Tag Archives: 1:18 scale figures

September 23, 2025

JoyToy TMNT Groundchuck

By Joe
Good luck stopping this guy.

Last week we had ourselves a look at Dirtbag from JoyToy’s line of 1:18 scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures. As most probably expected, we’re back this week with a look at his buddy Groundchuck, the mutant bull that could have very easily been named Bull’s Eye, but maybe Playmates felt that was too on the nose. Groundchuck debuted alongside Dirtbag in the vintage toy line back in the early 90s, but wasn’t originally conceived as an affiliated mutant. Dirtbag was going to be a foil for Splinter while Groundchuck was just your standard TMNT enemy. The cartoon made them a pair and it feels like that’s how they’re remembered now. Both also showed up in the video Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III for the Nintendo Entertainment System as boss characters of their own stage and as a proper duo in the more recent Shredder’s Revenge.

He’s pretty big.
Even his NECA counterpart doesn’t seem much bigger.

Groundchuck is another stout release from JoyToy standing at approximately 5″ to the top of his head and slightly taller to the highest point of his horns. The only characters in the line who can claim to be taller are Rahzar and Krang while his pal Dirtbag is more full of figure. Groundchuck, being a bull, is appropriately beefy with a barrel chest and meaty biceps and thighs. Like Dirtbag, he’s basically a recreation of the Playmates look which was also featured in the cartoon. He’s colored bright red and I’ve always loved the juxtaposition it creates with the tattered blue shirt and the cybernetic parts featured on his person. A portion of his head appears to be mechanical, including his right eye, as well as the entirety of his right leg and a chunk of his left thigh. The cattle motif is seen in the horned skull belt buckle and a similar one featured on his right pauldron while the bull’s eye appears over his right eye, upon his chest, and as a knee pad on his left leg (plus a brand on his left bicep).

No idea what these dog tags reference
There’s some storage, but not enough.
“Ahh, gives me wings!”

Like Dirtbag, there’s a paint wash applied to the fur which imparts a grimy feeling to the character. A lot of the add-ons like the belts and pauldrons have a distressed element to them via the sculpt and their own respective paint effects. I like the gold bits reflected in the many bull’s eye pieces as well as the more ornate left shoulder pauldron. The painted elements are done very clean including the face where his eyes and nose loop really pop. The only element about the presentation I’m left a little underwhelmed by are those cybernetic parts, namely the right leg. For those, JoyToy went with a pale gray plastic with a black wash over them. There are some bolts sculpted into places and those are hit with a metallic silver. I wish the entirety of the leg was done in that color with those bolts and the anklet done in a gun metal. I think the figure stands out on a shelf as-is, but would really demand attention with a shinier approach to the metal. Even so, Groundchuck has always been one of my favorite designs from the vintage toy line and JoyToy did the design justice here by basically not changing a thing and just upping the sculpt and paint.

Just so much stuff.

We talked about Dirtbag as being especially plentiful when it came to accessories, but Groundchuck may have him beat. The beast comes with four sets of hands: fists, gripping, trigger, and open. He has the same white marble chunk of a base and a City Sewer stand as Dirtbag. From there, we get a whole bunch of weapons and other assorted goodies. In the area of odd, there’s a crushed, red, can. I assume this is a Red Bull pun? It otherwise isn’t of great note, but if you want him to join the likes of Slash, Tokka, and Rahzar in a food-centric display it works. It’s probably the accessory of least interest, but not without purpose. On his belt is also a grenade which is easy to overlook. It’s green and gray and it will happily remain on the belt if you wish, or Groundchuck can hold it. For more ambiance, I suppose, there’s also a loop of rope with a gold grappling hook on the end. It’s molded plastic so it doesn’t do anything, but Groundchuck has a hook on the left side of his belt it can dangle from, just set it when you’re done posing him or else it will drive you nuts with how often it falls off.

NES flashbacks!
Per Playmates, this is a cattle prod gun.
“C’mere boy!”

Those are the basic items added in by JoyToy while most of the rest are reserved for fire power! Groundchuck comes with a reimagined version of his cattle prod gun the old Playmates toy came with. It’s colored in earthy tones of steel and brown with the twisting prod extending from the end. I’ve seen some shots of the figure with the prod removed leaving behind something that resembles a small bazooka or something, but it doesn’t seem to want to pop out of mine. Groundchuck also has his cross bow from the old figure and this time around it mounts onto a gun that resembles an assault rifle. The rifle works with or without the crossbow affixed to the top, but why not utilize it for double the firepower? Hailing from the cartoon is Groundchuck’s stylish pistol with bull horns at the end of the muzzle. It looks like it should be thought of as a taser rather than an actual pistol, but it’s good to see a nod to the cartoon version of the character. And if you know him primarily from the NES video game, Groundchuck also has a big hunk of pipe which his character wields as a weapon in that game. There’s a C-hook on the back of his belt that seems to be made for this item as well, though the fit is pretty loose. It will stay in place if left alone, but might fall out if you pick the figure up. There’s also what appears to be a matador’s cape or flag. It’s on a gold post and the flag itself is red, naturally. Mine has some black gunk on it that I’ll have to try and wash off. There’s a little hook by the C-hook on his back that the post of the flag can snap into. It’s not the most secure thing, but works to a point.

That’s neat.

