Tag Archives: neca

June 18, 2025

NECA Gargoyles Vows Goliath and Demona

By Joe
Vows will be broken.

It’s been awhile since I last took a look at a Gargoyles release from NECA and there’s a good reason for that. While I was super pumped when NECA announced it had acquired the license for Gargoyles back in 2021, I found the figures to be a case of diminishing returns. Goliath, the first figure released, was promising, but had some notable flaws. The flaws would then be shared by just about every figure to follow and while fans practically begged NECA to address the main issue, the company failed to do so. Instead, it quietly cancelled the line after releasing over a dozen characters and a few variants. What was that issue? Wings. Big, honkin’, wings. These things came packaged with their wings spread wide open sucking up tremendous shelf space. The only solution NECA came up with was to include the caped or folded wings with other releases. To get Goliath’s, you had to get Bronx. Brooklyn’s came with Elisa while Demona’s were packaged with Xanatos. If you wanted Broadway’s you had to re-buy Broadway in his detective guise and if you wanted the same for Angela, Hudson, or Thailog, well – you were just plain out of luck as none of them received the wings they were looking for.

Is that why the line came to a premature end? I don’t know. Sales initially were said to be hot. NECA boasted that its Goliath was one of the fastest selling figures they ever had for a new product line. Things must have cooled following that. Perhaps momentum was stunted a bit when the second figure was Thailog, essentially a Goliath repaint. Demona and Bronx followed roughly six months later as part of the inaugrual Target Haulathon which made the pair perhaps harder to acquire than it should have been. They eventually made it to other retailers and by the end of the year we had Hudson. There was a pretty wide gap in releases between Hudson and Brooklyn/Broadway who arrived basically at the same time. Did that slow sales down? Maybe, only NECA knows. The property was untested in this collector space and it’s possible a lot of folks were just happy to get Goliath and didn’t necessarily need anymore. Maybe they didn’t like Goliath after they got him and dropped the line? There weren’t any drastic quality control changes and most of the figures turned out roughly the same. Deciding which figure was best ended up being a fairly subjective exercise. There were a lot of unique sculpts so it wasn’t a low cost line. The boxes were fairly large as well and swallowed up almost as much retail shelf space as they did collector shelf space. Allegedly, Walmart was the first to sour on the brand and stopped ordering it and I guess other retailers must have followed suit. This means the other figures shown off – Coldstone, MacBeth, and Gabriel, are likely to never see the light of day which is a shame.

If you were curious what a Best Buy Open Box item might refer to, this seems to be the extent of it.

For me, my number one issue definitely were those wings. The wide open wings were the most dramatic, but not practical. The caped wings solved the space issue, but their design really hinders articulation and posing too. What I really wanted were just some relaxed wings. Collectors started referring to them as the A wings since they kind of make an A shape when at rest. They didn’t have to be articulated, just more manageable. In addition to that though was the articulation in general. NECA rarely prioritizes articulation with its figures. They tend to have an acceptable amount of articulation points and styles, but NECA is very much an aesthetics forward company. And the gargoyles are basically big, naked, monsters so they don’t present too much options for hiding articulation as well. Even so, almost all of them have their necks at a forward angle that really limits how their heads can be positioned. The torso joints offer little and these guys can’t hit most of their signature poses. Plus you add in their anatomy which makes them hard to stand to begin with and you can see how we might have some issues. My collection is largely a bunch of characters in vanilla poses as a result. They’re not very fun to handle and as a result I kind of stopped wanting to talk about them. I didn’t even review every figure I have for that reason.

Goliath gets 3 new expressions with the neutral one being a holdover. The hair is also new.

With the line’s cancellation, it has me rethinking where I left off. When I found myself losing interest in the line it made it easier to pass on some releases, especially variants. I passed on the Steel Clan and instead just got the armored Xanatos. I passed on the video game variant of Goliath as well as the Detective Broadway. I also passed on the subject of today’s post (I swear I’m getting to it), the Goliath and Demona two-pack, but when a Best Buy open box option popped up I decided to grab it since it was nearly 50% off.

Demona also gets 3 new expressions, but sadly no new hair.

This set, dubbed Vows, contains the same figures we’ve already looked at before of Goliath and Demona, but with one change. That change rests solely with Goliath who has had his head replaced with two new hairsculpts that function like Demona’s. The original release of Goliath just had two portraits with the same hairsculpt: neutral and angry. This one makes use of swap-able face plates so you end up with four expressions and two stylized pieces of hair giving you eight total display options. It’s the approach I thought NECA would have taken from the start and I’m surprised they didn’t, but at least it’s been remedied here. And the expressions packaged in this set for Goliath feel a little more alive to me and more evocative of what we saw out of the character in the show. There’s a stern expression that’s pretty much the same as the one that came in the first release, a smile, a teeth baring expression, and an angry yell. The yell doesn’t feature the whited out eyes so he’s not on the attack rather he’s probably pleading with Demona to not do something evil. His default hair sculpt is the same as the original release and it’s basically his normal look. The second has the hair more spread out and over his shoulders. It’s not exactly wind blown, but it’s a little messy. I call it his sexy hair.

The Phoenix Gate is sort of the main attraction as far as the accessories go.

As for Demona, she is also the same figure as before. And since she already had the face plate technology, there’s basically no change to her. We don’t even get another hair piece. What we do get are more expressions. Her default one is the same as the default one from before, but she adds to it a surprised look, a smile where her teeth are visible, and an angry look that also has a hint of surprise to it. It sort of looks like she smelled a fart. I like them, though the surprised face features a right eye that’s not in alignment with the left. It’s a little higher and tilted which is a bummer because I kind of like this expression the best. Since it’s an issue with the sculpt I’m assuming they’re all like this too.

Demona! No!

The rest of the accessories contain the usual mix of hands and a couple of unique items. For both we get fists and open hands. Both also have a gripping right hand and a trigger right hand. Demona also has a clawing left hand. I think of it as a spell-casting hand or a gesture where she’s reaching for something. Goliath’s gripping hand seems to be intended to work with the mace he comes with. I’m assuming this is another throwback accessory to the original Kenner line since the first Goliath didn’t feature such an item (Broadway, Brooklyn, and Lexington all did), or it’s the mace used to smash the gargoyles in the first or second episode. That would truly be a morbid inclusion. Demona has a new laser rifle that’s mostly blue plastic with a little black paint. It’s probably a direct pull from the show, but I don’t recognize it immediately. I was hoping the effect part that came with Xanatos would work with it, but the opening is too small. They also come with two versions of the Phoenix Gate item from the show: one fully formed and one broken in half. That’s where the whole vows theme comes into play as they each took half of the magical artifact for safekeeping when the two trusted each other. My how times have changed.

Goliath gets a mace, even though he has no real need for one.

What I have not yet mentioned are wings and with this set each figure comes with the caped wings and that’s all. It’s an odd choice because this set came out so long after the single releases of each character. Why wouldn’t NECA include both wing options? It seemed like this was a way to get newcomers to the line to jump on with two of the most popular characters in the franchise, but to not include the other wings is an odd choice. I do realize I spent quite a bit of time complaining about those wings, but my issue isn’t with the wings themself, just that they’re the only default option for every character. At the time this set came out, both Demona and Goliath were still fairly easy to come by. It wasn’t like they had sold out and become sought after by newcomers to the line. NECA gave the fanbase that had been collecting this whole time little incentive to double dip here. The accessories are fine, I like the new portraits, but enough to rebuy the pair? Goliath’s caped wings also came with Bronx, a character I doubt many would pass on. Demona’s previously came with Xanators and I guess some collectors may have passed on him if they were only interested in the gargoyles. I didn’t review that figure, but I did buy it, so I had no need for either wings in this set.

Demona has some new firepower which is always appreciated.

Is all of that enough? Bare in mind that I didn’t even mention the MSRP on this set yet. This thing was $70. Gargoyles fans were expected to drop seventy bucks for a few new portraits and the Phoenix Gate. That’s nuts. I don’t know what NECA was thinking with this one. Yes, it’s reuse of existing molds so that naturally makes the cost lower, but who did they think would buy this? I got it for $40 and honestly that’s even too much considering I already owned both figures and the wing options within. I only was willing to do it for a few reasons. One, I did like the new expressions. I’ve never been satisfied with Goliath’s default expressions and these seemed much better. Two, my original Demona wasn’t great. Her wings were floppy and the factory didn’t paint the claws on her right foot. And, after a few years standing on my shelf, her shin has become warped and I was hoping this one would be less gummy. And three, we never got caped wings for Angela. She and Demona share the same body and can share the same wings. Of course, Angela is shaped like Demona, but colored like Goliath, so I’m going to have to try to paint a set of wings to match. I honestly don’t know if I’m up to the task, but I have two sets of caped Demona wings so I might as well try.

These wings should work fine with the Angela figure, provided they’re re-painted.

As for the figures themself, they’re exactly the same as before. Same pros, same cons. Goliath is hard to pose, but with his tail he’s not that hard to stand at least. The caped wings mean his arms can’t do much though so he’s just going to stand there. The open wings work fine as well, provided you have them. Demona is also the same. Her caped wings really don’t want to plug into her back, or rather, the right peg doesn’t want to. I can probably get it in if I heat it up, but I have yet to try. I didn’t have any issues with the other caped wings and my first release. Demona is still really frustrating though because she’s basically always looking down slightly. I wish NECA had given her a second hair sculpt with her ponytail up or articulated or something. The angle of her face just drives me crazy. She’s also hard to stand because female gargoyles in the show keep their knees straight and stand on their toes while the males bend at the knees, making weight distribution simpler. A stand for the women would have been nice. These figures also really needed a neck joint or alternate portraits that allowed them to look forward while flying gliding parallel with the ground. NECA got some great sculpts out of Djordje Djokovic, but they really needed their engineers to do something more with them. They probably thought they were doing him a favor by not cutting them up more, but really they did him a disservice since these things just don’t pose well.

And the old wings will work just fine as well.

