparently where they’re going) at this rate, but Pillow Fighter tells him to cheer up and scoops up Mr. Sandman as they all just walk off apparently leaving Dr. Z behind, the coward. At no point does anyone speculate how long this journey is going to take. We’ve seen where Nightmara lives and it doesn’t look anything like Pillow Valley which leads me to believe it’s quite a haul. I guess they don’t have Pillow Trucks or planes.
Looks like Billy found a safe place to hide.
Well, wherever this place is it apparently wasn’t far because our…heroes…are already in Noisy Canyon. Billy is the first to note that it’s pretty quiet despite it’s name, but then of course it gets loud. He runs away screaming while the others try to tell him they’re just noises that can’t hurt him. Santa even calls after him to come back because they need his help to save Christmas. Just what are they relying on this kid for, exactly? Billy then runs into the other Noises in the Night and both sides are scared of the other. The Noises regroup and quickly realize what’s going, while Billy reunites with the others by running right into Santa’s big, red, ass. Peter Pillow takes the credit for this reunion because he sucks, while the others take this opportunity to remind Billy that noises can’t hurt him. It all goes back to the reason for the Pillow People’s creation. At least they’re good at staying on message.
If this were a 90s cartoon there would definitely be a piss joke here.
The group resumes it’s search for Nightmara’s castle by traversing Noisy Canyon. They’re soon confronted by the Noises once again who block their passage. Thunderclap, clearly the leader, tells them to turn back or else. When he’s challenged on the “or else” part, he does what his name implies: claps. A dark cloud appears over him and it crackles with lightning. Maybe we’re about to get some actual conflict?! Then the cloud rains and all it does is soak Thunderclap. Billy laughs at how lame he is and points out that noises can’t hurt him. And that apparently applies to the Noises in the Night.
Guys! She’s right above you!
The group is then shown walking once again. I guess once they realized the Noises couldn’t hurt them they just pushed past them? The orange glow of the background would suggest that they’re nearing the castle which was surrounded by lava. They are indeed there and as they approach the dragon maw entrance we can see Nightmara lurking above. Peter Pillow again takes credit for leading them here and suggests that he and Drowsy Dog will be able to deduce a way inside. The dog, to my surprise, actually appears to sniff out a loose brick in the wall. Peter Pillow pushes it, but rather than opening a secret entrance it opens a trap door and our heroes fall into a long, dark, chasm, possibly to their death. Well, I guess the pillows will be fine, but Santa and Billy might die. I guess if this pit is full of spikes then the pillows will die too. I doubt we’re that lucky.
Surrounded by corpses.
Of course, no one dies and the group just lands in a jail cell of some kind. Around them are inanimate pillows. Are these the corpses of Pillow People who were locked up until death? No one seems unnerved by them, so I guess not. Nightmara enters to basically just laugh at everyone before disappearing causing Santa to turn to his apparent catchphrase once again of “Ho, ho, hopeless.” He’s really a downer. Pillow Fighter thinks he can punch his way out, but all that does is reveal he can’t even count to 4. Mr. Sandman wakes up and upon seeing that they’re locked in a dungeon basically says, “Screw this,” and tosses more sand in his eyes. Doing so gives Sweet Dreams the idea that maybe they can use the sand on Nightmara? Problem is, they first need to break out of this dungeon and to do that they’re going to need a diversion.
This inspector pillow is so damn useless.
And what is their diversion? A pillow fight! That’s why all of those pillow corpses are strewn about. The gang breaks into a fight and I’m curious what this will accomplish, but apparently the Noises in the Night are far dumber than expected. They come barging in to break up the fight for some reason, Nightmara too. These guys are seriously bad at being villains. They basically join in on the pillow fight and during the “melee” the Pillow People use the magic sand to put each of the Noises in the Night to sleep one by one. Sweet Dreams takes care of Window Rattler while Peter Pillow is left to take on the egg guy, who we find out is called Big Foot Steps. Only, Peter sucks at everything and tosses the sand at his nose causing Big Foot Steps to sneeze. By doing so, he blows sand into Peter’s eyes, who sneezes, and blows sand into the eyes of Big Foot Steps causing both to fall asleep.
The confrontation we’ve been waiting for?
Billy is left to take down Nightmara herself. She’s surprised to see that Billy has the courage to face her, but I guess she’s a lot like the noises or something so he’s fine. She’s also not very observant and seems to have no idea what Billy is up to. He doesn’t take any chances and tosses the entire pouch of sand in her face. At first she has no idea what’s going on, and this is actually a good chance for this thing to have a little fun with a character who has literally never experienced sleep before be overcome by it. It’s nothing special though. She and her raven basically just yawn and collapse in a heap. So much for that.
