Tag Archives: action figures

October 1, 2024

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Rat King

By Joe

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.

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.

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.

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 July 18, 2023July 10, 2023

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 April 23, 2024April 22, 2024

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 February 2, 2021February 9, 2021

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, kevin eastman, mirage studios, neca, rat king, teenage mutant ninja turtles | posted in Comics, toys

September 26, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Full Power Frieza

By Joe

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.

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.

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 June 27, 2024June 25, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan Son Goku – Legendary Super Saiyan

I can remember a time in my life when I was just dying to see Goku, the hero of Dragon Ball Z, become that which was prophesized: a Super Saiyan! The seed for such a transformation wasn’t planted very early in the show and really only started being mentioned as the original version of the…

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by Joe March 29, 2024March 18, 2024

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 July 8, 2024

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, akira toriyama, bandai, dragon ball z, frieza, frieza saga, full power frieza, goku, namek saga, premium bandai, s.h.figuarts, super saiyan goku, tamashii nations | posted in Television, toys

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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’

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by Joe September 17, 2024September 10, 2024

NECA TMNT Adventures Stump Wrestling Four-Pack

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by Joe September 10, 2024August 29, 2024

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 November 8, 2022November 4, 2022

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, archie comics, leatherhead, neca, stump wrestling, teenage mutant ninja turtles, teenage mutant ninja turtles adventures, tmnt adventures | posted in Comics, toys

September 19, 2024

Marvel Legends Walmart Exclusive Retro Card Venom

By Joe

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.

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…

by Joe November 5, 2021

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…

by Joe January 5, 2023January 2, 2023

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…

by Joe July 25, 2024September 6, 2024

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, hasbro, marvel legends, spider-man, todd macfarlane, venom, walmart, walmart exclusive | posted in Comics, toys

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

NECA TMNT Adventures Stump Wrestling Four-Pack

by Joe September 10, 2024August 29, 2024

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…

by Joe April 11, 2023April 11, 2023

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,…

by Joe May 2, 2023April 18, 2023

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, archie comics, cryin' houn', neca, stump arena, stump wrestling, teenage mutant ninja turtles, teenage mutant ninja turtles adventures, TMNT, tmnt adventures | posted in Comics, toys

September 10, 2024

NECA TMNT Adventures Stump Wrestling Four-Pack

By Joe

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.

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.

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?

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.

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 April 18, 2023April 11, 2023

NECA TMNT Adventures Man Ray

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by Joe April 11, 2023April 11, 2023

NECA TMNT Adventures Dreadmon

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by Joe May 2, 2023April 18, 2023

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, archie comics, donatello, leonardo, michelangelo, neca, raphael, stump wrestling, teenage mutant ninja turtles, tmnt adventures, wrestling | posted in toys

September 3, 2024

MOTU Turtles of Grayskull Splinter-Skull

By Joe

Things are getting out of hand so here comes Splinter to lay down the law.

A couple week back I bemoaned the Walmart exclusive Krang from Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Origins – Turtles of Grayskull line for being particularly troublesome to track down. I couldn’t even find one in store or online to purchase at MSRP and had to buy it from a third party – on Walmart’s website no less. Contrast that to today’s review of the Splinter-Skull figure (from here on just referred to as Splinter) that’s exclusive to Target. It went up for preorder probably six or eight weeks ago with an actual release date. I missed the preorder, but when release date rolled around there it was online and in-store. No problem.

There’s a lot more sculpted detail than usual with this figure.

Splinter is the third deluxe figure in this line released at Target. The deluxe tag doesn’t really refer to the figure itself, more the fact that it comes with a build-a-figure part for Metal-Boto, the Metalhead Roboto mashup. Aside from that, Splinter is not much different from the rest of the line in that you get a figure and an accessory. The difference with Splinter is while he’s on the MOTU Origins body, he’s a rat so he needs a little added texture. I don’t think what’s here is anything new, there are other beast men in this line that likely benefited from a furry sculpt, but it is new to me.

If you want something closer to a vintage Splinter you can ditch the cape and even the harness.