Should you buy this set? No, probably not. If you have been admiring the line from afar and want to try and get into it before it disappears forever, then I guess, yeah, this is probably preferable to buying the figures individually. It’s $70 and Demona alone costs $36 while Goliath was $32, I want to say. I think NECA charged a little less with him on purpose to lure fans in. Right now on Big Bad Toy Store, you can get Goliath for $26 and Demona for $42. They also have the Vows set, but priced at $80 which is crazy. If that set came with both sets of wings then I could see going for that, but you can also find it cheaper. It mostly comes down to preference. If you prefer these caped wings then definitely go Vows. If you like the big, open, dramatic wings then get the individual releases. You’ll get more expressions with this set though. For Goliath, I don’t think anyone is really missing the book and jalapeno pepper, though the first Demona had two guns that turned out pretty nice plus her grimoire. She’s a bit more of a toss-up. Wouldn’t it have been nice if NECA just made this two-pack the ultimate release of both characters like the box suggests? There’s a balancing act to doing reissues like this where you want to put enough new in the box to entice existing customers, but also make it a good jumping on point for newcomers. I don’t think NECA satisfied either group here which seems like a shorthand way to describe the Gargoyles line in general – so close to being great, but oh so painfully short.

“How dare you turn our daughter against me, Goliath!”

If you’re curious what I thought of these figures the first time around see below:

NECA Gargoyles – Ultimate Goliath

It was nearly 6 months ago that NECA unveiled one of its newest licenses for 2021: Gargoyles! I was incredibly pumped at the time to see that NECA had acquired Gargoyles because the license had so much potential. The show was basically a cult hit in the 90s often characterized as Disney’s answer to Batman:…

by Joe

NECA Gargoyles – Ultimate Demona

When NECA launched it’s line of action figures based on Disney’s Gargoyles, it seemed to imply that Demona would be figure number 2. She was not. That honor went to Thailog, the Goliath clone, and that might have had something to do with the many factory delays and shipping woes that were impacting the entire…

by Joe

NECA Gargoyles – Ultimate Bronx

Well, here’s something different. Bronx, the good gargoyle dog, is NECA’s fourth entry in its relatively young line of action figures based on the beloved Disney Afternoon series Gargoyles. And not only is Bronx here all on his own, he’s also got something for his buddy Goliath that collectors of this line have been begging…

by Joe

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May 20, 2025

NECA TMNT Toon “Crouching Panda, Hidden Turtles” Ultimate Panda Khan

By Joe
Remember Panda Khan? Well he’s back – in toon form!

I encounter the sentiment often that the majority of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans in my age group (the over 40 club) associate the property with the vintage toyline first and foremost. The cartoon was a big hit, but it could only appear for a half an hour at a time where as the toys were always there and always willing to go on adventures. That is why when it comes to characters in the TMNT universe, most seem to think of the toy first, toon second. NECA is well aware of this and has seen from afar that just making modern action figures based on the old toys is a tough road to travel if Super7 is any indication. And while many characters from the toyline did eventually make the jump to animation, not all of them did. To get around this technicality, NECA has decided to make toon versions of those characters as basically a What-if? homage and it’s how we got ourselves a NECA Panda Khan.

Panda Khan has a little bit of size to him.

Panda Khan is a character that exists outside of TMNT media. If all you knew of him was the old Playmates toy, then that was probably not something you were aware of. The character was created by Monica Sharp and Dave Garcia and appeared in his own comic as well as some published by Mirage Studios. The character is actually named Li Yang, but goes by Panda Khan and he was essentially setup for the same deal as Stan Sakai’s samurai rabbit, which turtle fans know as Usagi Yojimbo. For one reason or another, Panda Khan’s appearance in the cartoon never happened and he forever remained one of those characters who existed for TMNT fans in toy form, but no where else. The character is now owned by Gaelstone Media who cut a deal with NECA for Panda Khan to appear in their toyline. The figure was unveiled last summer and can now be found at Target as part of this spring’s edition of Haulathon.

Samurai troopers assemble!

Panda Khan in the Playmates line was basically a samurai Panda and not much has changed over the 30+ years. NECA has taken the same, basic, approach to the character, but livened it up with colors most would associate with the cartoon. The character is a solo release and comes in the same f.h.e. style packaging as other ultimate or deluxe releases in the line with artwork by Aaron Hazouri. There’s a rather elaborate (by modern toy packaging standards) bio on the back that’s basically a setup for an episode of the show that never came to be and is rather clever. The front fifth panel is held in place by Velcro and behind it is a nice window box to see the figure. If you wanted to keep this guy in-box, it would display pretty well, but this isn’t the sort of place that leaves a toy in its box.

One irksome paint defect with my figure is this black line on his teeth.

Panda Khan stands roughly 7″ to the tops of his ears giving him some decent size for NECA’s toon line. More so than the height is the heft. This is a chunky figure with a satisfying in-hand feel. The upper body is dominated by shades of blue as he’s sporting a light blue kimono with a dark blue vest over it. Clashing with that are the bright green pants, but with TMNT designs it often feels like the clashing is the point. On his shins, forearms, and shoulders are armored bits which are a darker shade of light blue rimmed with yellow and studded with red. He also has skirt armor with a similar approach and all of these panels are held in place by sculpted-in red straps which match nicely with the red bandana across his brow and sash around his waist. It’s a nice design and it pairs well with both Usagi and the samurai Michelangelo released previously. I do find the choice to have an armored skirt with no torso armor a little odd, but I guess they didn’t want to come too close in design to the Playmates release. The kimono looks like it should continue past the belt, but I guess he tucks it into his pants? I personally would not have gone with the green pants either, but I suppose it’s more interesting than black or blue.

If you want a more primal arsenal.

The cartoon styling for the face is very evocative of the Usagi Yojimbo design. The default portrait is a classic TMNT teeth gritting pose and he also has a more stern expression to swap to. I like the look of both, but the paint on the teeth of mine is sloppy on one side which is a bummer. For that reason, I’ll probably stick with the stern expression, but I also find it fits the look of the show a little better (the teeth-gritting expression is something I associate with the toys more than the show). The alternate head also has an added ponytail which is a bit interesting. I think it’s a NECA touch as I didn’t encounter any images online from the comics of Panda Khan with a ponytail. If you like it (or don’t) NECA has you covered too because the top of the head is removable and interchangeable between the two portraits so you can mix and match as you see fit. NECA is always doing small, clever, things like that which I really appreciate. The paint on the teeth is the only negative I can find with the presentation here as the rest is pretty clean and crisp. This is another Tomasz Rozejowski sculpt and he really nailed it.

You can fit the claws in here, but probably not much else.

In addition to the extra portrait, Panda Khan comes with the usual assortment of hands: fists, open, and two sets of gripping hands. I suppose that part is unusual as Panda Khan’s gripping hands are the same size, but one set features a horizontal hinge while the other features the melee appropriate vertical hinge, a practice I’m happy to see NECA start paying more attention to. For those gripping hands, Panda Khan has his trusty blade: the Morning Qi. The old Playmates figure featured a sword that resembled a rather conventional katana while this one has a bit more of a squared-off design to the blade. There’s a sculpted Yin Yang near the hilt and the weapon is painted very well. The hilt is pretty thick, but the figure can grip it just fine. There is a little give to the fingers of the gripping hand, but perhaps not enough to alleviate any fears of paint rub. If you miss the the old school katana of the original figure, you could always hand him one of Samurai Michelangelo’s blades, though it might look pretty small in his hands. If you have the Super7 Leonardo then you may prefer the look of one of his katana. As for me, I’m pretty content with Morning Qi here.

If you want something more like a katana, the Super7 Leonardo swords work all right.

The sword and the appropriate hands to wield it are probably all most would need, but NECA included a few more accessories in this package to better outfit this warrior panda. We have some optional equipment in the form of a bamboo hat and backpack. The hat plugs into the top of his in place of his ears and also includes a chin strap. It looks nice and the plug was a good choice to help keep the hat in place, though part of me feels like a toon version of the character would have impossibly had his ears poking through the hat. It might have looked kind of funny if NECA had done the same. The backpack can slide onto his arms pretty easily and even features a removable lid. The interior of the backpack isn’t very large, but it can store his other weapons which are two bladed instruments that slide over the fingers of either the gripping hands or the open ones. These claws give him a more primal method of attack since they’re reminiscent of actual panda claws. They’re neat, though probably too violent for a cartoon unless he’s being unleashed on robots. I do wish NECA had made the backpack just a little bit bigger so we could have fit the extra hands in it as well, but at least it’s not entirely useless. There’s no weapon storage for the sword though, but I guess you could wedge it between the backpack and the figure’s back or have it sticking out of the backpack itself.

And this brings us to the portion of the review that’s often the least fun to talk about: articulation. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the NECA toon TMNT toyline is an aesthetics forward line where articulation is not quite an afterthought, but certainly not a priority. Panda Khan for sure embodies this approach as the articulation present is super basic. The double-ball joint at the head allows for swivel and tilt, but no range looking up. Being a tall character, he can at least look down. The ball-hinged shoulders are basic while the pauldrons will impede range going out to the side. They and the other armored pieces do flex, but you probably wouldn’t want to push it and leave them in such a state. The double-jointed elbows are pin-less and the range is quite good, but the joint is not very aesthetically pleasing. There is a bicep swivel, but the range in the arms is not sufficient enough for a two-handed sword pose, unfortunately. The waist twist barely moves while the hips are severely restricted in all directions. The single-jointed knees can swivel, but they don’t bend 90 degrees. He’s one of those characters that also is always semi-crouched as his legs can’t be just straight. The hinge at the ankle is limited while the ankle rocker is fine.

Those robots sure do cut nice and clean.

Panda Khan is a figure that can’t do much. Even expecting that of a bigger and bulkier character, I still can’t stress enough how limited the figure is. There’s no reason for the head to not work better and I wish they had made it a priority to allow the figure to grip the sword convincingly with two hands. Especially since that’s how they chose to depict him on the box art. There’s just a lot of stuff getting in the way when it comes to the numerous overlays on the torso and in the hip area. No one expects anything too crazy out of a giant panda, but he is supposed to be a samurai and should be capable of more.

If you’re a regular NECA TMNT collector, none of that is a surprise. The figure at least does look pretty good and I continue to be impressed with how clean the paint job is given the abundance of it. The only visual things about this guy that let me down is the sloppy paint on the teeth of the default portrait and I don’t like how those elbows look. They have a very McFarlane appearance to them as a lot has been chopped out. NECA is still new to the pin-less approach so perhaps it’s something that needs more refinement. They can get away with it on the turtles who feature elbow pads, but figures like Panda Khan aren’t able to do the same. And as always, your enjoyment of this guy will come down to how you think it looks. If you like the look of this one and don’t think it needs to pose all that well then it’s actually a pretty easy recommend. At $35, it’s a bigger character with plenty of accessories that features a ton of paint. With prices expected to rise in the very near feature, Panda Khan may soon feel like a bargain. And it should be pretty easy to track down. The figure is available online at Target.com and also being stocked in-store. I got mine via the website and wish I had waited for an in-store figure so that I could have perhaps landed a better paint job. I’d encourage anyone else interested in Panda Khan to do the same.