Those are just the weapons, but to really make Groundchuck feel special JoyToy threw in a bunch of effect parts. It’s a bit of a surprise as we don’t have many, if any, effect parts included with the other figures and here’s Groundchuck with four of them. They’re all pretty interchangeable, but as best I can tell the gold, lightning, effect is intended for the bull horn taser. The color is a little dingy, I can’t tell if that’s on purpose or not, but it looks okay. Acrylic might have been better though. For the rifle, a simple red blast effect is included that clips into the front. There’s also a second one with a multi-part effect at the base implying muzzle flash that looks a little better, in my opinion. It’s possible that’s the one intended for the assault rifle, and the more simple one is intended for the opening on the heel of his cybernetic foot. I assume that’s intended to be a rocket propulsion system and either effect can slot into it. We also get a small missile effect with a long plume of smoke extended out the back. It’s a mix of red and gray and I think this is intended for his horn. Yes, the cybernetic horn contains missiles. I think this is from the video games, but to take advantage of that there’s an optional right horn that has the tip bent back to reveal a hole for the missile to fly from. You just pop off the standard horn and replace it with this one. As is the case with all of these weapons, the missile can go with any weapon so if you want Groundchuck to blast missiles from his rifle and lightning from his horn – go for it. It’s your figure to do as you please.

“Whoa, dude! Chill out!”

Articulation for Groundchuck is standard for the line and very much the same as Dirtbag. You get head, jaw, shoulder, elbow, wrist, diaphragm, waist, hip, thigh, knee, and ankle articulation. There’s not a ton of room for the jaw to open, but it works to add a little personality. The elbows are single hinges and will swivel as well as bend close to 90 degrees. The wrists use a double ball peg setup like Dirtbag’s, and while the optional hands can be a bitch to get on, they’ll go. Range at the hips remains mediocre and forcing the figure into something close to a split will cause the abdomen to pop off the ball joint there. The double-jointed knees are pretty much only good for a 90 degree bend and do get gappy at the bottom of the joint. For the feet, JoyToy cheated a bit with the hooves and basically added a heel to the sculpt of the right foot which makes the figure easy to stand. The hoof for the left leg is also generously sized even without a heel. He also has a tail which has a swivel joint. I think I see a hinge in there too, but it’s pretty limited as the tail goes through the soft plastic loincloth.

They’re kind of like the upgrade to Bebop and Rocksteady.

Groundchuck is going to move about as well as Dirtbag, Bebop, and Rocksteady. He does have a lot of stuff added to his sculpt that can get in the way as everything is an overlay including the shirt. All of it is removable if you find it too obstructive. It would require some effort to get all of it off and would likely require the removal of the arms. I like all of it so I won’t be trying to do that. The appeal of Groundchuck for me has always been the colors and the design where he’s just fully kitted-out with equipment. I think he was envisioned as something of a merc for hire, a marksman, or bounty hunter type and the look certainly fits that characterization. It’s that over-the-top look to the character that gets me and characters like Groundchuck are the first that come to mind for me when I reflect back on what Playmates did back in the 80s and 90s.

This one is just a ton of fun.

If that’s not an obvious endorsement for what JoyToy has done then let me say it in plainer terms: Groundchuck is the best release so far in this line. He’s honestly fantastic. The look, the stuff, he’s just perfectly realized for this line. There’s a nice balance of that realism JoyToy aims for with some of its sculpts as well as the toony origins of the character. There are a few shortcomings here and there and I wish the metallic parts were all shiny and chromed out, but I’m also just really happy with this one. Admittedly, I’ve always been a fan of this character so your mileage may vary, but if you’re collecting this JoyToy line and were considering passing on Groundchuck I would strongly advise you reconsider. I got my figure, as well as Rahzar and Dirtbag, from LT Cave. The price and shipping was all very reasonable and I paid around $40 for each figure. Obviously, the situation seems to always be evolving when it comes to tariffs and imports so I don’t know how things are going to be when this goes live, but I do vouch for that e-tailer. There are others that will ship to the US as well so you do have options if you’re based in North America and want to collect this line. It’s definitely in contention for best line of 2025.

In case you’ve been sleeping on one of 2025’s best toy lines, here’s some reviews to get you caught up:

JoyToy TMNT Dirtbag

Today for Turtle Tuesday we continue our look at Wave 6 (I think?) of JoyToy’s 1:18 scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of action figures with a character who should be familiar to long-time fans of the franchise: Dirtbag. Dirtbag first showed up as part of the Playmates toyline in 1991 before making the leap…

Keep reading
by Joe

JoyToy TMNT Rahzar

JoyToy is back with their latest wave of 1/18 scale action figures based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and with a character I think we all assumed was on the way. You don’t do a figure of Tokka, the mutated snapping turtle, and not also do a figure of his best buddy, Rahzar. The two…

Keep reading
by Joe

JoyToy TMNT Slash and Tokka

I have a couple of turtles to look at for #TurtleTuesday and these guys come courtesy of JoyToy. Slash and Tokka don’t usually associate with each other, but JoyToy doesn’t think that should be the case and I tend to agree.

Keep reading
by Joe

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September 16, 2025

JoyToy TMNT Dirtbag

By Joe
Time to do some spelunking!

Today for Turtle Tuesday we continue our look at Wave 6 (I think?) of JoyToy’s 1:18 scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of action figures with a character who should be familiar to long-time fans of the franchise: Dirtbag. Dirtbag first showed up as part of the Playmates toyline in 1991 before making the leap to cartoon and video games like many before him. The mutant mole was billed as an adversary of Splinter on the cardback, but as far as I know that character trait never manifested outside of that blurb. He would instead be featured in the Planet of the Turtleloids story arc as yet another minion of the Shredder, albeit a reluctant one. He was paired up with Groundchuck, the mutant bull who also had an action figure released around the same time, and the two have felt interconnected ever since despite being largely confined to that ’87 edition of the franchise.

I don’t have the vintage figure for a comparison, but I do have the NECA one!