Splinter is basically the sensei we know and love from TMNT crossed with King Grayskull. That means he gets to wear a harness over his usual kimono and has a big, fur-trimmed, cape and spear. The head portrait seems to very much be drawing from the classic Playmates Splinter as he has a very large nose with his teeth poking out. The kimono is in the same color as it was in the ’87 animated series and is done with soft plastic that clasps in the front. The torso piece is separate from the portion that covers his thighs which is basically done as a belt. The cape is cumbersome, but stays on. It just clips around his neck somewhat loosely, but certainly adds a regal quality to the presentation. Splinter is also rocking some braids this time and the typical MOTU bracers and leg wraps.

What really stands out though is the physique. We’re just not used to seeing Splinter as anything but a somewhat frail, old, rat-man. This Splinter is positively jacked and it’s almost funny to behold. He looks great and Splinter can be a big, tough, guy if he wants, but it is very different for the character. I don’t know if that is something that will bother anyone, but it’s the first thing I see when I look at him. He’s a big, beefy, rat boy and I’m tempted to display him shirtless for maximum effect.

“Whoa Sensei, have you been workin’ out?”

Splinter actually comes with two accessories: a spear and an extra hand. The extra hand is a left hand and it’s in a clawing pose, I suppose. The default hands are standard gripping hands. The spear has a translucent blue tip and bronze handle. It feels just a tad short and I wish there was an extra half inch to the handle, but it’s fine. The spearhead can separate from the handle and be held like a sword as well, if you so choose. Articulation for Splinter is the same as always with the only addition here being the tail which connects via a hinged ball peg. It’s slightly preposed to begin with so it has limited use. A bendy wire would have been neat, but I wasn’t expecting one either.

The other accessories are the build-a-figure pieces. Splinter comes with the torso and shell of Metal-Boto which is welcomed since we previously received the right arm, hips, thighs, and head. Now we have something to connect those stray parts to and the only pieces missing now are both feet and the left arm. He also has a few more weapons expected too. Since this is a modular line, you can assemble the figure with parts from other previously released characters for a Frankenstein approach. Before, that couldn’t be done because the head joint is unique in that it has an action feature. Turning Metal-Boto at the waist causes the red cover for the jaw to move up and down. It’s kind of cool, I guess. The rest of the figure will be included with the upcoming Two-Bopsteady expected in October.

It’s not hard to find some parts to make this guy both complete and creepy.

Splinter is a figure I wasn’t that excited for initially and was only planning on buying to get the Metal-Boto pieces. I’m happy to say I have been pleasantly surprised by what Mattel did here. I dig this look for Splinter and there’s enough of the original character preserved in this version to make him feel familiar as well. His weapon is more interesting than most and his armor pieces have actual utility. I think this figure looks pretty cool with everything on or everything off and even some mix in between. He’s a nice addition to the collection and I’m really looking forward to assembling Metal-Boto in the near future.

And this will continue to go on forever.

Check out more from Mattel’s MOTU Origins Turtles of Grayskull line:

MOTU – Turtles of Grayskull Shredder

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by Joe August 20, 2024August 5, 2024

MOTU Turtles of Grayskull Krang

Two words that are much hated in the toy collecting community are “Store Exclusive.” Add a “Walmart” in front of that phrase and you get something akin to a worst nightmare. The world of “collectibles” has always relied on same degree of scarcity. The 90s saw a collector boom across various mediums which created a…

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by Joe July 30, 2024July 23, 2024

MOTU – Turtles of Grayskull Skeletor

When it’s come to the Turtles of Grayskull line by Mattel, I have mostly stayed in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles side of the pool. I have all four turtle boys plus Sla’ker, who is more Slash than Faker if you ask me. The one exception has been Mouse-Jaw, but the classic Masters of the…

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by Joe June 25, 2024June 18, 2024

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, masters of the universe, masters of the universe origins, mattel, splinter, splinter-skull, target, teenage mutant ninja turtles, turtles of grayskull | posted in toys

August 27, 2024

Transformers x Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Party Wallop

By Joe

The list of properties the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles haven’t crossed over with gets shorter by the day. When I look back to the 1980s, I view the big action figure lines as Star Wars, Masters of the Universe, Transformers, The Real Ghostbusters, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. TMNT has crossed over with Ghostbusters in the past and we’ve covered much of the current TMNT x MOTU releases from the past year as well. We also know, thanks to the book Rad Plastic, that Playmates wanted to do a TMNT x Star Wars line, but it didn’t come to fruition. They did get to touch on Star Trek, and the turtles have also had releases with the likes of Batman, Stranger Things, Cobra Kai and Street Fighter.