We have plenty more NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for your to peruse:

NECA TMNT Toon “Start Shredding the News!” Ultimate Shredder

I am back! If you’re a regular reader then you probably didn’t notice much as far as content goes, but I’ve been out of commission for weeks now due to my laptop crashing. I was able to fix it, but it took some time to get around to it and it’s been a really long…

by Joe

NECA TMNT Toon Samurai Adventure Michelangelo and Space Adventure Donatello

I think most people understand that when it comes to a toy line the most popular figures are of the most popular characters. The problem is, what do you do when everyone has the most popular characters? You make them again, but different! That’s sort of the genesis of the variant action figure of a…

by Joe

NECA Cartoon TMNT The Tale of Usagi Yojimbo

The early issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles released by Mirage Studios include a few guest stars here and there. One of them comes from the pages of Usagi Yojimbo, the samurai rabbit by the name of Miyamoto Usagi. The pairing of samurai rabbit and ninja turtles was a big enough success that it migrated…

by Joe

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May 6, 2025

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios April (Version 2) with Professor Obligado

By Joe
Say “Hello” to her little friend.

Back in 2008, when NECA was planning out a line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures that they hoped would run for a long time, they turned to the turtles’ most trusted ally when it came time to do a fifth figure. The line wasn’t long for this world, and that figure of April O’Neil from issue two of the Mirage Studios run of comics ended up as a convention exclusive. She had a couple of variants, and came packaged with Mousers as well, but she was also the end of the line. Be it poor sales or issues with the master license holder, NECA’s Mirage run of turtles was brief, but has since been resurrected. We’re almost nearing a point where it feels like NECA, not Playmates, is releasing more unique sculpts per year when it comes to this franchise and it’s no surprise that in 2025, in the month of April no less, NECA has decided to return to the character once looked to as the most logical release after the turtles themselves.

An updated April for your updated turtles and newish Casey.

Version 2 of April is presently shipping as part of the Target Haulathon, that oh so expensive time of year for those who collect NECA TMNT. The old figure is one I never bought. April was a little rough in her debut appearance and creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were not too proud to admit that it took them awhile to really learn how to draw April. That figure fits in well with those early TMNT figures NECA produced as they’re based on the first issue, but for those looking for an April that vibes with the more recent output from NECA a new figure was needed. For inspiration, NECA turned to issue #11 which has become somewhat infamous online over the years. Namely, for those who want to champion that April was originally conceived as being black or at least mixed race. While it was true that her name came from April Fisher, a woman who is of a mixed race, Eastman and Laird have always been pretty clear over the years they envisioned her as a white woman. In issue 4, she received a new hair style – a perm. Combine that with the name thing and the fact that Eastman and Laird often used people in their orbit to base April’s looks on and you can see why this became such a big thing.

April’s got a new look.
The inspiration for this figure.

Apparently, Eastman has at least embraced this retcon of sorts as this new April from NECA depicts her as a black woman. And why not? NECA already did a white April (well, many if you count the cartoon and movie lines) and people seem to like this idea. Some don’t, which is often the case when you start talking about race because there are racist assholes out there, but this is Kevin and Peter’s baby and if they like this depiction of April then that’s good enough for me. We know Kevin at least does since he did the artwork for the box. I guess Peter could hate it, or he could be fine, or indifferent, it doesn’t matter. It’s an April action figure and all that really matters to most would be is it any good?

“You know, I’m something of an artist myself.”

April is a figure sculpted by Richard Force and Tim Miller. Or I should say, April and her boxmate are sculpted by the duo. I’m not sure if one sculpted April and one sculpted her pack-in, but at least we know they both contributed where as most toy companies don’t give us that much info. Paint is credited to Geoff Trapp, Mike Puzzo, and Holly Knevelbaard. April stands at around 6″ to the top of her hair. She’s depicted in her outfit from issue 4 of a pink shirt, blue jeans, sneakers, and a brown jacket. At least those were the colors in the earliest color versions I have seen, though for me I’m most accustomed to seeing April and everyone else in black and white.

Not a figure made for the classic (and probably sexist) female pose.

The presentation for April is fairly basic. That’s not necessarily a negative, it’s just the reality of an action figure based on a normal woman. There’s no crazy super powers to capture or outlandish costume, it’s just a woman in casual attire. She has her poofy hair which is done in brown with some light brown brushed over it. Her expression is serious, but fairly neutral. There’s some linework on her cheekbones and her lips are red and outlined in black. She has a simple gold necklace sculpted around her neck and some big hoop earrings which appear to be part of the sculpt for the hair. The jacket and shirt feel like they’re an overlay, but the material is more firm than usual. There’s a lot of black linework on the clothing and the paint job on the sneakers is pretty complex and mostly clean. The paint is sharp and the appearance of the figure is too. My only critiques would be it looks like they missed a paint app on the zipper of her coat as it’s just left brown. They also gave April a serious case of “flat butt,” why did you do her dirty like that NECA?

This little guy gets all the stuff.

April comes with three sets of hands: open, fists, and gripping. That’s it. I wish we got a second portrait from the panel where she shows off her new haircut as she just looks really happy in that shot and it would be nice to give her the option of being happy on the shelf. Her articulation is pretty basic for the line as well. If you have Kirby or Baxter then you should have a pretty good idea of how April moves. Her hair really limits the range at the head to basically a swivel. The shoulders, elbows, wrists, and knees all work well and as expected. The range at the hips is good, but she can’t quite hit a split. Ankles are a bit limited and for some reason the left ankle on mine doesn’t want to pivot (it’s gummy and just snaps back into a neutral position). The waist is a ball joint, but it just swivels for the most part because of the size of the overlay. The torso isn’t going to do anything and the gripping hands have the wrong hinge, not that she has anything to hold. Her feet being relatively small, she can be a deceptively difficult figure to stand. I’ve had her topple over numerous times already in the short while I’ve had her.

I think I’ll keep the hat on him.
Plenty of Utroms these days, and I didn’t even bother with the little one from the robot.

That’s April, but she’s technically not alone. Joining her is Professor Obligado, an Utrom ally with a series of short stories by Stephen Murphy. He’s very similar to other Utrom characters we’ve received in that he’s a little more than a slug figure as he has two articulated tentacles. He also gets the bulk of the accessories as he has a fedora, pipe, pick axe, paint brush, can of ink, and two extra tentacles one of which has a can of some spray molded to it. He looks fine and the swapping features are fun, but I would have liked something for April. It’s almost like NECA saw doing another April as an obligation, but rather than make her as much fun as they could, they threw in another character after doing the bare minimum.

At least Casey has weapons to spare.

This review has taken on a negative tone, but I should stress that this figure of April isn’t a bad one. It’s just fine. There’s nothing special about it, it does what you would expect, and the execution when it comes to the sculpt and paint is up to NECA’s standards. The articulation isn’t great, but still what one would expect of the line. It just lacks imagination. Obligado is fine, and those who really dig the Utrom characters will enjoy adding him to the mix. That doesn’t shake the feeling that I only bought this figure because I want an April and I would have bought anything. At least she turned out far better than the cartoon one. If you’re feeling inclined to pick this one up, April sold out online, but can be found at Target. If you don’t want to shop there for any reason, know that she’ll eventually show up elsewhere, but with the current state of things who knows what she’ll cost? Right now, the MSRP is $35 and hopefully it stays that way.

There are plenty more heroes and villains from NECA’s TMNT line of figures based on the original comics:

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Karai as The Shredder

Where do you take your heroic comic book franchise when you kill your main villain in the first issue? Well, you first undo that rash decision by bringing him back! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird famously killed The Shredder in the first issue of their comic. They never intended to…

by Joe

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Rat King

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…

by Joe

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Kirby

Say the name “The King” to a comic book fan and they will immediately know of whom you speak. Jack Kirby is a titan in the world of comics. Creator or co-creator of a great many characters known throughout the world today, it’s hard to imagine what a comic book would look like without his…

by Joe

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April 15, 2025

NECA TMNT Toon “Start Shredding the News!” Ultimate Shredder

By Joe
Shredder is back, but is he better than ever?

I am back! If you’re a regular reader then you probably didn’t notice much as far as content goes, but I’ve been out of commission for weeks now due to my laptop crashing. I was able to fix it, but it took some time to get around to it and it’s been a really long time (for me) since I’ve talked about toys. I’ve been going a little crazy not being able to do so because it’s a compulsion – I like to voice my opinions on the stuff I buy. I wasn’t sure where to start when it came time to finally making a new entry, but I figured I should make it as topical as possible and talk about a new NECA drop from its mega popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line and that’s Ultimate Shredder.

Original NECA Shredder on the left with the new Archie Shredder on the right.

Shredder was included as part of the inaugural release for this line way back at San Diego Comic Con 2017. That Shredder was a reworked version of the original Mirage Shredder that was cancelled (but eventually released) and then repurposed for a set based on the 1989 arcade game. Because of that, the likeness to the cartoon version of the character wasn’t perfect, but it was still far and away the best representation of the character ever committed to plastic. Not that the competition was stiff. I didn’t go back and re-read my thoughts on the figure (I think I will after I write this), but I’m pretty sure I was pretty happy with it. It’s a very good representation of the character from the show and it was done with a level of quality we hadn’t seen before. In 2025, the figure is certainly showing some age, but it’s still not even close to being a bad figure. The thing that stands out the most to me when I look at it is just the torso. It’s lacking in articulation and the figure doesn’t have the same amount of paint figures in the line are prone to contain so it looks a little cheaper.

He scales pretty well with the good guys.

NECA seemed to think that was enough to warrant a redo. And since Shredder is THE villain from the show, it makes sense. Revealed last year is this “Ultimate” take on the character. It’s a noticeably chunkier Shredder that largely corrects all of the aspects of the original release that were inaccurate to the source material. And as I theorized when I looked at the recent Archie Shredder, it contains some of the parts used to craft that figure (but probably not as many as you would have expected). And by and large, it’s an improvement. If you opened this review wanting to know if this Shredder is better than the old one then the answer is yes, in almost every way. The real question when it concerns this figure is will most want to spend $35 on another Shredder?

And he fits in pretty well with his crew.

