October 10, 2024

Jakks Pacific The Simpsons Homer and Bart

By Joe
Another company is taking a whack at The Simpsons.

I think it was early this year that we found out Super7’s line of ReAction and Ultimates! action figures based on The Simpsons was ending after just a couple of years. That meant Super7 was done after four waves of Ultimates! and four waves of ReAction figures. We had seen figures for a possible fifth wave and listings for another wave of ReAction figures, but they will never see the light of day. If you’re curious about my thoughts on that whole mess, check out my review of King Size Homer linked at the bottom of this entry. Safe to say, I was let down and really not surprised that Disney pulled the plug. Super7 took too long to bring figures to market and frustrated the fanbase with its character selection. And once the backlog was unleashed earlier this year, the quality took a nosedive as well which would have only further irritated Disney.

It is entirely my assumption that Disney ended the deal with Super7 largely over money in that they probably wanted more. They also apparently had another partner ready and willing to dive into The Simpsons in Jakks Pacific. Unlike Super7, Jakks is a company that specializes in low cost action figures and toys released at mass market retail. You have probably seen their figures based on various Super Mario Bros. licenses and Sonic the Hedgehog. The Simpsons is apparently their next mountain to climb and it’s possible that Jakks either wouldn’t do the deal with Disney or wasn’t willing to pay as much as Disney wanted without some kind of exclusivity over the license. For fans of the property, it basically just means we’ve swapped out one company for another. The approach of the two is very different and it remains to be seen what the finished product will look like for Jakks when it comes to selection, but for now we have a few figures we can look at and assess.

I don’t have any of the figures from Playmates, but I can show you how they scale with Super7 Ultimates!

The Jakks approach for The Simpsons is a lot like their video game figures in that there are basically two lines: a 2.5″ line and a 5″ line. I don’t actually know what the measurements of the smaller line are because I have yet to buy any. They are small though and minimally articulated. It looks like this line will be how Jakks gets play sets into market as there’s already a Homer and living room set. The 5″ line is the one I’m more interested in as it’s a more fully articulated line of figures. The 5″ scale also has the added benefit of fitting in with the old World of Springfield toy line from Playmates that existed in the early part of the century. There’s also a third tier, a deluxe line, that’s starting to come out. These figures will feature more paint and come with dioramas and special features. I’m not sure about that line at this time as the price is around $25 for those and I’m not seeing the value, but maybe I’ll change my mind. There’s also a talking Krusty doll (I have it, it’s great for what it is) and a roleplay item in the form of Moe’s telephone. I might have to get that too, but it’s very much a “toy” and something I don’t need (not like that ever stopped me).

And I can also show you how they scale with the Super7 ReAction line.

Wave One of the 5″ line contains four figures: Homer, Bart, Willie, and Otto. I have so far only managed to find the two Simpson boys, but I do hope to run into Willie and Otto at some point. The figures are sold in window boxes with the same licensing art across all of them. It’s fine and sturdy and if you’re an in-box collector the window is generous and provides for a good look at the figure inside. Each figure will retail for about $13 and it looks like the aim is to do a figure with at least one accessory. As a first wave, this seems like a solid approach to get two family members and two fairly prominent side characters. Otto was definitely more of a factor early in the show’s life, which I do kind of appreciate since it’s those long-time fans that are mostly likely to buy these. After Super7 failed to release any women in their main line though, I’m a little remiss that Jakks did the same. It looks like we won’t have to wait long though for such characters to arrive as Wave Two is set to include Lisa along with Krusty, Moe, and another Homer. I guess Marge will have to wait until the third wave.

The scale here is not great.

Homer and Bart follow a pretty similar approach. Homer is around 5″ tall while Bart is a tick under 4″. You will likely notice right away that the scale is pretty far off for the pair. Bart is way too big, but it’s basically the same scale as what Playmates did. Toy companies have a tendency to make the smallest characters in a property bigger than they should be while the largest characters tend to be smaller than they should be. In the case of Homer, I think his size is perfect. His proportions look pretty good and I really have no complaints there. Bart, in addition to being too big, also doesn’t look proportional to me. His head is huge relative to his body and his arms and legs are too long. The arms and legs I can excuse since it’s probably to help facilitate articulation, but he’s not a great looking figure. I pretty much bought him because he’s, well, Bart!

Homer actually scales pretty well with little Hugo here. I think I prefer the kids be just a little too small than too big.

Both figures feature minimal paint applications. There’s really almost none to speak of. On Homer, it’s possible the only paint is the black hair that zig zags around his head and the pupils of his eyes. His mouth and the white part of his eyes look like they may be separate pieces of colored plastic glued into place. It’s certainly the case with the eyes, while I’m less certain about the mouth. For Bart, his pupils are painted along with some of the parts of his shoes. And with the shoes, the only paint might actually be the white circles on the inside of his sneakers (something Super7 failed to paint) as the soles of his shoes are all white and there’s a little excess plastic around his socks which makes me think that too is a molded piece. It’s possible the blue is painted on and then the white circles over that.

Similarly, this new Bart doesn’t look too bad beside an Ultimates! Homer.

The lack of paint basically means these figures have a very glossy appearance. From a collector’s standpoint, it’s the thing that bothers me the most. Yes, I know, we’re talking about a very low price point here, but if just the heads were at least painted it would give these figures a much nicer aesthetic. The other issue that stands out for me are the portraits. Both characters have a hint of a smile that’s really only visible from the side or a 3/4 angle. From the front, there isn’t much personality to convey. The Simpsons are a pretty animated bunch and I would have liked some more personality. Something else that kind of bums me out is that the heads don’t feel like they’ll be easy to remove. If Jakks had planned it better, perhaps we could swap portraits with future Bart and Homer variants to create more expressive poses.

My favorite detail about Homer’s behavior at work is how he always just takes the box of donuts from the break room and heads into the bathroom.

This line is a fully articulated one and Homer and Bart probably have as much articulation as one would expect of a Simpsons line. It’s also the same setup for both. There’s a swivel head, ball-hinged shoulders, biceps swivel, single-jointed elbow, wrist swivel and hinge, ball-jointed waist, ball-socket hips, single-hinged knees, and ankle swivels. Bart’s thighs can also swivel where they meet his shorts, though it’s tight enough that I wonder if it’s intentional. I was also able to get his lower leg to rotate at the knee which I only did because his lower leg was inserted backwards out of the box. Again, I’m not sure if it’s supposed to do that, but it did. Homer’s elbow range is a little less than 90 degrees, while Bart’s is a little more. The waist joint is mostly a rotation point, but there’s a tiny bit of tilt all around on the ball joint there. It’s decent and probably enough for this brand. The arms are a little ugly since both characters are bare armed, but what are you going to do? I suppose a more collector focused line would do swappable arm parts instead of joints, but that clearly isn’t what Jakks is going for. The only joint that’s really worth criticizing is the lack of an ankle rocker. I suppose a simple ball joint for the head would also be superior to what we have.

Eating and skateboarding, that’s pretty much what both characters like to do most. Aside from maybe watch TV.

Both figures do feature a primary accessory. I suppose for Homer we technically have two. For Bart, it’s his skateboard which features a single peg at the rear of the board and purple wheels that really spin. The board itself is red plastic with stickers applied for the other colors. I always thought of Bart’s board as more orange than red, but it’s fine. Even though Bart’s right hand is a gripping hand, he doesn’t come with a slingshot or anything. For Homer, he has a pink box of donuts with an articulated lid. Inside the box, are eleven donuts which are non removable. There’s one missing because it’s separate and Homer can hold it. It has a big bite missing and it’s Homer’s favorite donut with the raspberry glaze. It too appears to be two pieces of different colored plastic glued together. That approach must be way cheaper than paint for Jakks to go through all of this trouble assembling tiny donuts.

Homer’s box of donuts turned out pretty well.

Overall, I would say these figures of Homer and Bart are pretty much as expected. They look cheap and they feel cheap because they are cheap. Now, they don’t feel fragile or anything and they have a nice weight to them, but they definitely don’t feel like a true “collectible.” I’m far more pleased with Homer than I am Bart and it has everything to do with the scale and proportions on Bart. I’m tempted to buy the 2.5″ Bart to see if I like how he fits with Homer and maybe making that my way of collecting the Springfield kids. I like how Homer looks with the ReAction Hugo so it gives me optimism that He’ll look good with the smaller Bart.

They might not be the figures we want, but maybe they’re what we deserve?

If you’re looking to start another collection of The Simpsons action figures, these are currently showing up at both Target and Walmart and have been for quite a few weeks now. It actually took me awhile to find a Bart that didn’t have misaligned pupils which is what took me so long to get to them. Amazon is also selling the first wave and they can be found at other online retailers. The figures should retail for about $13 so it’s definitely an affordable line, but you also get what you pay for. I’m largely interested in this line and I do plan to buy more, but I’m not excited about it. It’s mostly a feeling of acceptance that is driving me to buy these as more than anything they just remind me of what I want from the brand. And that’s 5″ scale figures with more paint and more accessories. Not so much accessories in the form of “stuff,” but just in extra expressions via portraits and hands. I can pose Homer with his donuts, but his mouth isn’t open to bite into one nor can he just drool over them. These figures are very sterile, but The Simpsons should be anything but.

If these figures from Jakks Pacific aren’t really doing it for you, maybe you’ll like the stuff Super7 did:

Super 7 The Simpsons Ultimates! King-Size Homer

Well, we’ve done it. We’ve reached the last figure in Super7’s line of Ultimates! action figures based on The Simpsons. Did we save the best for last? No, not really, but I am happy to say today’s figure is definitely not the worst. And this fourth and final wave has featured multiple contenders for worst…

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by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Kang and Kodos

We are onto the third wave of Ultimates! from Super7 based on The Simpsons. Like past waves, plenty of questions abound when it comes to Super7’s character selection and they’re not unfounded. Perhaps the two most questionable inclusions in this third wave are the subject of today’s post: Kang and Kodos. These are two separate…

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by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Bartman

When I concluded my review of wave 1 of The Simpsons Ultimates! from Super7 I was thinking that I’d be back with more reviews later in the year. That was in February of 2023. We are now in April of 2024 and finally wave two has arrived (my original order was place January 5th, 2022).…

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by Joe

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October 8, 2024

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Karai as The Shredder

By Joe
There’s a new Shredder in town.

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 do a second so there wasn’t much thought given to the character, but it was The Shredder that would be selected to be the main foe for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as they made the leap to other forms of media. The comics basically followed suit by bringing Shredder back first as a clone, or rather, various clones. Once that was exhausted, the two had a new solution: offspring.

The daughter is a little more trim, but nearly as tall as daddy.

Credit to Eastman and Laird for selecting Karai as the successor to The Shredder. Most creators would probably turn to the son, but they decided to go with a daughter. Karai entered the picture during the City at War arc, a sort of grand finale to the Mirage era of TMNT. She, not surprisingly, set out to avenge her father who was murdered by the turtles. She decked herself out in traditional Foot ninja garb while also taking on the armor of her father, including his rather famous helm. Karai has since made the leap to other TMNT media and is pretty well known at this point, but for a time, she was basically only known to fans of the comic books.

Karai slots in pretty well with other figures in the line.