Now the turtles can aid the Autobots in their never-ending fight against the Decepticons. And I guess save Christmas.

Well, scratch another off the list as 2024 is the year that TMNT and Transformers got together to make a baby. A robot baby. Transformers are no stranger to a bit of cross-promotion. That franchise has collaborated with Back to the Future and Ghostbusters as well as current Hasbro property G.I. Joe. Transformers has even collaborated with Pepsi and Target, so that’s a brand that’s pretty much up for anything. It’s actually surprising that it’s taken this long for TMNT to get the Transformers treatment. Hasbro already did some work with the brand via the Power Rangers cross-over so a relationship was already established. Plus, the turtles have their own iconic vehicle to contribute to Transformers just like BTTF and Ghostbusters which is precisely why we have Party Wallop.

TMNT fans know that the turtles drive around in a battle van of sorts. In the 1987 animated series, it’s known as the Turtle Van. When it made the jump to toys, it became the Party Wagon though the name was never altered in the cartoon. The two are similar, but different. The Party Wagon is a little closer in style to a VW Microbus without being so close to it that a license was required. The Turtle Van is more of its own thing. It’s armored and boxy while both incarnations of the vehicle include a turtle shell pattern on the roof, twin laser canons, a spare tire on the front with the group’s logo, and a front bumper fashioned to resemble a turtle beak. For the Transformers collaboration, Hasbro (or Takara, I don’t know who makes the call) opted to match the look of the vehicle from the show, while referencing the Party Wagon name via the robot’s name of Party Wallop. There’s a TMNT x Transformers logo on the packaging which uses an image of the Party Wagon, so if you’re confused I guess you have every right to be.

Of course, he’s not going to be to scale with your 1:12 or 1:10 figures.

Party Wallop comes in a somewhat complicated blister package. It’s adorned with licensing art from the TMNT franchise and the Transformers logo across the top. There’s images of the toy in both vehicle and robot mode on the back as well as a call out to the fact that this toy can function as a robot version of each of the four turtles so make sure you go out and buy 3 more. There’s also a call-out to how both franchises are celebrating 40 years this year so I guess 2024 was just the perfect time for this collaboration to happen.

Party Wallop can resemble whichever turtle you please, like the best turtle: Leonardo.

Full disclosure, I am not a big Transformers fan. I think they’re wonderful toys, it’s just a rabbit hole I never went down wholeheartedly. I had maybe one or two toys from Gen 1, and a few from Gen 2. On this blog, I’ve looked at the RED Soundwave, the Super7 Optimus Prime, and the Christmas themed Optimus Prime released in 2022. Of those three, only the Christmas figure is one that actually transforms. I do have the first Masterpiece Optimus Prime and Megatron because when they came out I was flush with money from graduating college and needed something dumb to spend it on. I missed my window to sell both as there are better Transformers toys out there now. All this is to say that I don’t know the ins and outs of Transformers. I can’t speak to how complicated this figure is compared to others or if the quality is noticeably better or worse.

If it needs to do machines, there’s Donatello.

Party Wallop, in robot mode, stands right around 6.5″ to the top of its head and 7″ to the top of its “shell.” The figure is primarily constructed in colored plastic featuring yellow, green, and gray. The painted areas are sparse. There’s the teeth on the robot’s head and the dark green linework on the rear of the shell. The front of the crotch is painted yellow and it’s over a hard plastic that I initially mistook for diecast. The plastron, or chest, is also painted a slightly darker yellow than the colored parts. There’s blue paint for the windows of the vehicle and some other minor paint hits for metallic parts and lights. The paint is all applied well, it’s just limited, but that makes sense for a complex, transforming, action figure such as this one.