Shredder comes in the Ultimate style packaging designed to mimic the old f.h.e. home video releases. Titled “Start Shredding the News!”, this is a figure sculpted by Tomasz Rozejowski with a credit also going to Kushwara Studios. Paint was handled by the frequent duo of Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo and Susan Capone is credited with tailoring. The artwork for the box was done by Aaron Hazouri and it’s a fun image of Shredder in front of several villains from the show all of whom have been captured in plastic by NECA save for Mr. Ogg (and I’m fine if he never gets a figure). There are product shots of the figure and it’s all pretty nice. I will say that Shredder looks off model to me, but I also don’t save the packaging so it’s not something I care about. And if you enjoy reading the little blurbs they put on the boxes, then you’ll probably get a kick out of this one.

Many plots in 80s and 90s cartoons revolved around a very important floppy disc.

Shredder stands at approximately 6.875″ tall to the tip-top of his helmet. If we bring in the old Shredder, we find he’s closer to 6.5″ while Archie Shredder is basically right at 7″. I do like this height differential when we bring in a turtle. More than the height though, this Shredder is chunkier, thicker, and it fits in better with the turtles than the slender old one. The wraps on the forearms are now accurate to the show as are the spikes on the shoulder pauldrons. The sculpt is all new compared with the original so there’s not much else to compare aside from the paint job and overall approach. That original Shredder had some embellishments on it to give it a gritty feel. Maybe it was a holdover from the Mirage take, but he has little scuffs and marks on his armor. The blades are also painted gray where as they’re white on the new Shredder which is more in-line with the show.

“For book club this month, we have this diary by the Kojima brothers. No, Rocksteady, not the guy who created Metal Gear…”

The paint is what stands out the most as a change. The paint on the original Shredder has cel-shading with grays and blues on the armored parts. On this new Shredder it’s all light gray with white blades. There is no cel-shading. There’s black linework throughout, but not shading like we saw with most of the line. I’ve always been kind of torn when it comes to NECA’s cel-shading. I don’t think it’s bad, it’s just not that ambitious and the black outlines and such seem good enough to me. I do wish this new Shredder had some shading on the helmet, at least. Just a little hit of white in places would help to create that illusion of steel the cartoon often utilized. A black line in the center of the faceguard might have worked well too, but that’s something that may have been tried and was nixed because it didn’t look right. Both the old and new have a soft approach to the chest in contrast with the Archie Shredder which is pretty faithful to the show. NECA reused the abs from the Archie Shredder which isn’t accurate, but it doesn’t look bad. I would have preferred total accuracy, and maybe just not doing the black lines for the abs would have done it, but it’s not ruining my enjoyment of the figure or anything.

“Hah, Donatello, I have the device!”
“Looks like you’re missing an important part, bucket head!” “Blast!”

What is not different across all three figures is the cape and this cape kind of sucks. It’s a very cheap looking material and it’s an almost shiny purple. The cartoon Shredder had a softer purple color to his cape and the way this one bunches up around the neck also doesn’t look great. We should be able to see his neck, but it’s all swallowed up by the cape. And there’s no wire in it. There’s some tailoring around the neck to keep it in control, but it’s nothing extravagant. Capes are a weak area for this line with only Dark Turtle having a good one. It’s a shame that the big villain of the series couldn’t get a comparable one to the Loot Crate figure.

“Mommy…”
“Perhaps mother would enjoy this necklace?”

This Shredder comes with a whole bunch of new stuff as is befitting the Ultimate release model. For hands, we get fists, gripping, open, and a left hand with a tight grip. That hand is designed to hold some of his smaller accessories like a wad of bills which appear to be Shredder bucks and a little blue floppy disk. He also has an amulet which he can hold in that tighter hand or with basically any hand since it’s a necklace. The gripping hands are for use with the Medi-Laser, an item from the first episode of the third season. It’s a gun that heals things, so not exactly a dastardly villain weapon, but Shredder stole it in the episode so that’s why it’s here. And it’s a new sculpt. It’s painted really well and looks pretty nice. The gray piece in the handle is also removable which I think is intentional because it was pulled out in the episode as a way to deactivate the gun. It’s tiny, so don’t lose it, but that’s a cool touch. Shredder also has a yellow book which is the diary of the Kojima brothers. It’s from a season 5 episode and Shredder used the book to summon some dead guys. Shredder also comes with a picture of his mother (aww!) which is in the same style as other pictures in frames we’ve seen before. The image inside is a render of the character and it looks okay, but it’s obviously not a figure and I wouldn’t hold my breath on one coming in the future.

“At last! The power is mine!”
Useful for when he has to shave.

Lastly, we’ve got some extra heads to talk about. Shredder’s default portrait is what you would expect, but it has the creative inclusion of being able to remove the crest. This is useful for the other helmeted head which doesn’t have a faceguard. but has the crest with the completed Eye of Sarnath from the season two episode “Curse of the Evil Eye.” The face sculpt and paint looks nice and the crests swap easily so you can power-up Shredder if you want. It unfortunately doesn’t swap with the Baxter Stockman head with Shredder’s helm and I’m surprised the Eye wasn’t on that Baxter head. Removing the crest on either head allows for the use of the included chef’s hat. I think this is from “Pizza by the Shred” and it’s the kind of silly, goofy, inclusion I like. We need a proper delivery boy Michelangelo now. Lastly, there’s a completely unhelmeted head which is very well done. Swapping heads is, unfortunately, just as difficult with this release as it was with the Archie Shredder. Use heat and I guess try to keep the cape dry if using water. If you wanted to, you could also probably use any of these heads with the Archie Shredder, but I can’t get the head off of mine and I don’t want to heat it up and find out. The hands, at least, are pretty painless to work with. One note with my figure is the right gripping hand is really loose. All of the other hands are find, save for that one. A little coating of super glue on the post could possibly remedy that.

“How ’bout some pizza, dudes?”
“The only currency that matters! Shredder bucks!”

Shredder looks pretty good and he comes with a lot of stuff, but can the thing move? As is often the case with NECA, the answer is “Ehh, for the most part.” NECA never sells out for articulation and this Shredder is basically the same as the Archie one when it comes to articulation. It’s completely pinless and the elbows and knees were lubricated at the factory so they move pretty freely. Nothing is loose or overly tight. With Archie Shredder, I couldn’t get the waist to do anything, but this one has a waist swivel that is unencumbered and moves fine, but it’s just a swivel. There’s no ball peg so all of your crunch is going to come from the diaphragm joint, and like Archie Shredder, it’s not very effective. It rotates and tilts a bit, but it barely moves forward and back. The posing is very basic. It’s better than the original Shredder from 2017, but not by a lot. It did drop the toe joint though, but since that old Shredder has a bad toe joint I don’t consider it a loss.

He’s a pretty handsome devil.
“Get back here with my helmet you imbecile!”

And that’s NECA’s “Ultimate” take on the Shredder. Does it live up to that name? For the most part. It looks like the character from the show which is what the line places the greatest amount of importance on. There’s no real quality control issues and it comes with a lot of stuff for $35. I have seen some people complaining that he doesn’t come with a sword and I suppose that’s valid. If you have been collecting this line for awhile then you probably have no shortage of swords laying around so I don’t personally care, but if you’re going to call a Shredder release the ultimate version then I don’t blame you for thinking it should have a sword. The same could be said of the lack of a communicator, but again, that’s another thing I personally don’t need more of. My only real complaint is just the cape. I don’t like this cape, I’ve never liked it, and I know NECA can do better.

The battle that will never end.

If this release is something that interests you then you can currently find this guy at Target stores. As of this writing, the first online drop has not happened and I don’t know when Shredder is going to be made available there. I found this guy in stores and there were a lot of them. It’s part of yet another Haulathon and this time the figures are being stocked in a cardboard display stand which, from my experience, could be literally anywhere. I nearly missed it in my store because it was in a little opening between sporting equipment and home lighting. Yeah, really odd placement. He was stocked with Dark Leonardo, Hunter Leonardo, and the Mirage Battle Damaged Shredder. This is the only release I personally wanted and I’m not sure how much I’ll be buying from this latest round of releases (a pair of two-packs are expected, Panda Khan, and more Mirage figures), but this is the one I had to have. And since it’s Shredder, I’m guessing it will be the most sought after, but also the most plentiful so don’t panic if you haven’t found it yet and keep looking out. And help each other out, if need be. Good luck!

If you’re interested in more Shredders and all things turtles, we got you covered:

NECA TMNT Adventures Shredder

Conventions are always a great time, even from home, because lots of toy companies use them to show off their latest and greatest. Last year had a number of surprises from NECA where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were concerned. And some of those surprises were pretty damn big. When those conventions end, it’s always fun…

Keep reading
by Joe

NECA Cartoon TMNT Accessory Set

We’re well into the cold of winter and spring feels like it’s just around the corner which means it must be time for another NECA Haulathon. Haulathon, if you don’t recall from last year, is basically a tandem promotion between NECA and Target which was just an excuse to get NECA some more visibility in…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Television, toys

April 8, 2025

NECA TMNT Secret of the Ooze Keno with Scooter

By Joe
Pizza’s here!

It was a little less than two years ago that NECA unveiled not one, but two, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles exclusive items for San Diego Comic Con. One of those, the four pack of turtles from the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, I purchased and reviewed in this space as I often do. The other, the first ever action figure of Ernie Reyes Jr. as Keno from the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, I passed on. Not because I disliked the release or was limiting myself to only one item, but because NECA wanted 100 bucks for it. I have said in this space before that I do not like the second movie in the TMNT film franchise. I found it enjoyable as a kid, but it’s a bad movie. Reyes Jr. gives a fine performance as Keno and he’s not the reason the movie is bad, it’s a lot of things. Still, I was interested in adding a Keno to my figure shelf because he was a part of it and a part of my childhood. And if I was going to add a Keno, a Keno from the beginning of the movie where he’s delivering pizzas is my ideal Keno. I’m just not willing to spend 100 bucks on it.

I guess two Kenos are better than one?

Driving the price of Keno was the inclusion of his scooter, but driving the price even higher was a bunch of swag being tossed in. If you ever purchased one of the NECA themed Loot Crates then you know what I’m talking about. You get an action figure that’s worth maybe half the value of the total package while the rest is made up of a t-shirt, keychain, and other assorted junk. It was all stuff I didn’t want and didn’t want to pay roughly 40 bucks for. The following summer, NECA released a Keno and Foot two-pack that I did end up getting. It depicted Keno from his test with the Foot Clan as he was trying to gain admission. Again, not my preferred Keno, but I figured why not? Maybe a month or so ago we found out that Keno and his scooter were coming back. NECA didn’t say how or when, just that it was happening. Fast forward another couple weeks, and he’s a surprise inclusion at Walmart Collector Con. Best of all, he retails for the now standard two-pack price of $60. Waiting almost two years got me the price I wanted, but it also got me to buy a different Keno set I might have passed on had I just spent the 100 bucks in the first place so I’m actually out $120, but I have two Kenos. And a scooter. And a plus-sized Foot ninja. Win?