Even though his appearances have been kept to a relative minimum, Dirtbag is still pretty well remembered because probably millions of kids were exposed to him at the height of Turtle-mania. The fact that he’s being featured in JoyToy’s line comes as no surprise and his status as a miner means there’s a lot of accessories one can pull from such a background. JoyToy loves nothing more than cramming their packages full of bits and bobs to make their characters feel complete and Dirtbag really ups the ante here in unexpected ways.

Standing at pretty much exactly 5″, Dirtbag has got some size to him.

Dirtbag’s appearance is kept pretty faithful to his original design. He’s a gray-ish colored mole with a stocky build. To achieve the color, JoyToy molded the figure in white plastic and applied some gray dry-brushing over his exposed fur. The fur is a great deal more defined than it was on the old toy or in the cartoon and the dry-brush approach does give him a more grimy appearance befitting a miner. His outfit is more or less the same with a green shirt and dark, gray, shorts to go along with a fetching red hard hat. He keeps the asymmetrical feet which Playmates loved to utilize as one is bare and the one is booted, but his toes are poking through given his pretty sharp looking claws. He has picked up some chromed-out kneepads and spiked shoulder pauldrons and he still retains his useful backpack and elegant, red, ascot. I like that JoyToy retained his beady, little, yellow, eyes and the way his ears poke out from under his helmet is, dare I say, adorable. There’s a grittiness to the character design brought on by the paint and numerous spiked surfaces, but he is almost cute in appearance so you would be forgiven if you assumed he were an ally as opposed to an enemy of the turtles.

He is the king of removable stuff.

As is the case with many JoyToy products, a lot of the embellishments on the figure are removable. The pauldrons, backpack, ascot, belt, and knife holster could all be removed if you so desired. The figure comes apart relatively easily at the waist (some would argue too easily, which we’ll get to) making removal of the belt a synch. The other parts take a bit more effort if you want to go that route, but since the limbs attach via either a ball socket or a peg it probably isn’t as hard as you might think. The backpack is, sadly, not functional, but it does have two straps on the bottom that can hold some of his items in place. He also has a tail which needs to be inserted out of the box, but it goes onto the ball peg with minimal effort. The figure looks quite nice with clean paint applications. If there’s one thing about the aesthetics some might not enjoy it’s the very mechanical appearance of the knees, but only when viewed from the back. The actual joint is basically silver and dark gray, a pretty unnatural color combination for the back of one’s knees even if that one is a mutated mole.

So many choices…

Dirtbag’s accessories start before you take a single item out of the box. The backpack is already in place and on it is a red monkey wrench in a slot on the side. It can come out and become a weapon with ease, or remain on the pack. On his left thigh is a knife sheath with a white-handled knife inside. There’s a nice, metallic, finish to the blade and the white handle almost gives off the impression of bone which is pretty cool. On his belt is some dynamite, but these sticks are non-removable. To make up for that, Dirtbag does come with a bundle of dynamite as well.

Rail guns and dynamite – what more could you want?

For hands, Dirtbag has sets of gripping, relaxed, wide gripping, and trigger finger hands. The wide gripping hands work well with the bundle of dynamite while the trigger finger hands are intended for his rail gun. This thing has some nice detail and paint work and my only critique is I wish it had an optional hose to run to his backpack so we could assume an air compressor was in there. Technically speaking, I don’t think this weapon could actually fire as presented. If that bothers you then you can just hand Dirtbag some of the melee weapons which could also double as just tools if you don’t think he’s such a bad guy. There’s an axe, pick axe, and a shovel and all of them have a nice, distressed, look to the sculpt like they’ve been used over and over. The axe looks especially nice as it has some big gouges in the metal portion and tape wrapped around the handle.

“Hey dude, we don’t really have to fight, do we?”
“Far out!”

By far the craziest accessory though is Dirtbag’s wheel barrow. I don’t recall any past versions of the mole featuring one, but this gave me a chuckle. As far as toy, 1:18 scale wheel barrows go this thing looks pretty great. It has two handles and a nice, deep, “barrow” with a working wheel. It’s such a large and specific accessory to include with a figure that I am left to conclude that the designers over at JoyToy are a bunch of maniacs. It’s great though and it’s another way to store all of Dirtbag’s stuff. In addition to the tools, Dirtbag also comes with another piece of the white base and a disc stand featuring the City Sewer design. I’m a little surprised he didn’t come with a Foot logo stand, but it’s also not something he needs.

Dirtbag being easy to separate at the waist means he can use this digging effect part from the NECA release if you so choose.

Dirtbag, being a chunky and cumbersome design, likely won’t wow anyone with his articulation. For a JoyToy release, he’s pretty much par for the course. We have a double-ball at the head, hinged jaw, ball-hinged shoulders, single hinged elbows, double ball wrists, diaphragm ball joint, waist ball joint, ball-socket hips, thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, hinge and rocker ankles. The tail is also on a double-ball peg and has a bendy wire in it as well, though the bend is fairly limited. Range at his joints is acceptable. The single-hinged elbows also swivel so that is essentially your bicep swivel. The diaphragm joint is pretty nice when it comes to tilt and swivel, but it and the waist offer little in the way of crunch. He’ll also pop apart at the waist easily like Bebop and Rocksteady when kicking the legs out to the side. There just isn’t much room in the crotch area and what happens is the thighs literally force the abdomen off of the ball joint there. It’s not a hard piece to put back together or anything, but it can get annoying. I wish they would lengthen the peg that the ball is molded onto so that it would prevent that from happening as easily in the future. The knees are also gappy, which is a trend with JoyToy and their double-knees. The gap is usually at the very bottom of the joint and there aren’t many poses where this will be visible, but it’s still avoidable with a little more thoughtful engineering.