When Party Wallop is feeling rude, there’s Raph!

As for the actual look of the figure, it’s pretty solid. It looks like a robotic turtle and the designers did a good job of incorporating some finer details into this figure. The head of the figure by default is just a generic turtle head, though shaped like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle head. The figure also comes with four extra skull tops that feature a colored bandana for each turtle. You simply pop one off to slide your preferred turtle into place. The front belt buckle also folds down and can rotate to display either a blank, gray, circle or a circle with the initial of your chosen turtle. The chest looks like a Ninja Turtle chest, or you can clip-on the front of the Turtle Van for a different look, or have that clipped to a forearm like a shield. The proportioning is good with full formed arms and legs.

And when it’s time to party, there’s Michelangelo.

Aspects of the presentation that don’t work quite as well is just the overall look of the mostly plastic approach. There’s no getting around how a lot of the yellow and gray plastic imparts a cheap look to what is not exactly a cheap figure ($50 MSRP). There’s not a whole lot that can be done to change that though, yellow plastic especially has a tendency to not look premium, but you’re not going to fully paint a transforming toy. It would just be a mess after a few transformations because of all of the parts rubbing together. The shell, which is basically the roof of the Turtle Van, is a little awkward looking too. From the front, it’s fine, but from the side it’s clear that the figure has no back. It’s just an open cavity that the shell is supposed to hide, but since the shell isn’t curved, it doesn’t really accomplish that as well as it could. The one thing that does bother me that probably could have been fixed are the tires. They’re done with hollow, plastic, wheels and they just look like crap. Some actual rubber tires would have been nice, but I’m guessing such things aren’t as common today as they were 35-40 years ago when it comes to a Transformers toy.

Every turtle, robot or organic, requires pizza.

Party Wallop does come with a few accessories. Out of the box, the spoiler of the vehicle needs to be attached along with the front of the van. The nose of the van is basically an accessory too as it’s removable and the reverse side features a pizza pattern. Do robots eat pizza? This one does, apparently. Also included are the weapons you would expect: twin katana, nunchaku, sai, and a single bo staff. The weapons are done in gray plastic with the nunchaku being connected by actual chain links, though they’re made of plastic. They’ve been redesigned to have a more techno appearance befitting that of a Transformer. There’s also storage for the weapons and extra head-toppers on the figure which is appreciated. There are slots on the underside of the shell for the heads and bo (which has two hinges in it so it can collapse into a rectangle) while the other weapons all have tabs on them to slot onto the hips, the sides of the shell, and under the shoulder pads.

There’s storage under the shell for the extra head parts and the staff.

As an action figure, Party Wallop articulates rather well. I am used to older Transformers that basically swiveled at the head and shoulder and often not much else, but this figure can do quite a bit. It has a ball-jointed head so there’s tilt and some rotation with a little up and down. The shoulders rotate and go out to the side just fine while the elbows bend a full 90 degrees. The wrists can tilt in like a horizontal hinge and they also rotate. There is a waist twist, and the hips go out to the side almost all the way for splits while kicking forward and back a full 90 degrees. The knees bend 90 degrees and there is a thigh swivel. The ankles can pivot in and can hinge up as well, but not back. The shell is basically on an armature so you can move and position that if you need to, mostly for adjustment posing. It’s a pretty damn good spread though and all that’s truly missing is an ab crunch or butterfly shoulders. Having that ankle rocker is a pretty big deal for stances all by itself.

Party Wallop has a twenty step transformation process to convert it into the Turtle Van. For someone who doesn’t buy a lot of these, I found the process almost intuitive enough to transform it without referring to the instructions. And most of the stuff I did have to turn to the instructions for was just to confirm I was doing it right as the joints are all very tight and I didn’t want to break something. It does not feel fragile though, it’s just firm to prevent loosening overtime. There are portions that need to clip together and those can be a pain, but I didn’t find it overly annoying.

If you have some TMNT minifigures (I don’t) in need of a Turtle Van, this might work okay.

