Tag Archives: krang

June 3, 2025

JoyToy TMNT Krang

By Joe
Large, but not necessarily in charge.

The surprise line of the past year has unleashed perhaps its very best with Krang. Krang dates back to the 1987 cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Because that show became such a household name, it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of just how insane a character design Krang is. Krang was created by David Wise who, by far, wrote the most episodes of that cartoon series. I’ve seen some people share online in the TMNT community that Wise claims to have come up with Krang all on his own. If so, I’m calling bullshit on that claim because TMNT co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird came up with the Utrom, a race of aliens that basically resemble brains with faces who ride around in the abdominal cavities of android bodies. Krang (who was brought to life by Pat Fraley, who is integral to the character’s longevity) is an alien that resembles a brain with a face who also rides around in the abdominal cavity of an android body.

And that is a crazy concept for a character. An alien brain with tentacles and teeth from another dimension who needs a robot body to get around. He could have resided in the head, or maybe even in the chest like a Gundam, but no, Krang sits right in the belly of his body. In the cartoon, Vernon calls attention to the absurdity when he first lays eyes on the gargantuan Krang and, honestly, without that I may have never given it much thought. I was a kid, a lot of cartoons had weird looking characters in them, so I thought nothing of it. Now, I appreciate the lunacy of the whole thing. And the fact that his body looks like a bald, potato-headed, pasty man in red underwear and suspenders just makes it even more funny. This thing is goofy, to put it mildly. I wonder if Playmates first saw this concept and thought no way would any kid want such a figure?

JoyToy’s take on Krang is pretty big by the line’s standards, but comes up short against the NECA beast.

We’re almost 40 years removed from that debut so the design of Krang has been immortalized and normalized. He’s essential to the TMNT story especially if you’re referencing that original show so I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see that JoyToy was adding him to their assortment of 1:18 turtle figures. And the second I saw him I wanted him. JoyToy’s line has been a real joy to collect so far. It’s a bit of a pain to get ahold of, and the tariff situation in this country hasn’t made it any easier, but it’s been well worth it. The aesthetics of the line have been this mix of the ’87 show, the 2003 show, and a dash of realism and reimagining. Krang follows that same path, and since he basically only exists in the 1987show, the figure draws from that design quite liberally while adding a few new flourishes to the mix.

I do wonder what that handle is for. And that port.

The JoyToy line may be the smallest of the modern TMNT action figure lines, but that doesn’t mean Krang is a little guy. Krang, in his body, stands at a height of about 6.5″ making him by far the tallest figure in the line so far. This is a 1:18 scale line so that makes the character 9.75′ tall which is pretty damn massive. He was pretty damn big in the show, but probably not quite that big. Shredder, at 4.5″, is nearly 7′ himself so it’s probably safe to say that JoyToy is fudging things a bit, but there’s no getting around that this is a big figure amongst the rest.

I’m not trying to get the other Krang out of the NECA body, so here’s Archie Krang.
Krang’s less popular mode of conveyance.

Before we dive into it, we should probably talk about the actual character that is Krang. Krang is obviously a little guy since he fits in the stomach of the body, but he’s hardly tiny. He’s about the size of Shredder’s torso and he’s been given an appropriately grumpy face sculpt. He’s molded in pink with a liberal amount of dry brushing over him to take off some of that plastic sheen and help him blend stylistically with the rest of the line. I love his expression and his little teeth and eyes are painted very well. He has his two tentacles which are ball-jointed so there’s a little bit of posing there, but otherwise it’s a slug figure which is about all anyone expected out of Krang. He’s quite possibly the most on-model character from the show, aside from maybe the Mousers, and that makes sense since there’s not a whole lot JoyToy could do with this design. And there isn’t really anything I’d personally want them to do. They could have tried to make him look grosser with veins or even a sheen like he’s wet, but considering he’s going to spend most of his days inside another figure I think this is plenty good.

JoyToy didn’t have to include the walker, but it’s cool that they did.

Krang actually comes with two modes of transportation. The less interesting of the two is what most refer to as Krang’s bubble walker. I think part of the reason why it earned such a name is because other versions had a dome on it, but this one does not. It’s basically a small, bipedal, mode of transportation. It has a very utilitarian look to it as it’s a brushed steel color with exposed rivets. There’s some piping of gold around the compartment and hits of red where I assume lights would be as well as a metallic blue for I guess more lights on the back. The sculpt is a little soft in the legs, but still detailed. The legs contain hinge joints at the top, the knee, and the ankle, sort of like the Mousers. There’s also a twin turret below the bubble portion that swivels. Krang just sits in this thing, there’s no little trick to make his tentacles poke out of it or any flourishes like that. The dangly bits on his chin make it so he needs to sit pretty far forward in the walker if you want him flush with the seat. It’s fine, but I’m guessing most won’t display the character in this fashion.

The turtles will have their hands full with this guy.

And that’s because we have the big boy for Krang to ride around in. We already mentioned the size of this guy, but now we get to talk about the sculpt. If you have some reference art from the show, or maybe the NECA figure of the same, you’ll notice that a lot of the details made it into the JoyToy version. He has the big shoulder pads, the suspenders, the red undies, the vents on his chest, the handle on his lower back, that oddly placed port in the middle of his ass, and even that tuning fork on his head. The flesh tone is rather warm in appearance while the metallic parts have been given a metallic coat of paint. The character on the show had a lot of black linework which would outline certain areas, like the knees and these patches on his thighs. For those, JoyToy decided to fill them in with silver paint to give the character a slightly more mechanical look. There’s also some sculpt work over his spine that looks like an external skeleton and they also added a little gray to the edges of his trunks, which I think looks pretty sharp. The proportions are also less humorous compared with the show design. He has appropriately long legs and there’s even some muscle tone there and with his arms. He’s still a big, mostly naked, guy in suspenders and trunks, but he’s ever so less dorky than his ’87 counterpart.

The head is where I see the most change with this look. The cartoon featured a head that was barely human. This version maintains that same, basic, potato shape, but the facial details are far more realistic. He has a pronounced nose and his mouth is curled into a sour expression like he’s either mad about something or just smelled a particularly ripe fart. It’s not the vacant expression of the old body as, even though his eyes are covered by the glasses, this one almost looks like it would have its own personality. The antenna on his head also doesn’t move or come off, so don’t try anything with it or else it will end like many a Playmates Krang back in the day.

He even makes Bebop and Rocksteady look small.