“Hey! It’s that kid we’re friends with for one movie!”

The Keno and scooter set is exactly the same as the one sold for Comic Con. As far as I know, there was no stamp or sticker or anything put on the box of that release, it was just the extra stuff that ended up being exclusive. The figure, accessories, and the deco all appear to be identical. This is Keno from his first appearance as a delivery boy for Roy’s Pizza. He’s in his long-sleeved shirt and jeans and has the scooter and other equipment to make sure those pizzas arrive fast and hot. The figure is the exact same height as the training Keno at roughly 6.3″, but by default this one has a unique portrait with a very wide smile. He looks ready to laugh and it’s not a very good likeness. His forehead seems huge and there’s just these deep grooves around the mouth area that really makes it protrude almost like a feline. The sculpt for Keno’s signature mullet looks fine, but the paint around it is sloppy. It looks like they would have been better off doing the head in two pieces so the hair didn’t need to be painted as carefully. It’s not typical NECA quality.

I do not care for this portrait.

The sculpt for the rest of the body is mostly fine. The shirt is done with an overlay for the torso while the sleeves are molded as part of the arms. There is a disconnect between the painted red on the overlay and the rest plastic used for the arms with the sleeves being noticeably darker. Again, an unusual issue for NECA since they tend to just paint over everything anyway, but they apparently opted not to with the arms. The white portions of the shirt are covered in tiny spots to simulate dirt and grim, I suppose. I honestly didn’t notice it in the promo shots and thought my figure might be defective. I then thought that maybe these new splatters were an update to differentiate it from the first release, but nope, both have it and once I saw it on the figure I started noticing it in the photography. The shirt is greasy and gross in the movie, but it looks more authentic for someone handling greasy pizza. Here it looks more like he was riding his bike behind a truck in a rainstorm.

Back to work, kid!

I mentioned my dislike for the default portrait so it’s probably a good thing that Keno comes with an alternate head. This is the same head that’s included with the training Keno set and it’s a more subtle smile. This one looks like Reyes Jr. to me so it’s the one I’ll rock. And it also works out that I had the more intense head on my training Keno so I won’t have to display them with the same head (you can also use that head on this figure, if you were wondering). For hands, we get a set of fists, gripping, and open hands. And since he is a pizza delivery boy, he comes with the warming sleeve or whatever those things are called for the pizza box to go into. And yes, there is a pizza box as well. To my surprise, there’s no actual pizza in the box, but that’s probably because they would have had to sculpt a newer, smaller, pizza because this box is tiny compared to what came with the turtles. I think the thickness of the sleeve forced them to go smaller because the scale looks fine, but maybe it too is a little small. It’s hard to say. It’s also possible the pizza box that came with the turtles isn’t in proper scale.

“All right! Keno with the hook-up!”

Articulation for Keno is fairly basic. We get a double-ball peg at the head which works fine, but the hair will limit posing somewhat. Shoulders are ball-hinged, elbows are single hinges with a swivel, wrists rotate and there is a hinge. NECA gave Keno’s gripping hands a vertical hinge which is normally the preferred way to go, but since he has them to primarily grip handle bars, it’s actually not the best choice. I usually find myself complaining about the lack of vertical hinged gripping hands when it comes to NECA figures, but here we have the opposite. There is a diaphragm joint in this guy, but the overlay makes it functionally useless. Waist does rotate and there are ball-socket hips that swivel. He can kick forward all right and almost hit splits, but again, the overlay causes problems. If one were to cut the slits already present in the side of the shirt it might allow him to hit full splits, if you care. The knees are double-jointed and they’re the kind with the peg and hinge at the top and bottom so you get a little swivel out of the top of the knee as well, if you want. Ankles hinge forward and back and rock side-to-side.

“What the hell is this, man? You think this little thing is going to feed the four of us?! He’s holding out on us!”

Keno can hit some of his martial arts poses from the film, but nothing crazy. He does have one real flaw when it comes to articulation and it concerns the other half of this release: the scooter. The scooter is basically being priced like a stand-alone figure. It’s made up of a fairly hard plastic and has actual rubber tires. The handle bars rotate and rotating them does cause the front wheel to turn with them which is cool. There isn’t much detail on the dash, but the entire body of the scooter looks pretty convincing. The plastic has a little shine to it which works for a motor vehicle. The headlights are non-functioning, but they’re at least cast in translucent plastic. The scooter even has accessories of sorts, or you could just think of it as some assembly required. The carrying case for the pizza goes on the back and the frame for it has to be plugged into the scooter first. After that, it just tabs on and looks good. Best of all, it’s fairly lightweight and the scooter has no issues supporting the weight of the case with or without the pizza pocket inside it. There’s also a kickstand to keep the bike upright, though it’s a little loose and I found it giving out on me a lot when trying to pose Keno with the bike.

Looks good from the side…
Looks good from the front…
Hmm?
Umm…
I guess?

And that’s the inherent flaw with this set: Keno cannot sit on this thing convincingly. He just doesn’t have the range of motion in his torso to get hunched over properly. Or, the scale is messed up and he just can’t reach the handlebars in a normal, seated, position. He’s always going to look a little goofy and unnatural on this thing. The best pose is probably to have him in the process of getting on or off the bike or it’s to just have him stand beside it. It’s a real bummer because if you’re going to put out a figure and vehicle combo then you should make sure the two are truly compatible. If it’s the torso range that’s the cause, then NECA should have gone soft goods with the shirt. We see Batman figures come with cloth capes for that very reason when they’re being paired with a Batmobile. Or they should have gone back to the drawing board if it was a matter of scale and figured something out. Either way, it’s a bummer.

Maybe he’s just better suited to do martial arts stuff instead of deliver pizza?

To summarize, we have a figure of Keno with a sloppy paint job and iffy likeness with at least one of the heads. He comes with an out of scale pizza box, but at least it can be hidden in the pizza warmer thing. He also has a scooter that looks great, but doesn’t really work with the figure. And this package will set you back 60 bucks. Is it worth it? On the surface, a 1:10 scale action figure and vehicle combo at 60 bucks is a pretty good deal. There are not a lot of figure and vehicles out there in this scale for cheaper. On the other hand, it’s an imperfect figure that doesn’t work well with said vehicle. And it’s a part of NECA’s movie subline of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which actually has a pretty sterling reputation. These are some of the best figures NECA has ever done, but unfortunately, Keno lowers that bar. He doesn’t lower it as much as Danny did, but he’s not the equal of the turtles or even the other Keno which I enjoyed quite a bit. This is an underwhelming release and I’m glad I didn’t pay 100 bucks for it in 2023 because then I might have been kind of pissed. Now I’m just disappointed. I like that I have a Roy’s Pizza Keno in my collection, but that’s where my enthusiasm ends. If you want to pick this up and sort out your own feelings on the subject, Keno is currently exclusive to Walmart like most of the movie collection. As of this writing it is still in stock on Walmart’s website (fulfilled by NECA) and I assume it will start showing up in stores as well.

Did I mention I blog a lot about TMNT? Here’s a few other relevant reviews you might find interesting:

NECA TMNT Secret of the Ooze Keno and Foot Soldier

I’ve been spending parts of the past month or so ducking in and out of any Walmart I come across in search of the Masters of the Universe Origins Turtles of Grayskull Krang. You see, it’s a store exclusive and if you know anything about toy collecting it’s that toy collectors hate store exclusives. Especially…

by Joe

NECA TMNT Secret of the Ooze 4-Pack and Accessory Set

It’s that time of year when a lot of folks are reflecting on the past year and all of the things that happened. This usually coincides with list-making for favorites and worst of the year in basically every category you can dream of. And for action figure enthusiasts, there’s definitely a lot of list making.…

by Joe

NECA TMNT Secret of the Ooze Ultimate Shredder

For the first time in a long time we went a week without a blog entry here. That’s because I took a much needed vacation and didn’t schedule anything. I’ll probably be backing off a little bit as we dig deeper into 2022 since there’s a certain holiday I need to get crackin’ on if…

by Joe

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February 25, 2025

NECA TMNT Adventures Shredder

By Joe
Shredder and Krang together at last!

Conventions are always a great time, even from home, because lots of toy companies use them to show off their latest and greatest. Last year had a number of surprises from NECA where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were concerned. And some of those surprises were pretty damn big. When those conventions end, it’s always fun to rearrange the list in my head of what I’m looking forward to the most. Vaulting to near the top of that list was a figure I hadn’t even really considered would be shown: Shredder. Not just any Shredder, but the Shredder from the Archie Comics run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures.

I have detailed in several of these figure reviews that I wasn’t a regular reader of the Archie run of TMNT. I should rectify that some day, but I had honestly forgotten what Shredder looked like in those books. I mostly saw those issues via the covers and covers alone and on those he was often depicted as he was in the cartoon. In the books themselves, Shredder was usually colored with a blue body suit and purple cape. The metallic portions of his traditional outfit was colored white with blue highlights. This isn’t that unusual as if you take a look at just about any depiction of Wolverine in a comic his claws are often white. We know they’re steel and probably wouldn’t be white in reality, but that’s comic book coloring logic. The cartoon went with gray for Shredder with minimal shading. The toy went with blue. Shredder was all over the place, but this white and blue look was certainly unique and something about it works. It’s classy!

I could have easily filled this with a bunch of NECA Shredders, but most probably just want to compare this one to the toon Shredder.

NECA is rounding out its line of TMNT Adventures slowly but surely. There’s basically a three-issue arc or so in the comic that NECA has focused on. In it, we meet Slash who comes into contact with Krang. They meet Bellybomb and he in turn helps Krang take over Shredder’s body. Yeah, it’s a bit weird, but since Krang is a brain I guess it makes sense that he can take over the body of other people. He doesn’t have to always ride around in an android’s stomach. That’s why if you come cross this Shredder in a store you may be surprised to see Krang on his shoulders. This figure is Krang as Shredder (Kredder?), but NECA wisely included a traditional Shredder head in the box. It’s a little more eye-catching with Krang in place and likely to get some double-takes by people unfamiliar with this depiction. I suppose NECA is taking a risk with impulse buyers in that the Shredder head isn’t front and center, but I’m guessing most people into this line basically know what they’re in for.