NECA’s take on Karai, dubbed Karai as The Shredder, depicts her as she first appeared as basically the new Shredder. She comes in the standard Mirage Studios box with brand new artwork by Kevin Eastman. The figure is a sculpt by May Thamtarana with paint by the usual duo of Geoffrey (no longer Geoff?) Trapp and Mike Puzzo. The figure is currently shipping to Target as part of the latest TMNT promotion there, but it’s expected this figure will see a wide release in the not too distant future.

Karai is depicted in her Shredder disguise which is not much different from the Foot ninja or the other versions of Shredder we’ve seen from NECA. She stands about 6.5″ tall and out of the box she comes unhelmed. She is understandably more slight than those Foot ninja or her father, but she does feature comic style muscle tone on her bare arms. The figure is predominantly a dark red with sculpted linework and painted details in black. Her skin has a slight olive tone to it which adds to the overall darker presentation of the figure versus the old Shredder. She features a pretty angry looking face with a somewhat messy head of hair like she’s either in battle or perhaps just discarded her helm. The painted details are all quite sharp and the armored portions of her attire are painted a lustrous silver with black detailing.

Realize your destiny, Karai.

Karai’s appearance gets kicked up a notch when the standard head is swapped with the helmed one. Not because there is anything wrong with the default look, but because the helmed head is just done so well. It’s the same silvery color as the bladed bits, but with a liberal use of black shading. Her eyes are just white slits in blackness and I love the shading on the mouthguard portion. The black around her eyes almost looks like it doesn’t quite fill the entire area though, but I think it’s intentional and not a defect of my figure. She absolutely looks like someone who would emerge from the darkness and take your life before you even knew what happened. Standing her beside NECA’s original Mirage Shredder also highlights how far the company has come with its paint applications. The old figure looks downright bland by comparison as there’s a lot of bare plastic and less shading. I suspect we’ll eventually get a new Shredder on an all new body (like we are with the cartoon line) to replace this one some day because it’s definitely fallen behind the newer releases when it comes to shelf presence.

If she doesn’t want to wear it she could always use it as a trick or treat bucket.

Karai also features an assortment of hands and weapons. For hands, she has a set of fists, gripping hands, and open hands. The gripping hands feature the much preferred vertical hinge, a change I’ve been calling for with NECA figures for awhile now, though unfortunately the hinge on my left hand is stuck. No amount of heat or messing with a blade has been able to get it to budge for me and it looks like the disc portion is protruding ever so slightly more than it is with the right hand so I’m thinking it’s a factory defect. The hands in general did feature tight hinges because they’re painted silver so you may need to break the seal, so to speak, to get them moving.

That’s a pretty nasty looking weapon.

While I love the vertical hinge, I do have to say that the gripping hands could have been executed better. Or maybe it’s the fault of the weapons, but Karai struggles to get a tight grip on most of them. She has a long, bladed, staff which features a shaft that’s just a little too thick for how her hands are molded. She can hold it, but it will fall out a lot and probably drive you nuts as you work her into a pose. Her long sword is basically the same and I believe it’s a weapon we’ve seen with the Foot Enforcer. She does have two, smaller, swords which both feature knuckle-guards. These work much better with her hands and maybe it’s because they’re the only newly tooled weapons in the set? She also has an empty mask she can hold or have placed on a shelf beside her. It’s all one piece and, no, it won’t fit over her unmasked portrait. It’s a fun inclusion and will probably be appreciated by toy photographers.

You can kind of see how chunky that sword handle is even in this shot.

Articulation for Karai is pretty much standard for the line. The head is on a double-ball peg and moves around pretty well. The helmeted head actually has better range as the hair of the standard portrait limits the range looking up. Shoulders are your standard ball hinge and the shoulder pauldrons will get in the way a bit when rotating or trying to raise the arms out all the way to the side. There is a biceps swivel, double-jointed elbows, and the wrists swivel and hinge. This figure is not pin-less, which ordinarily wouldn’t bother me, but her arms are so thin that I do find myself wishing they were pin-less. There is no forearm swivel with the armor that I can find which does disappoint me. I like being able to line them up with the hand blades, but the only way to do so is via the bicep swivel.

She wields these a lot better than the larger weapons.

In the torso there’s a ball joint just under her bust. This provides for a little back, a little forward, and a generous amount of tilt as well as rotation. There’s a ball joint in the waist as well, though her sash comes up pretty high over her abdomen and will limit the forward and back movement there making it mostly just a swivel point. The ball-jointed hips will allow the figure to hit full splits out to the side and swivel at the inner thigh. She does have a “diaper” covering on the crotch which limits her forward kicking. She can be forced into a 90 degree kick forward while kicking back is minimal. Double-jointed knees follow and the ankles feature the standard hinge and rocker. Because of the shin guards, I would have welcomed a boot cut, but NECA declined to give us one. Karai also has pretty small feet so she can be a little challenging to stand, but overall her articulation is fine and she’s likely more dynamic than most of the figures in the line given that she’s not nearly as bulky as most.

Karai was basically a no-brainer for the Mirage line and presenting her in her Shredder attire made the most sense. She does feature some other looks in the comics, but this is really the only one I need. I’m curious if NECA will do more variants of her to get more out of these molds. It seems like they’re committed to doing IDW color variants of all of the figures so it certainly wouldn’t shock me to see the same take place with Karai. I do think she turned out well, I just wish she could wield her weapons a bit better. It’s also a shame I have a seized wrist hinge, but hopefully that’s not a widespread issue. At approximately $37, she’s not a cheap figure, but a bit better value than some of the others currently out there by NECA. Karai should make for a nice addition to your TMNT Mirage Studios display, now hopefully we can get a better Shredder to join her.

We have plenty more from NECA and Mirage Studios Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

NECA TMNT Mirage Foot Enforcer

When a regular Foot Ninja just won’t cut it, The Shredder has to turn to the Foot Enforcer. This brute of a specimen is bigger, stronger, and comes packed to the gills with an assortment of weapons designed to reduce the turtles into a pile of flesh and shell. And they’re needed, because how often…

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by Joe

NECA Mirage Shredder and Foot Clan NYCC Exclusive Set

The Shredder had a rough go at things for awhile when it came to plastic. He was featured rather prominently in the old Playmates line, though perhaps not as prominently as one would expect. Playmates never did do a movie version of him, aside from Super Shredder, and his figure was arguably the worst from…

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by Joe

NECA Mirage Studios Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4-Pack

When it comes to the popularity of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a lot of the credit goes to Playmates Toys. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created the characters born out of a joke. Credit them for having the vision to think this joke had appeal beyond their small circle as they self-published Teenage Mutant Ninja…

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by Joe

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October 3, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Super Saiyan Son Gohan – The Fighter Who Surpassed Goku

By Joe
The son of Goku who dresses like Piccolo.

When Goku shattered his ceiling and became the Super Saiyan of legend to topple the seemingly unbeatable Frieza, the story could have come to an end. Where could the hero go after attaining this awesome power and vanquishing the ultimate evil? The being responsible for not just the death of his father, but the destruction of his entire race? It is said that Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama gave consideration to ending things there, but doing so would have meant not following through with Goku’s son, Gohan. Plus it would have meant giving up untold millions in future Dragon Ball related products.

They’re a posse.

The story did continue and is technically still continuing to this day, though that aspect is a bit more muddled than ever before with the passing of Toriyama. Goku would survive his encounter with Frieza and return to Earth to take on a new challenge: Cell. As for Gohan, he had been introduced at the start of Dragon Ball Z as a gentle child with an incredible power hidden within. It was the type of power that only surfaced when Gohan was driven to extreme bouts of anger usually as a result of his loved ones being put in a position of danger. Both Gohan and Goku are what one could describe as gentile souls, but both view fighting from very different perspectives. For Goku, fighting is a thrill and a challenge. He wants to be the best and always improve just for the sake of doing so. For Gohan, fighting is an obligation. It’s a tool and the sort of tool one only turns to when it’s needed. If Gohan did not have to fight in order to protect those he loved then he likely wouldn’t fight at all.

I don’t have a Cell Saga Goku so this will have to do.

During The Cell Saga of Dragon Ball Z, Goku decided to train Gohan in order to meet this new challenge head-on. And it was during that year long training session that Goku discovered that his son had the potential to become even stronger than he was. He kept this discovery to himself, but it manifested in an extreme feeling of confidence in his son’s abilities. He may have overestimated them a touch, because while Gohan may be even stronger than anyone he stands against, he lacks the polish of a seasoned fighter as well as the killer instinct to finish what’s been started.

To my surprise, these are two completely different figures.

This latest action figure from Bandai and Tamashii Nations depicts Gohan as he was when emerging from that training session with his pops. He’s attained the level of Super Saiyan and physically he’s matured quite a bit from the little kid he was on Namek. And even though he spent his time training with his dad, he opted to honor his first trainer in martial arts, Piccolo, by sporting his purple gi and white cape. This figure naturally lends itself to comparisons with the previously released Super Saiyan 2 Gohan from later in his battle with Cell. Bandai just re-released that figure last year with a new deco as one of its convention exclusives. If you expected this new figure to share parts with that one though you would be mistaken. Even though it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, this new Gohan is actually a little smaller than that one standing at around a tick under 4″ to the top of his face. His legs are shorter as is his torso and he’s a little more slender too. None of the parts from that figure have been recycled for this one. That’s both a good thing and a bad one as it means we get updated articulation with this figure, but you can’t swap heads and hands between the two.

Team Shorties.

As you probably have surmised based on that description, this Gohan is a bit of a dainty figure. He’s short and slight and one of the smallest overall figures in the line. Bare in mind, I don’t have the past Kid Gohan figures to compare him with, though I do have Kid Goku and Krillin. He’s taller than those figures, though they’re practically a different scale on their own. He’s most similar to Fourth Form Frieza as that’s a short, slender, figure. Krillin is similar as well, though even he’s a bit chunkier. Plus that dome is massive. The presentation is pretty typical though. The hair is a soft yellow with just the tiniest hint of shading. The flesh is pale, as Super Saiyans are often drawn, and the gi is purple plastic and it too has just a touch of shading on the front of the shirt and pants. It’s so faint that it’s barely noticeable. The only other paint is reserved for the face while the belt, wrist bands, and boots all appear to just be colored plastic.

I like the expressiveness of this scared or worried look, though I don’t know if I’ll ever really use it.

For portraits, Gohan has a decent assortment. There’s the neutral expression he comes equipped with plus a similar one that just features large eyes. That one has almost a scowl for an expression and I’m puzzled why Bandai didn’t just go with a smile? It feels more appropriate for the larger pupils. There’s also a teeth gritting expression, a yelling face, and one where he looks alarmed. That last one features some battle damage and I think it’s supposed to represent the face he makes when the head of Android 16 winds up at his feet. It’s a solid assortment of faces, but it’s a bit surprising there isn’t a more exaggerated scream with his eyes closed and tears running down his face to capture the moment he transforms. There’s also two head sculpts for the hair: one that’s neutral and one that’s windswept. It looks nice, but part of me looks at it and thinks that if Bandai was going to give us two hairstyles, why not just give us Super Saiyan 2?