There’s quite a bit of paint here and even some shading. There’s warm tones on the arms and legs which helped evoke that realistic feeling while there also appears to be some black wash added to grime him up a little. On the chest, it borders a little bit on sloppy as it got a little heavy around those vents. There’s even a black dot on mine right beside the left suspenders. The compartment that Krang sits in is painted a metallic gold with green and red lights and it looks pretty clean. Most of the detail work is very sharp as well. If you get in real close you find an edge here and there that’s not as crisp as it could be, but nothing stands out as sloppy in that regard. The only real criticism I have for the paint is it feels like the shoes need a little something. They’re just red plastic with some design work sculpted in. The hands feature silver knuckles and it just feels like the feet needed something similar. Some silver trim would have looked nice, but maybe they blew the budget on the rest of the figure.

He may be as tall or taller than some figures in larger scales, but playing Krang beside such highlights that there’s more to scale than just height.

I’m going to jump to the articulation now as it does impact the accessories we have to talk about. Krang isn’t usually a character known for having great articulation, but JoyToy is apparently trying to change that perception. The head is fairly basic. As a man with no neck, this guy can only really turn, look down, and can only look up if turned to the side first. The shoulders are typical hinged balls, but they go up beyond your conventional T pose. The elbows are single-hinged with a swivel in place of a true bicep swivel. They’ll bend about 90 degrees. Wrists are ball-hinged so they’ll go in whatever direction you want, but he does have these big cuffs on his wrists that do limit things. They are removable, but he looks kind of dumb without them.

It’s too bad there wasn’t more tension at the arm end for swinging poses.

In the torso, the plate on the front is removable which allows Krang to be slotted inside with ease, but there’s no articulation there. The only joint is a ball joint at the waist which mostly allows for rotation, but there’s a little tilt in all directions as well. The hips are where things get really interesting. Krang has a double-ball peg setup for his hips which I don’t know that I’ve ever seen that before. Plenty of figures connect the to the thigh with a ball socket, but few then connect to the pelvis with another ball socket. Also of note, the double ball (or dumbbell joint) is metal. I don’t know why JoyToy felt the need to use metal here, but it does make for a really smooth joint. And by putting a double-ball peg here, it’s basically like creating a drop-down hinge function. I’ve never really liked drop-down hips because they can be both finicky and feel fragile. If you’re going to do one though, this is definitely the optimal way. It’s easy to work with and the hips don’t look ridiculous in the down position. If you just want a teeny bit more height out of your Krang you can certainly do so with this joint. He doesn’t kick that far forward no matter what you do though, but he can almost hit splits out to the side. The leg will also move on that ball like a swivel and given that it’s metal you’re not likely to ever break it.

This gun attachment might be my favorite.

Beyond the hips, we have a pretty standard allotment. There is a thigh cut if you feel you can’t get enough swivel at the ball joint. The sculpt does feature some sculpted-in linework down the outside of the leg so using the swivel breaks that up, but it’s there if you want it. The knees are double-jointed and will bend past 90 degrees. They get a little gappy, especially below the kneecap if you do push it past 90, but that maybe that can be excused since he is a robot. The ankle features a hinge and ankle rocker. The hinge goes forward a little and back almost all the way. The ankle rocker is a bit steep, but functional. I haven’t had any issues getting him to stand and stay standing and I’m glad he doesn’t have little tiny feet like the NECA version.

He’s a robot TMNT villain: gotta have a drill and axe!

The articulation on Krang isn’t amazing, but it’s better than I anticipated. His accessories are also pretty damn generous. In some way, the figure itself is an accessory since Krang is just the little guy inside. We already mentioned the walker, while the body comes with a whole bunch of hand attachments. For actual hands, there’s a set of fists and a set of open hands. They connect to a hinged ball peg which is connected to the arm via another straight peg. Normally, one of these would have a mushroomed end to keep them in place, either in the hand or the forearm, but Krang features neither. That’s because you need to pull the whole joint out if you want to use one of the other weapon attachments. This is thankfully not as hard as it could have been and removing the cuff makes it a lot easier to grab the ball and pull.

Watch out for the saw blade, Raph!

The weapon attachments should seem pretty familiar if you have the NECA figure. First up is an axe head that is surprisingly ornate. This looks like a ceremonial axe from a D&D game or something. It’s painted a metallic silver and it snaps into place easily. He also has a drill bit attachment, because everyone does with TMNT for some reason, and that looks fine. For something a bit more violent, there’s the circular saw attachment with actual spinning blade. There’s not a battery or anything so you have to manually spin it, but it still looks pretty neat and it’s very similar to the circular saw attachment the NECA Krang came with. There’s also a hit of blue paint on it which breaks up the all silver and gray look. There’s a laser canon, or minigun, attachment. It doesn’t move or feature any blast effects, but it can separate in the middle if you want, though there’s no real reason to do so that I can see. Lastly, there’s the old spiked ball and chain. JoyToy went with a solid plastic chain and it almost works really well. The ball just hooks onto the end and it’s nice and snug so you can kind of pose it. Unfortunately, the other end that hooks onto the peg is very loose. If it was as snug as the ball end then you’d be able to position this for more dynamic poses. Instead, it hangs there limp like an actual chain would which is a bummer.

Oof! I guess it’s time for a new strategy.

The somewhat limited articulation combined with the unique proportions of the character does make posing the weapons a little difficult. If you want Krang to look like he’s really swinging that axe it’s going to be rather hard. His arms are short for his body and there’s not enough range in the torso for him to be almost striking the ground, for instance. He can certainly jab at turtles with the drill bit or just stand there looking menacing with the circular saw. The arm cannon is easy to pose as well while the ball and chain is about as useful as similar accessories with other Krang figures. That’s not the end of what’s in the box though. Krang also has his own circular Foot stand with the 2003 symbol on it. And since he’s such a big fella, he comes with all four pieces of the villains diorama stand. That’s the white brick version with a manhole cover in the middle. JoyToy didn’t need to do that, but it’s pretty cool.