I don’t think he looks like such a bad guy.

Those critiques are fairly minor as this miner is going to pose probably as well as most would ask of him. He can handle all of his weapons just fine and also the wheel barrow. Dirtbag was the figure in this bundle of three that makes up Wave 6 I was least excited for, but now that he’s in-hand I’ve really come to appreciate him. He has so much stuff, but it all feels useful and purposeful. Well, maybe not the wheel barrow, but it’s so damn wild that they gave him one that I can’t help but love it. Will I actually display it is the real question as that’s quite a bit of shelf real estate, but I think I’m going to have to bring it into the display from time-to-time. In an age where we as tool collectors often obsess over things like mold reuse, it’s awesome seeing a company say “screw that,” and deliver some very specific parts. Dirtbag is a pretty cool release. If you have fond memories of the old toy or the character from the show or video games then you’ll probably enjoy what JoyToy has done with him. He along with his buddy Groundchuck have almost muscled their way into essential territory for me when it comes to TMNT collections to the point where I’m surprised they really haven’t shown up more often. And speaking of, you can probably guess who will be featured here next week so be sure to come back if you want to hear about the cybernetic bull with lethal accuracy!

The JoyToy TMNT collection continues to grow:

JoyToy TMNT Krang

The surprise line of the past year has unleashed perhaps its very best with Krang. Krang dates back to the 1987 cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Because that show became such a household name, it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of just how insane a character design Krang is. Krang was created by David…

by Joe

JoyToy TMNT Slash and Tokka

I have a couple of turtles to look at for #TurtleTuesday and these guys come courtesy of JoyToy. Slash and Tokka don’t usually associate with each other, but JoyToy doesn’t think that should be the case and I tend to agree.

by Joe

JoyToy TMNT Rahzar

JoyToy is back with their latest wave of 1/18 scale action figures based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and with a character I think we all assumed was on the way. You don’t do a figure of Tokka, the mutated snapping turtle, and not also do a figure of his best buddy, Rahzar. The two…

by Joe

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July 15, 2025

JoyToy TMNT Slash and Tokka

By Joe
The bad boys have arrived!

What drives my decision to buy an action figure can take on many forms. The most boring reason to get something is for the sake of completion. If you collect anything then you’re probably familiar with that impulse: you have everything else and you don’t want your collection to be incomplete. That can be a hard thing to shake and can lead one to buy something they don’t really enjoy for any other reason. Then there’s also matters of price and availability which can be an influence, but I think the best reason to buy an action figure (or really anything) is because you simply like it. When it comes to JoyToy’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures, I don’t feel that compulsion to have a complete set so I’m picking my spots. The four turtles, April, Shredder, Bebop, Rocksteady, and Krang feels like a pretty complete set, but then along come Slash and Tokka.

These two bring more bulk to the line.

Slash and Tokka are two characters that I certainly have some degree of affection for. They’re not Tattoo or Hot Spot, but characters I actually like and have enjoyed across various takes on the franchise. Still, neither felt essential to me so when JoyToy originally solicited the pair I felt content to pass them over. Then people started getting them in-hand, I watched some reviews, poured over some visuals, and suddenly found myself placing an order for the pair. They just looked damn fun and with these figures retailing in the $30-$40 range they don’t feel as overpriced as they would have 3 or 4 years ago. And with this line being in a smaller scale, I can delude myself into thinking I have space for more turtle figures.

Left to right: Super7, JoyToy, NECA.
L to R: Playmates, JoyToy, NECA .
The theme here seems to be familiar, but new. Slash even has a secondary head to better match the cartoon version of the character.

Slash and Tokka, both being mutated or alien turtles, are able to share some parts which is why they were sold together. From a production standpoint, it makes perfect sense even though from a thematic one it’s pretty odd to get a Tokka without a Rahzar (don’t worry, he’s coming). JoyToy decided to lessen that notion and appear to have made these two work as a pair, if you like. They have a pirate theme between the two of them and one could easily envision them as a pair of deviants patrolling the high seas for whatever it is they desire most. And it works! I like what JoyToy has done here and even once more logical pairings arrive via future figures I’ll probably still keep this pair close to each other in my display.

Be they friend or foe? I guess that’s for you to decide.

Both Slash and Tokka are loosely based on their appearance in the classic animated series. This means they also draw some inspiration from the vintage figure line by Playmates since they were influenced by the cartoon as well (or vice versa). Both characters stand a tick over the 4″ mark making them a little taller than the turtles, but a little shorter than Bebop and Rocksteady. Compared with the turtles, they’re not so much taller than them, but chunkier. They’re bigger boys and a bit more intimidating as a result. Tokka does come with the Foot logo stand while Slash gets them sewer one – does that mean Slash is intended to be more of a good guy and Tokka a bad guy? Maybe, though your head canon is as good as any here.

JoyToy really packs the box full of stuff with this line.

Let’s talk Slash first. This is a Slash based on his original appearance in Archie comics which was loosely adapted by Playmates. He has the black bandana and the skull belt buckle we know from the Playmates version. A lot of the other embellishments resemble that figure, but with an added degree of realism. The shoulder pauldrons resemble steel now, but are still bound by rope and fully painted. The elbow and knee pads are black and spiked and his shell features numerous spikes as well in a similar pattern. What’s new are the chains wrapped around his forearms and a harness around the chest. On the backs of his hands are some armor plates, but what’s missing are his blades which is a bit unusual, but the animated design did the same thing. His shell also has some handles bolted onto them that serve as weapon storage, similar to the other turtles. He also added some belt loops for additional weapon storage which is going to come in handy because he has a lot of stuff.

