The JoyToy line of 1:18 scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been a, well, joy to collect! We’ve talked about the turtles, their chief adversary the Shredder, and his two cronies Bebop and Rocksteady. Now, just in time for the month of April, is their friend and liaison to the human world April O’Neil herself. April has seemingly always had a bit of a rough go of things when it comes to toys. The old Playmates figures were a bad fit, stylistically speaking. Most of those sculpts were detailed and a bit gross where as April was basically a Fujiko style bombshell in the cartoon. Playmates tried a few different things including even taking something of a Barbie or She-Ra approach to the character, but few would cite an April figure as their favorite. To I think everyone’s surprise, even NECA’s entry in its toon line was kind of bad. I felt it was the worst figure in an otherwise stellar line when it dropped back in 2020 and it seemed like April was just a character that was always going to be snakebit.
When I saw that JoyToy was turning its gaze towards the ravishing reporter I was a little skeptical of how it would turn out. April has been a tough nut to crack and it would seem a smaller scale would only add to the challenge. I’m happy to report my fears were unfounded as JoyToy’s take on the ’87 version of the character just might be the best April figure that’s ever been brought into being.
April is packaged in the same window box as all of the rest with a few product shots around the box. She also comes with the same sewer street scene base that the turtles came with as well as a logo disc stand. The direction of the character is clearly inspired by the 1987 cartoon series. This line, so far, has been an interesting mix of the 87 looks and the 2003 looks and if I had to predict what direction JoyToy was going to go with I would have probably thought 2k3. Or something all its own. This April is instead very much an ’87 version as she features the same haircut, the yellow jumpsuit, white boots, and comes packaged with Channel 6 equipment. The only deviation from the cartoon with this figure is that her jacket is open revealing a black t-shirt underneath which matches some black gloves she’s sporting as well. The ’87 look is probably the most iconic for April so it makes sense to see JoyToy adopt it here.
April also appears to be pretty true to her proportions from the cartoon as well. She’s fairly tall for a woman and the figure checks in at right around the 4″ mark. If you do the math, that would make April a 6′ tall woman. That might be a little overboard, but she is wearing healed boots. What’s more important is how she scales with the rest of the line. With the turtles, she’s about the same height, and if anything she’s just a touch taller. These turtles seem to exist in their own universe where they’re depicted as much taller than is typical for them. Against Shredder, she’s noticeably shorter, but not by a whole lot which basically conforms to the cartoon scaling. What is more noticeable is she’s far more slender than the very chunky turtles and muscular Shredder. She is long of leg and certainly has hips. Her sometimes much celebrated curves from the show have been toned down to a more realistic bust as well, but she’s hardly what I would call petite in that area so put down your pitchforks, fellas. If you consider the ’87 version to be the source material for this one then it’s pretty damn true to the source in terms of her shape and height.
The accurate proportions mean a pretty nice sculpt, all in all. The face has a hint of a smirk like she’s fearlessly pursuing a hot story with no regard for the danger it may be putting her in. The jumpsuit is loaded with detail in the form of seams and wrinkles. There’s a pack going around her torso which is a separate piece and the pocket on her right thigh is no longer a pocket, but a pouch held on by straps which could be slipped off if you so desired. Maybe JoyToy felt that yellow would clash too much on the shelf so they covered this one with a black wash. The jumpsuit has a dingy appearance as a result and even the boots are dirty. This is apparently a reporter who prefers to be behind the camera instead of in front of it. There’s also a wash applied to the hair which helps take away that plastic look. My only criticism would be that I think the boots would have popped rather nicely without the wash, but I understand why it’s here and I think it’s part of the character they’re trying to get across. The details on the face are handled well, though the printing for the eyes came out quite glossy. It almost looks like she has tears in her eyes. I found it distracting out of the box, but the longer I have this figure the less I notice it.