The only thing left to say is that this Krang figure from JoyToy is awesome. He looks great, moves about as well as he could, and he comes loaded with extra goodies. The fact that we got the walker and body in the same package is pretty incredible. As far as I know, that’s never happened with a Krang before. And he doesn’t have all that much of a markup compared with the rest of the figures in the line. I got this figure for $45 while the other figures are often available for $40, give or take a buck or two. That’s an incredible value. There’s also quite a few places with this one in stock that do ship to the US. I am not affiliated with any of them, but I have purchased JoyToy from both LT Cave and Cool Toys Club and had great experiences with both. I wasn’t hit with a surprise tariff charge or anything so at least, for now, you should be able to buy with relative confidence. This has become one of my favorite lines to collect. I enjoyed this Krang so much that I went back and grabbed Slash and Tokka. I was originally planning to be done at Krang, but they pulled me back in. Look for reviews on those turtle boys in the coming weeks!

The world is better with more Krang in it:

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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NECA TMNT Cartoon The Wrath of Krang!

We’re back for 2021, and right now it looks like a lot like 2020 as we have a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure to talk about – Android Krang! Hopefully, this doesn’t mean 2021 is a lot like 2020 going forward, but if it’s going to copy anything from 2020 then let it…

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JoyToy TMNT Shredder

Every hero needs a villain, and for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that number one villain is The Shredder. Setup as a foil in his original appearance, Shredder really became the main guy when the cartoon series was put into development. That show needed a villain who was always around and Shredder was the best…

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July 30, 2024

MOTU Turtles of Grayskull Krang

By Joe
Krang decided his body should be all naked and muscley too.

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 mindset in producers that scarcity was good. Scarcity is what the public wanted. Scarcity was fun! In reality, most collectors aren’t buying because they want to make an investment. Sure, some do, but most collect for the enjoyment of it. The idea of an exclusive is just a barrier of entry and it’s frustrating for those who just want to buy some toys.

If you want him to have normal proportions you will want to forego the Krang Kave.

With the rise of online sales and the decline of brick and mortar, stores are more desperate than ever to drive foot traffic. In the eyes of retailers, exclusives will bring in people that might not otherwise set foot in the store and the big toy producers like getting the big retailers to pay for exclusive merch. With Mattel and its Turtles of Grayskull subline of Masters of the Universe Origins, the company was able to strike a deal with both Target and Walmart. At Target, the deluxe figures that include a build-a-figure part have remained exclusive to that retailer. I have so far reviewed those two releases and I plan to review them all. I’ve been able to find them in-store with no issues, and failing that, online has worked fine. With Walmart, Mattel has released a different set of deluxe figures that seem to be a little more involved than what’s at Target, but doesn’t have a build-a-figure. And even calling them “more involved” might be a stretch so I don’t know where the extra money is going, but they’re $25 as well. Only with Walmart, tracking them down has been a problem, at least for me in the north east. Not only have I not seen a single store exclusive at various Walmart stores spread across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine, I haven’t seen a single Masters of the Universe figure at all! It’s like they don’t even carry the brand any longer.

He’s so widdle and cute!

What’s a guy to do when he can’t find something at retail? Regrettably, I turned to a third party seller. It’s great that Walmart can’t sell its own product on its website to people that want it, so they let others use their website to sell their wares at inflated prices – awesome! In this case, I purchased today’s figure from someone charging $41. Whoever this person is presumably paid $25 for this thing and then had to cover shipping and whatever fees Walmart charges those who sell through their website to sell me this thing. What did they actually make on it? Ten bucks? Eight bucks? I guess from Walmart’s perspective it’s a win-win. They sold this person a toy, then got to take a piece of the resale as well – it’s like selling it twice! If you ever wondered why Walmart essentially condones the practice of scalping on their own website, well now you know.

“Mondo bizarro!”

Unfortunately, I felt like I had to have this figure of Krang so hopefully it’s worth the extra fifteen bucks or so. Krang has always been an absurd character design. As Vernon put it, it’s a guy with his brain in his stomach. If you’re a toy designer at Mattel and you just received word that the company acquired the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license to mash-up with Masters of the Universe then Krang had to be at the top of the list of characters that would be the most fun to design. And for Krang, they settled on a mash-up with Megator, a big, green, ogre of sorts. He’s packaged in a window box with new artwork all over that looks great. And this Krang certainly takes up a lot of real estate in that box.

The “deluxe” villains.

Krang, like Sla’ker, utilized the oversized Origins body to add some considerable size. To the top of his head, he’s around 6.875″ and to the top of the tuft of hair he’s 7.5″. That’s not where it ends though, because Krang needs to occupy the center of this body as God intended. Since this toyline is modular by nature, the way to accomplish this is simply to create a little Krang prison that fits in between the waist and abdomen. Once that is in place he balloons to about 7.75″ to the top of the head and 8.25″ to the top of the hair. He’s a big boy and he looks pretty good. The figure is primarily green with light red, almost pinkish, accents. The head is shaped like the classic, Playmates, android body only the antenna has been replaced by a topknot of hair and he has a helmet and protruding sharp teeth. The helmet is red with spikes on the side and a metallic plate on the front which covers the eyes and nose. The red slits of the eyes look like they’re set too high on the sculpt. The artwork on the box has them angled so it works better, but the figure didn’t carry that over.

“Use this stuff if you want to be a true master of the universe!”

For the body, Krang is wearing this breastplate with a skull on it held to the body by two, bronze, chains. These go over the shoulders and match the color of the cavity for Krang. Below that he has a black loincloth and belt, but the only part painted is some more bronze chains. Krang himself, the little brain with a face, is quite tiny. He’s almost cute. It’s a soft rubbery plastic with painted eyes and teeth and the portrait here is very close to the 1987 TV series interpretation of the character. He locks into place in the body and there’s a little grate that closes over him. The tentacles are designed to stick out and I think it’s quite entertaining to look at. If you’re particularly concerned with scale then it might annoy you that Krang is way smaller here than he’s been in the past. They could have made him bigger, but that would have required a larger compartment. One drawback to this design is that Krang’s body has very short arms since they’re designed to scale with the body without the middle insert. If it were any larger it would look really goofy.

It’s a Krang comparison. I forgot how big the NECA one is.
Real chains are pretty cool, but they need some help to pose well.

Krang does come with a pair of accessories to add some value here. Both come in the form of weapon add-ons. Krang can remove his hands and swap them with either an axe or a ball and chain. The axe can function has a handheld weapon too and it’s cast in a grayish plastic with some decent sculpt work. The ball and chain is done in the same bronze plastic as the chains on the body of the figure with a gray, spiked, ball at the end. Like Michelangelo’s nunchaku, the chains are all plastic, but are actual links. It’s pretty damn long and looks cool, though I’m always a little remiss that accessories like this don’t have a fixed chain for posing, but this line gets away with it by being an homage line to actual toys that are meant to be played with. It’s an odd space where it’s a collector line done as-if it were a line made for children. The articulation is also exactly the same as Sla’ker, right down to the poor ankle rocker. The peg hole in the foot isn’t done at enough of an angle for the ankle rocker to be useful.