Somehow, the one that’s always sleeping is the most useful of the Pillow People.
With Nightmara down for the count, her magic treasure chest falls to the floor and breaks open. All of the presents she stole spring out and litter the castle. Some of them look absolutely massive, bigger than Santa! No one is apparently worried about getting these back to North Pillow and instead it just sort of happens. Fill in the blanks however you want, I guess. A rightly exhausted Santa is unsure of how he’s going to deliver all of the gifts in time since it’s practically Christmas morning. Mr. Sandman knows when he’s needed, and with a wink he’s off! The little guy rides a star through the early morning sky leaving a blanket of magic sand dust in his wake. We see kids rising out of bed and, for some reason, heading for their bedroom windows only to get hit with the sand and return to bed.
When Billy isn’t onscreen we should always be asking, “Where’s Billy?”
With the kids back in bed, Santa is free to deliver the presents. With his five trusty reindeer (boo!), he’s off and the Pillow People are coming along to help deliver the gifts. And Billy too. When they’re all done and gathered around a Christmas tree, Santa thanks the Pillow People and asks where’s Billy? That Billy is fast asleep in the corner. I guess they saved his house for last. They put him to bed and Sweet Dreams tells him, wait, I bet you can’t guess – “Sweet dreams, Billy.”
Oh! Great! More product placement!
With Billy in bed the Pillow People depart. Soon, the early morning sun creeps through his bedroom window causing him to spring from his bed and run down to the tree. Everything is as it should be and Billy suspects it was all just a dream. A tap on the shoulder reveals it most certainly was not. Sweet Dreams is there and she has a special present for Billy. It’s basically a Santa Pillow People that Santa wanted him to have so that he’d always remember this night. The other Pillow People are there as well and give Billy a wave before they all depart. Billy’s parents enter and his dad takes note of the doll in his son’s hands and remarks that he finally caught Santa. Billy confirms that he did and says it was all thanks to the Pillow People! His parents look at each other with bewildered expressions and rightly so. Under the tree, a box moves out of the way and one of the little pillow guys pops out (40 Winks?), winks, and runs away.
“What the hell did our son just say?!”
Well, that was pretty terrible. A commercial masquerading as a Christmas special. I suppose it’s not a surprise to encounter such a thing, but this one is just so bad at disguising its true intentions. The part where Sweet Dreams just basically takes Billy on a tour of their products had me chuckling aloud – thanks Reagan! The whole concept of Pillow People is very boring to me. It was then, it is now. They’re not terrible, it’s just mind-boggling that they caught on in such a big way. I suppose I can applaud its commitment to the lore of basically being nightmare salves, but I always thought they were a bit creepy looking. Punky was okay for me because he had shades, but Sweet Dreams? She’s frightening. These things weren’t nightmare salves, they were nightmare fuel.
They tried so hard to make the ending cute.
Since this is a TMS production the look and animation is way better than it should be. It’s not impressive, by any means, but it’s far from awful. This thing probably cost more to make than the Garfield holiday specials. The art direction is a bit on the bland side. I was fine with Noisy Canyon and Nightmara’s castle, but Pillow Valley is like the home of the Care Bears, but even less interesting. The voice cast, on the other hand, is full of quality actors. Some were easy to pick out for me, like Cree Summer, others were not. Jim Cummings is in this one and I’m not sure who he is. Ken Samson, who played Rabbit in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, was easy to pick out as Dr. Z. Russi Taylor is in this one too, but I’m not sure who she is. Maybe one of the babies? I don’t think she was Sweet Dreams. The most fun one could probably have with this special is watching it with a list of the voice actors in front of them and trying to figure out who voiced who.
And that’s really the only reason to watch it, other than sheer curiosity. The story sucks and it’s not entertaining. The music isn’t good and the animation is merely adequate. There aren’t any flourishes to the animation aside from the rotating, tracking, shots during the crappy song. It’s mostly just fine. If you ever had a Pillow People doll or saw one and wondered what was up with it, I guess this might answer some of your questions? If you’d rather not take my word for it and wish to see for yourself, you can find this thing online for free in various states of quality. I don’t know if this thing was ever released on VHS. I want to say “probably,” but I couldn’t find anything. I did find the Pillow People Santa so if you find yourself jealous of Billy’s Christmas present, you could get your very own. I don’t know why you would be though.
Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:
Come 2008, the DC Animated Universe had been dead for 2 years. Justice League Unlimited aired its final episode in 2006 bringing an end to something that had been ongoing since 1992. As I touched on earlier in this year’s countdown, the DCAU wasn’t something I was particularly invested in so it’s end went unnoticed…
Today, The Christmas Spot temporarily alters it’s name to The X-Mas Spot. As a sort-of celebration for the animated series X-Men turning 30 this past Halloween we’re going to look at the show’s lone holiday special – “Have Yourself a Morlock Little X-Mas.” The show X-Men was a pretty serious affair as far as kid…
The early 90s saw an influx of cartoons produced solely with the intent to sell to cable networks. Previously, most cartoons were packaged from film or created for broadcast networks which would get the first run on major network affiliates and then gradually migrate to smaller stations. With cable becoming more affordable, it was fast…
Four Horsemen continue their dance with Dickens for 2024.
For past few years Four Horsemen have been bringing us surprise Christmas figures each holiday season. The first was Krampus and the second Father Christmas. Last year, Four Horsemen surprised us with the Ghost of Jacob Marley. A ghost character, especially one in 19th century clothing, can make for a fun design and figure, but it was still a bit surprising to see Four Horsemen pivot from folklore to literature. Granted, A Christmas Carol is practically folklore at this point and it’s ingrained in the Christmas season. The only downside to such a release was that it essentially removed the element of surprise when it came to the annual Christmas offering. I suppose some may have wondered if Four Horsemen would really go down a Dickens hole, but any who were still uncertain likely aren’t now for this year’s release is the unsurprising Ghost of Christmas Past.
She’s here to party.
Ghost of Christmas Past went up for sale the Saturday after Thanksgiving and has been rolling out to customers ever since. She is much like the other figures in the line in that she comes in a tall window box with a wrap-around cover that doubles as a backdrop and is held in place with magnets. The cover features some beautiful artwork of the character by Nathan Baertsch in a snowy setting while the reverse would appear to depict the interior of old Fezziwig’s. It is quite lovely, though part of me is left wishing that it was an image of Fezziwig’s from the outside of the building like the spirit is looking in.
Give her a flight stand and she really comes alive.
That’s a minor critique and what most are likely going to be interested is the figure itself and the Four Horsemen interpretation. The original text described the spirit as male, and an old one at that, but many have also depicted this spirit as female. Four Horsemen lay out their reasoning for such in a lengthy write-up of the character, but the simple fact of the matter is making this ghost female adds some variety to the line. The look of the figure conforms with my interpretation of the character, with a few twists. She’s about 6.5″ to the top of her head, but out of the box comes sporting a crown that takes her all the way to 8″. She is a beautiful woman with a fair complexion and gray hair. There’s a touch of color to her cheeks and lips, but little more. She’s clad in a white, sleeveless, gown that’s trimmed with a silver flower pattern with two flowing capes of a cheesecloth-like material, it’s light and partially transparent. The crown is quite ornate with translucent, blue, ice on the front with a wreath of silver roses. There’s a hint of a yellow-green behind the roses and rising from the crown are tall antler-like sticks. The outside of which are painted brown while the inside is a bright orange almost like there should be flame in the center. The cover picture has a burst of light shining through so I suppose that’s the illusion we’re going for here.
She basically has an adapter piece to achieve the four-armed look. The two circular holes on her back are not used for anything with this release.
Perhaps the most standout element of the figure are the extra arms protruding from her sides. This is accomplished by a piece that plugs into the figure’s upper back. In the text, Scrooge sees this apparition as constantly changing and sometimes he can’t tell if she has two arms or four and this is a clever way to accomplish such. The piece is easily removed if you prefer a two-armed ghost and the cape will cover the unsightly holes on the back of the figure. I will say these arms do not sit as high as the artwork depicts them, but that may have been a harder feat, especially if the intent was always to make them removable.
Some may prefer two arms, but I say more is better.
Adding two arms obviously adds to the articulation as well. The Ghost of Christmas Past, like most Four Horsemen figures I’ve encountered, isn’t going to really impress with the articulation, but she probably has enough. The head is on a ball hinge, which I wish wasn’t the case as it’s a bit ugly. Especially since if you use it too much you’re sure to have some paint flake off of it. Shoulders are ball-hinged and elbows single-hinged. They’ll swivel, but they’re tight and some of the arms almost feel like they’re binding. Do be careful. Wrists all have standard, horizontal, hinges and will swivel. There’s a ball joint in the diaphragm and a waist twist. Legs are ball-hinges and there is a thigh swivel. Knees are single-hinged and will rotate a little. Ankles have a cut for a swivel and the feet, which are bare, have a hinge and ankle rocker. The body beneath this appears to basically be wearing gray underwear. I assume it’s sourced from another figure, but you won’t want to remove the dress unless you need a blank to customize.