The completed Turtle Van looks the part in that no one would mistake it for something else. No one is also likely to confuse it for a non-Transformer as there are some unsightly seam lines on it, mostly on the side windows. I guess that couldn’t be avoided. I also wish the shell lines on the nose of the vehicle were painted like they are on the roof because that piece looks especially cheap. There are also two large hinges on the side of the vehicle that are unsightly, but also somewhat blend in with the texture of the van. In order for the front plate to function as a shield for the robot, the rear windows required peg holes for it to slot into and they look awful. I feel like they could have figured out a better way to do that which didn’t require unnecessary holes. The weapon storage for the sai and swords also switch to the bottom of the vehicle. The sai work fine, but the katana (if you can even get them into the slot properly) stick out of the front of the vehicle a little and it looks silly. They were so close to getting it right with the storage options – oh well.

As a vehicle for your Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles display, this Turtle Van won’t scale with anything. It’s way too small to fit in with any prior toy line. I suppose if you bought a set of those World’s Smallest Toys Turtles they would scale okay. It’s almost big enough that you could fake it with some Lego turtles, but probably still a tad undersized for that. That’s, of course, fine as this isn’t designed to scale with anything other than Transformers. Compared with my Christmas Prime, it seems fine so if you are someone who just collects these Transformers collaborations and prefers to display them in alt mode it should hopefully work out okay. I am guessing most will display it in robot mode though as their chosen turtle.

For someone who is not really into Transformers toys, I do like this figure. I think it achieved what it wanted to do in creating a robot version of a Ninja Turtle that transforms into the Turtle Van. The details are all there and the van is fairly on model. If you’re someone who has a whole bunch of Turtle Vans at this point, it’s fun to slot into a collection as it’s bigger than both Hot Wheels versions, but smaller than the Jada one (which I don’t have). Having the robot be able to represent whichever turtle one chooses is a genius idea. It adds a fun factor to the package and also encourages people to buy multiples. At $50 a pop, I don’t have any desire to buy more than one, but it was a nice try on Hasbro’s part. If you’re into these Transformers collaborations then I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t find enjoyment with this release too. And if you’re a TMNT collector primarily, this is a unique item to add to the collection.

If you read and enjoyed this review then here’s some other items you may want to check out:

Rad Plastic

I think it was during the summer of 2020 while spending one of the many days of that year inside and isolated that I stumbled upon a Twitter post about an upcoming book titled Rad Plastic. I believe the tweet was from the account The Toys That Made Us, which is (was?) a Netflix series…

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Full disclosure here: I’m not much of a Transformers guy. Transformers took off when I was a wee one and I kind of missed the boat. I had some friends and cousins really into it, and I even had a few myself that were gifted to me, but it was nothing I gravitated towards. And…

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We interrupt our regularly scheduled holiday posts with something very familiar to this blog: a toy review! Yes, we have ourselves another Christmas toy to talk about and it too comes from Hasbro. We already looked at a Star Wars toy at the end of November, and now we’re turning to what I suppose is…

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by Joe December 8, 2022

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, collaborations, hasbro, party wagon, party wallop, playmates, takara, teenage mutant ninja turtles, tomy, transformers, turtle van | posted in toys

August 20, 2024

MOTU – Turtles of Grayskull Shredder

By Joe

For today’s latest Turtle Tuesday action figure review, I think we can go a little light. That’s because I am looking at yet another action figure release from the Mattel Masters of the Universe Origins – Turtles of Grayskull crossover line between the heroes and villains of MOTU and those of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. These figures are essentially all the same. They have the same build, engineering, and some even have the same weapons. The differences are mainly in the head sculpts and whatever additional clip-on armor is provided. And for today’s release we are looking at the chief villain of TMNT: The Shredder!

Looks like this Shredder chooses to bring an axe to a sword fight.