I very much like the look of this one and I’m happy to report that it moves perhaps better than any other figure in the line. The head may be the most limited as the collar of her coat plus the sculpt of her hair prevents the figure from looking up, but the range otherwise is solid. She has a butterfly joint at the shoulders which may be a first for the line (I skipped the Foot) and it gives her a little range going forward and back which will come in handy later. She has a bicep swivel plus a swivel at the elbow which can bend a little past 90 degrees. The ball hinges at the wrists work well, though they are more exposed than the wrists on the other figures in the line (but also move better). There’s a ball joint in the diaphragm and at the waist so she can bend forward and back and rotate at both places. Legs go out to the side almost to splits and kick forward just fine and there’s the usual thigh swivel. The double-jointed knees work as expected while the ankles hinge allow the feet to move forward and back a generous amount. The only spot that I’m less than satisfied with is the ankle rocker which barely moves. If you push the foot forward as far as it can go you can eek out a bit more from the rocker, but it definitely could be better.
Aside from those ankle rockers, April can basically do what most will probably want her to do. I don’t find myself fighting with this one as I pose her which I had to do to some degree with the other figures in the line. Nothing was stuck or loose and the figure can do cool ninja poses or reporter stuff – it’s your call. Some people may not like how exposed the wrist joints are, but they don’t bother me and since they work fine I’m not going to complain about them. Who would have predicted that an April figure would be the most fun to mess with in a TMNT action figure line?
April also comes with a generous selection of accessories. For hands, we have a set of gripping hands, open hands, a right trigger finger hand, a left wide gripping hand, and a left “peace” hand gesture. She also has a set of red boxing gloves if you want your April to mix it up or maybe just be trained by Splinter or the turtles. She has one alternate head, a first for the line, which features a surprised expression. It looks fine, but has the same glossy eyes of the default portrait. For her hands, she has an assortment of reporter equipment. There’s a microphone with a Channel 6 logo on it. The logo is fairly plain, but I suppose it gets the job done. She also has two cameras: a handheld 8mm and a larger camcorder. The camcorder works well with the trigger hand or she can carry it via the handle on top. Lastly, she has her Turtle-Com which is in an open position. Nothing on the accessories articulates so the handle on the camcorder can’t be folded in nor can the Turtle-Com be closed. They are pretty well painted though which is impressive for such a small scale.
Lastly, April also comes with a pair of buddies. Or rather, a pair of foes. Joining April in what is a bit of a throwback to her Mirage origins are two Mousers. These little guys follow the same basic design as the comic and the cartoon of this almost bird-like posture with a big, chomping, head. The sculpt is on point while paint is kind of minimal. The main body is just white plastic with a few hits of black at the hips, toes, and the jaw hinge. There’s a red stripe where the “eye” is assumed to be as well. Articulation for these little guys is pretty much the same as the Mousers we got from NECA. The head rotates and can look up and down. The jaw opens and closes while there’s another joint at the base of the neck for added nuance. The hips are simple swivel joints while the knees and ankles are hinges. It’s literally the exact same setup as the NECA versions and the only real difference is the scale and the eye appears to be bigger relative to the rest of the body. And these little guys are great, it’s an awesome pack-in accessory and I love that we got two of them.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this April figure is my new favorite in this line. And I’ve really enjoyed the other figures to come out. It’s a terrific take on the 87 version of the character, and as much as I enjoy this scale, I do wish I could blow it up into a 1:12 version for my toon collection. The NECA April redo was better, but still hardly what I’d call perfect. This one gets all of the details right and she comes with plenty of stuff and can move pretty well. We in the toy collecting world call that the total package. The only real negative here is the same as the major one with the rest of the line: she’s not for sale in the US. That doesn’t mean she’s unobtainable for those in the west, but your options are limited. And with all of the tariff business going on these days, it may get harder to import this one before it gets easier. I purchased my figure from LT Cave for about 40 bucks. That’s fairly steep for this scale, but compared with a Star Wars Vintage Collection figure which may run you $25 these days it feels like a good deal. I’m also willing to spend a little extra on a toyline that has an endpoint for me. April was released alongside Splinter, but I wasn’t really into the look they came up with for the character. JoyToy has also shown a Slash, Tokka, and Casey, but I’m good. The one I do really want though is Krang and I placed a preorder for that one which may do it for me. I’m sure I’d be happy with the other figures as well, but I don’t need them and this is going to be an awesome little collection when all is said and done. If you do decide to undertake the hassle of importing these then I think you’ll come away impressed just like I have.
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