“There, there, Krang, you’ll have a body some day. Just not mine!”

This Shredder, or Krang, comes in the same style of window box as other figures in the line. It’s adorned with original artwork by Ken Mitchroney which all features the Krang head in place. The figure is an entirely new sculpt by Tomasz Rozejowski with a credit to Kushwara Studios. Paint is once again handled by the duo of Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo. And following in the footsteps of the Stump Wrestling turtles, this Shredder is pinless. NECA is gradually making the move to a pinless approach with the elbows and knees of its future figures and the results have been smooth. I’m not exactly offended by the presence of pins, but the ones NECA has used in the past can be a bit on the large side. They’re usually good about using the proper color and painting over them when necessary, but there have been a few where they stick out a bit too much (mostly their Bebop and Rocksteady figures, for some reason) so I’m happy to see them gone. Especially because we’re not losing any function, and as we’ll see when we get to the articulation, we’re not running into any new issues either.

Shredder has enough chunk to compete with the turtles.

This Shredder is a much beefier version of the character than we’ve received in the past. The NECA Shredder mold is getting quite long in the tooth. It’s been used for multiple versions of the Mirage Shredder as well as toon and video game versions. It’s not terrible, but it’s a very lanky Shredder. This new sculpt is likely also the base for the new Ultimate Toon Shredder that should start showing up any day now (unless it’s being held back for another Target event that everyone will surely love) and I think fans are going to be pleased. He’s big in the arms and broad in the chest and stands at a commanding 6.75″ and should look formidable beside the turtles. The sculpt has that slightly soft, rounded, but muscled look to it that was featured in the comics. The body is a dark, flat, blue with basically all of the muscles outlined with black. The details on the white portions of the costume are also brought out with black linework with a hit of light blue for shading. The face guard is dark blue with a nice swash of white and the visible portion of his face is a warm flesh tone and the detail work is impressive.

“Ha! You may have fancy black pajamas, but no weapons to save you!”

There’s almost nothing for me to critique when it comes to the presentation, but I’ll do my best. The linework is exceptionally clean. Given the presence of white surfaces, it could have gone off the rails in places, but it does not. I had to hunt for paint imperfections and I found one, black, speck on the right forearm band. That’s basically it. Aside from that, my criticisms are more subjective. There’s a cut in the abdomen that goes through the top of Shredder’s abs. I wish the cut went above the abs instead and followed the rib cage, but maybe that wouldn’t move as well. He also still has a soft goods cape that’s very basic. I’m fine with the choice of soft goods over plastic, but it’s very thin and there’s no wire. It’s basically the same cape as what’s included with the toon Shredder which is a pretty basic cape with just some minor tailoring around the neck. With the exception of Dark Turtle, capes in the toon TMNT line have been pretty weak and that has apparently carried over to the Archie line.

We now have two Archie Krangs. Left is old, right is new.

This edition of Shredder has a pretty solid assortment of accessories. I’ve been reviewing this as if it’s a Shredder, but the actual, default, head is Krang. Krang follows the same styling as the one included with Bellybomb only this time he has an angrier expression. Or rather, he’s showing more teeth and his eyes aren’t as asymmetrical as the prior one. His tentacles are on little ball joints so they can move a little bit, but he plugs onto the ball joint like any other portrait would. Which is why it’s a shame that the Krang that came with Bellybomb wasn’t equipped to do the same. Did they not want to tip their hand that this was coming? Maybe, but that’s a silly reason not to do it. It would have been a great way to get multiple portraits for Krang into the mix so it feels like a missed opportunity. Krang is very well painted though and if you’re only going to have one Krang head for a figure at least it’s a good one. You may notice there are no pictures of Shredder with Krang for a head. That’s because once I swapped heads I couldn’t get the Shredder one off. I actually had the whole neck apparatus come out, and since I’m not going to display this figure as Krang, I wasn’t going to go through the trouble of getting this head off.

This polearm looks like it would hurt.

The rest of the accessories are a mix of obvious and perhaps not so obvious. For hands, Shredder has a set of fists, open, gripping, and fists with his signature blades on them. The blades kind of come and go in the comics and it was pretty important to have an array of hands without them. Still, I do wish we got a set of open and gripping hands with the blades in place too. For the gripping hands, Shredder has this big poleaxe of sorts. It basically looks like a bo staff topped with a bladed head that’s serrated on one side while the other side almost looks like a giant bottle opener. It’s cool though and I like the size. It’s also pulled right from the comic and if this Shredder was only going to have one weapon then they picked the right one. Shredder also has his little banzai tree which, sort of like Slash from the cartoon and his “binky,” is an important item to Shredder so it’s a fun thing to have even if it’s not the most exciting. It’s really well painted and I might just keep it on my desk.

Now Shredder has his own binky.

Shredder features a new articulation scheme in some respects, but the end result is mostly the same as usual. He has a double ball joint for his head, hinged shoulder pegs, bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows, forearm swivel, wrist swivel and hinge, diaphragm ball joint, ball-socket hips, swivels at the hips, double-jointed knees, shin swivels, hinged ankles and an ankle rocker. The elbows and knees both have no trouble bending past 90. They’re a little stiff out of the box, but not exceptionally so and I didn’t have to heat anything with this figure. The diaphragm joint swivels side to side with a decent arch back and a slight crunch forward. There’s no waist articulation, which is odd, but maybe it’s not present because the oversized sash would negate its use. The forearm and shin swivels are really well integrated into the sculpt to basically be seamless. At first, I couldn’t even tell where the shin was swiveling as it’s not at the very top of the boot. The gripping hands also feature vertical hinges, finally, which is great to see. More of that please, NECA. Though it is a bit ironic that the pole weapon doesn’t get much use out of them, but if you want to give him a sword or gun it will work well. Nothing is loose, nothing is floppy, and nothing was so tight I felt like it was going to break. The only joint that’s being stubborn for me is the right shin swivel. The factory generously lubricated the elbows and knees, which I’ve actually never seen before, and it certainly seemed to help.

“You freaks will never have my body!”

This Shredder is just a fantastic figure to behold. I just keep finding my eyes drawn to this guy and he’s been on my desk for weeks because I don’t want to place him on my shelf and then rarely touch him. If this is how the new toon Shredder is going to turn out, then folks are going to be very happy. I doubt it tops this one though because I just love this color combo. The white and dark blue just pop well and in such a different manner than other figures in the line. I’ve grown accustomed to a lot of bright colors with this group, but Shredder proves you can pop with dark. This Archie line has really become the most exciting TMNT line for me. Maybe NECA’s 2012 line will top it eventually, but for now I am far more excited to see what’s next from TMNT Adventures than I am from the cartoon or comic lines. Only thing we really need now are proper Archie turtles. Those wrestling ones are great fun and were maybe the best figures I got in 2024, but I think the people want some more conventional looks as well. I’m sure they’re coming, as are more Mutanimals and familiar foes and they’ll all have a hard time topping this Shredder. If you’re looking to add him to your collection, he’s currently shipping to Walmart stores in the US. Since it’s TMNT Adventures, he should eventually make his way to other places, but if you don’t want to wait you’ll have to brave your nearest Walmart. Good luck!

Check out these other figures from NECA’s line of figures based on TMNT Adventures:

NECA TMNT Adventures Bellybomb

Sometimes, a character design so fun and outrageous can be enough to motivate one into dropping $35 on an action figure. Such was the case with NECA Toys’ Bellybomb figure from its subline of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures based on the characters from the Archie Comics series. Of course, in this case it…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Adventures Mondo Gecko

.The NECA Cowbunga Collection is a content creator’s dream. Here we are deep into October still talking about figures that dropped in August. This time it’s another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures action figure and it’s fan-favorite Mondo Gecko. Most TMNT fans probably know Mondo from the Playmates action figure line. He also made the…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Adventures Stump Wrestling Four-Pack

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

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by Joe

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November 26, 2024

NECA TMNT Dimension X-Mas Vacation

By Joe
Oh God, they’re back!

If you know anything about me then you probably know that I like collecting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures and I like Christmas. Strangely, those two things have not come together all that often. Most of the television shows featuring the famed four opted not to feature the holiday in an episode. And without much Christmas stuff to go off of, the toys have not broached the subject all that often. There have been a few instances though and one infamous example is the 1994 release We Wish You a Turtle Christmas. Utilizing assets from the stage show that had been touring the country, the direct-to-video special saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles prepare for the holiday while seeking out a gift for Splinter. It was a musical event and one I never watched as a kid. Sure, I saw the tape available for rent, but those hideous costumes were a huge turn-off. Plus, by 1994 I had moved off of TMNT and onto Marvel and video games. There was no going back.

It’s a logical way to reuse these ugly, old, turtles.

In 2020, NECA Toys released a set of action figures based on the old stage show. They called the Musical Mutagen Tour and it brought those ugly ass turtles to the world of plastic in a rather convincing manner. It was a convention exclusive that was also made available at Target since it was the summer of 2020 and conventions weren’t happening. Ever since that release though I had wondered if a set of figures based on that terrible Christmas special were in the cards. NECA likes to do holiday themed releases and we’ve seen Gremlins get more than a couple. They’ve also done Misfits and Elvira and there’s probably more I’m forgetting or choosing not to remember. TMNT is their biggest seller these days and it was dying for a Christmas release of some kind and 2024 ended up being the time for it.

“Hey dudes! You wanna sing carols about pizza?!”

The Dimension X-Mas Vacation is that set. It may not say it on the box due to licensing, but this is basically We Wish You a Turtle Christmas the action figures. It’s NECA repurposing assets from its movie line of TMNT figures along with the heads of those Musical Mutagen Tour figures. Joining the package are some accessories pulled from that special and it’s all presented in a very lovely package meant to simulate a VHS release. There’s even a new story created for this non-existent special that’s summarized on the box itself and it sounds rather plausible for a TMNT release of that era. The set was kept under wraps until San Diego Comic Con of this year and has been made available through Walmart for the not so low price of $150. Because of that price and the niche appeal here, this is probably going to appeal to a smaller audience than usual, but I am most definitely that audience.

The packaging is pretty cool.

This set features figures of the turtles: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo, as they were depicted in We Wish You a Turtle Christmas. It’s basically four identical figures where the only difference is the color of the bandanas. They’re all “naked” as compared with the tour turtles save for their usual belts, pads, and shoes. Yes, shoes, as these costumes decided making turtle feet was way too hard so they have black sneakers and leg warmers. It’s ridiculous. They also each come with a Santa hat which gently rests on the bandana knot on the back of their head. There are two styles of Santa hats between the four turtles and the only difference is which way the pom pom is going: 2 left and 2 right.