When I first saw this MOTU-ified Shredder I wasn’t 100% sold on it. Even though Shredder figures are usually among my favorite in a given TMNT line, this one wasn’t an instant hit. It evokes memories of the original Playmates Shredder, one of the few Shredder figures I don’t care for, with its bare chested approach and black pants. It is, of course, on a MOTU Origins body so it’s not in that ridiculous preposed position of that figure, nor does it have any soft goods or blue metal. Instead, we have Shredder with a full helm and a Shredder/Foot-themed harness across his chest with a blue, plastic, cape affixed to it. The promo images made the armored pieces on his arms, shins, and helm look very plasticky. I am happy to say that in-hand it looks noticeably better.

That’s not to say I’m in love with what I see here. And it starts with the helm. Mattel gave Shredder a full helm that basically just has some eye holes in it. The eyes are red with black surrounding them. The fins atop the helm are a little different in that the two going around the helm connect in the back, which looks fine. It’s textured like crudely smithed steel with impact marks and the rear of the helmet which surrounds the head has a texture similar to that of movie Shredder, specifically Secret of the Ooze just without the gold coloring. That stuff is all fine, but what I don’t really care for is the face. Mattel sculpted the mouth area like it has an actual opening mechanism. And the shape of that mouth is like that of a crudely made robot with a severe underbite. I don’t like it and it makes him look like a dinosaur to me.

The rest of the figure is mostly fine. The pauldrons at the shoulders and forearm guards basically slide on while the shin armor clips on. It’s all snug and stays in place and it all has the same color and dented texture of the helm. What I don’t like is that the blades which go on the backs of Shredder’s hands are part of the forearm piece. You basically position that armor so that it appears to be affixed to the back of his hand. It probably would have been too cumbersome to have the blades slide onto the hands, but I think this is the rare spot were uniquely sculpted hands were called for.

And speaking of hands, Shredder features one gripping hand and one open hand, which is pretty unique from my limited interactions with this line. It’s just like the old Playmates figure with the right hand for gripping and the left open and I’m guessing it’s a nod to that figure, because why else would Shredder need an open hand? For slapping jerks? The gripping hand is useful for his included axe accessory. It appears to be new since it has a 2003 era Foot symbol stamped into it. It has a serrated edge and looks pretty nasty, though it’s just the one color which matches the other “metal” parts of the figure. Shredder’s other weapon is a crossbow which can snap onto a forearm. It’s a dark gray with what I guess is a dragon head in the center of the bow itself? There are two tabs inside the apparatus that look like they have a purpose, but I don’t know what that could be. It’s possible this weapon is reused from some other release that had a clip-on arrow or something for it that is not included here.

He has enough articulation to, more or less, achieve his “classic” pose.

Articulation for Shredder is exactly like the other figures in the line so there’s not much to discuss. The added armor at the shoulders doesn’t hinder movement there, nor do the armored parts on his forearms and shins. The ankle rocker continues to be a sore spot with this line. I felt it worked fine with the turtles, but most of the other figures have more of a swivel than a true ankle rocker. The angle of the pin going into the foot isn’t severe enough for it to function properly which is a bummer. Shredder at least has fairly wide feet relative to his body and even with the added weight of the cape coming off of his back he’s fairly painless to stand, unlike Skeletor which has fallen over multiple times since entering my shelf space.

This Shredder is fine. Nothing really spectacular going on here or anything unbecoming of the character. It’s a fairly unimaginative take on Shredder and the few, subtle, changes made to his design to fit into this MOTU aesthetic offer little. The axe accessory, while a little unusual for Shredder, is at least fine and looks pretty violent. The crossbow kind of sucks though. At the end of the day, I bought this figure because he is Shredder and my Turtles of Grayskull collection is large enough that Shredder felt like a necessity. He’ll likely end up being one of my least favorites though and I’m holding out hope for a Super Shredder deluxe figure to make up for this one (Note: since writing this Mattel has shown off a mutated, snake, Shredder for this line that might be interesting).

Shredder vs Splinter. The cosmic ballet goes on.