The cape is going to lock the head down, but it does make him look pretty cool…

Gohan also has an assortment of hands. For sets, we get fists, flat palm, wide open, clenching “Kamehameha,” and a more nuanced clenching set. I’m not really sure what that last set is going for, maybe a reaching out kind of expression? I like them though and subtle differences are nice for hands. Lastly, Gohan also comes with his shoulder pads and cape setup. Unlike Piccolo or the Super Hero Gohan version, this cape set uses soft goods in conjunction with plastic shoulder pads. The fit is a little snug, but manageable, and it mostly looks fine. It feels like it’s just cotton and there is a wire running all around the edge. It’s not a very large cape though so it won’t pose much. The difference in material is noticeable, but I suppose it’s better than the plated, articulated, capes, though I understand those who do not like mixing materials in their displays.

Come on, Gohan! Get mad!

Gohan is constructed in a manner similar to his adult counterpart from the Super Hero film. I guess this would be considered the 3.0 body? I don’t know, though it’s not entirely the same. The head is on a double ball peg, which is nice, though it’s a little floppy. He’ll hold his pose, but perhaps not as well as he should. The neck is on a ball joint as well and is slightly gappy, but not out of the ordinary for the line. Between the two joints, Gohan has solid range save for looking up which is typical of these figures. The shoulders are ball pegs and the setup is very much like adult Gohan and Krillin. It’s not a true butterfly, but the small nature of the figure means he has decent clearance coming across the chest, but not much going back. The sleeves are basically a floating piece. They get in the way sometimes, but it’s not too cumbersome. Bicep swivels, double elbows, and wrist ball-hinges all work as expected and do what they’re supposed to.

You’re going to have to provide your own energy effect or steal one from another figure.

At the waist is a ball and socket joint and that’s it for the torso. If there is anything under the gi I can’t tell. It rocks forward and back a bit, but Gohan is not going to move as well as some of your other SHF figures. He will kick forward extremely well and can also do splits out to the side. He does have the butt cheeks sculpted on so kicking back doesn’t work well. The thigh twist is setup like other recent figures such as Future Trunks and adult Gohan which isn’t a look I love. They stick out too far, though either it’s less an issue here or it’s just the smaller figure that hides it somewhat because it’s not as bad on Gohan as it is with Trunks. The double-jointed knee will bend a bit past 90 degrees and at the ankle is a twist, hinge, rocker, and toe hinge. The range on the hinge is pretty poor, again a repeated issue of the line, while the rocker is solid. The toe hinge is what it is.

If you’re a big time collector of DBZ figures then chances are your Cell Saga display is much larger than mine.

All of that is to say that this version of Gohan is a pretty solid figure, though maybe not the most impressive. It’s a simple approach of a character with a simple design. The accessory loadout is good, though it’s lacking an energy effect or a Super Saiyan 2 portrait (I know, they’re saving that for a likely future release). The only real issue I have with this figure is the asking price of $65. This is a general release item, not a P-Bandai release, and $65 feels a little steep. I even forgot that it cost that much and assumed it was $50 until I went back and checked it out before writing this up. I guess we’re paying for the soft goods? I don’t know, Bandai’s prices have been creeping up so maybe this is just their new, non-Target, release price. I guess if you like this version of Gohan you’ll probably get it just for that. Those looking to construct a smaller collection might prefer to wait for a new Super Saiyan 2 version.

We have more from Dragon Ball Z’s Cell Saga:

S.H.Figuarts Piccolo: The Proud Namekian

When the S.H.Figuarts line was launched years ago and Dragon Ball Z was at the forefront, it wasn’t Goku who got to be the first figure out of the gate. Nope, it was Piccolo. That figure caught my attention when it was announced even though I had not purchased a Dragon Ball figure in quite…

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by Joe

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Krillin – Earth’s Strongest Man

My Dragon Ball collecting was once simply focused on the original series, Dragon Ball, but has been expanding over the years. I’ve definitely leaned more towards Dragon Ball Super of late, but one of my Dragon Ball Z purchases last year was the event exclusive Nappa. I don’t know why I like Nappa so much.…

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by Joe

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October 1, 2024

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Rat King

By Joe
RATS! Ahh-ooo-ahhh!

Rats! Is what Charlie Brown would say at the sight of today’s subject, the almighty king of the rats himself, the Rat King. Rat King has always been a favorite of mine when it comes to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles villains. Like a great many, I was introduced to the character via the cartoon series and the tie-in toy line, but like a lot of characters in the world of TMNT, Rat King has existed in many forms. When it comes to the original Mirage Studios line of comics, he was a bit more abstract than he was in the show. He’s basically shown to be a hallucination of Master Splinter – is he even real? Kind of, sort of. He first appeared in Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which seemed to have an on again/off again relationship with what was canon in TMNT. Tales was a series not written by creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird and it basically meant that the two could use it or not when doing the main comic line. Splinter, after his hallucinations have passed, stumbles upon a shuriken-filled corpse that sure looks like Rat King from his appearance in Tales so I guess he was canon all along.

Make some room on your shelf for the king of rats!

Regardless of all of that, Rat King is a fun design and it’s no surprise that NECA opted to include him in their line of action figures. First unveiled at San Diego Comic Con 2023, Rat King has started showing up in both Target and Walmart over the past few weeks and should be readily attainable for most. And if not, expect him to show up at other outlets in the not too distance future. NECA’s take on the monstrous character mostly follows his initial appearance in the Tales story, but also with a nod to his later appearance during the City at War arc of the main comic.

The monster who lurks in the sewers.

Rat King is a figure sculpted by Brodie Perkins with paint by Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo. The box art was handled by TMNT co-creator himself, Kevin Eastman, and is of the standard size and design for the line. His character is credited as a co-creation of Jim Lawson, Eastman, and Laird which probably explains why he was included in the City at War arc. The figure itself stands a tick under 7″ giving him some nice size relative to other figures in the line. His default portrait is the monstrous one from his debut which is a head wrapped in bandages with only the eyes and mouth visible. The rest of his flesh is mostly black save for the bridge of his nose. A tangled mess of red hair pokes through the gaps in the wraps with some of the spots of his scalp featuring hair that’s cropped close to the head. Either he shaved it or he’s fond of pulling his hair out..

The design of the comic Rat King is similar to that of the cartoon, just a whole lot grimier.

The body of the Rat King is a patchwork of green and black. There’s a rough texture to the clothing, like that of a burlap sack, with patches and stitch marks all over. The yellow-orange wraps are found in various places like the biceps, waist, and forearms. The suit covers his entire body save for the hands and there’s a black paint wash over everything giving this guy a real grime to the presentation. He actually looks like a creature that emerged from a sewer. The wraps on the upper body and arms are sculpted-in while the legs are separate, floating, pieces. I assume this was done because the placement of said wraps changed with his appearances in the comics, but they come across as more annoying than anything since they’re prone to falling down. This figure, unlike some recent additions, is not pin-less at the knees and elbows. Normally, this isn’t something I bother pointing out, but with Rat King it’s a bit of a shame because the pin on the left arm goes through the wraps and NECA opted not to paint it. Instead, he has green circles in the wraps which is unsightly in a similar manner to how Hasbro used to make Spider-Man figures in its Marvel Legends line.

“Sorry little buddy.”

Aside from that blemish, the figure is quite a sight to behold. It’s large and gangly in the limbs and really evokes the source material well. I love the broad shoulders and chest which gives him a presence beyond just scary, smelly, guy. He actually looks like he’d stand a chance in a brawl with our heroes, though he’s probably better off relying on his clever tricks and such because the only weapon he’s bringing to the fight is a stick. It’s shaped similar to a baseball bat and it will have to do. He also has an assortment of rats, but I don’t see how they’ll be of much use. They’re all brown rats and he has three of them: sitting, crawling, and grasping. As best I can tell, the grasping rat is intended to grab onto the end of the bat while the other two can be balanced on the figure as you see fit.

Someone felt we needed two styles of fists with this guy.

For optional parts, Rat King has an assortment of hands and a secondary portrait. With the hands, NECA made at least one curious choice. We get two sets of gripping hands with one being tighter than the other. The bat seems to work fine with both, so it’s a little odd, but not as odd as the fists. For those, we have two sets once again. One has the thumb coming over the fingers and the other features the thumb tucked under the fingers. Why two sets? I have no idea. It feels like they had room in the budget and didn’t know what to do with it or something. I’d have taken more rats, personally. He also has a set of open, clawing, hands. These are the most monstrous looking as they’re covered in warts and don’t have any wrappings on them. The alternate portrait is what I’d call handsome Rat King. It more resembles his City at War appearance as his jaw is visible and he has a smile. The eyes are also all white and more of his scalp is visible. It’s a more confident Rat King and it really gives this guy two worthwhile display options: as a monster of the sewers or the more cool and calculating villain he’s sometimes shown to be.

Seems like a bit of a mismatch, but looks can be deceiving.

Articulation for Rat King is pretty standard for the line. A double-ball peg in the neck gives his head nice range in all directions with the exception of range looking up as he has one of those necks that’s angled forward instead of straight up. There are ball-hinges at the shoulder, bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows, and hinges at the wrist. The bulkiness of the arms means the elbows won’t bend much past 90 degrees and even though he comes with two sets of gripping hands, none feature the preferred vertical hinge for melee weapon wielding. There’s a ball in the diaphragm that allows for some forward and back as well as rotation and tilt. There’s a basic waist cut, ball-jointed thighs that swivel and kick forward 90 degrees and go out to the side for splits. Knees are double-jointed, but like the biceps, won’t go much past 90 because of the thigh meat. Ankles swivel and hinge and they work just fine.

Get him, boys!

Rat King should do what Rat King needs to. The wrist hinges are unfortunate, but expected with NECA these days. Finding poses is no trouble, with or without the rats, and the only thing I don’t like about moving this guy around are those damn bandages on his legs. They’ll almost never stay where you want them to and I’m tempted to either glue them or take them off all together. I suppose once he’s on a shelf it won’t matter, but they really needed to be tighter.

Rat King is a great addition to the Mirage line of TMNT from NECA. While I find myself really drawn to the bright colors and cartoony nature of the toon and Archie lines more and more, these gritty Mirage figures feel like they’re more in NECA’s wheelhouse. I’ve always associated NECA with horror stuff and Rat King is a character that plays to NECA’s strengths. He’s also a great design from the books and a well-executed action figure with only a few nitpicks to draw attention to. Should you wish to add him to your collection, he’ll set you back about $37. It’s not cheap, but it feels like a better value than some of the other recent figures we’ve looked at so you won’t hear me complaining.

If you like Rat Kings and comic turtles then we’ve got you covered:

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Splinter

When NECA started down the path of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with the 2008 release of the four titular characters, it didn’t go very far. After the turtles came April, but as a convention exclusive, and then nothing else. It would be years before their Shredder, which was shown off at the very same convention…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Mirage Foot Enforcer

When a regular Foot Ninja just won’t cut it, The Shredder has to turn to the Foot Enforcer. This brute of a specimen is bigger, stronger, and comes packed to the gills with an assortment of weapons designed to reduce the turtles into a pile of flesh and shell. And they’re needed, because how often…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Cartoon Rat King vs Vernon

When I last reviewed a NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles two-pack it was the Splinter vs Baxter Stockman set and I referred to it as potentially the last essential set for some. The key word there being “some” as I am not “some” and didn’t consider myself “some” when I wrote that, for there are…

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by Joe

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September 26, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Full Power Frieza

By Joe
He’s a hard guy to get rid of.