Even the shells are different.

The overall aesthetic for Slash is to take that old design and up the detail and realism. His skin is heavily textured with thick scaling. There’s a a lot of knicks and grooves cut into the plastron and there’s just a lot of added texture to every surface of this guy. The belt has a softer texture befitting a leather belt and the tassels on it and the bandana are frozen in a windswept look. Paint is pretty clean and crisp on this guy and it looks like a paint wash was utilized to really bring out those details. Like the turtles, Slash does have a belt that doesn’t wrap around the back of the shell. This is just part of the design JoyToy is going for and while it doesn’t make sense for turtle anatomy, it doesn’t really bother me personally. Your mileage may vary.

Not to be out done, here’s all the stuff Tokka comes with.

Tokka, as expected, uses a lot of the same parts. Between the two, they share shoulders, biceps, abdomen, thighs, and feet. In addition to that, the elbow pads, knee pads, and belt appear to be shared between the two with the belt buckle and tassels swapped out for Tokka. That’s a lot of shared parts, but there’s also a lot of unique stuff. I was surprised that JoyToy opted to do a different shell since the Playmates figures shared the same. Tokka’s lacks spikes and instead is more plated in appearance like an actual snapping turtle. His calves are also different as he has spikes along the sides of them. And in keeping with past versions of the character, Tokka has five digits on his hand as opposed to three like Slash and the other turtles. JoyToy could have easily decided to just give him the same hands as Slash and I doubt anyone would have really cared, but it’s cool they decided to sink more money into this figure than they had to.

They have plenty of implements of destruction.

Tokka has a very similar look to Slash in terms of approach. There’s a lot of detail here and the paint is kept pretty clean. His head sits lower than Slash owing to the fact that his neck is more forward than straight up. His beak is colored black like the Playmates and toon design while his overall complexion is darker than his cartoon counterpart and basically the same as Slash. He has two hooks attached to his shell for some weapon storage and instead of chains around his forearms he has rope. His shoulder pads are spiked like the old design, but the shape is more square than round as previously depicted. Of the two, I enjoy the Slash design a bit more, but that’s merely a subjective take on my part. Tokka is of the same quality and he fits in well with the rest of the line.

Slash is one of the few figures in the line to come with an extra portrait.

Both Slash and Tokka come with a ton of stuff. Some of it is shared and some of it isn’t. We’ll start with Slash who comes with four sets of hands: fists, gripping, wider gripping, and trigger finger. He also has a second head which is not typical of the line, but it features his metal headband from the cartoon so if you want a more toon-like appearance you have the option. In terms of the usual stuff, Slash has the City Sewer disc stand and a chunk of the white, marble, diorama piece. He also comes with a pre-mutated version of himself which is just a little slug figure. It stands on two feet so maybe it’s supposed to have been just exposed to mutagen? I don’t know. He also has his “binky,” the little palm tree forever associated with the character.

Are these blades a good enough stand-in for Slash’s usual ones?

In terms of weapons Slash is pretty well-stocked. If you felt he was missing the blades on his hand then JoyToy has you sort of covered via two bladed weapons he can hold in his hands. They’re like oversized Wolverine attachments as each has three, large, blades extending from them. They’re not quite the same as the more traditional setup, but it suits the character. In terms of bladed weapons, Slash has a pair of daggers which can fit in the loops on his belt and a pair of katana which can be stored in his shell. The katana feel like a callback to the cartoon as that version of the character carried two swords. He also has a large bladed weapon mounted to a pole. I guess it’s like a glaive and probably has a proper name that I don’t know. The blade is almost as large as the staff it’s affixed to and it’s pretty nasty looking as it’s all chipped. I certainly would not want to be on the receiving end there.

I’m starting to think of these guys as food monsters.

If melee combat is not how you feel your Slash should approach things then he also has a firearm. A small, old-fashioned, pistol that probably runs off of black powder and has a knife affixed to it for extra stabbing power. To keep Slash protected while he fires on his foes (or reloads) is a large, spiked, shield that can fit over his forearm and also has a handle for added stability. Slash can easily hide much of his bulk behind this thing and fire from behind it if he wants to. For when things slow down, Slash also has a big old mug of beer and a lobster roll sandwich to snack on. The mug is again of an old-fashioned design of wood with banded steel. There’s a froth effect that’s removable. The sandwich is basically a giant lobster between two pieces of bread and is a bit funny. I’m guessing a turtle like Slash has no issue just biting through the shell when he’s hungry. The roll also has a slot on the bottom of it so you can stick it on the end of a dagger which is a nice touch. I kind of like the idea of Slash and Tokka as a pair of gluttonous pirates who like to kick ass then settle down for some chow.

Awe!

Tokka is just about as stacked as Slash and shares some of the same accessories. He too comes with the same piece of the diorama base while his disc stand is the Foot branded one. He also comes with the mug, shield, and pistol as well as the same spread of hands though via different sculpts. There’s a baby Tokka as well, but it’s a different sculpt from the little Slash as it’s in a more neutral pose and has its own unique shell. Those represent the shared parts, but for the actual melee weapons Tokka is all new. He has two, curved, daggers which can slot into his belt and he also has two, larger, curved swords. They have a handguard so, if you want, you can hang them off of the hooks on his shell. However, I think those hooks are intended to house his massive anchor weapon. It’s just a big anchor with some wrappings around it to form a handle and a piece of sculpted chain attached to the end. It can go across the hooks when not being held, though it is a little finicky, but not likely to fall out on its own. Tokka also has two handheld bladed weapons similar to Slash’s only his feature one, big, blade as opposed to three smaller ones. Lastly, he has some food of his own in the form of a turkey leg with a big bite taken out of it. I find it amusing since NECA opted for the same with its cartoon Tokka. I guess he just really likes turkey.