Check out these other reviews from Mattel’s Turtles of Grayskull line:

MOTU – Turtles of Grayskull Deluxe Sla’ker

It’s a Tuesday, and I have a new Turtles product to talk about, so let’s make it another Turtle Tuesday! And today brings us the second in the line of deluxe Masters of the Universe Origins – Turtles of Grayskull line exclusive to Target – Sla’ker: The evil cybernetic snapping turtle! This is Slash, the…

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by Joe May 21, 2024September 6, 2024

MOTU – Turtles of Grayskull Skeletor

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by Joe June 25, 2024June 18, 2024

MOTU Turtles of Grayskull Krang

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by Joe July 30, 2024July 23, 2024

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, masters of the universe, masters of the universe origins, mattel, motu, shredder, teenage mutant ninja turtles, turtles of grayskull | posted in toys

August 13, 2024

NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) Tatsu Ultimate Action Figure

By Joe

“I, Tatsu, now lead! Let any who challenge, step forward…”

NECA’s line of action figures based on the 1990 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might be my favorite part of my collection. The figures have just been so good at capturing the likeness of a film that is my favorite iteration of the beloved franchise. Over the years, we’ve received lots of action figures from this line including the turtles, April, multiple versions of Casey, Shredder, and more. It’s a nice selection of characters from the film, but one guy has been missing. Well, NECA kept at it and almost stealthily released the latest addition to the film toy line in the form of Master Tatsu.

Tatsu, portrayed on the screen by Toshishiro Obata (with Michael McConnohie providing the voice for some reason), was Shredder’s right hand man and field general for the Foot. He was an all new creation for the film as in the comics Shredder didn’t really have a named lieutenant and in the cartoon there was an assortment of characters that would not have fit in with the spirit of that film. There wasn’t a whole lot to Tatsu’s character. He mostly stalked around and grunted often sporting an expression like he just smelled a fart. In short bursts we saw he was tolerant of the children around him, but also vicious in the dojo. He seemed like a tough, capable, guy for the job, but he took Casey lightly and took a driver to the face on account of that. In the sequel film, things went even worse for him and following that he was never heard from again.

Tatsu may lead the Foot into battle, but he’s also in charge of the clan’s laundry.

Tatsu may not have been a superstar in the films, but he played a large enough role that his absence from the toy line has been felt. He’s been the missing link, but despite repeated attempts, it seemed like NECA was never going to be able to get Obata onboard. I don’t know what changed, but obviously something did and now we finally have Tatsu in all his glory. My assumption is this version of the character is based on his appearance in the first movie, though I don’t think there was much difference in his costume for the sequel. The sculpt and fabrication of the figure is credited to some new names for me in May Thamtarana and Trevor Grove. If they do sculpts for NECA’s other lines I don’t know, but it’s always nice to see new names on the box.

Tatsu comes with a bunch of stuff, but he may just look to be at his best when armed only with his fists.

Tatsu stands at approximately 6.5″ tall. His default portrait is that scowl we all know and love from the film and it’s quite a good likeness for Obata. The body is an interesting mixture of sculpted and soft goods. That “flap” over his shoulders with his insignia on the back is plastic, while he has soft goods for his robes which he wears underneath. There’s a sculpted sash across the waist with the usual (for this line) spandex belt for weapon storage. The pants Velcro in the back and I suppose the soft goods could be removed if you were determined, but I’m content to leave as-is. The body is sculpted underneath and he appears to have black pants and boots similar to that of the Foot Soldier, though I don’t think the parts have been reused. The arms are bare so it’s possible you could create a bare-chested Tatsu if you wished, though he may not have any sculpt in his abdomen. I suppose it’s possible the torso is reused from the Shadow Warriors set, though I didn’t inspect it close enough to determine that for certain.

We’ll jump to the articulation as there’s always a concern there when it comes to soft goods. I’m happy to say that the pants and sleeves are pretty loose-fitting and don’t hinder the articulation much. The head is on a double-ball joint and works fine while the arms can raise out to the side without hindrance. Rotation will be a little bit of an issue with the soft goods, but probably not to the degree where it will prevent you from achieving a certain pose. The elbows are just single-hinges with a swivel and the wrists swivel and hinge. All are horizontal, which is a bummer. There is a joint in the torso, but it’s limited as it is with most of the figures in this line. There’s a waist twist and ball-socket hips which work well for splits, but kicking forward will be a small issue with the soft goods, though it can be worked around. The knees are double-jointed and the ankles hinge and rock very well. He’s pretty much standard for the line. Could it be better? Yes, but there’s nothing surprising here for good or bad.