Frieza is the villain from Dragon Ball who just refuses to die. His initial battle with the heroes of Dragon Ball Z spans a whopping 30 episodes! Thank goodness that DBZ was a weekday show or else it would have taken more than half a year to see Frieza get taken down. And that’s just talking about the actual fighting, he’s a presence prior to that with the show teasing that this diminutive, effeminate, character is the most powerful being in the universe. And if the confrontation wasn’t long on just a straight episode count, it felt even longer because Frieza has a series of transformations to undergo before reaching full power. I guess since his underling, Zarbon, had a transformation of his own Frieza couldn’t stop at just one. No, he had four distinct forms to cycle through and the one he spent the most time in is his ultimate form – his fourth form. It’s become the most recognizable form of Frieza ever since, and since DBZ action figure collectors want every version of every character, Bandai has cycled through all four for its S.H.Figuarts line.

My Frieza collection could easily be twice the size of this, but I think I’m good for now.

That is, all except for the unofficial fifth form. I say unofficial, but it’s very much official as he does this in both the manga and anime, it’s just not a transformation on the same level as the other forms. Frieza’s full power form is basically his final form during his battle with Goku and it’s a bulked-up version of his fourth form. The whole fight, Frieza keeps teasing his foes that he’s not even using the full might of his awesome power so this bulky version is basically meant to signify that, yes, Frieza is finally going all out. I don’t think it’s ever been retconned to be a suboptimal form similar to the super bulked out Trunks we’d see in later episodes, though when Frieza returns in Dragon Ball Super he’s rarely depicted in such a fashion. And he definitely fares better against the might of the newly transformed Super Saiyan Goku while fighting this way so he doesn’t appear to be sacrificing any speed, though he does ultimately fall.

“Oh Frieza, you’re so swole!”

Naturally, since Bandai has covered Frieza’s first four forms (and his golden one from later) it made sense to just do this Full Power Frieza and consider the villain complete. The figure was sold via the Premium Bandai website in 2023 and has recently started showing up for those who ordered it. This is the extremely buffed out Frieza that I suppose some have always wanted. There’s a part of me that finds this look for Frieza a bit ridiculous. I think the villain works best when he looks somewhat less imposing than most, but packs a lethal punch. I felt the sculpt on display in the renders looked pretty damn spot on though and I tend to like chunkier action figures. It also will pair well with the Legendary Super Saiyan Goku (and even includes an accessory for that figure) release from 2022 and as one of the most iconic confrontations in Dragon Ball Z it felt like a worthwhile addition to the collection.

Frieza has a terrific sculpt, but more shading and paint detail on the battle damage would enhance this figure so much.

Frieza in his full power form comes in the usual box which features a nice window and a bunch of product shots. This one comes courtesy of the Vietnam factory, which has had some hiccups in the past, but appears to be on-par with the stuff we see coming out of China at this point. Frieza stands a shade under 5.25″ which makes him taller than the Fourth Form Frieza, but not as tall as Goku. As promised, he is very bulky. The neck is wider than the head, the shoulders are massive spheres, and the upper body especially is huge. It’s an over-the-top character design that Bandai and Tamashii Nations have done a great job at bringing to life. The purple areas are very glossy, as one would expect, and the white areas have a hint of a blue wash for a little depth. There’s veins and battle damage sculpted all into the body in various places. The articulation is numerous, as is typical of the line, but this figure does as good a job as most in hiding it as best it can. There aren’t any weird spots or massive gaps. The base of the neck is perhaps the one area that could be a little less gappy, but it’s not as bad as the recently released Vegeta.

“Stand back, Goku! I’ll take care of this monster with my Destructo Disc!”

Aside from the blue wash, paint is fairly minimal. The faces are all printed on exceptionally well and nothing appears misaligned or sloppy. There’s black in the ears as well as the finger and toenails. The purple spots appear to mostly be inserts of colored plastic except for the shins. The right shin on my figure is perfect, while the purple on the left is a bit sloppy around the edges. It’s the only real blemish I can find across all of the parts. His tail has also been chopped off at the end and there’s paint on the stub. I like that there’s a slight wash applied, but I do wish Bandai would try painting the sculpted-in battle damage. In the show and manga, those hatch marks are always black or black and red. By leaving them unpainted in the sculpt they’re almost invisible from the shelf and only apparent in-hand. Their sculptors do such a nice job that it’s a shame to see such detail almost go unnoticed.

“What?! He…he…has two?!”

In typical fashion, we do get a large assortment of optional parts with Frieza. For hands, we have a set of fists, clenching, open, flat palm, and open hands with peg holes in the palms. The peg holes are for two, pink, disc effects that have a nice buzzsaw edge and are done on translucent plastic. They plug into the hands, though the posts on them are not glued in so don’t be surprised if the peg stays in the hands when removing them. It’s not really a big deal since those hands only exist to work the effects so as long as one end stays inserted in another it’s fine with me.

The pegs for the disc effects may start in the discs, but they’ll probably come to live in the extra hands.

For portraits, Frieza comes with his standard cocky smile as the default one. The other expressions include a grimace where one eye is more narrow than the other, a teeth-gritting expression, and a yelling head. I’m surprised the grimace doesn’t feature one eye closed entirely as I think that’s where he ended up during the course of battle. He also has a portrait for Legendary Super Saiyan Goku that’s meant to simulate him getting punched in the face. I wish we had the same for Frieza. There are also two clenching feet that can be swapped with his flat feet. The feet can be tough to remove and I had to heat them in water. Without that, the whole ankle assembly was popping out. The hands swap easy enough while the heads can be a little tricky. The factory went with a standard double ball post and it’s a bit of a snug fit for most of the heads. This means that when removing them you may find the neck comes off the figure instead. I’ve been able to manage by making sure I pinch the neck when pulling a head off, but it can be a little frustrating. If you’re having trouble, heating the head with some hot water first would probably do the trick.

Probably the only comparison that matters.

Articulation for Frieza is largely what one would expect, it was just always a question of how effective it would be given the design of the character. I mentioned the double ball for the head and the ball joint at the base of the neck. His neck is so thick that the joint at the base of it will do most of the heavy lifting. The joint at the head is mostly for rotation and a little nuance while the neck will provide your up and down. The ball joint in the torso is going to further help with getting the character to look up while also adding a little crunch, rotation, and tilt. The purple plate in the middle of his torso will limit the crunch a bit, but it is on a hinge so it can move out of the way to some degree while the ball joint at the waist allows for further crunch forward and back. The shoulders are on butterfly joints which have some decent range coming forward, but very little going back. More room could have been cut-out to do so, but I guess someone didn’t want to break-up the sculpt. There’s some play on the shoulders to move up and down and the hinge will bring them out about 90 degrees. Bicep swivel is fine and the double-jointed elbows go a little past 90 degrees before the bulkiness prevents more range. Standard ball hinges at the wrist work fine.

If you like seeing Goku get punched in the face then you’ll like this extra accessory for Goku.

The hips feel like the normal ball-hinge setup. They can just about hit full splits going out to the side while kicking forward is no problem. At about the 90 degree point, the leg will want to go out from the body a bit because the crotch piece, but it will keep going higher. Because of Frieza’s narrow butt, the legs can kick back, but out to the side. There is a thigh swivel and I think the sculptor did a very good job of keeping it tapered as much as possible. Some more recent figures have looked a little goofy in that area. It will pop out from under the crotch piece when manipulating it, but you can slide the top edge of the thigh swivel under that for a more streamlined appearance. The double-jointed knee, like the elbow, will only go a little past 90 because of the bulk. The ball hinges at the ankle work okay, but the shape of the ankle and feet can make the more nuanced stuff a little harder. The tail, which does not come on the figure, connects via the standard hinged ball. It will rotate and has some play on the hinge. It’s mostly for adjustment posing, but it can also function as a third support, if need be.

“I have finally triumphed over you, monkey!”

Frieza is probably going to pose well enough without knocking anyone’s socks off. The butterfly could have been done better, but I don’t know that I disagree with the approach. The accessories are pretty solid as well and it’s always a plus to get energy effects. I do think we needed at least one pointing gesture since that’s such a common way for Frieza to attack. I don’t remember the flat palm gesture playing a role in the fight, but I haven’t watched it in over a year. I do lament the missed opportunity to not include a stump for his left arm and a similar thing for the base of his torso. Frieza got all cut up while fighting Goku and it would have been pretty amusing to be able to display him as he was at the end of that confrontation. He would have required some kind of stand as well, but honestly, every Frieza should have a stand. He, more than most characters from DBZ, is often hovering or flying as opposed to standing.

If ordered last year, Full Power Frieza would have set you back $85 plus shipping (which is usually $10). That’s not a cheap price for an action figure, especially one with so little paint. It’s not grossly out of whack with S.H.Figuarts releases, though he’s definitely not one of the better values. Is it worth it? I like it enough, and it helps that I spent that money roughly 9 months ago so it’s been gone for awhile. What will suck is the cost to acquire the figure now that the sale has been closed. I guess if you just somehow missed this and really need a Full Power Frieza to complete your collection then you’ll pay what you have to. For anyone else, it might be better to admire from afar because I’m guessing the secondary market is going to want somewhere in the neighborhood of $125. If you can get it down closer to $100, it might just be worth it. It’s a fine figure. I love the sculpt, I like the articulation, and there’s some good display options here. With a little more effort and creativity it could have been a truly special release, but as-is it’s probably good enough.

If you want some figures to pair with Frieza, here are a few:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z – Mecha Frieza

When you have an action figure line as long in the tooth as the Bandai/Tamashii Nations Dragon Ball Z line from S.H.Figuarts, you tend to find some pretty obscure characters making the jump to plastic. Characters that may have existed for a blink and you miss it kind of moment, but when one’s collection already…

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by Joe

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Vegeta 24,000 Power Level

When a toy line is as long in the tooth as Bandai’s S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z line, producers tend to start looking in all of the various crevices of the property for new material. We recently looked at a figure that did just that in Mecha Frieza, a version of the chief villain of the…

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by Joe

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September 24, 2024

NECA TMNT Adventures Stump Wrestling Leatherhead

By Joe
I reckon he’s here to open a can of Whoop Ass!

We are rolling right along with more reviews of NECA’s TMNT Adventures line of action figures and we’re also staying within the realm of Stump Wrestling. When the turtles wound up in the intergalactic wrestling federation, they didn’t just encounter aliens, they also encountered an old foe. I don’t know how Leatherhead wound up as a wrestler in space when he debuted in the pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures as just another Earth dwelling mutant, and I’m not sure I want to know. It’s more fun to imagine how such a thing happened, though I’m guessing it’s more or less in-line with how the turtles ended up doing the same. Either way, if you ever watched the old cartoon and thought that Leatherhead would make for a good pro wrestler then consider your wish granted.

“I’m tagging in, brother!”

Leatherhead comes via the new, massive, TMNT drop that NECA unleashed upon Target. I believe it was dubbed the Cowabunga Collection, but think of it as basically another Haulathon type of deal where a lot of stuff was released in a small window of time. Leatherhead was shipped in pretty substantial quantities and may even still be available online when this post goes live. If not, worry not as it’s expected that all of these Archie figures will see release across online retail spots at some point. It just may mean having to wait for a second production run or something. I think the figure has already been spotted at Walmart as well, along with some of the other non-toon releases that hit Target.

Here comes the fallaway slam!