The different faces of the Ghost of Christmas Past along with her alternate hair piece.
Not only do the arms change in the story, but so does the spirit’s face. Four Horsemen have equipped her with three portraits. The first of which is a conventionally attractive woman. She looks like the actress Abigail Spencer to me, but that could just be me. Her other portraits show her in an aging, or decaying, state. The first replaces her left eye with an all white one and her skin is deteriorating slightly on the same side. The third has both eyes whited out and her skin is cracked and damaged. Aside from the eyes, the effect is subtle, but both heads add a more supernatural element to the presentation. And if you don’t care for the large crown, there’s a separate hair piece that omits it. These extra faces are basically just to add a different vibe and to keep the figure from being “too tame,” as Four Horsemen put it. Drop the crown and other distinguishing touches and she can basically just be a wraith for a non-Christmas display. It’s your choice.
Do be careful when swapping hands. Maybe just heat the forearms up out of an abundance of caution.
For hands, Past comes with a pair of open hands and a pair of gripping hands by default. In the box are a set of fists, a set of style posed hands slightly different from the open ones, and another set of gripping hands. The figure, including the hands, is all painted which may contribute to the hands being difficult to remove. I did not even attempt to remove the two open hands, but I did remove the gripping hands from the second set of arms. They were tight and I actually broke the hinge on the left hand. I had to dunk the forearms in hot water even days after opening the figure (it’s cold up north so I let figures warm up this time of year) to get the hands off. Since the figure came with four gripping hands, I didn’t feel like reaching out to customer service was warranted, but do beware.
Stuff is good.
The Ghost of Christmas Past comes with several other accessories to liven up the package. For handheld things, we get her staff which is topped with a snuffer. It’s gold in color and has a spiral texture. The snuffer end is on a ring so it’s floating, almost like a bell. She also has a large, stand-alone snuffer or extinguisher. It’s gold and has some nice silver trim to it. There’s a little tab on it she can hold onto, though she isn’t going to get a truly tight grip with any of her hands. The last handheld object is a little piece of holly. It looks the part, but it’s too thin for her gripping hands. You’re better off using one of the more style posed hands and sliding the stem between some fingers if you’d like her to hold it. The other, main, accessory is a snow base with a street light that fits into it. It’s a snug fit and the lamp being a hard plastic makes it a little worrisome when trying to slot it in. Don’t get too rough or you may break it. It looks lovely though, I just wish it was battery operated so it could actually light up.
If you prefer the no staff look, she has more of a handheld extinguisher.
The Ghost of Christmas Past comes with two more items. The next part of the story which is in book form and a bonus accessory intended to be a surprise. I won’t spoil it, but as far as surprises go I think it’s the best, and most useful, one yet. The book is stave 2 of 5 and if you have any kind of familiarity with A Christmas Carol then you should know who is on deck for 2025. I will say, that one is less interesting to me as I don’t see an obvious way to make the character visually striking, unless he’s huge, but maybe they’ll surprise me. It would seem that the next three years are basically cemented as far as releases go with this Christmas line. It’s a little disappointing knowing we don’t have a surprise coming for awhile, but maybe one of the next staves is doubled-up. The final stave is basically the aftermath where one would expect to find a figure of Scrooge. Maybe Scrooge instead gets released with the final ghost as a two-pack or optional two-pack? Some may only be in it for the ghosts, though I suspect many want a Scrooge as well. Perhaps to make Scrooge a bit more exciting he’ll come with multiple outfits so that he can basically be any of the Scrooge’s from the story, save for the child version. Or maybe he’ll come with Tiny Tim? I guess there are still questions left to be answered.
This is shaping up to be a fun display in another 3 years. I wonder how many people out there will want a Scrooge for every ghost they have?
If you’re down with Four Horsemen’s take on Dickens then you’ll probably enjoy this figure. It’s undoubtedly part of what will be a much larger display some day and is an interesting take on the character that also can pass for a traditional one as well. If you’re looking to buy it, however, you have missed your chance for 2024. She will undoubtedly be back as a retailer edition with a slightly different colorway at some point next year and Four Horsemen will probably make this version available again next Christmas, which is what they do with this line. If you happen to catch them at a convention in 2025, then they may have some of these on-hand as well. In other words, if you missed it this year don’t go nuts trying to get one on the aftermarket. The MSRP is $60 and I definitely wouldn’t pay much more than that just to get the figure early.