“It would appear that we are evenly matched.”

Is Krang worthy of your $25? If you can find him at that price, then definitely. Is it worth north of $40? No, probably not, but that’s what a potential hole in the collection will do to a collector. That’s not the figure’s fault though, it’s on Walmart. For the line, this is one of the best figures so far. Maybe even the best. I like the design quite a bit, it’s fun to behold, and it works as a combination of two famous properties. If you’re into this line and come upon this figure in your travels then I highly recommend you pick it up.

It takes a lot of turtles to topple a Krang.

Check out more from Masters of The Universe – Turtles of Grayskull:

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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MOTU – Turtles of Grayskull Deluxe Mouse-Jaw

Nothing can be simple in this day and age of retail toy sales which is why the new mash-up of Masters of the Universe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toyline features ostensibly 3 SKUs: standard, deluxe, and deluxe with build-a-figure parts. The standard releases are, as you may have expected, released abroad and you can…

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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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January 17, 2023

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Utrom

By Joe
Raise your hand if you knew who this was. Be honest!

We’ve become so accustomed to having the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in our lives that the name of the franchise has almost lost all meaning. Well, maybe not all, but I feel we mostly have lost sight of how ridiculous a concept this franchise is. And it extends to other characters in the franchise and I’m talking about Krang. Krang from the cartoon series is an oversized, talking, somewhat monstrous brain. In the context of the show, he’s perhaps not as outlandish a design as he would be in another show, but he’s still pretty out there. And then you add in his body. A large, bald, man in a red diaper and suspenders. Krang can’t go in his head like a normal brain would because then he’d no longer be visible so he has to go in the body’s stomach. I think it’s Vernon who draws attention to this factor in the fifth episode of the series when he sounds positively repulsed at the sight of a man with his brain in his stomach, and he’s right to be grossed out! Krang is one of the craziest designs from a popular franchise that I can think of.

These two make quite a couple.

And if you have a deep familiarity with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles then you know Krang is taken from the original comics, only there his race of beings were called the Utrom. There weren’t many (any?) that were actually named, they were just alien brains that got around in robotic bodies. Like Krang, they controlled those bodies from the stomach area, but unlike Krang their bodies were far more mechanical looking. Think the endoskeletons from Terminator, as that’s more in-line for how they appeared. They were foes to the turtles, but also tied in with their origin, and I’d elaborate more, but ever since the 2012 show came along the Utrom and the Kraang from that series kind of run together in my head. Needless to say, they play a significant enough role in the original comics that an action figure from NECA made sense.

The Utrom from NECA stands at right around 6.625″ in height. It comes in the standard window box packaging with new artwork from Kevin Eastman on the box depicting the character. On the rear are product shots and a cross-sell for more figures in the line. Let’s just get right to the big talking point with this guy: the paint job. This figure is gorgeously painted. If you thought the Fugitoid figure looked terrific, wait until you see this. It is fantastic! I am in love with how this figure turned out. It’s sculpted in a light blue plastic, like a periwinkle, with white accents painted onto parts of it to go along with the usual black linework this line is known for. There’s also a hit from an airbrush that contains some gray paint and the effect is just wonderful. This looks like it jumped off of the the page, colored version, and I just love how stylized this looks. This is what I want from action figures based on comics. You can’t sculpt it in chrome, and just making shiny plastic isn’t going to achieve the same end result. The eyes are also painted yellow with a hit of yellow from the airbrush to create the illusion that they’re glowing. The Utrom in the figure’s stomach is also well-painted. The eyes and teeth are clean and there’s a wash applied to really bring out the nasty with this little guy. And with this amount of paint on the figure, there’s virtually no slop. No stuck joints. It’s about as perfect a paint job as one could get in this price range. If I have any nits to pick with it, it’s that a couple hits of the white look a little thin. Maybe the neck area and some of the details on the arms could have used another hit of the airbrush, but that’s all minor and just me trying to poke holes in this thing because, otherwise, it’s awesome.

The sculpt and paint on this guy are just incredible.

The wonderful thing about this figure too is it has a sculpt to match. There are tons of little details in the arms, especially, that look like wires and little machinations. I love the contrast of the smooth plates on the figure’s thighs and the ribbed portions underneath. The rear of the figure is really loaded with sculpted details which is commendable since that’s a spot NECA could have cheaped out on, but obviously did not. It all speaks really well to NECA as a company because they’re clearly committed to delivering the best, most accurate, representation of the character possible. Who knows if much or any of this figure can even be reused for other figures. I’m sure we’ll get a variant at some point, but we have numerous examples of other companies just half-assing their sculpts to present a compromised vision of a character in the interest of saving money on tooling and NECA is just putting them to shame. And something I should praise NECA for more often than I do is that they credit the folks who design their figures so a major shout out and hearty congratulations to sculptors Brodie Perkins and Josh Sutton with paint credited to Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo. We should also probably give a shout out to director Trevor Zammit as I assume he’s the one pushing to make these look like the source material and he just does a fantastic job with all of the TMNT lines he oversees at NECA.

And if you thought they would cheap out on the figure’s rear you’d have been wrong.

We’ve gushed over the look of this one, now let’s talk about the stuff it comes with. The Utrom has three sets of hands: fists, gripping, and trigger finger. All of the hands feature the horizontal hinge, our first disappointment of the release, but I do like that the fingers are soft plastic and getting the accessories into the trigger hands is relatively easy and free of paint rub. He also has a gun and it has a really fun design as it has these panels over it. It has some linework on it and the muzzle is painted rather simply, but well. There’s two red tools for the figure to wield. One resembles a wrench and the other is a bit more nondescript. I’m guessing it’s pulled right from the comic, but I don’t know exactly what it is. He also has a little canister with a straw in it. I think this is a drink for that actual Utrom in the belly, the only problem is he doesn’t hold it very well. The fingers on the trigger hands are flexible enough that you can wedge it in there with some effort, but a more relaxed hand would have worked better. Lastly, we have a second portrait for the robot that features battle damage. It’s right eye is hanging out and there’s a big gouge taken out of the top of the head that looks really cool. It’s nice enough that the temptation is there to get another figure, I just wish he had more battle damaged parts to swap to or even a second Utrom with a different expression to create a bit more variety. The Utrom that came in the comic con 4-pack years ago is much too big to fit in this guy.