I kind of like the fan, though I concede it doesn’t really fit his character.

Tatsu does have quite a bit of stuff in the box which is amusing since he didn’t wield weapons in the films. For hands, Tatsu has a set of fists, chop, and gripping hands. There’s also an additional right gripping hand that’s in more of a pinching gesture. It seems intended to work with his fan, of which he has two. One is open and one is closed. The closed fan is a pretty boring accessory since it’s just a black stick with a little white paint, but the open one looks nice. I believe it’s from a Tatsu trading card associated with the movie and was a prop that never made it to screen. I think the same may be true for the red, demon, mask he comes with. There was a version of Tatsu in the 2012 series that wore one so it could be a reference to that. It’s really well painted and looks awesome, but I don’t know what to do with it. Tatsu can wear it if his mug upsets you, but this may upset you more.

I don’t know why this is here, but it looks pretty cool.

Tatsu does have an extra portrait which is him yelling. It’s not great. The scowl face is great and the perfect expression for the character so I don’t know if there’s a portrait I’d have wanted over it, but this yelling one is poor. I’ll never display it. Tatsu can just look grumpy as he wields his other weapons which include a katana and a kendo stick. The katana looks lovely and has a sheath with some ties on it. It also slides into the elastic sash with little effort. The kendo stick is well-sculpted and painted just as well. I don’t know what to do with it, but it looks nice. Tatsu also has a Foot mask if you want to recreate the scene where he passes it on to Shredder for a graduation ceremony. It’s all sculpted plastic so it’s not an actual makes any character can wear. It’s fine, but it’s pretty odd that Tatsu doesn’t come with the one weapon we see him brandish in the film – a knife. At least Shredder came with one, though the handle is so thin that the gripping hands won’t work with it very well.

How do we feel about having Tatsu finally in the collection? Pretty damn good, if you ask me. I think as a figure, it looks great. I was surprised by the soft goods, but they seem to work fine. A more cut-up, all sculpted, Tatsu might have looked unsightly so I get why NECA chose this route. The likeness is terrific where the standard head is concerned and there’s certainly plenty in the box. Is it anything you’re likely to display Tatsu with? That I don’t know since I’m used to just seeing him stand around looking pissed. NECA did a good job, and I credit Trevor Zammit with this, of digging for some worthwhile accessories to fill the box. The fan is a fun cut, and I love how the Oni mask turned out even if I’ll never place it on the figure. It makes me wish we learned a little bit more about Tatsu in the films. We were deprived of him having some crazy alter ego or something.

He may be armed with sports equipment, Tatsu, but I’m betting a driver to the noggin doesn’t feel very good.

If you would like to add Tatsu to your collection, he’s currently shipping out to Walmart. Some people have been able to get him off the website, but I had no such luck. Finding nothing but empty pegs all over my area, a fellow collector stepped in to help so a very special shout out of thanks to fellow Danzig fan @adamoverboard who sent me this figure all the way from Texas. Without his help, I’d still be making too many fruitless trips to Walmart, which I’m still doing anyway since I know other people still on the hunt and I’d love to pay it forward. Hopefully, Walmart gets more stock soon or NECA just puts this guy on their website. Too many people have been waiting a long time for Tatsu and it would be nice to see everyone be able to get him without much fuss. It does leave me wondering though if this is it for the 1990 movie line for me? I don’t need a Charles or Chief Stearns and I’m really happy with the figures we already have. I’m sure NECA will find something to do that will give me pause (there appears to be a new Casey in Foot disguise on the way), but if my collection ends here then I won’t be disappointed.

Some parting words of advice from Master Tatsu: Never lower your eyes to an enemy.

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Leave a comment | tags: action figures, master tatsu, neca, tatsu, teenage mutant ninja turtles, teenage mutant ninja turtles II, the secret of the ooze, toshishiro obata | posted in Film, toys

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