Missed out on any of the past Figura Obscura Christmas figures from Four Horsemen? Check these out:
Four Horsemen Studios is back with another holiday release in its Figura Obscura line of action figures. This sister line of their more famous Mythic Legions property launched two years ago with Krampus and continued with last year’s Father Christmas. Many fans, myself included, expected another holiday figure this year, though if you had asked…
It was just last year that Four Horsemen launched a subline of its popular Mythic Legions brand of action figures called Figura Obscura. Practically speaking, there’s little difference between the two lines as Mythic Legions seeks to serve as a modular line of toys based on myth and legend and that doesn’t feature licensed characters.…
Over the years, I’ve acquired quite a few action figures designed by the good people over at Four Horsemen LLC. They’ve been designing figures for companies for awhile now. My first exposure to the company was via NECA’s inaugural line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles based on their appearance in the Mirage Studios comics. Lately,…
It’s time for your favorite holiday tradition: Christmas with the Joker!
Yesterday, the United States celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday so you know what that means? The Christmas season is underway! And it’s one that feels like it could not have come any sooner. We need a little Christmas, right this very minute, and today it’s coming to us via an unexpected source: The Joker. Yes, the Clown Prince of Crime is getting into the Christmas spirit today for, what else, an action figure release. This is yet another old one from DC Collectibles re-released via McFarlane Toys. The first such set of figures we looked at released this way didn’t go that well. Will this Joker fare any better? Will the magic of Christmas help to elevate him above his brethren? Let’s find out together.
Joker, as seen in the episode from which this figure is based on.
It was years ago (2017, if I’m not mistaken) that DC Collectibles released a Joker action figures based on the episode of Batman: The Animated Series “Christmas With the Joker.” In just the show’s second episode it not only introduced audiences to its version of the Joker, but also made it a Christmas special. Since the show was debuting in September, that meant it had to be held back a bit, but still managed to air in November. Nonetheless, it’s not one of the show’s better episodes, but the mere fact it features the Joker and it’s a Christmas episode helped it to remain memorable.
He certainly looks happy to be celebrating the holidays with us.
When this figure was first released, I considered getting it. I don’t know why I didn’t, I guess maybe I was trying to save money? I probably feared that getting even one action figure from this line of Batman figures would open the floodgates so I held off. When it went on clearance I still held off. When it got a re-release with a pearl finish? Oh yeah, I held off. And when that re-release also received the discount treatment? By then I had become a pro at ignoring this Christmas Joker so it was a piece of cake to do so yet again.
He’s definitely not going to scale with the McFarlane Batman Santa.
Now, it’s 2024 and McFarlane Toys has decided it needs to re-release this Christmas Joker. I don’t know why in 2024 that I feel like now is the time to jump in, but it’s what I’ve done. The wave one figures from McFarlane were borderline terrible. I like the sculpt of the Scarecrow and Freeze is okay, but the Batman and Robin figures were just plain bad. The paint jobs are pretty hideous and the toys feel cheaper than ever. These figures were fragile when originally released, but they didn’t feel cheap. I don’t know what McFarlane is doing, but these feel comparatively worse. Still, for a Christmas figure I just expect it to stand there and look festive. My demands of this figure are pretty minimal and should be easy to please. I’m not sure it’s capable of meeting even those unambitious demands.
“Now here’s a Santa I can really get behind!”
Joker comes in the normal packaging which is a big window box that’s entirely too large. There is no Christmas theming to the packaging which feels like a real missed opportunity. Make it look like a wrapped gift and you stand to sell two of these per person, Todd. Joker is depicted as he was for most of that episode, well, aside from the hat. He wears the hat for all two seconds, but this figure has one molded to its head. In another missed opportunity, McFarlane could have included a non-hatted head to switch to, but maybe this one was never designed for a removable head? Aside from the hat, Joker is sporting a Christmas sweater that’s a simple red with a green turtleneck underneath. From the waist down, he’s basically your standard Joker with purple pants and white and black shoes.
“Here Harvey, you look like you could use a little Christmas spirit.”
The sculpt is fine, but the paint is not. Joker isn’t as bad as the other figures, but the detail work is pretty awful. His mouth and teeth are sloppy and my figure had a big black smudge on his chin that I’ve mostly been able to remove with a Magic Eraser. His eyes are outlined in black, but he has no eyebrows to speak of. The edges of the white on the Santa hat aren’t particularly sharp, but what isn’t dreadful with this release is the cel-shading. McFarlane added some dark red to the right side of the figure and some dark purple to the pants. There’s also a hit of dark green on the inner sweater. It’s far more purposeful than some of the other figures and the color choices are fine. If all of the figures looked like this there probably wouldn’t be many complaints about the shading. There’s also still a lot of bare plastic here including basically all of the white parts and pants. The original release looks like it was almost all painted, by comparison, so if you can get that one instead for a decent price you may find it the better piece.