The gun and shield combos is pretty cool.

The two figures share enough parts that articulation is basically the same for both. The approach is also basically in-line with what we saw out of JoyToy when it came to the other turtles. We have ball pegs at the head and wrists with hinged balls at the shoulders, bicep swivel, single-hinged elbows that swivel, a ball joint in the diaphragm, ball-jointed hips, thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, ankle hinges, and rockers. Tokka also has the added benefit of a hinged jaw. They’re pretty chunky so the range in places isn’t the best. Heads are always a bit limited with these turtle designs, though if you swap to the toon head for Slash you get a little more range since you won’t have to deal with the bandana tassels. The ball-jointed wrists work fine, but the hands pop off pretty easily and it is a mild annoyance when posing. Elbow pads and knee pads are floating so they can get out of the way to a point, but you’re basically only getting 90 degrees of movement at both spots. The shoulders are a bit restricted because of the pauldrons and I do wish we could get better range there for convincing two-handed poses. They can kind of do it, but it’s a very limited window.

Well done, boys!

The articulation is probably going to be enough for most people. The numerous accessories and hand options help to make these two pretty expressive even if the range isn’t the best in some places. The overall is aesthetic is damn sharp though and I really like how this pair turned out. As I said in the intro, I wasn’t planning on getting either figure, but once I saw how well they turned out and how fun they were I was unable to resist. JoyToy TMNT figures are not sold in North America so if you want to add this pair to your collection you will need to go through an import store. I got mine via LT Cave and it probably only took about 10 days for them to arrive. The constantly evolving tariff situation in the U.S. makes getting these a little trickier each day so if you want them my suggestion is to get them sooner than later because who knows what tomorrow will bring?

If this review has you considering more JoyToy for your TMNT collection then look below:

JoyToy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

It’s been said before and it will be said again: everyone is making Ninja Turtles. It feels like the list of companies not making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is smaller than the list of those who are. Viacom has not been shy about licensing the brand out to toy makers and it’s reaching a point…

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by Joe

JoyToy TMNT Rocksteady and Beebop

No, that is not a typo you see in the title of this entry. This is a review of the JoyToy versions of classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles henchmen Beebop and Rocksteady. I don’t know why it says Beebop on the box, but this is a Chinese company and English is probably not the primary…

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by Joe

JoyToy TMNT Krang

The surprise line of the past year has unleashed perhaps its very best with Krang. Krang dates back to the 1987 cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Because that show became such a household name, it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of just how insane a character design Krang is. Krang was created by David…

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by Joe

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December 31, 2024

JoyToy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

By Joe
JoyToy is coming in hot at the end of the year with its take on TMNT.

It’s been said before and it will be said again: everyone is making Ninja Turtles. It feels like the list of companies not making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is smaller than the list of those who are. Viacom has not been shy about licensing the brand out to toy makers and it’s reaching a point where there isn’t much for companies new to the brand to do. How does one stand out? There’s been different versions of the gang throughout the years, but even the hideous Christmas turtles received figures this year. We’ve got toys based on the old cartoon, the kind of old cartoon, the cartoon that feels new (but is actually a dozen years old), movies, old comics, new comics, toys of toys and did I mention the ugly Christmas turtles? Yeah, it’s crazy, and I guess we’re in the midst of a new golden age when it comes to TMNT action figures, but one aspect of the brand that has not been tackled much is a smaller scale. Specifically, 1:18.

These turtles are pretty little. Left is a Super7 Ultimates, right is a Playmates Raphael.

The 1:18 scale basically owes itself to Kenner and its original Star Wars line. Kenner wanted to be able to sell action figures of characters like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, but also their spaceships. Prior to that, most figures were pretty damn big. Think classic G.I. Joe. If your figure is 8″ tall well then the spaceship he rides in is going to be both massive and expensive. When Kenner did its Star Wars line there really wasn’t a science to it they just arbitrarily settled on 3.75″ for the figures. It’s basically been retrofitted as 1:18 scale and after the success Kenner had Hasbro would follow suit with the original action figure, G.I. Joe. Over the years, scale has become more uniform. Or at least, close to it. Most figure lines (and collectors) seem to prefer 1:12 or six inch scale for their figures. Of course, there’s “import 1:12” and “Marvel Legends 1:12” so nothing is completely scientific. There’s also a tendency for taller characters to get shrunk a little and smaller ones made bigger to find a middle ground of sorts. Usually there’s an anchor character and others are supposed to scale off of that character. And often times we’re talking scale with characters that don’t physically exist and different artists draw them differently. It’s very much an inexact science.

And here is Leo with some other dainty figures (left to right): Vintage Collection Boba Fett, ReAction Michelangelo, Plunderling

With Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the original Playmates line didn’t really have a scale. Characters were all pretty close in height and the taller guys would be sculpted all hunched over and such. Modern lines have adopted more of a scale with NECA hitting something close to 1:12 with its toon line and 1:10 with its movie figures. Super7 goes for 1:10, Mezco 1:12, and so on. No one is doing 1:18 though unless you count Super7’s ReAction figures, but they’re more like the old Kenner stuff in that there isn’t really a scale.

JoyToy took an interesting approach to the shells.