“Leo! You’re supposed to put the lights on the tree! On the tree!”

Most of the components of the bodies are reused from the prior tour set which means this is the dated 1990 movie body. The hips are the old pin joints, which is the main tell. The elbows are NECA’s own double-jointed setup and these ones were clearly cut to accommodate the much larger elbow pads of the Musical Mutagen Tour set. Here, they cut for the pad is too generous resulting in uglier looking elbows. The shell and plastron are new though and a better match for the source material compared with the other releases of these bodies. I’m not sure why we couldn’t get updated hips, but it is what it is. Paint across the board is mostly fine. The white of the Santa hats features numerous blemishes across the four while the bodies themselves are pretty clean. There is an overall harder plastic feel to these guys compared with other movie figures. Making use of the gripping hands is going to be harder than usual and there’s some flashing in the elbow joints. It gives the figures a slightly cheaper feel. These costumes are supposed to look cheap, but the figures don’t need to be. The paint around the teeth is at least an improvement over the tour turtles I have with less bleeding of the pink paint onto the teeth.

“Check it out – a tree stand!” “Donnie, this ain’t your best work.”

Articulation for these guys is essentially the same as the tour turtles, which is to say it’s basic. The articulated jaw is a welcomed edition and one of the aspects of these designs that stands out the most in my memory. They’re so ugly and NECA really captured that. Most of the joints are pretty stiff, some almost to a worrisome degree. These guys aren’t going to pose all that well to begin with so I’d advise not forcing anything if it’s fighting you. A hair dryer or hot water will be your friend. The shoulders and hips are especially tight for me while the elbows varied from figure to figure. The elbow joint almost looks like it wants to split which obviously isn’t good, but I haven’t had any breaks. I’ve also been pretty gentile. The ankles are also pretty useless so it’s too bad they didn’t figure out a better way to do the sneakers. The ankle joint really just needs to be visible with this design and it’s not the case. I’m sure the soft goods leg warmers aren’t helping.

“Come on, Mikey, no peeking!”

These turtles aren’t intended to mix it up with the Foot and instead are supposed to just look ugly and festive on your shelf. And to do so NECA included a bunch of Christmas themed accessories. In addition to the hats, each turtle also has a scarf. It’s a soft goods, white, fabric with a wire running through it so it can be posed rather well. One of the four in my set is frayed a bit, which sucks. There’s also a string of Christmas lights to drape over the head of one turtle. They’re sculpted in a soft plastic so it works reasonably well and makes your chosen turtle look like some sort of hideous Christmas tree. There’s also the framed pizza from the special which is just a plastic square with a pizza in the center. The lack of a glass pane means it’s also pretty easy to have a turtle hold it even with the really tight hands. There’s a little hand bell and also a manhole cover, because every TMNT universe needs one, I guess. There’s a skateboard with moving wheels and a nice deco on it and then we also get a whole bunch of presents. They all feature different wrapping paper and help fill out the display. To round out the release there’s also the customary set of optional hands. Each turtle comes with gripping hands, then we get a set of open, thumbs up, pointing, and loose gripping hands for the four to share. I wish we could get a full complement of at least the open and loose hands for the turtles, but this selection is pretty standard at this point.

“Check it out dude, the perfect gift for Splinter!”

Since these are the singing and dancing turtles from a Christmas special, we definitely did not need the usual weapons so NECA did not include them. What I think we definitely did need though is a tree! No Christmas tree in the set makes it feel pretty light. For my pics, I used the Figura Obscura tree, but since it’s not decorated it only works so well. And at $150, that’s unfortunate. There’s a lot of reuse here as well as some reuse potential with the gifts considering all of the Christmas stuff NECA does. For all I know, some of these gifts could even be from other sets, just not ones I have. I like the hats and I like the scarves. I’m a bit torn on if I would have preferred soft goods Santa hats to the molded ones we got. Normally, I’m for molded stuff, but since these were live action characters I think soft goods might have worked. We could have also got a stocking for each turtle. It feels like we should have got more and I question how well this thing will sell because it’s already pretty niche and the price won’t attract many impulse purchases.

“Whoa! No way! He does exist!”
“Huh? I thought I heard something…”

Criticisms aside, if you want some Christmas themed TMNT figures your options are pretty slim. It’s basically the ReAction figures Super7 did a few years back (which I have, but kept on card) or the Christmas plush of Raphael from back in the day. Maybe we’ll get a figure in the future from NECA based on the Michelangelo one-shot which took place at Christmas. And since Super7 is going down the 2k3 rabbit hole, maybe we can get Christmas turtles from the episode of the show based on that one-shot. What I’m saying is this set is fine, but we need more Christmas turtles! And while I think this set is too expensive for what it is, I am glad it exists. Figures based on an obscure and pretty terrible Christmas special is something I find fun and action figures should be fun. Now, if you’ll excuse me Christmas is coming and I need to deck the halls with pepperoni.

“Check it out Santa-dude, something way better than milk and cookies!”

Do ugly turtles and Christmas interest you? Perhaps you’ll enjoy reading these:

NECA TMNT Musical Mutagen Tour SDCC Set

Awhile back, I decided to rank the various incarnations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from worst to best. Occupying that dubious last place spot were the Turtles featured in The Coming Out of Their Shells tour. That may sound like the title of a TMNT sex tape, but it was something else entirely. If…

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by Joe

Dec. 11 – We Wish You a Turtle Christmas

Several months ago, I reviewed a product called The Musical Mutagen Tour Action Figure Set. It was a set of toys based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stage show, Coming Out of Their Shells, from 1990. Back then, the Turtles were so unbelievably hot that they could sell out a terrible stage show in…

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by Joe

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (4Kids): The Christmas Aliens

In 2003, Fox and 4Kids Entertainment launched a brand new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series.  This series was the first re-launch for the TMNT after a long hiatus from both film and television and was an attempt at introducing the Turtles to a whole new generation.  One of the consultants for the show was…

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by Joe

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November 19, 2024

NECA TMNT Movie NYCC ’24 Exclusive Kevin Eastman

By Joe
An unexpected addition to the 1990 TMNT movie collection from NECA Toys.

2024 marks 40 years of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and several companies have been marking the occasion in their own way. NECA, who has been flooding the market with TMNT action figures for several years now, celebrated the milestone with a San Diego Comic Con exclusive two-pack of The First Turtles. Based on the original sketches from co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the action figure set made a lot of sense as a 40th anniversary tie-in and as a Comic Con Exclusive. San Diego Comic Con may be the biggest convention in the world each year, but New York Comic Con is a pretty big deal too and since NYC is where the turtles call home, it made sense for NECA to have something special cooked up for that convention too. And they did and I think it caught everyone by surprise.

Eastman is obviously not the first human character in the line.

When the 1990 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was shot, there was a planned cameo from co-creator and current NECA collaborator Kevin Eastman. He was to play a garbage man and I assume he would be present in the aftermath of the battle with Shredder (and I think he is in the background). The scene was supposedly shot, but cut, highlighting the need for a better physical media release of the film that actually includes some of the shelved content. Even though the cameo may have been cut, NECA felt the need to celebrate it with a Kevin Eastman action figure as he would have appeared in that movie. It’s a great idea, and since it’s coming from the movie subline it means Eastman can be shown as he would have appeared in 1990. While it would be fun to see his comic book caricature turned into a figure (along with Laird), it’s definitely cool to get just a regular old Kevin first.

“April O’Neil here with the only eyewitness to tonight’s melee in the Bronx who has generously offered to provide a sketch of the strange creatures he saw tonight.”
You may want to watch your back, Kevin.

NECA sold the Eastman figure at NYCC and also on its website beforehand. And he sold out fast. It caught me and probably many others by surprise as it felt like the old days when the only way to get NECA’s TMNT product was through quick-selling online drops. The figure comes in a standard NECA Ultimates box designed by Chris Raimo. The figure was sculpted by Kyle Windrix and Trevor Grove with paint by Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo and some fabrication elements by Anthony Minichino and Brodie Perkins.

“Make sure you get my good side, dude.”

Eastman stands at roughly the 7″ mark putting him on more or less equal footing with April and Casey in the line. He’s clad in the black jumpsuit of a garbage man with a flannel shirt underneath and brown work boots. He has an almost amused look on his face, like he’s just happy to be here, and his trademark curly hair and moustache are in place. It’s a simple look and the paint turned out well. There’s a subtle sheen to the folds on the jumpsuit that makes it seem like it may have been nylon. The name tag is very legible on the chest and the flannel pattern is pretty sharp. The only negative is the paint on the hairline, particularly the figure’s right side, is not as sharp as it should be.

The most important accessory.
And I thought it was going to be just another boring manhole accessory.

Accessories for Kevin are sparse, but he probably has enough. Since he’s a garbage man he has a garbage bag. It’s a shiny, black, plastic, bag that’s tied off and likely stuffed with a sponge-like material to give it shape. It is what it is. Kevin has one gripping left hand and a pencil gripping right hand plus four pencils to go with it. The pencils, or pens, are just gray which is a little disappointing. Maybe they match the scene, but a more traditional orange #2 pencil would have looked a little nicer. He also has a clipboard with doodles of the turtles on it. They are done in an Eastman style and I’m guessing these are actual Kevin Eastman drawings shrunk down. It’s the accessory most are likely to display the figure with. Lastly, there’s a manhole cover which seems kind of dull at first. It reads “Lairdman Island,” a reference to the film and a portmanteau of Laird and Eastman. Flip it over though and you’ll find a recreation of the actual manhole cover that was placed in Dover, NH, birthplace of the TMNT, earlier this year. It has the address sculpted in and there’s a silhouette of the four turtles from their debut issue. I still need to get up there to see it for myself (my sister even lives in Dover) to properly compare, but this is a neat little accessory.

“I’m not sure you really captured the likeness here, pal.”

Articulation for Kevin is pretty bad. The hair keeps his head from doing a whole lot, but he can look down at his clipboard at least. Arms are basic and the elbows are single-hinged and the hinges on both hands are the standard type which I suppose is fine. There is a waist twist, but it has minimal range and the hips do almost nothing. They’re the old pin style too which I have a strong dislike for. I’m guessing these legs are reused from another figure, but I have no idea what. I assumed he was going to share parts with the jumpsuit Professor Perry (which I passed on), but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Knees are single-jointed and they’re fine. Ankles don’t really do anything.