Yuck.
What’s not any different is the feel of this thing. It’s cheap and it’s pretty junky. The MSRP appears to be $30 though Target initially offered it for $25 (and it is a Target exclusive). Even at the lower end, it doesn’t feel great. This is more like a $15 figure and the articulation is befitting that price range as well. You get very little here as the head only rotates. If it’s supposed to look up or down mine won’t budge. The shoulder pins are fine and the elbows bend almost 90 degrees. The hips are those awful hinges that DC used to utilize and they both look and feel like absolute shit. He can do splits, but you won’t want him to. Kicking forward and back is minimal while the knees do what they’re supposed to. There’s basically nothing but swivels at the ankle. As an action figure, this thing is terrible for $25 and truly god-awful at $30.
He’s got a candy cane. Cool?
All that said, few are going to buy a Christmas themed Joker action figure to put him in crazy poses. Well, some might want to, but usually these holiday themed figures can get away with subpar articulation if the presentation is there. And aiding in the presentation are the accessories. Joker comes with an assortment of hands: fists, gripping, and what we’ll call candy cane hands. He has these candy cane holding hands because he comes with a candy cane – imagine that? It’s basically a tight trigger finger hand. It would have been nice if regular trigger hands could have worked, but I guess they didn’t want to make a really fat candy cane. As for the candy cane itself, it’s fine. It may not be fat, but it is a pretty big candy cane, but at least those custom hands hold it well.
Joker’s sad little tree.
Joker one-ups the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles we looked at earlier this week by coming with his own Christmas tree. This tree makes Charlie Brown’s tree look robust by comparison as it’s really more of a stick. There isn’t a single needle left on this dead piece of pine and it has some twigs poking off of it from which ornaments can be hung. Joker comes with five ornaments: one red, yellow, and green and two blue. One of the blue ones should have a white star painted on the top, but McFarlane cut that from the budget. They’re all spherical with a plastic, black, loop molded onto them so they can be placed on the tree. I wish the loop was just a little bigger as it’s challenging to get them onto some of the smaller branches. Some aren’t angled well for an ornament and the plastic is kind of brittle. I had stress marks on one of the lower limbs as I tried to get a loop over it and had to abandon that idea. His candy cane hands can sort of pinch the hoops on these ornaments so he can hold them, which is a good design choice. There’s also a yellow-painted star molded to the top of the tree.
This little guy enjoys causing mayhem just as much as Joker.
Lastly, Joker comes with his little elf buddy, Laughy. He’s a hand puppet, but not the kind you stick your whole hand into. He’s literally Joker’s fist with a face painted onto the side with an elf costume molded to it. The paint is thick and flakey, but otherwise the hand looks pretty good. It plugs into Joker’s right arm and the fit is rather tight (compared with the incredibly loose alternate hands). There’s a standard, horizontal, hinge which is fine, but the limited range at the shoulder and Joker’s head make it hard for truly convincing posing. If his elbow could actually bend past 90 degrees that would have helped too. Even with the articulation limits, this is probably my favorite accessory of the bunch and I can’t see myself ever displaying Joker without it. Also included is the torso for Maxie Zeus as this is a build-a-figure wave. To complete Maxie you’ll need to also purchase Two-Face, Batgirl, and a Batman variant that’s an homage to an old Kenner toy. I did get Two-Face and if that Batman variant were at all desirable I might have convinced myself to get the rest to complete the figure, but there’s no way I’m spending 30 bucks on a terrible Batman figure.
“Wow Laughy, a shotgun? You shouldn’t have!”
This Christmas themed Joker figure is more or less what I expected. The articulation and overall feel of the figure is truly subpar, but in-line with the first wave of figures. I wish the paint on the Joker’s head was better, but at least the cel-shading is done reasonably well. I also wish he was cheaper, but considering I got the figure at a slight discount I guess I should feel a little better about it. For $30, I can only recommend this for the Christmas enthusiast who also happens to love Batman: The Animated Series. If a Christmas figure does nothing for you then the only reason to get this is for the build-a-figure part. From what I can tell based on the parts I have, the Maxie Zeus figure is going to be a lot like The Condiment King meaning the sculpt is above average, but the scale is way off. He’s a big boy, but hopefully he’s not as floppy in the hips as Condiment King for those who get him. I feel bad for those diehards who really want a Maxie Zeus (I personally did not care for that episode) because they have to get a Batman variant they probably don’t want as well as a holiday themed Joker they may or may not want. For those who don’t, hopefully there’s enough people like me out there willing to buy your unwanted Christmas Joker. At a reasonable discount, of course. That might be the best way to go about getting this guy.