Bang!

The accessories are solid leaving just the articulation for us to talk about. Like most of the figures in this line, the articulation isn’t going to be the strongest aspect of the release, but I think it’s going to be enough. There’s a ball joint in the head that provides rotation and some nuance posing. It looks down well, but not up. The shoulders are ball-hinged and you get all of the rotation you need, but the boxy shape of the shoulder means the figure can’t raise its arms out to the side. You get maybe 45 degrees there. There is a biceps swivel and it’s integrated very well into the sculpt. The elbow hinge is only a single hinge, but the design allows it to go past 90 degrees so that’s fine. The wrists swivel and hinge and I already mentioned the direction of the hinges is unfortunate. In the diaphragm, we do have a ball joint above the opening for the Utrom. It’s actually more functional than I expected as you get a little forward and back, some tilt, and a fair amount of rotation. At the waist is another twist and the hips are the standard ball and socket joint. There’s a thigh pivot there that provides just a little something for adjustment poses as opposed to a full thigh twist. The legs kick forward to a full horizontal position, though they do drift out from the body a little the higher you go. There’s no range going back, and the single-jointed hinge will get you a 90 degree bend. At the ankles we have a hinge that allows for plenty of range backwards, but nothing forward. The ankle rocker works fine. It’s decent and I think it’s enough for this character. He can do plenty of one-handed gun poses. I do think NECA could have sacrificed a little bit in the sculpt at the shoulders for more range, and the lack of vertical hinges for the hands is an ongoing problem. The actual Utrom in the body is not articulated, but I don’t think it needs to be.

Hydration is importnt!
“I told you, Jerry, you can’t fit!”
He’s a sharing kind of alien brain.

The Utrom may not be a character that gets a lot of TMNT collectors excited, but the finished product is one of the best releases from NECA in a long time. I think this is easily my favorite from the Mirage line and I would put it up there with the best from the toon line as well. I can’t say enough good things about the paint job. This comic deco is fantastic and I love that NECA has the guts to try something like this with its figures. So many collectors dump on “cel-shading” when it comes to figure releases without realizing that most of the companies attempting that effect with their figures do a piss poor job. It takes effort and money to get it right as well as artistic vision. I’ve said it numerous times, but natural lighting cannot shade an action figure based on a comic book character the way that character is drawn in the book. It’s impossible. Comic book artists do their own thing that doesn’t work in reality and no one complains because it looks awesome. It’s stylized, but some of it is so prevalent that we don’t really think about it. I always use Venom as an example. We know his costume is black, but if you showed a panel from “Lethal Protector” to a kid he’d tell you the costume is blue because that’s how comic book artists shade black. And that’s what I want out of my figures. Major props to NECA on this one, they hit a homerun. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

More from NECA and their expansive selection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures:

NECA TMNT Cartoon The Wrath of Krang!

We’re back for 2021, and right now it looks like a lot like 2020 as we have a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure to talk about – Android Krang! Hopefully, this doesn’t mean 2021 is a lot like 2020 going forward, but if it’s going to copy anything from 2020 then let it…

Keep reading
by Joe

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Fugitoid

I’m having a hard time coming up with an action figure line that has had retail releases separated by more than a decade. I don’t mean long-running lines of figures like G.I. Joe or Marvel Legends which have been around for decades, I mean a line that was started, ended, then re-started like NECA’s line…

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by Joe

NECA Mirage Shredder and Foot Clan NYCC Exclusive Set

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

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by Joe

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January 4, 2021

NECA TMNT Cartoon The Wrath of Krang!

By Joe
Bring the wrath!

We’re back for 2021, and right now it looks like a lot like 2020 as we have a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure to talk about – Android Krang! Hopefully, this doesn’t mean 2021 is a lot like 2020 going forward, but if it’s going to copy anything from 2020 then let it be the toys. There were a lot of toy releases in 2020 that caught my fancy, so much so that this blog is practically a toy blog 11 months out of the year and a Christmas blog the other month. As long as the toy releases remain this good, then that’s fine by me!

One of the weirder characters from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon is Krang. It’s easy to lose sight of just how weird he is because he’s in nearly every episode. He’s overexposed so it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that he’s largely portrayed as a rather large, thick, dude in a Speedo with a brain in his stomach. Krang was obviously inspired by the Utrom from the original line of Mirage Studios comic books, but in the hands of Fred Wolf Productions he became quite an intriguing character. An oversized brain with a face and tendrils, he was there from the start and Playmates quickly introduced an action figure into its toyline. That version of Krang was depicted in his “bubble walker,” which was basically a bubble with robot legs he could sit in. The toy also had robot arms that could be attached to it, though when it came to the cartoon I do not recall ever seeing such a thing (the bubble walker in general was rarely seen). From the moment we meet Krang in the series, he’s demanding Shredder create a body for him based on some blueprints he keeps waving around. By the end of the original mini series, he has that body and that was the version of Krang we came to know and love.

When NECA first tapped into the cartoon property for a comic con exclusive set, it included Krang with that same bubble walker Playmates had run with for its first version of Krang. All probably assumed NECA wanted to do a proper body for Krang, but at the time no one knew how far the company was going to be permitted to go with this property. When the inaugural wave was first unveiled, NECA referenced the expected body with their version of Krang waving a set of blueprints in action figure Shredder’s face. The following year, the body made its debut! Titled “The Wrath of Krang!” this release marks the second in what NECA calls the deluxe line of figures following last summer’s release of Metalhead. The deluxe line is essentially reserved for larger figures and figures that require their own unique tooling that won’t bare fruit later. Metalhead retailed for $30, while Krang retails for $35 likely due to the amount of accessories included and the figure’s increased size. It’s still a Target exclusive, so if you’re sick of hunting for toys at that store I’m afraid Krang is no different. However, if a figure was worth the trouble it might be this one as Krang in this form is definitely an essential character and one no TMNT collector likely wants to go without.

The only downside to NECA’s retro packaging is you’ll likely want to keep it.

Krang comes packaged in NECA’s Ultimates styled packaging which is the five-panel window box. The artwork on the box is a direct homage to the TMNT VHS releases by F.H.E right down to the font and art style for the characters depicted. Credit for the concept goes to brand manager Trevor Zammit with the actual packaging and illustrations credited to Chris Raimo and Dan Elson. It’s really a sight to behold and definitely hits all of the right nostalgia notes for those who grew up with the property. I’m able to bring myself to toss the standard two-pack boxes, but I can’t trash these ones. They’re just far too charming.