Leatherhead is packaged in the standard Archie box with new artwork by comic artist Ken Mitchroney. The sculpt was handled by Tomasz Rozejowski and Kushwara Studios with paint by Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo. And right off the bat, I am confused. The artwork depicts Leatherhead with a bandana style black mask on. The figure features some black paint around the eyes, but there’s clearly no mask as there’s nothing wrapping around his head. Most of the interior artwork I’ve been able to find from the comics seems to include the mask. I found one cover, issue #13, which takes place a little later, but seems to include Leatherhead in his wrestling attire without a mask. I’m not enough of an expert to know what is correct, but if they’re commissioning artwork that includes a mask then I think the figure should as well. Maybe this is a cost saving measure to make it easier to do a Mutanimals Leatherhead later? Or maybe the factory was supposed to do a mask, either via paint or some sort of overlay, and it got missed? The top of his head is almost squared-off like you could put something there, but I don’t know.

Leatherhead stands at right around 6.25″ to the top of his head. This is a much shorter, squatter, Leatherhead than we’re used to seeing. The toon Leatherhead, by comparison, is around 7″ tall. This guy is really not much taller than the turtles with only a little more girth. Again, I don’t have comics to compare so I’m just going to assume that NECA got it right when it comes to scale for the Archie line. His attire is pretty simple compared with his usual getup. We have just some purple trunks with white stripes and wrestling boots that are in the same style as what we saw with Cryin’ Houn’. The exposed flesh is all textured with lots of little bumps and such and like most Leatherhead figures the tail comes detached in the box.

If a snake can master the DDT, then so can a gator!

Paint for Leatherhead is a little less intense than it may be on some other characters, but no less effective. Most of the body is a dark green with a slight blue hue to it. The chest and neck region is painted more of a lime green. There’s lots of black linework on the throat to highlight the scales and additional linework for some of the muscles and random scales here and there. The interior of the mouth is painted really well including black outlines at the base of the teeth. There’s a hit of orange for his big, bushy, eyebrows and the trunks and boots are all painted very cleanly. I basically have to hunt for paint blemishes on this figure and even then the only things I can find are a black line here and there that’s maybe just a bit too thick. It’s really an impressive paint application for a mass-produced figure like this.

Or perhaps you prefer the vertical suplex?
Wait! This gator can fly?!

And maybe that’s what makes him expensive, because it’s certainly not the plastic. Leatherhead doesn’t come with much in the box, just two extra sets of hands leaving us with fists, gripping, and open. Why does he have gripping hands? I don’t know because it’s certainly not to hold any included items because there are none. He only has the one portrait, which is a bit of a bummer since he seems to have a pretty expressive few panels in the comics. My criticism of this release is basically the same as Cryin’ Houn’ which is to say I think NECA could do better. They already have tooled some wrestling weapons, so why not stick them here? We could always use more chairs. A break-away table would have been pretty rad, even if no such thing took place in the books. Wrestling figures should be fun to design because of all or the shenanigans that can go on in and out of the squared-circle so it’s disappointing to not see NECA take advantage of suck.

At least he can manage a big boot.

Articulation for Leatherhead is not particularly impressive, though it’s not really a strength of the line either. He does have a double-ball peg for the head, but since it sits so low on the chest there’s not a lot he can do with it. He can look side to side okay as well as down. There’s a little range looking up, but the head has a tendency to pop off of the ball peg when doing so. The mouth does open and close which helps to make the figure a bit more expressive. Shoulders are simple ball hinges which rotate fine, but can’t quite raise out to a “T” pose or come all the way down at the sides of the figure. There is a biceps swivel as well as a swivel and single hinge at the elbow. Leatherhead can straighten his arms out there and just about hit a 90 degree bend. Wrists swivel and hinge horizontally.

Let’s get hardcore!
Oh! That’s gotta hurt!

In the torso, we get a big ball jointed diaphragm. It really doesn’t offer a whole lot. There’s a little tilt there and rotation, but forward and back articulation is so minimal that it’s hardly worth counting. There’s a standard waist twist below that and ball-jointed hips. There’s a little play on the hips as far as a thigh swivel goes, but mostly they kick forward pretty well, back a little, and out to the side. The crotch does feature a “diaper” overlay which will limit the range and keep Leatherhead from hitting a full split, but if you wanted to force the issue you could probably do so. The knees are poor, they’re pegged into the thighs and feature a hinge that maybe bends 45 degrees. The ankle hinges aren’t much better as he can’t go forward and back very far. The ankle rocker is fine. The tail connects via a peg and hinge so it will move up and down and rotate. It also has a heavy gauge wire running through it for a little extra poseability, but it’s a thick tail so don’t expect much.

“And the crowd, angered at the victory, rains debris upon the champ.”

Leatherhead, by virtue of NECA knocking it out of the park with some of their other figures in the line, comes across a little ho-hum. This is a figure for those who have an attachment to the character from this era or for those who just really want to fill out their wrestling TMNT display. The character design isn’t particularly eye-catching and the subpar articulation and lack of accessories reduces the potential fun factor here. Aside from the mask component, the figure is a nice representation of this version of Leatherhead and it’s not the fault of the figure that the design isn’t more elaborate. I am curious to hear what dedicated TMNT Adventures fans think of this release and how well it represents the source material, particularly when it comes to scale. For me, I waffled on weather or not to get this one ultimately deciding to just because there figures to only be a handful of wrestling characters (Ace Duck is coming in 2025) and I want my wrestling turtles to have some foes. At the MSRP of $37, I definitely wouldn’t blame those who just don’t see enough value in the box to take the plunge on Leatherhead.

We have more from NECA’s line of TMNT Adventures if you’re looking at starting a collection or adding to one:

NECA TMNT Adventures Cryin’ Houn’

I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, but no toy collector enjoys hearing the phrase “Walmart Exclusive.” Such was the case for today’s figure, and many others, around the time of San Diego Comic Con. Walmart had their own collector con which is just a marketing way to say that a bunch…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Adventures Stump Wrestling Four-Pack

When I was a kid, I didn’t really get a lot of comic books. I most often would encounter them at the grocery store and I always hoped my mom would end up in the check-out aisle with the comics instead of candy so I could maybe convince her to get me one. And when…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Adventures Series Slash

As NECA continues to find success with its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lines of action figures, the company has sought to branch out beyond the usual source material in an effort to give collectors more of what they want and also likely to just keep the hype train rolling. NECA started first with doing figures…

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by Joe

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September 19, 2024

Marvel Legends Walmart Exclusive Retro Card Venom

By Joe
“We are Venom!”

On Tuesday, I posted a review for the NECA TMNT Adventures Cryin’ Houn’ action figure, a figure that debuted during this year’s edition of Walmart Collector Con. Today, we’re looking at a true exclusive from that event. Cryin’ Houn’, and a lot of other figures released that day, were basically a first to market agreement that are now available from other places. This figure, Marvel’s Venom, was only available through Walmart and that’s usually a bad thing. The retro carded animated Spider-Man released in 2022 was a Walmart exclusive and a brutal one at that. A lot of people I know had their orders cancelled and the figure was notoriously difficult to track down in-store. Worse, it was Spider-Man! A central figure to Hasbro’s line of figures based on the 1994 animated series and it was only available through Walmart. It was as much a boneheaded move by Hasbro as it was Walmart, but no matter how you sliced it, the consumer experience was less than optimal.

“Look ma, I can lick the back of my head!”

This Venom? No freakin’ problem. Did Walmart finally learn its lesson and up their order totals for their Marvel Legends exclusives? Perhaps, because a brand new Venom on a retro card is probably a pretty in-demand release. Venom has been popular seemingly from the get-go when he was introduced during Todd MacFarlane’s run on The Amazing Spider-Man. The previous retro card edition of the character was released as a Pulse Con exclusive and was a take on Venom from the ’94 cartoon. This one is a more evergreen interpretation and while it does share a lot of parts with that figure, there is some new stuff to talk about with this one. Now, I am normally not a huge Marvel Legends collector, but as I detailed in my review for that previous retro card Venom, I’ve always liked the character. I was a bit iffy on this one though when it was announced, but the whole Walmart exclusive aspect kind of forced my hand. In a bid to avoid later regret, I decided to grab one and I have some thoughts.

Since I only have one other Hasbro Venom, we have to compare then.

As stated, this version of Venom does come on a retro card. There’s an illustration of Venom on the front that is different from the previous version. It doesn’t jump out as an era specific take on the character and almost looks like an alternate take on how Venom could have looked in that ’94 cartoon. That makes sense since that’s exactly what this retro card is looking to invoke memories of. That edition of Venom was a bit weird as it featured blue and red shading and a “butt” head. There’s some charm there now in looking back, but had Venom looked like he does on this retro card then I think that would have been an improvement.

Despite their differences, they still love each other. Maybe a little too much.

Nonetheless, this Venom is more of a comic take on the character. Or more appropriately, a Legends take on the character as Legends often seeks to add a touch of realism to the characters. Venom stands right around 7.25″ to the top of his head giving him a decent amount of size which is appropriate for most takes on Venom. If you have that animated Venom figure, then you’ll be familiar with the arms and legs utilized for this figure. What’s new is the torso and heads, though I believe one of the heads is from a different Venom release. This does mean that we got rid of those obnoxious holes in the traps of the character that were a holdover from that mold’s prior use with Omega Red, and it also mean we have some new articulation to talk about.

Their favorite past time? Ganging up on Spider-Man.

What’s not really different though is the approach. Venom is basically just all black plastic with little paint. The paint is reserved for the spider logo that wraps around the body, the white patches on the hands, and the details on the face like the eyes and teeth. The body has different finishes too which is odd. There are spots where the plastic is fairly matte in appearance, but other spots are glossy. Were they trying to create hot spots on the sculpt to accentuate the slimy aspect of the character? Probably not. If so, it’s a foolish approach because it’s very inconsistent. The figure is a chunky one relative to other Legends releases, though the plastic feels like it’s of a lower quality. There’s a rubbery aspect to it, especially in the legs, and the joints have a gummy feel as a result. The white spider logo was sticky out of the box. A lot of the tack has been remedied by simply leaving the figure out for over a week now, though some spots (like under the arms) remain sticky to the touch.

This time, the spider logo continues onto the butterfly joint.

The paint is minimal, but also not as cleanly applied as it could be. There’s a blemish on the right pectoral of my figure and the edges are pretty fuzzy on the rear of the figure. Since the figure is black plastic, the white is also not opaque enough to hide that. Especially in the creases of the muscles where too much of the black shines through. Unlike the prior retro card Venom, for this one Hasbro decided to paint the spider leg onto the butterfly joint in the shoulder blades rather than squish the spider to fit inside them. It’s fine, though if you’re viewing the figure from behind it means you will have to line-up the logo to keep it from looking stupid. The paint on the faces is also kind of messy around the teeth. The alt head on mine also has a black speck in the middle of the right eye which kind of drives me nuts. The left eye is also a little sloppy around the edges.

For those curious, the animated Venom lacked the white patches on the hands and this is how a hand swap would look. I still think the patches are the wrong shape, but better than nothing.

The paint isn’t great, but the overall sculpt will probably please most. He’s very muscled and has some huge traps to speak of. The chest is pretty solid and the torso tapers in a bit towards the abs. The shoulders are still too small for my liking and they sit lower than I’d like as well. Oddly, I feel like some poses draw more attention to that when usually it’s the straight up and down poses where that is most evident. The proportioning is solid, though his hands are huge. They’re the exact same hands as the previous Venom I looked at so it’s not new, but he’ll look goofy in a neutral pose with open hands. Venom is routinely drawn with exaggerated hands so it’s not a bad thing, just something to be mindful of when posing. It’s not a perfect sculpt, but as a generic Venom body it’s likely to please most who collect the line.