For more Christmas figures or to see what inspired this release check out the below:
Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s the jolly one – Santa Claus! Oh, wait, no, it’s the somber, moody, one: Batman Santa! Yes, it’s our first Christmas themed post of 2023 and it’s an action figure review – shocking, I know. McFarlane Toys has held the DC license for several years now, but this is my first…
Episode Number: 2 Original Air Date: November 13, 1992 Directed By: Kent Butterworth Written By: Eddie Gorodetsky First Appearance(s): Robin, Joker, Summer Gleason, Arkham Asylum An interesting choice for a second episode of a series. It’s a Christmas episode, which feels kind of inline with Batman thanks to Batman Returns. It’s also the debut of…
It was looking like we were in for a photo finish this year. Last year, toymaker Fresh Monkey Fiction partnered with online retailer Big Bad Toy Store to launch the Naughty or Nice collection. Structured similar to a Kickstarter campaign, FMF posted several action figures for preorder with a minimum order quantity needed for the…
If you know anything about me then you probably know that I like collecting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures and I like Christmas. Strangely, those two things have not come together all that often. Most of the television shows featuring the famed four opted not to feature the holiday in an episode. And without much Christmas stuff to go off of, the toys have not broached the subject all that often. There have been a few instances though and one infamous example is the 1994 release We Wish You a Turtle Christmas. Utilizing assets from the stage show that had been touring the country, the direct-to-video special saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles prepare for the holiday while seeking out a gift for Splinter. It was a musical event and one I never watched as a kid. Sure, I saw the tape available for rent, but those hideous costumes were a huge turn-off. Plus, by 1994 I had moved off of TMNT and onto Marvel and video games. There was no going back.
It’s a logical way to reuse these ugly, old, turtles.
In 2020, NECA Toys released a set of action figures based on the old stage show. They called the Musical Mutagen Tour and it brought those ugly ass turtles to the world of plastic in a rather convincing manner. It was a convention exclusive that was also made available at Target since it was the summer of 2020 and conventions weren’t happening. Ever since that release though I had wondered if a set of figures based on that terrible Christmas special were in the cards. NECA likes to do holiday themed releases and we’ve seen Gremlins get more than a couple. They’ve also done Misfits and Elvira and there’s probably more I’m forgetting or choosing not to remember. TMNT is their biggest seller these days and it was dying for a Christmas release of some kind and 2024 ended up being the time for it.
“Hey dudes! You wanna sing carols about pizza?!”
The Dimension X-Mas Vacation is that set. It may not say it on the box due to licensing, but this is basically We Wish You a Turtle Christmas the action figures. It’s NECA repurposing assets from its movie line of TMNT figures along with the heads of those Musical Mutagen Tour figures. Joining the package are some accessories pulled from that special and it’s all presented in a very lovely package meant to simulate a VHS release. There’s even a new story created for this non-existent special that’s summarized on the box itself and it sounds rather plausible for a TMNT release of that era. The set was kept under wraps until San Diego Comic Con of this year and has been made available through Walmart for the not so low price of $150. Because of that price and the niche appeal here, this is probably going to appeal to a smaller audience than usual, but I am most definitely that audience.
The packaging is pretty cool.
This set features figures of the turtles: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo, as they were depicted in We Wish You a Turtle Christmas. It’s basically four identical figures where the only difference is the color of the bandanas. They’re all “naked” as compared with the tour turtles save for their usual belts, pads, and shoes. Yes, shoes, as these costumes decided making turtle feet was way too hard so they have black sneakers and leg warmers. It’s ridiculous. They also each come with a Santa hat which gently rests on the bandana knot on the back of their head. There are two styles of Santa hats between the four turtles and the only difference is which way the pom pom is going: 2 left and 2 right.
“Leo! You’re supposed to put the lights on the tree! On the tree!”