When I was a kid, I can remember my mom telling me that Burger King was going to have Ninja Turtles in its kid’s meals soon. I was excited because I liked Burger King and I loved TMNT. In my head, they were going to be mini figures similar what I already had, just on a smaller scale. In reality, they were badges and pretty lame. That idea of small TMNT figures never left my brain though and was something I wanted. I kind of liked neat, tidy, things. I didn’t really associate size with value unless we were talking about “deluxe” sized figures like the 12″ stuff. And as an adult, I collect mostly 1:12 and 1:10 rarely dipping into the larger or smaller scales, but that’s not because I dislike either. I think the 1:18 Star Wars figures are actually pretty cool, I’m just not that into Star Wars. When I saw a company was doing 1:18 turtles, I immediately took notice, even though I had never heard of the company before.

Everybody gets a skateboard, some pizza, and a Turtlecom.

And that company is JoyToy. They’re a Chinese toy producer that seems to be mostly known for Warhammer stuff. I took a look at some of the stuff they’ve done, thought it looked pretty cool, then searched for a place I could buy these things. I’m guessing that JoyToy only has a license to distribute these in Asia because a lot of the usual places aren’t carrying them. I ended up ordering from 5k Toys, a vendor I’ve heard a lot of good things about, but never used myself. The figures were around 30 bucks a piece so not cheap, but not as high as some other figure lines I buy. I had to wait a bit, but they arrived eventually right around Thanksgiving. It’s taken me while to get to talking about them because of Christmas and all, but now I’m ready to and I have a lot of good things to say.

These figures don’t really need it, but they do each come with a small logo stand.

The JoyToy turtles all come in their own window box with modern logos printed on. These are official products, just not made for distribution in the US. The turtles are almost comically small inside these boxes which are bigger than most S.H.Figuarts boxes I have, but they do offer a good look at the product inside. The turtles are all a unique design, but it’s a design that’s a bit familiar. They all feature the standard colored masks and pads, but they also have tape around the wrists and ankles which is similar to the 2012 Turtles. I get a DreamEx vibe from them, a company that made TMNT figures several years back, and also a bit of a Mortal Kombat one. It’s mixed with a touch of the 2003 turtles which I see in the faces. The whited-out eyes with smiles (for Mikey and Donnie, at least) are the biggest contributors to that impression.

JoyToy’s approach to the belts has stirred some controversy in the TMNT community.

Each turtle is the same shade of green which is a fairly dark, saturated, green. It’s very close to what I think of as the default Leonardo green in a lot of TMNT media. There’s liberal use of paint washes on them, but there is also a glossy quality to the green. It’s almost like they’re sculpted out of hard candy. It’s weird since typically one associates shiny figures with cheapness, but these don’t look cheap. The plastron has a more scalloped appearance than is typical and it’s partly due to the articulation cut. All of the turtles also have a chest strap. In an odd quirk, the belts do not continue onto the shell, but behind it. For weapon holsters, Leo and Donnie have sheaths bolted onto their shells. Raph has a spiked piece of steel while Mikey has a license plate, for some reason. He’s also the only one lacking weapon storage options, which is odd. There’s a chain on the license plate that you can finagle his weapons into, but it’s a curious choice to make.

These effect weapons are pretty rad. Raph’s is probably the worst of the four as there isn’t an obvious effect for a sai.

All of the figures seem to utilize the same body. The chest and heads are the only different parts as they all have a different chest strap. Leo’s is just a basic belt, Donnie’s has a pouch sculpted in, Raph has some kunai, and Mikey has what looks like an old iPod sculpted onto his. Portraits are obviously different which is often the case for TMNT. Leo has a scowl on his face with a slightly pointed beak. Donnie has a wry smile while Mikey is showing some teeth. Raph has the classic Turtle grimace with exposed teeth on each side of his mouth. With these heads, I’d say the beaks are slightly understated, but the overall shape is still pretty much traditional TMNT. The elbow and knee pads have more of a standard sports equipment look to them with some nice texture. They’re also floating and each turtle has a different piece of thigh armor. Leo has these studded thigh pads on both legs while the other turtles only have one. And they’re different for each with Donnie having more pouches, Raph more knives, and Mikey some spray paint canisters (non-removable). Donatello also gets a satchel that appears to be a med kit which he can remove if you like. I suppose the thigh parts are also removable, but you would have to pop the legs off in order to get at them.

Like the 2012 versions of the characters, Mikey gets the shortest bandana tails.

And then there’s the size. These turtle boys stand pretty much right at the 4″ mark. A four inche turtle in true 1:18 scale would come out to these being 6′ tall in “real life.” That’s big for a ninja turtle who typically are much closer to 5′, but this is also JoyToy doing their own thing. Proportionally speaking, they look like taller turtles. The torso is longer and more like a typical comic book super hero. It will be interesting to see how other characters in the line scale with them. I’d prefer Shredder, for example, be at least a little taller. I guess we’ll see. In terms of actual height, they’re not much smaller than vintage Playmates figures, but one look at the proportions tells you this is a totally different scale as they’re not nearly as chunky. And if you’re going to do TMNT in this scale I think it makes sense to go a little bigger. If these were much smaller they might not look or function as well as they do.

These guys pose pretty well with nice, tight, joints.

And function is certainly what JoyToy is going for. These maybe something closer to Kenner sized, but they’re far from Kenner articulated. Each turtle articulates about the same and they feature double-ball pegged heads, shoulder hinges, single elbows, double-ball peg wrists, ball-jointed diaphragm, ball-jointed waist, ball-socket hips with thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, and hinged ankles that also feature an ankle rocker. The biggest limitations are found at the elbows, hips, and knees. Elbows will only bend 90 degrees while the knees will get just better than 90 as the kneepads seem to impede the range. The hips are a bit puzzling. They only go out to about 45 degrees which is disappointing. The thigh armor gets in the way, but even on the legs without they still don’t go much farther. It seems the thigh swivel catches on the belt and they basically all have pouches on their belts which get in the way. They also can’t kick forward 90 degrees and it just seems like something is off with how the joint was engineered. It’s easily the weakest aspect for these guys. The added joints in the torso also aren’t going to really deliver a proper ab crunch, but they will allow for swivel and tilt points.