This new head is a decent enough take on the MacFarlane design, one of my preferred looks for Venom.

In true Marvel Legends fashion, Venom doesn’t come with a whole lot. The figure is at least not a more premium priced figure so I guess we can excuse the lack of accessories. This figure comes with four hands: fists, and open hands. The two open hands are not mirrored as the left is more of a clawing hand. There are also two portraits. The default one, which I think is an old sculpt, has narrow, jagged, eyes with an open mouth. Emerging from that mouth is a giant tongue that curls back towards the body. The style of the head reminds me of the look Venom had during the Separation Anxiety storyline which was illustrated by Ron Randall, but I don’t know if that’s what the sculptor was going for. The alternate head is a closed mouth with eyes that are more like slanted half circles. It looks like it’s inspired by the debut panel for Venom drawn by Todd MacFarlane in Amazing Spider-Man #300. The two open hands even play into that image. Todd’s take on Venom was more squat than this figure and really bulky, but in the world of Marvel Legends, this is probably as close to a MacFarlane Venom as we’re likely to get.

The neck articulation on this guy is terrible. Left is an example of how far up the figure can look.

A lot of the articulation on this figure is familiar, but there is some differences to speak of. It starts with the head which features a double-ball peg instead of the old neck hinge. I am on record as not liking the hinge because it looks stupid when pushed all the way up or down leading to broken neck syndrome. The double-ball peg often sacrifices some of the range looking up, but adds for more nuance posing – tilt, if you will. This double-ball peg, on the other hand, is terrible. The bottom ball is way too deep in the neck. Worse, the neck on this bulky body is pitched forward at a slight angle and the end result is that this Venom has zero range looking up. He can look down, rotate, and has some tilt, but it’s bizarre to see nothing looking up. And this is the part of the sculpt that’s new so I don’t know why they didn’t just do it better. It’s really not that hard. Having the lower ball peg sit higher would help, though really the figure probably needs another joint at the base of the neck. We’ve seen Hasbro carve out a slot in the back of the neck on their Spider-Man figures which helps a little, though looks awful and is also unnecessary if you just make it better. Some people think it’s a safety issue, but these figures already come with small hands and such that are more of a safety issue so I don’t buy it. I think they just don’t spend that much time on this sort of thing.

Despite the head, this figure will pose okay.

The other new joint with this figure is a diaphragm joint. Venom is more like the newer Spider-Man figures in that he has a ball joint in the chest and a hinge in the abs. The new joint allows for the figure to rotate pretty well, though if you go too far it will start to look weird. There’s a little bit of tilt and a little forward and back. It’s an improvement, but would pair better with a ball joint at the waist instead of the big hinge. The hinge here isn’t of much use. Sure, the figure can bend forward far enough and back, but with the limited range at the neck it’s mostly useful in allowing Venom to look at his toes. You won’t be able to do deep crouches or anything because of that neck. There is also a butterfly joint which works just as well as the old figure, and the arms and legs are the same. Venom can’t do splits, but he kicks forward okay. He is a little top heavy, and some of the gumminess of the legs is a contributor to making him harder to stand than expected.

This Venom will pose okay for a Legends release. He’s actually better than the animated Venom because of the change to the torso. The head is almost unchanged as even though that figure featured the disc joint it still had pitiful range looking up because of the angled neck so those missing the hinged neck should probably banish it from their mind. This figure would probably have worse articulation with that setup because we’d lose the tilt aspect. Aside from that, the hips are still suboptimal. It’s not hard to give figures the ability to do splits, but Hasbro has problems with it for some reason.

He sure is a happy looking fella.

Is this the best Venom Hasbro has done? I don’t know. I’m not really qualified to do that since I own so few. I can say I hate the “monster” Venom aesthetic they did a few years ago and the three-pack Venom doesn’t look as good as this one, to me. Nor do I care about vampire Venoms or the movie one, so given all of that, then yes, I would say this is probably the best. That’s just me from a distance. It’s not the perfect Venom and it even has some pretty glaring issues that I think will bother even some of the more forgiving Legends collectors. Most will probably deem it good enough, and I do genuinely like the MacFarlane-esq head-sculpt. I just wish the figure went all the way in making it resemble the MacFarlane character design. And I really wish it didn’t have this gummy feel to it. It’s not a nice figure to handle.

If you’re a Legends collector who wants a different Venom, this might do it for you. There has been quite a few Venom figures of late so there probably isn’t anything new on the horizon (save for another movie version) to wait for. It’s priced like a standard Legends release so if you’re happy with the typical value of the line then this should do it for you. It has been popping in and out of stock at Walmart ever since it started shipping, so if you have yet to get it then you may want to keep an eye on it. I don’t think it’s expected to appear on store shelves so trying to track it down in-store will likely lead to frustration. If Walmart has sold out of its allotment though, then you’ll have to go third party where it will hopefully not be too expensive. Until Hasbro produces an obviously superior Venom, this one is likely only going to get more expensive due to the exclusive nature of it. Good luck!

If you want to read more about some of the figures I referenced here, then check out the below:

Hasbro Pulse Con Exclusive Marvel Legends Series Venom

When I was a kid, my dad took me to some local convention or trade show. I have no idea why because my dad wasn’t the type who would go to such an event. He liked car shows, but from what I can remember this was more of a hobby show. It was early in…

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Marvel Legends Spider-Man (Animated)

It was in 2021 that Hasbro released a PulseCon exclusive Venom figure on a Spider-Man retro card. The retro card series is meant to stir-up nostalgia for all of the adults who were buying toys and watching cartoons in the 90s as the retro card is a facsimile of the old cards Toy Biz used…

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Marvel Legends Retro Card Scarlet Spider

It was in this space last year that I shared my fondness for the Scarlet Spider costume when I reviewed the Medicom MAFEX Scarlet Spider action figure. I don’t buy much from Medicom because their figures are really expensive for what they are, but I sometimes break my own rule when I think they’ve made…

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September 17, 2024

NECA TMNT Adventures Cryin’ Houn’

By Joe
Can the turtles hope to withstand the might of Cryin’ Houn’?!

I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, but no toy collector enjoys hearing the phrase “Walmart Exclusive.” Such was the case for today’s figure, and many others, around the time of San Diego Comic Con. Walmart had their own collector con which is just a marketing way to say that a bunch of exclusives and first run figures would be made available on their website. It got off to a rocky start as the listings went up hours before they were supposed to causing them to switch to “Sold Out.” Naturally, a lot of people took to social media to vent their frustrations, but when the actual, intended, sale time came all of those items went back up. All in all, it actually ended up being fairly smooth with lots of actual exclusives lasting into the weekend. Some even beyond that! I personally wasn’t after much, but one figure I did want to get was NECA’s take on Cryin’ Houn’, an intergalactic four-armed dog from the pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures. He wasn’t a true exclusive, just a first available type of deal (you can now buy the figure at Target as well as Walmart), so I wouldn’t have been bothered much had I missed out. I didn’t though, and since we have now examined the Stump Wrestling turtles, it’s time to look at their chief rival in the squared circle.

He’s not so much tall as he is chunky when compared to other figures in the line.
And we’ll throw in a comparison with a pretty standard sized Marvel Legends figure and a 1:10 Super7 figure.

Cryin’ Houn’ debuted in issue number seven of the Archie TMNT Adventures line of comics. I’ve never actually read the issue (I know, I need to get on that), but I’ve been familiar with the character for a long time since the cover image is pretty iconic for the line. Cryin’ Houn’ took on all four members of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the same time because he has four arms. Never mind that collectively the turtles have eight, but we’ll go with it. The TMNT wiki website has him listed at 7′ 16″ which I don’t know if that’s a typo or a goof on how wrestlers overstate their height routinely. He’s also listed at 275lbs so if this beast is really over eight feet tall then he’s actually a bit light for his size. Especially considering how bulky he is.

The sledgehammer is probably a sound strategy, Michelangelo.

Cryin’ Houn’ comes in the standard TMNT Adventures box with new artwork from Ken Mitchroney, only the box is noticeably larger than most. It’s probably similar in size to the Man Ray box, but deeper. Cryin’ Houn’ was sculpted by Tony Cipriano with Kushwara Studios also credited. I need to find out what the role of Kushwara is in the sculpt, I’m guessing they’re responsible for creating the physical sculpt from a digital file created by the sculptor, but I don’t know that for certain. Paint is credited to Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo.

A super kick, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to phase him.
Nor does whatever this is by Raphael.

Cryin’ Houn’ follows the apparent rules of this subline of TMNT figures from NECA. He stands at approximately 7.125″ to the top of his head and about 7.5″ to the top of what I assume are his ears. Cryin’ Houn’ is a dog-like creature that would look at home among the Beagle Boys of the Disney comics, save for the whole four-armed thing. He’s painted all over with liberal use of black lines near his muscles and in the folds of his wrestling uniform. I like the contrasting colors as his flesh, or fur (there’s no fur texture), is a muted brown while the uniform is a bright pink with purple striping. The black and white wrestling boots look nice and he has a logo on his abdominal region that appears to be a skeletal cat. His eyes are outlined all in black which helps them stand out and his face is sporting a cocky smirk. The paint is all really clean with the only problem area being right where the boots meet the calves. It’s very minimal though. I also have a dot of light brown around the chin that’s barely noticeable. Unlike the turtles, this figure does feature pins in the knee, but NECA painted over the pins so they don’t stand out so bad.

A chop block? That seems more likely to work.

Cryin’ Houn’ is a chunky sculpt. He is heavy in the hand and quite a bit of fun to behold. And it’s important that you like the sculpt because it’s the main selling point. He’s not a figure that does much or comes with a lot. The articulation is very basic and also pretty limited. The head is on a double ball joint, but this is one of those characters where the neck is basically coming out of the top of the chest as opposed to sitting on top of the body. That means he can look side to side well enough, but he can’t really look up or down much. And the tilt afforded by the joint isn’t the most useful. He does indeed possess four arms and all four are attached to the body by a simple hinged ball. Rotation is fine at all four shoulders, but the hinge range is maybe 45 degrees at all four spots. There is no biceps swivel and all of the elbows are a simple pegged hinge. Because of how the back of the elbow is sculpted, the figure can’t quite straighten its arms out all the way, but the elbow hinge will allow for a 90 degree bend. And since it’s a peg, there’s a swivel there as well, but the cut of the joint isn’t the prettiest so the swivel has limited use. All of the hands rotate and feature a standard horizontal hinge.

Oh but it didn’t. Now Cryin’ Houn’ has poor Donatello setup for the Doggy Bomb.

The torso does feature some kind of ball joint in the diaphragm, but it’s of limited use. The singlet the character is wearing was done with an overlay so there’s no cut going through it. Forward and back at the joint is functionally useless and really it just provides for a minor amount of rotation, though the singlet will raise up when doing so and might not be as visually appealing. If there’s a waist joint it’s rendered totally useless by the overlay. The hips connect via a ball and socket joint and since the character design here calls for a huge upper body with comparatively tiny legs, the range is pretty limited. He kicks back a little, and forward just a little. I don’t think he can even kick 45 degrees forward. The legs will go out to the side a bit, but not enough for splits. There is a little twist at the thigh for adjustment posing. The knees are double-jointed, but they’re only going to bend about 90 degrees. The ankles are one of the few places not compromised by the sculpt as they’ll hinge forward and back a generous amount with a solid ankle rocker.