Most of the components of the bodies are reused from the prior tour set which means this is the dated 1990 movie body. The hips are the old pin joints, which is the main tell. The elbows are NECA’s own double-jointed setup and these ones were clearly cut to accommodate the much larger elbow pads of the Musical Mutagen Tour set. Here, they cut for the pad is too generous resulting in uglier looking elbows. The shell and plastron are new though and a better match for the source material compared with the other releases of these bodies. I’m not sure why we couldn’t get updated hips, but it is what it is. Paint across the board is mostly fine. The white of the Santa hats features numerous blemishes across the four while the bodies themselves are pretty clean. There is an overall harder plastic feel to these guys compared with other movie figures. Making use of the gripping hands is going to be harder than usual and there’s some flashing in the elbow joints. It gives the figures a slightly cheaper feel. These costumes are supposed to look cheap, but the figures don’t need to be. The paint around the teeth is at least an improvement over the tour turtles I have with less bleeding of the pink paint onto the teeth.
“Check it out – a tree stand!” “Donnie, this ain’t your best work.”
Articulation for these guys is essentially the same as the tour turtles, which is to say it’s basic. The articulated jaw is a welcomed edition and one of the aspects of these designs that stands out the most in my memory. They’re so ugly and NECA really captured that. Most of the joints are pretty stiff, some almost to a worrisome degree. These guys aren’t going to pose all that well to begin with so I’d advise not forcing anything if it’s fighting you. A hair dryer or hot water will be your friend. The shoulders and hips are especially tight for me while the elbows varied from figure to figure. The elbow joint almost looks like it wants to split which obviously isn’t good, but I haven’t had any breaks. I’ve also been pretty gentile. The ankles are also pretty useless so it’s too bad they didn’t figure out a better way to do the sneakers. The ankle joint really just needs to be visible with this design and it’s not the case. I’m sure the soft goods leg warmers aren’t helping.
“Come on, Mikey, no peeking!”
These turtles aren’t intended to mix it up with the Foot and instead are supposed to just look ugly and festive on your shelf. And to do so NECA included a bunch of Christmas themed accessories. In addition to the hats, each turtle also has a scarf. It’s a soft goods, white, fabric with a wire running through it so it can be posed rather well. One of the four in my set is frayed a bit, which sucks. There’s also a string of Christmas lights to drape over the head of one turtle. They’re sculpted in a soft plastic so it works reasonably well and makes your chosen turtle look like some sort of hideous Christmas tree. There’s also the framed pizza from the special which is just a plastic square with a pizza in the center. The lack of a glass pane means it’s also pretty easy to have a turtle hold it even with the really tight hands. There’s a little hand bell and also a manhole cover, because every TMNT universe needs one, I guess. There’s a skateboard with moving wheels and a nice deco on it and then we also get a whole bunch of presents. They all feature different wrapping paper and help fill out the display. To round out the release there’s also the customary set of optional hands. Each turtle comes with gripping hands, then we get a set of open, thumbs up, pointing, and loose gripping hands for the four to share. I wish we could get a full complement of at least the open and loose hands for the turtles, but this selection is pretty standard at this point.
“Check it out dude, the perfect gift for Splinter!”
Since these are the singing and dancing turtles from a Christmas special, we definitely did not need the usual weapons so NECA did not include them. What I think we definitely did need though is a tree! No Christmas tree in the set makes it feel pretty light. For my pics, I used the Figura Obscura tree, but since it’s not decorated it only works so well. And at $150, that’s unfortunate. There’s a lot of reuse here as well as some reuse potential with the gifts considering all of the Christmas stuff NECA does. For all I know, some of these gifts could even be from other sets, just not ones I have. I like the hats and I like the scarves. I’m a bit torn on if I would have preferred soft goods Santa hats to the molded ones we got. Normally, I’m for molded stuff, but since these were live action characters I think soft goods might have worked. We could have also got a stocking for each turtle. It feels like we should have got more and I question how well this thing will sell because it’s already pretty niche and the price won’t attract many impulse purchases.
“Whoa! No way! He does exist!”
“Huh? I thought I heard something…”
Criticisms aside, if you want some Christmas themed TMNT figures your options are pretty slim. It’s basically the ReAction figures Super7 did a few years back (which I have, but kept on card) or the Christmas plush of Raphael from back in the day. Maybe we’ll get a figure in the future from NECA based on the Michelangelo one-shot which took place at Christmas. And since Super7 is going down the 2k3 rabbit hole, maybe we can get Christmas turtles from the episode of the show based on that one-shot. What I’m saying is this set is fine, but we need more Christmas turtles! And while I think this set is too expensive for what it is, I am glad it exists. Figures based on an obscure and pretty terrible Christmas special is something I find fun and action figures should be fun. Now, if you’ll excuse me Christmas is coming and I need to deck the halls with pepperoni.
“Check it out Santa-dude, something way better than milk and cookies!”
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