The original Krang (left) really captures the season one look while the new one is designed to fill-out the opening in the body and is more reflective of the other seasons.
The new Krang may be larger, but he still fits in the bubble walker. His tendrils are more secure in his body too, which I assume to is to prevent them from dislodging inside the body.
“Krang, would you shut up about that stupid body!”

Krang is relatively easy to remove from his package and presumably would be easy to re-insert should you desire. Once removed, he stands around eight and a half inches tall before inserting the antenna into the top of his head (which he comes with an extra, in case you lose or break one). Krang is packaged separately from his body and needs to be placed inside the body’s stomach opening. To do so, you have to remove the top half of the body from the bottom above the yellow cavity. The body is pretty rigid and NECA did not include instructions. The easiest way I’ve found to take him apart is to push from the inside against the side wall to release the body from a little tab in each side and front. Once you get one side out, it comes apart easy, but definitely don’t force it or you could scratch the paint. Once apart, Krang can be placed inside it and has a little plug that will hold him in place to a point. He can’t be shaken or turned upside down and expected to stay put, but if you’re sticking him on a shelf he should be fine. There are two joysticks inside the body to simulate Krang’s control over the body and they can slip inside his tendrils. They’re both on ball-joints and can be manipulated which is a really cool touch. The Krang figure is also brand new as the previously released one was deemed too small to work. He has a different expression that I’d say is fairly neutral and his tentacles are shaped to work with the joysticks. He still fits in the bubble walker though, if that’s something you want to do.

Some assembly required.
He looks happy (you’ll have to take my word on that).

The first thing you’ll notice once in hand, aside from the size, is that this guy has a lot of paint on him. NECA seems to love paint with this line and very little on this guy is just colored plastic. Even the body’s flesh tone is paint on top of a similarly colored plastic. The end result is a figure that looks like it was ripped from a cartoon, but it also means he’s susceptible to paint imperfections, chips, and the like. I was lucky to find this figure at retail along with five other sets so I was able to look at them all and choose the best one. Of the six, only two featured minimal imperfections. The others had eyesores on their chest or arms that couldn’t be ignored. Would they have stopped me from buying one had they all been like that? Probably not, but I might have kept the figure in box in hopes of finding a better one later. It’s definitely something to be aware of and if you’re buying one online or receiving via trade or something then buyer beware.

You’ve got to admire Krang’s confidence in his choice of fashion.
The handle and “butt port” seems to imply it’s also been built for fun!

Aside from the paint issues, the only other item to concern yourself with are the joints. I’ve seen many reports of tight or stuck joints, and that’s usually a symptom of the paint getting into them. I didn’t have any stuck joints, but I did have the usual paint flaking from the elbows and knees as I worked them a bit. I probably worked this one less than most NECA releases as his joints were fine on mine and to avoid more paint flaking. I don’t need him to do anything too extravagant, so I didn’t push it. The actual look of the figure is very cartoon-accurate. I like the scale quite a bit and I think NECA settled on the appropriate height and mass for the figure, which is tougher than it sounds as his size fluctuated a lot in the show. And I’m not referring to the few times he literally grew in size. All of the little touches I recall are present too, like the handle on the back of the body and even a port, which I don’t remember, right on his ass. Was this for charging the body? He has red hands, which I believe were quickly changed to flesh colored in the cartoon, though it wouldn’t surprise me if they went back and forth as that show was not a model of consistency. The sculpt is great though, and the only room for criticism resides in the face. When the figure was first shown, he had a more pronounced frown with the mouth shaped a little differently. I’ve seen some express a preference for that, but I don’t really care or feel that one is any more appropriate than the other. The only other oddity is with the eyes in which the left eye slit is larger than the other. This also wasn’t present with the prototype and I have no idea if it’s intentional or not. It’s one of those things that you may not notice, but once you do, it cannot be unseen.

“Bring me my rock soldiers!”
“I said rock soldiers!”

Krang articulates in basically all of the manners necessary, though he’s functionally a bit more limited than most of the other figures in the line. The actual Krang features ball-jointed tendrils that can be popped out if you want to make use of the bubble walker. The body features a ball-jointed head that mostly just rotates. The shoulders are hinged and on ball-joints, but the oversized shoulder pads restrict a lot of the range. The shoulder pads are soft so you can force the arms higher, but keep in mind it will probably put stress on the paint on those shoulder pads. The elbows feature a single hinge, but do swivel. The hands swivel as well and have a hinge, but they sit pretty deep and that hinge is largely rendered moot. There is a waist swivel below the yellow compartment for Krang. It’s a little loose on mine, but I was able to seat it a little better out of the box and there’s no gap issues. The thighs are are on ball-joints and the red underwear or trunks is a soft plastic that can be moved around, but you’re still not going to get a ton of range from that area. The thighs do swivel and the knees are double-jointed. The feet are on hinges and I think they should rock side-to-side, but mine may be stuck and I don’t want to push anything. If this figure is going to have durability issues it will likely be with those feet as I’ve seen a few broken ones on social media. This guy isn’t really meant to be posed in too dramatic a fashion. He doesn’t need to as his size alone gives him plenty of shelf presence since he’s easily the tallest in the line (a title that will be short-lived as NECA is prepping a Chrome Dome for 2021). He can be made to look like he’s swinging one of his arms or aiming a blaster and that’s really all he needs to do. He stands all right by himself, but he’s definitely a top-heavy figure and those tiny feet do not do him any favors. Because of all the paint on him, I think I will also reinforce him with a stand as one fall could really do some damage to the aesthetics of this one.

Ready to bust shells.
For when a gun seems too clean.