The impact was brutal, but at least our turtle friend has a sense of humor about it.

Cryin’ Houn’ is not going to do much on your shelf beside stand there and look imposing. As such, he’s like a true monster wrestler, the sort of big man that really didn’t do a whole lot in the ring either. He’s meant to remain vertical when going on the offensive with punches, elbows, some eye pokes, and little else. He can’t even get his leg up for an effective big boot and his arms can’t cross his chest at all so no chokeslams. I guess he can do a one-handed chokeslam. He’s also not designed to take abuse either so he’s basically one of those big guys who doesn’t sell his opponent’s offense. A tough draw for the turtles.

Now he’s just showboating.

If you were looking for Cryin’ Houn’ to feature some accessories to make up for the lack of articulation, well then I’m afraid you’re going to be let down again. This figure just comes with some alternate hands. In total, he has a set of open hands, fists, clenching hands, hang 10 hands, and a lone devil horns hand and an “Ok” hand. I would have liked to have seen some pointing hands or maybe even thumb’s up hands, but otherwise I’m fine with the selection. What I really miss is an alternate portrait. An angry one would have been nice for when he’s engaged with an opponent or something fun like a portrait with swirling eyes in case you want him on your shelf getting obliterated by a steel chair. Mostly though, I wish we got some more wrestling accessories. How about a championship belt? If one didn’t exist in the pages on Archie comics then another chair would have been nice. Some different refuse for the ring like what the turtles came with, a ring mic, or just some other kind of wrestling weapon. Only hands is just a bit of a letdown.

When all else fails, hit him with the chair!

And that letdown stems in part from the list price of this guy. Cryin’ Houn’ will set you back 50 bucks which is pretty steep. That’s close to the price of a NECA TMNT two-pack. Is there a two-pack’s worth of value in this box? Certainly not. There’s a lot less in the package than what came with a figure like REX-1 and this one is set to be sold in more places than that figure. Plus, just like REX-1, NECA already has plans to reuse the tools created for this figure to do an El Mysterio, a masked version of Cryin’ Houn’ who showed up later in the comics.

Now that’s more like it!

At the end of the day, I don’t have any real insight into the economics of toy production. I can only judge a product like this one against others being sold by NECA or by other toy companies. And that comparison has this figure coming up short. Given the articulation limits and the lack of accessories, Cryin’ Houn’ is a tough recommend at 50 bucks. And that’s coming from someone who is content to own this figure. I think he’ll look good in my makeshift ring display with the other Stump characters, I just wish I didn’t have to pay 50 bucks to add him to the collection.

I may need a bigger “ring.”

We have plenty more reviews from NECA’s TMNT Adventures line of toys:

NECA TMNT Adventures Stump Wrestling Four-Pack

When I was a kid, I didn’t really get a lot of comic books. I most often would encounter them at the grocery store and I always hoped my mom would end up in the check-out aisle with the comics instead of candy so I could maybe convince her to get me one. And when…

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NECA TMNT Adventures Man Ray

Back when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ruled the world, there was a lot of brand synergy between all of the various media being generated by this one mega popular piece of intellectual property. The comics came first followed by a toyline which necessitated the creation of an animated mini series to basically serve as a…

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NECA TMNT Adventures Dreadmon

We’re almost done with all of these NECA Haulathon drops from March and up today is the last of the single-packed figures, the Mighty Mutanimal Dreadmon! Technically, he’s the third figure in NECA’s line of figures from the pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures since he’s listed as number 3 on the box. However,…

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September 12, 2024

Dragonlance – Dragons of Eternity (2024)

By Joe
Cover by Philipp Urlich.

When I first heard about the existence of Dragonlance Destinies, two of the three books in the trilogy were already completed and released to the world. It’s a remarkably convenient way to consume a trilogy of books, because not only were two of the three out, but the third was about a month away from release. Being unplugged from the world of Dragonlance meant that I could go in without much knowledge of what was to come. It was almost like walking into a random movie theater for a film I had never seen a trailer for. It’s my preferred way to take-in just about any piece of entertainment. The less I know going in the better. And when I started reading that first book, Dragons of Deceit, and found it took place after the book Test of the Twins, but before Dragons of Summer Flame, it had me wondering why that was? Was this trilogy a way for authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman to take their precious characters on one more adventure before moving on from Dragonlance? Or, considering the fact that time travel was set to play a prominent role in the trilogy, was this going to be a way to reboot the series? Now that I am done with the third book, I can safely say I feel like I have the answer to both questions.

I say that as a mild warning, because if you’re like me and you don’t know much about this trilogy going in then you may want to avoid reading about it at all. Especially if you loved Dragonlance at any point in your life because I can safely say if that is true then you’ll have a good enough time with this new trilogy. If you want a simple recommendation, a yay or nay, to Dragonlance Destinies then consider this a “yay.” It’s not perfect, but it’s a nice nostalgia blanket. The books are breezy, easily consumed within a week when reading casually, or consumed much faster if that is your preference. The cast of characters is a bit large, but they’re also largely familiar so there’s no real fear of getting lost even if your speed of consumption is much more deliberate.

With that out of the way, lets recap quickly where Dragons of Fate left off and Dragons of Eternity begins. Our time displaced heroes Raistlin, Tas, Sturm, Destina, and Kairn, had just escaped the past where they had been sent in the first novel in the trilogy. They had found themselves in the age of Huma, or the Third Dragon War, along with the embodiment of the god Chaos that had been trapped in the Graygem and hung around the neck of Destina Rosethorn. She had wanted to use Chaos to travel back in time and save her father, but through a calamity of errors she and the rest ended up much farther back than intended. Everything went wrong at the end of Dragons of Fate. Huma and his silver dragon lover, Gwyneth, were both murdered by an assassin. The Queen of Darkness, Takhisis, was on the verge of victory in a battle she wasn’t supposed to win. The heroes escaped, but the Device of Time Journeying took them to a future they didn’t recognize. Kairn found himself at The Inn of the Last Home just before the The War of the Lance was supposed to break out, only instead of a reunion of friends he found a city occupied by the Dark Queen’s forces. Dragon Highlord Kitiara was there as were her brothers, Caramon and Raistlin, now wearing the black robes and both acting in service to their older sister.

Time travel in Dragonlance is its own thing. The same person cannot exist twice at the same time, so when a person travels back in time to a time and place where they also existed then they simply take over the body of their past self (a warning to would-be time travelers: Don’t travel to a setting where you existed as an infant). Because of this, Raistlin knew what happened and he knew who Kairn was. He advised the monk to flee back to the present where he personally originated from where he could consult with the god of neutrality, Gilean, and seek counsel on how to fix the past. Because of their actions in the past, The War of the Lance now never took place. Instead, there was The Lost War in which Takhisis finally defeated the other gods who opposed her and established her rule for all time. Since a god exists in all times, the plan hatched by Kairn and the others is for him to travel back in time with Tanis Half-Elven to the time of The Lost War. There, he will reunite with Destina, whom he left behind, and the two of them will travel back to The Third Dragon War again and try to fix what they so badly broke. Meanwhile, the Heroes of the Lance in the age of The Lost War will do their best to distract the Dark Queen in that time in a bid to help Destina and Kairn go unnoticed for if Takhisis were to seize hold of the Graygem there would be no telling how powerful it would make her.

The other rule of time travel in Dragonlance is that it’s always equated to a river. It’s less a metaphor, and more just a truth of how time works. When someone travels back in time and actually manages to do something to alter the flow of the river of time, it takes a little while for that to impact the present. In other words, this isn’t Back to the Future where changing the past immediately changes everything to come. It also means that when traveling back in time again there’s no chance of running into one’s past self. Should Destina and Kairn return to the time of Huma once again, it’s basically like they were never there previously with Raistlin and Sturm. And if they’re successful, it will almost be like they were never there at either time. No one in their party will remember what happened and time will move on just as it did before. That is why Kairn is able to leap ahead of the river of time back to the present to even hatch this plan to save time itself.

That’s the general setup and for longtime fans of Dragonlance it’s almost like reading an alternate version of The War of Lance. We get to adventure with Tanis, Sturm, Caramon, Tas, Flint, and Raistlin on a quest to thwart the Dark Queen. And their maneuverings in this new Lost War era makes up the bulk of the book. Once again, the apparent protagonist of this new trilogy, Destina Rosethorn, is more or less sidelined. She obviously has her part to play in what happens, but it doesn’t consume a whole lot of ink. As a result, she’s hard to care about and her romance with Kairn is hardly what one would call steamy. It’s established quickly the two find each other attractive, but following that there’s no real insight into why they fall in love and are even discussing marriage at times. Perhaps it’s merely a relationship of lust and convenience for the both of them.

My criticisms of the Destina character are nothing new, so I’ll put a pin in that topic now. As for the rest, it’s very enjoyable to read about these characters together. I was worried it would play out more like a relay race when Dragons of Fate ended. Sturm and Raistlin’s part would be over and it would be onto Tanis and maybe Flint. Instead, we get basically the whole crew and it works. It’s fun, and while it isn’t an entire trilogy of these characters running around the world of Krynn, it’s substantial enough as a nostalgia trip. And the inclusion of Chaos, an entity that can actually alter time, and the interesting era in which this story began does create actual stakes.

I’m not going to spoil the ending of the book, but let’s just that the chronology of Dragonlance is forever altered by this book. And if you read the two previous, then you already knew that was going to happen. The Device of Time Journeying was changed in Dragons of Fate so it could no longer exist as it was supposed to in later books when it showed up. And if you are someone who is more plugged into the goings on of Dragonlance then you probably also suspected as much. Recently, I stumbled upon the below Tweet from author Margaret Weis concerning what would be the next book in the chronology, Dragons of Summer Flame:

As someone who doesn’t keep track of all things Dragonlance, that came as a surprise to me. That book was a bit divisive in the fandom, not because it’s bad or anything, but because of the change it brought (We fear change). I assume Tracy Hickman has similar feeling towards the book, but don’t know that for certain. Needless to say, if one were to reboot Dragonlance then the time of Dragonlance Destinies is a logical place for that reboot to take place. I was also under the impression that Dragons of Eternity was to be the last in the series for Weis and Hickman. I am not certain of where I read that or if it was my own assumption, but once you get to the end of Dragons of Eternity there is a note that both Weis and Hickman will be back with more works in the series. And at GenCon last month, it was confirmed that the next book from the duo will be about Huma and Magius set before The Third Dragon War. In other words, if you close this book wondering what’s going to happen next then you’re in for a wait.