Each figures comes with a quadrant of the below manhole cover diorama which can be snapped together.

The accessory load-out for these guys is pretty similar from turtle to turtle. You’re going to get hands, weapons, effect weapons, a skateboard, and something unique. For hands, each turtle has gripping hands, fists, open hands, and tighter gripping hands. Getting them on and off was okay for 3 of my 4. Raph was the troublemaker and the double-ball peg for the wrist kept popping out of the arm on me, but a little dunk in hot water fixed that. Some hands also won’t go on nicely the first time and may also need a dip. Each turtle has a chunk of road with a piece of a manhole cover on it that can go together to form a little diorama. There’s a single foot peg on each piece too which is kind of cool. If that’s too cumbersome, there’s also an included disc stand with the TMNT logo on it. The skateboard is the same across all four, it’s just painted slightly different to match each turtle. There’s a foot peg and real wheels and it’s fine, if you want a skateboard. Each turtle comes with an open Turtle-Com. It’s painted pretty well and resembles the old cartoon, it’s just pretty big for a 1:18 scale version. It’s almost the size of their entire forearm, but I guess cell phones were pretty big in the 80s. Each turtle also has a pizza slice in some state of consumption. It too is pretty big so I guess these are those massive New York style slices. Paint isn’t great though as the yellow cheese has a green tint to it. I’m guessing it’s molded in green and painted over. I can’t see myself using them.

There’s a foot peg for each turtle on this thing once assembled plus plenty of room in the middle.

Each turtle comes with the weapon you would expect. And like the 2k3 series, they’re colored as well to match each turtle. Leo has his twin katana, Donnie his bo staff, Raph a pair of sai, and Mikey his nunchaku. The nunchaku are all plastic, no chains, and one is slightly open and the other features the handles closer together. Donatello also has the previously mentioned satchel and he also has a wrench, for some reason. It can fit onto a loop on the med kit, but it’s not that secure. Each turtle also has effect weapons and these are pretty cool. They’re done with translucent, blue, plastic. For Leo, it’s done like an afterimage effect with his swinging katana. They’re painted really well and the effect is awesome. Donatello has a spinning bo, though it doesn’t actually spin unless you spin his hand at the wrist. Mikey has two, whirling, nunchaku and they too don’t spin, but still look awesome. Raph has a thrusting effect that makes me think of video game moves or something. One of them has some yellow paint on the translucent section which sucks. I’ll have to see if it will rub off with a Magic Eraser. All of the effect weapons are self-contained, they’re not effects that clip onto the normal weapons, and they all look terrific. I honestly can’t see myself displaying these figures without them in most cases. Raph’s are the least dramatic, but still useful. I’m in love with the Leonardo sword effects. Other companies need to rip those off.

Of course, we can’t forget about the pizza. Raph’s kind of looks like an alien profile.

What I haven’t really mentioned is the feel these figures possess in-hand. Despite their small size, they’re sturdy. Joints are pretty smooth, but also tight. I’ve had Mikey in a running post on my desk for weeks where only one foot is on the surface and he hasn’t fallen over. He looks so awesome in this pose that I don’t even want to move him for pictures, but obviously I’ll have to. These are great desk buddies as they’re just fun to mess with. They come with useful hands and extra stuff, but I’ll be unlikely to swap out their gripping hands because I like my turtles with weapons in hand. The only negative is that the hips suck. If JoyToy could fix those then these would be even better. An extra portrait for each turtle would have been cool too, or the ability to swivel the bandana knots, but those are nitpicks. I’m pretty happy with the look of each turtle as-is.

Be sure to check back because we’re not done with JoyToy yet!

I think JoyToy is onto something here with TMNT in this scale. It’s too bad they’re a little harder to come by in the US, but not impossible. There are plenty of retailers selling them and with reasonable shipping to the US. Big Bad Toy Store did list the Bebop and Rocksteady from this line for a little while, but have since taken them down which makes me think they won’t be carrying any product from this line likely due to distribution issues. I reached out to them to see if the figures were still coming and they just said they were working out some details with the manufacturer and that they’d be back on the site soon. That was weeks ago so I’m guessing if I want that duo then I’ll have to go elsewhere. By the time this goes up I should have Shredder and hopefully that review isn’t too far away. These are great though. They aren’t perfect, but I quite like them and they’re among my favorite toys of 2024. If you like the look of these turtles and are interested in a smaller scale then I definitely recommend checking them out.

We have other TMNT reviews and even some 1:18 stuff if you haven’t had your fill yet:

NECA TMNT Dimension X-Mas Vacation

If you know anything about me then you probably know that I like collecting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures and I like Christmas. Strangely, those two things have not come together all that often. Most of the television shows featuring the famed four opted not to feature the holiday in an episode. And without…

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by Joe

Star Wars: The Vintage Collection Boba Fett (Vintage Comic Art)

I’ve been collecting action figures in some capacity for my whole life, and it occurred to me now that I’ve never owned the Fett man. That’s Boba Fett, who is one of the most iconic characters from Star Wars and also pretty noteworthy in the world of action figures. I am not the place for…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Toon Vacation Bebop and Vacation Rocksteady

Pack your bags and grab the sunscreen because today we’re heading to Florida! It’s vacation time folks, and even the bad guys deserve a little fun in the sun sometimes. Coming from NECA Toys we have another fun variant of the duo Bebop and Rocksteady. Always more comic relief than true threat, the boys come…

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by Joe

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