Krang comes packaged with a whole mess of optional parts and items. Way more than what came with Metalhead. For starters, he comes packaged with open hands and comes with two sets of gripping hands. One set is a relaxed gripping hand and the other a tighter one. He doesn’t actually come with anything that he needs to grip, but if you wanted to give him a gun or communicator you have the hands to do it. It would have been cool if one of the sets of hands was flesh-colored to match his other appearances in the show and it’s a detail I’m honestly a little surprised NECA didn’t capture. In addition to the hands, he has other attachments that can take the place of his hands. He has a set of lasers that definitely look like something that would be featured in the cartoon. He also has a pair of flails with actual chains that look really neat, though I wish one had a rigid, plastic, chain for style-posing rather than both featuring the real thing which just hangs from the arm. There’s also an axe head that can be attached to one hand and a circular saw to the other. The circular saw is pretty cool as it actually spins, but sadly a factory error means every saw was assembled incorrectly and the back of the blade is exposed. The only way to fix it is to break it and re-assemble as it’s on a peg. The reverse side is properly painted and looks awesome if you have the courage to do it, but I’m still getting there. I’m not expecting NECA to offer replacements and if it does get corrected it will be with the next factory order so we’re probably on our own with this one.

Only slightly more ridiculous than his usual look.
Aww, what a cutie!

In addition to the assortment of weapons, Krang also comes with some fun stuff that’s definitely on the lighter side. Remember the episode where Shredder contacts Krang on their video communicator only to find Krang recently emerged from the shower? If that’s something you do remember fondly, you can recreate that look for your Krang! NECA included a shower cap that rests on his head. Just remove the antenna, put it on, and replace the antenna! There’s a bar of soap on a rope that fits around his neck and a blue, felt-like material to wrap around him for a towel. It’s goofy and I love it and it might make people want to buy two so they can display both versions. Krang also comes with the blue prints for his body and what looks like the Foot Knucklehead. They’re printed on paper and might look nice in a diorama. Lastly, there’s also a mini figure of Baby Shredder. He gets exposed to a fountain of youth or something in one episode and reverts to a toddler. The figure has a great, bratty, expression on his face and even features some articulation. The head is on a ball-joint as are the arms. There’s also a hinge in the middle of his torso so he can sit or stand. The paint is nice and clean and his shoulder blades feature mud, or sand, which is a reference to the episode. It’s silly, but fun, nonetheless.

He’s got a day care business on the side.
PSA from Krang: normalize breast feeding.

The deluxe, or ultimate, release of Krang largely lives up to expectations, which were pretty high for this guy. NECA nailed the likeness and made sure to include a ton of optional, but worthy, accessories. It’s really tough to settle on a display for him because there are just so many options and the desire to have multiples is pretty strong. He looks great beside his fellow rogues or in combat against his enemies and I do get the sense that NECA went the extra mile to really make sure that this figure felt special. And that’s a great feeling to have with any purchase and especially with collectibles. The only drawbacks I really find with him rest with the paint and the saw error is a bummer. There’s no denying that all of the paint utilized for this figure helps give him that cartoon look, I just wish it could be applied more consistently. I also wish it was a little easier to separate the two halves of the figure, but once I have the figure inside I don’t really need to pull it apart anymore. He’s easy enough to reset, it’s just getting his tendrils around the joysticks that often necessitates more intervention.

“So, do we like, look at the head of the brain in the stomach?” “I don’t know, Mikey, just hit him!”

NECA’s The Wrath of Krang is currently a Target exclusive. There is some hope that eventually NECA will offer a made-to-order method of production with this one as it figures to be a figure that’s very much in-demand with collectors, more so than other releases. NECA is currently still working to fulfill all of the made-to-order items it offered last summer so I wouldn’t expect any news on that front until late winter or spring, at the earliest. The other silver-lining though is that both Target and NECA seem to be on the same page with this release and he’s being shipped in far greater numbers than we’re used to. Most stores appear to be receiving one or two cases with each featuring six Krangs. There’s still some confusion on how they’re being stocked though as images have circulated on social media of the shipping containers indicating that these are to be stocked and handled by Target employees. This differs from every other NECA release which is handled by an independent rep. Normally, that rep comes in once or twice a week and puts out new stock and Target employees largely have little to do with it. With them being handled by Target though, this means stock actually gets scanned into inventory and employees may be more willing to help collectors find them. It’s still a free-for-all though as my nearest store appears to still be leaving these to the rep. Target has yet to offer this release online as it has for every other TMNT release so if you’re having no luck locally you at least have an online release to (hopefully) look forward to. And if you’re really having trouble, get on Twitter and look for the CollectorsHelpingCollectos hashtag. Chances are, someone will have access to this figure and will be willing to help you out without any mark-up. It’s a great way to beat the scalpers and it’s nice to know that fellow collectors are looking out for each other. Good luck, and happy hunting, as this is a release not to be missed!

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November 15, 2017

Wanted: Bebop and Rocksteady

By Joe

28e0eb55117749.5977644bd483aIt had a good run, but with this past Saturday’s airing of “Wanted:  Bebop and Rocksteady” the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series launched by Nickelodeon in 2012 has come to a close. In a somewhat refreshing manner, the show has come to an end largely because it’s told a story that was basically completed with the defeat of Shredder and the passing of Splinter to conclude season 4. Season 5, which came with a re-titling of the series as Tales of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, largely dealt with the fallout and the Turtles taking on the few stragglers remaining from Shredder’s empire. It was some-what directionless, but still solid entertainment. The finale though brought us another cross-over with the 1987 TMNT with a story centered around the comedic duo of Bebop and Rocksteady.

The series finale is composed of three episodes that Nickelodeon chose to air in succession as basically a little made-for-TV film. It starts off in the 2D 1987 world and Bebop and Rocksteady have just been driven back by the turtles. All of the classic voice actors are here with few exceptions (Kevin Michael Richardson stands in for the late James Avery as Shredder and is the most notable difference, though he does a really good job of sounding like Avery) for the 87 characters. The look and sound of that show is rendered well here, though the animation is obviously digital now and it’s kind of junky. Maybe that was in an attempt to mimic the less than stellar animation of the majority of that old series, or maybe it was just a limitation of the budget. Anyway, Shredder and Krang open a portal to the modern world and mistakenly leave Bebop and Rocksteady behind. Needing henchman, they place an ad and the current Bebop and Rocksteady answer it.

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The episode begins in the world of the 87 cartoon, aspect ratio and all.

The plot of this episode, being a scheme cooked up by Shredder and Krang, is naturally quite 87-esque in its execution. Shredder and Krang simply desire world domination, which includes total destruction by Krang’s rock soldiers from Dimension X. The 87 turtles soon follow via their own portal gun, and will naturally encounter their current selves. This isn’t new for this show as there have been a few cross-overs already. It is a novelty naturally designed to take advantage of the nostalgia adults have for that show, but the show runners here have been able to maintain a special aura by making sure each successive cross-over is better than the one before.

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It’s Shredder! In 3D!