And perhaps that wait could be forever? Maybe the point is to reset the timeline from a certain point and then let the readers imagine what comes next? It is my belief that Weis and Hickman approach their novels as their own entity. It’s a story they want to tell so even though they are tied into the game Dungeons & Dragons it doesn’t mean they’re writing something for the sake of said game. If they were to though, leaving players to adventure in a post Destinies Krynn wouldn’t be a bad spot. As for the trilogy itself, I enjoyed getting reacquainted with this world and its characters. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it fan service, but I do think Weis and Hickman share a lot of the same desires when it comes to these characters as their fans. They enjoyed putting them in a new adventure, some of the pairings we saw, and yes, some of the changes. There was an interaction of sorts teased throughout that didn’t come to play and I suppose I was left a little dissatisfied at that, but perhaps it’s for another story? Time travel stories can be messy, though they’re rarely boring. Dragons of Eternity is a good capper to this trilogy and is probably the strongest of three. If you’re a Dragonlance fan, especially one for a bygone era, then I do think you owe it to yourself to go on one more journey with these characters. It’s likely to a put smile on your face and keep it there for the whole duration of the adventure.

For more Dungeons & Dragons fun, give these a read:

Dragonlance – Dragons of Deceit (2022)

My favorite series of books as a youth belonged to Dragonlance. The Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting that spawned numerous novels was a world I enjoyed inhabiting. I didn’t fall into Dragonlance until I was in middle school and my very first book in the long-running series was Dragons of Summer Flame by Margaret Weis…

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by Joe

Dragonlance – Dragons of Fate (2023)

What’s this? After only doing one novel review in the 10+ year history of this blog we have two in the span of a week? That’s what happens when yours truly stumbles upon new stories in a beloved franchise. I outlined my experience with Dragonlance in last week’s review of Dragons of Deceit so there’s…

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by Joe

NECA Dungeons & Dragons Strongheart Ultimate Action Figure

It was roughly a year ago that I added Warduke to my collection from NECA Toys’ Dungeons & Dragons line of action figures. Warduke is basically a modern rendition of the character as featured in the vintage D&D toyline from LJN in the 80s. While I wasn’t a fan of that old toyline, I could…

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by Joe

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September 10, 2024

NECA TMNT Adventures Stump Wrestling Four-Pack

By Joe
Coming to a Monday night near you!

When I was a kid, I didn’t really get a lot of comic books. I most often would encounter them at the grocery store and I always hoped my mom would end up in the check-out aisle with the comics instead of candy so I could maybe convince her to get me one. And when I was a kid, we also had an old hunting camp in my family for hunting and fishing. It was purchased by my great grandfather in the 1940s and it was basically a two-room dwelling not much better than a shack, but I was a kid and liked smelly, dirty, places where I could pee off the porch so it was awesome! My dad would take me up on occasion and when he would it often meant stopping at a convenience store where I was allowed to pick out snacks and such. On one occasion, my dad let me get a comic book too and I selected TMNT Adventures #10. Being that I wasn’t a comic reader, I was really confused when I opened it up and saw Raph in an all black costume. It would be years later that I would find out this costume was a wrestling costume the character just chose to keep wearing. It was cool though and something I wanted in toy form almost immediately.

These new Archie turtles share nothing in common with the toon line.

Last summer, NECA unveiled their take on the Stump Wrestling turtles from the pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures. They looked great even though they were just early paint masters. No articulation, just sculpts and paint. At the time of showing, I wanted them and figured it wouldn’t be too long, but that wait turned into 13 months. Now hitting Targets, this four-pack features all four turtles from issue 7 in their wrestling attire. No surprise, they look great, but they also feature some surprises too.

Check it out, dudes, new shells!

I think when NECA started wading into the Archie universe most assumed the turtles would come and when they did they would feature some similarities with the cartoon turtles. We were wrong. These first Archie turtles are entirely new sculpts. Nothing has been recycled from those cartoon turtles which are coming up on being ten years old going back to their original release. They have featured some modifications along the way, but it’s always fun to get new stuff. Especially as NECA seems more interested in wading into more stylized interpretations of the licenses they hold. These turtles, which are based on the artwork of Ken Mitchroney (who also supplied art for the box), look like they stepped right off the page. Assuming, of course, that page was illustrated by Mitchroney. Other artists worked on the book and while they all went for a toon aesthetic, they also all had their own signature look. I love Mitchroney’s work so these look terrific to me and the paint applications (credited to Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo) really bring them to life.

“This is some bullshit right here, turtle!”

For these new Archie turtles, NECA turned to the team of Tony Cipriano, Tomasz Rozejowski, and Kushwara Studios to craft the sculpt. That’s a pretty big deal for all involved because these figures will likely be repeated again and again for other versions of the characters. In comparing them to the toon figures, these Archie ones are noticeably chunkier. They stand right around 5.75″ which makes them just a hair taller than the original toon figures. What stands out more is that the proportions are different as they have bigger hands and feet than the toon figures. The headshape is different and the shell is very different. There is more of a horizontal approach to the panels on the shell where the toon guys have a shell composed around a center hexagon. The plastron doesn’t have that little, center, diamond and the limbs are also thicker. I like the toon turtles, but these new Archie figures probably do a better job of really capturing the style of the source material. They’re just fun to look at, and it doesn’t hurt that they have some pretty interesting attire.

“He’s got evil intentions with that sledgehammer!”

But wait! There’s more! This may be a detail more interesting for characters going forward, but NECA is making some engineering changes on their end in a lot of the waves they work on. And as far as I know, these new turtles are just the start. These figures are pin-less at the elbows and knees which also means these turtles also feature double-jointed elbows, something the toon turtles lack. Pin-less joints have become something that toy collectors pay a lot more attention to these days as Hasbro made it a selling point of their Marvel Legends line. Most import companies have been doing them a lot longer. They’re technically not pin-less, the pins just aren’t visible which is the whole point. For me personally, I don’t care that much as long as the visible portion of the pin doesn’t create an eyesore. For Hasbro, that happened a lot with Spider-Man as the outer arm and inner arm are different colors which meant the pin was often red giving him a red dot in the middle of a sea of blue. With the turtles, it’s never been an issue since they’re green so the pin could be green. Pin-less joints can also create an eyesore all their own because the joining piece for the knees and elbows is often cast in a firmer plastic which can lead to discoloration. With these figures, it’s fine and this may be less an issue with NECA since they paint everything. Hasbro does not, so it’s not uncommon to end up with shiny knees or elbows that are a different color from the rest of the arm.

Yes, that is Donatello on the left.

This post is already getting long so let’s get into it since we have four figures to talk about. To no one’s surprise, the base figure is essentially the same across all four turtles with only minor differences. They have different overlays and heads and share most of the accessories as well. It’s also a fun set to show someone who is not familiar with this version of the turtles because they may have a hard time figuring out who is who. Donatello is especially confusing since he’s wearing a mask that’s mostly red with some yellow. His knee pads and elbow pads are also yellow and if you were playing arcade games in the 80s then you know Michelangelo often ended up being yellow for some reason. Leonardo and Michelangelo feature their signature colors while Raph is in his all-black. The all-black looks really cool as it’s a matte finish with blue highlights. The paint across all four is really clean. The only issues I have is Michelangelo has a green dot on the wraps of his right forearm and there’s a little bit of paint rub/stick around Leonardo’s knees related to the kneepads he has on.

These guys are going to pose better than any of your other NECA turtles.

We’ll talk articulation now and my demo figure for this is going to be Raph because he’s essentially a blank body. The others have some impediments, but stuff like Leo’s shoulder pads is designed to move out of the way, but there’s no denying that Raph is going to have the absolute most range because he’s basically naked. The head is on a double ball peg with a ball joint at the base of neck. This gives you basically all of the range you could want at the head. Going back, the head will eventually hit the shell, but they’re still capable of looking up. The shoulders and hips are the same as the toons and have about the same range as well. The new double-jointed elbows look solid and will bend past 90 degrees. Not way past, but it’s an improvement. There is a diaphragm joint and the plastron is glued in around the pectoral region so the bottom will move out of the way. This mostly allows for rotation, but there is a little crunch forward and back. The other joints work as expected. Some of the knees and elbows will probably be stuck at one hinge or another, but I was able to free them all up without heat. The figures feel sturdy.

I guess you have to have a ring bell and fire extinguisher.

A box set of turtles styled around pro wrestling should lend itself well to accessories. For starters, we get some hands. All of the turtles come with gripping hands by default which, unfortunately, have horizontal hinges. For the brothers in green, we get a set of pointing hands, thumb’s up hands, flat hands, and wider gripping hands. For Raph, he has some open, style posed hands and a set of fists. We also get some things for the characters to wield. Up first is a sledgehammer which looks like a sledgehammer. There’s a fire extinguisher that appears to be a new sculpt when compared with past fire extinguishers (we’ve had a few at this point across various lines). The nozzle is hard plastic so it sadly can’t be articulated, but it looks fine. There’s also an ice cream cone, a can of not Pepsi, and a red cup with a straw. I guess this is stuff for the audience to throw at the boys in displeasure?

Lining him up…

Two items that are very much in the world of pro wrestling include the ring bell and a chair. The ring bell features a little dinosaur guy who I assume is the one who strikes the bell in the comic. It’s a very Flintstones-esque design. He doesn’t move or anything so it’s more for show. The folding chair is definitely more of a true weapon. It can open and close if your turtles need a seat, but it’s better utilized as a weapon. It’s a worthy addition and by far the best accessory of the bunch. Of note is what’s not included which would be the signature weapons of the turtles themselves. The larger hands mean that the older weapons from the toon line won’t work quite as well here, but I assume NECA is just delaying a set of Archie weapons until they do more generic turtles. I really only miss them with Raph since he would wear this costume for several issues so a set of sai would have been nice. An alternate portrait for each turtle would have been nice too.

Good God, almighty!

Which takes us to probably the only major negative here – the price. This set retails for $150 at Target. Based on how last year’s Mirage Turtles were sold, it’s entirely possible these guys get broken up into single releases for a wider distribution. Though given that they’re variants, maybe they won’t? I’ve often said that NECA puts a “Turtle Tax” on all of their actual turtle figures. Two-packs typically cost between $55-$60 and single, “ultimate,” releases are hovering around $36 now. The Pizza Club single toon turtles were priced at $38 and included less stuff than a typical ultimate figure. This is now the fourth or fifth four-pack to go for $150 so it’s not a surprise anymore, but it’s a bit of a bummer that these things seem to be coming with less and less.

This Stump Wrestling mini-universe is going to get even bigger!

If the price doesn’t bother you then I can give these figures a hearty recommend. I am having a lot of fun with them in a way I never did with the toon ones. They’re just fun to hold and pose. NECA is also really building out this Stump Wrestling setting with a lot of characters so these guys figure to occupy a space in one’s collection all their own. If you like turtles and have ever been amused by the world of pro wrestling then you’ll probably like these whether you read the comics or not. I’m pretty much all-in and this Archie subline is becoming my new favorite so expect plenty more from me.

Here’s more from the world of NECA and TMNT Adventures:

NECA TMNT Adventures Jagwar

The next figure in NECA’s line based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic series is a much anticipated one for fans of those books and its spin-off The Mighty Mutanimals. And that’s because this character is making his debut in plastic. Previously, we looked at Slash who has been pretty well-represented in some…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Adventures Man Ray

Back when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ruled the world, there was a lot of brand synergy between all of the various media being generated by this one mega popular piece of intellectual property. The comics came first followed by a toyline which necessitated the creation of an animated mini series to basically serve as a…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Adventures Dreadmon

We’re almost done with all of these NECA Haulathon drops from March and up today is the last of the single-packed figures, the Mighty Mutanimal Dreadmon! Technically, he’s the third figure in NECA’s line of figures from the pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures since he’s listed as number 3 on the box. However,…

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by Joe

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