The nature of the cross-over means a lot of the entertainment value is going to be derived from pointing out the differences between the two shows. The Turtles of this series are serious crime fighters who are kind of bored with all of their foes vanquished. The villains are dangerous and they fight dirty willing to use whatever is at their disposal. By contrast, the 87 Turtles don’t even use their weapons for anything more than intimidation. The villains are also hampered by a need to boast, gloat, and essentially delay actually killing their enemies. Shredder is also incapable of viewing Bebop and Rocksteady as anything other than brain-dead henchman incapable of even the simplest tasks, even as they’re proving themselves to be plenty capable at henching.

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Shredder insists on the comforts of home and has Bebop and Rocksteady dress like his 87 henchmen.

When the 87 Turtles meet the 2012 Bebop and Rocksteady, they find they’ve met their match. It’s a really amusing scene as the Turtles try to use silly cartoon cliches to take down Bebop and Rocksteady, which just don’t work. Their encounter occurs on an old playground and when Bebop hops on a merry-go-round Mikey tries spinning it to make him dizzy and he just gets kicked in the face. Raphael tries smashing a fire hydrant in an attempt to hose down his foes with his sai and finds breaking a fire hydrant is actually really hard. They’re easily taken out and their only saving grace is Raph’s ability to break the 4th wall and point out that this is a kid’s show and they can’t be executed. Bebop and Rocksteady are appropriately confused by this admission, but it works when they decide to just take them back to the Technodrome for Shredder and Krang to deal with.

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The 87 Turtles look pretty authentic, but so out of place in this world.

The 2012 Turtles basically play the role of competent heroes to their incompetent counterparts. They manage to rescue them, due in small part to Shredder and Krang’s futility, but take notice of the fact that the 87 Turtles are really bad in a fight. They try to train them, and it’s funny when 87 Leonardo reacts with horror when its suggested he actually try cutting people with his swords. The 87 Turtles get to meet most of the main cast of this show, including April, Casey, and what’s left of the Mighty Mutanimals. Meanwhile, Bebop and Rocksteady get to command some surprisingly capable robot Foot Soldiers as they’re charged with stealing some special computer chip for Krang. That segment actually includes some amusing easter eggs as they have to enter a 1987 vault and the silhouettes of various properties from that era are visible, three of which stood out for me:  Teddy Ruxpin, Robocop, and Freddy Krueger.

I found myself getting oddly defensive about how inept the 87 Turtles are presented. There’s a training sequence in which modern Leo throws a bunch of balls at 87 Mikey and he’s supposed to deflect them with his nunchaku, but can’t. He did that in the opening credits of every 87 episode! And seeing Shredder be such a push-over some-what bothered me. I always viewed 87 Shredder as a very strong fighter who always made the 80’s villain mistake of delegating everything to inferior henchmen. Still, this is mostly a failing on my part as I shouldn’t be hurt by this depiction. It was definitely amusing to see Leonardo actually wield his katana like actual weapons, and get a crazy look in his eyes as he revels in the violence!

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Expect many humorous moments such as this one where Shredder admonishes Krang for using his Chrome Dome brand shampoo.

The story is sort of secondary to the gimmick of the episode. It basically is just the eight turtles and their allies coming to repeated blows with the enemies. Krang is eventually able to open a portal to Dimension X, bringing in the 2012 version of the rock soldiers. He also goes “super” and in his giant robot body he is able to wreak a lot of havoc on New York. The Technodrome also rises to the surface for some destruction, and the Dimension X tank seldom seen in the old show also makes an appearance and it’s pretty cool. I don’t want to spoil anything, but you kind of no where this is going, don’t you? The destruction of the planet is avoided and everyone is sent home, all thanks to Bebop and Rocksteady. Wait! What?

tmnt1

The 87 Turtles are treated like punchlines for the most part, but they get some redemption in the end. “Turtles fight with honor!”

Bebop and Rocksteady are the unexpected core to this story. They’re in the title, so obviously they play a role, but I guess I didn’t expect them to be this central to the plot. Bebop and Rocksteady are an oddly sweet pairing. They’re an odd couple with Rocksteady being some sort of Russian soldier and Bebop a street-wise punk. Ignoring the fact that they are kind of just racial stereotypes, it’s strangely endearing to see Rocksteady try to adopt some of Bebop’s vernacular as a way of bonding with him and Bebop even accepts a hug from his giant partner at one point, just because. They’re basically just a pair in search of acceptance and purpose. They’re directionless when we first encounter them and find a new Shredder to serve, but they hate how poorly he treats them. They even best Shredder in combat, rather easily, when he tests them out and yet they still are willing to serve beneath him even as he makes them do the laundry and wax the floor. When they find out towards the end of the story that Shredder and Krang aim to destroy the world they have a bit of an internal crisis. Rocksteady, motivated by the thought that his precious mama will be killed if the world is destroyed, decides he’s had enough and the pair thwart Shredder and Krang’s plans. By the end, they seem to have found their calling as they no longer wish to serve under anyone and even have designs on becoming super heroes (because that’s pretty bankable right now).

As entertaining as the story was, it’s a little disappointing to see the 2012 Turtles take a backseat to anyone in what is their series finale. The show even ends in the 87 universe with a joke featuring classic Bebop and Rocksteady. I would have preferred some sort of goodbye from the current TMNT instead. It felt like they were forced out by a brand that people have more nostalgia for, kind of like how retired WWE wrestlers seem to find themselves in the main event of modern Wrestlemanias. It’s pretty cool to end the show in a spectacular manner such as a cross-over, it just wasn’t quite the perfect end it deserved.

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Nickelodeon has gone to this well before, but it’s still pretty damn cool.

The 2012 version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may not have lasted long enough to leave as big of a mark as the original cartoon did. And yet, this version of the TMNT is arguably one of the greatest iterations of the turtles to ever be. I think it’s easily the best television show based on the property, and even though I didn’t post blog entries on every season here I still kept up with the show when I could. The show-runners did a great job of mixing nostalgia with new stories and new takes on classic characters. It was a show I was really skeptical of when it first showed up, but it won me over as a 30-something when it had no reason to appeal to me. I’m a bit sad to see it go, especially as its rumored to be replaced with something more kid-friendly, and I wonder if we’ll ever see a better TMNT show. It has proven though that this franchise can’t be killed. It’s never going away. What should have been a fad has become a cultural institution and future generations can probably count on receiving their own version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and that’s a pretty wonderful thing.

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