“The results are in, Mr. Eastman: you ARE the father!”

The sculpt is pretty good and it’s executed well enough when it comes to the paint, but as an action figure this is a pretty bad release. Does that matter? Probably not. A Kevin Eastman Comic Con Exclusive action figure based on a cut scene from a 34 year old movie fits squarely in the novelty category. And as a novelty and a tribute to the franchise it’s fine. I’ll try to find something to do with the manhole cover while the trash bag will just live in the box. Kevin will be able to stand among my movie figures happily doodling on his clipboard and that’s good enough for me. Hopefully he’s joined by Peter some day. Unfortunately, if you weren’t able to get this guy he’s sold out. He was slightly expensive for a NECA release at 40 bucks not including shipping. If you missed it and absolutely must have it as part of your collection, I personally wouldn’t go beyond 60 bucks. And that’s just for someone who feels like their collection would be incomplete without it. If you only had a passing interest, or were hoping to do more with the figure from a posing perspective, I wouldn’t go nuts trying to track this down as I don’t think it will be worth it for you.

Just a guy and his kids.

If you feel like celebrating 40 years of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles then you have come to the right place:

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Kirby

Say the name “The King” to a comic book fan and they will immediately know of whom you speak. Jack Kirby is a titan in the world of comics. Creator or co-creator of a great many characters known throughout the world today, it’s hard to imagine what a comic book would look like without his…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Movie Ultimate April O’Neil – Signature Edition

NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line has so been so successful that it’s allowed the company to branch out. It wasn’t that long ago that Playmates was the only game in town when it came to TMNT action figures and the company showed little to no interest in releasing anything other than the turtles themselves.…

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by Joe

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November 12, 2024

NECA TMNT Adventures Bellybomb

By Joe
Hello daddy. Hello mom. I’m your buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-Bellybomb!

Sometimes, a character design so fun and outrageous can be enough to motivate one into dropping $35 on an action figure. Such was the case with NECA Toys’ Bellybomb figure from its subline of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures based on the characters from the Archie Comics series. Of course, in this case it helps that I’ve been collecting most of the TMNT figures put out by NECA so I was predisposed to getting this guy when he dropped, but mostly I wanted him because he just looks so weird. I know next to nothing about the character. He’s some kind of alien or Dimension X creature and he’s a bad guy for the most part. Mostly though, he’s a dude with his mouth in his stomach and eyeballs in his palms – he’s a freak!

You might think he only has one eye at first, but he actually has three.

Bellybomb, to me, looks like a character that belongs in The Real Ghostbusters toy line from Kenner back in the day. A big eye, sharp teeth, and a wacky design. I remember having a football player in that line and his entire back lifted to exposed a monstrous mouth. Bellybomb can never pass as human or anything, but his anatomy is so very Ghostbusters. I wish I knew who created him so I could properly credit the artist responsible for this design, but I wasn’t able to find anything online. Maybe it was Chris Allen? Ryan Brown? I don’t know, whoever did though my hat is off to you. The character has been brough to life by sculptors Brodie Perkins and Tomasz Rozejowski. I believe it was Perkins who did the main figure and I’m guessing Rozejowski either did the gun or his little buddy (we’ll get to that). Paint is done by Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo and once again Ken Mitchroney is on hand to do the artwork on the box.

“Hey man, how’s it going?”

Bellybomb is a figure that gets by on this outrageous design. He stands around 6.375″ to the top of his…head, and is closer to 6.75″ if you factor in the horns. He’s a bit of a chunker since the torso is just a giant mouth with an eyeball rising out of it. His skin is a very fleshy color with numerous wrinkles and if you want to compare him to a certain piece of male anatomy there’s little I can say to dissuade you. It’s a valid comparison and just adds to the grotesqueness of the character. There’s lots of black linework while his clothing is pretty basic, but also bright colored. He has a blue dress shirt which is obviously unbuttoned to expose that massive maw. The hot pink pants and blue boots make him look like a creature out of the 80s, though he’s technically a 90s invention as far as I know.

“What the heck are you?!”

The two things that stand out with this sculpt are the mouth and the eye. The mouth is full of sharp, white, teeth while the interior is painted black with a big, red, tongue. The teeth are legitimately sharp so if you want to open the mouth try to push on the lip instead. He has a big, blue, eye at the top of his head that’s well-painted and sits cleanly in the socket. It’s moveable as well. It feels quite loose, but it stays where it’s supposed to as long as you’re not shaking the figure. Each of his hands also has an eyeball sculpted and painted on the palm which is done very well. Even the fist hands leave the eyeballs exposed which is a nice touch.

“What is this greasy concoction?”
“Oh my god! Pizza, where have you been my whole life?!”

And aside from that, there isn’t much else to talk about with Bellybomb. His neck, I guess, which the eyeball sits on is articulated at the base and at the top. It can be positioned very well with plenty of room for nuance. The mouth opens and closes and it looks pretty good in both positions. The rest of the figure does very little, The shoulders are standard ball-hinges while I can’t get the elbow hinges to do anything. There’s rotation there, but that’s all. Hands swivel and hinge with the trigger hand being vertically hinged so that’s a plus. There is a waist twist while the hips and knees, despite being double-jointed, are pretty limited. The ankles hinge forward and back a bit with an ankle rocker, though the right ankle on mine is pretty loose.

New Krang is so cute!
And now Slash gets a buddy.

Bellybomb is mostly going to just stand there and look at stuff with his big eye or maybe stuff things in his mouth. He also doesn’t come with much. He has a pair of fists, gripping hands, open hands, and a trigger finger right hand. He has a big rifle that’s nicely painted and appears to be accurate to the comic, but he can only hold it with one hand and there are no effects for it or anything. The only other thing he comes with is his little buddy and accomplice in crime, Krang. Krang in the Archie books features the same, general, design as the Krang from the cartoon except he’s a whole lot more adorable. He’s a cute little blob, and I love the very toon-like eyes. His tentacles can be posed a little bit and the underside of the figure is sculpted to be curved so he can sit in Bellybomb’s hand or on Slash’s shoulder, which is how he got around for a time in the comics.

Bang! Bang!

Bellybomb is basically a slam dunk of you’re into this design. He looks awesome, I’m smitten with it, so it’s an easy recommend. He’s not going to pose as well as some of the other figures in your collection, but I think the figure more than makes up for it. Maybe the package is a little light on stuff, but the included Krang is a nice touch. And if you’re turned off by the coloring, NECA has a blue variant of this figure on the way based on his look from one of the covers. I was able to track this guy down at Target. He wasn’t advertised as being part of the Cowabunga Collection from August, but he arrived at basically the same time. I never did encounter this one in-store though and had to stalk the online listing where he’s been going in and out of stock since August. It’s likely a wider release will follow at some point so if you’ve been having a hard time tracking this one down just be patient as he’ll likely wind up on online retail outlets soon enough.

Check out more from NECA’s line of action figures from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures:

NECA TMNT Adventures Mondo Gecko

.The NECA Cowbunga Collection is a content creator’s dream. Here we are deep into October still talking about figures that dropped in August. This time it’s another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures action figure and it’s fan-favorite Mondo Gecko. Most TMNT fans probably know Mondo from the Playmates action figure line. He also made the…

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NECA TMNT Adventures Stump Wrestling Leatherhead

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…

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NECA TMNT Adventures Man Ray

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

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November 5, 2024

NECA TMNT Toon Vacation Bebop and Vacation Rocksteady

By Joe
It’s vacation time, fellas!

Pack your bags and grab the sunscreen because today we’re heading to Florida! It’s vacation time folks, and even the bad guys deserve a little fun in the sun sometimes. Coming from NECA Toys we have another fun variant of the duo Bebop and Rocksteady. Always more comic relief than true threat, the boys come dressed for the theme park as they accompanied the boss man down to Florida in an episode of the classic cartoon series which resulted in the further mutation of the punk frog Napoleon. As this line has gone on, I’ve become more and more drawn to the silly offshoots and Bebop and Rocksteady have provided ample opportunities for such. We’ve had them as rabbits, robots, and superheroes and now we have them as tourists. The only question is does anyone need a couple of dimwitted mutants in floral patterns?

Seems like with each subsequent release, Bebop and Rocksteady shrink a little more.

Bebop and Rocksteady come courtesy of the duo Tony Cipriano and Tomasz Rozejowski with contributions from Kushwara Studios. Paint is handled by the frequent pairing of Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo. If there are any reused parts from past versions of these two, it’s not apparent. Even the hands look like they’re new. They do share parts between each other, but for the most part this is an all new set. Not that they don’t feel familiar as the construction of these two is pretty consistent. They’re more visual than poseable, but the very loud outfits will help to boost their shelf presence even if they aren’t the most dynamic figures in your collection.

This smaller scale for the duo probably is more accurate to the source material.

Rocksteady stands at around 6″ while Bebop is closer to 6.5″ which adheres to their presentation in the show. The two have similar, but different, outfits. Rocksteady is rocking the Hawaiin shirt in shades of purple and orange while Bebop went with a more bold choice with a yellow polo and red suspenders. Bebop brings in the floral print with the light blue shorts with orange flowers while Rocksteady seems to be wearing jeans with the cuffs rolled up. Bebop retains his usual style of kicks, opting for a matching yellow while Rocksteady has traded in his boots for flip flops. Bebop has more traditional sunglasses than his usual ones and Rocksteady has old man sunglasses with the strap going around his head. Neither are removable, nor is Bebops very fashionable “Not Donald Duck” hat with propeller. The propeller does not spin, unfortunately. Rocksteady actually has two hats: a blue visor or a yellow cabby hat which he switched to in the show.

“This is no vacation!”

These two look great for what they are. I feel like the Bebop and Rocksteady portraits keep getting better (well, except for Rhino-Man who was a little weird) and more aligned with how they looked in the show. There’s tons of paint and it’s pretty cleanly applied, but there will be some variation from figure to figure. My Bebop has an ugly spot near his suspenders on the back of his shirt, but it’s otherwise the only real paint defect. These figures are not pin-less, which is apparently something being rolled out by NECA slowly. It’s not that big of an issue on its own, but does create an eyesore with Bebop’s high socks. The factory went with a flesh colored pin even though the hole is cut through the socks. Gray would have been the more appropriate choice, or they could have painted them. There is also no cel-shading on these figures which continues to be something that NECA utilizes inconsistently. I’m not really bothered by it, but I would prefer NECA to just pick a lane with this stuff and stick to it.

It’s sort of like his son?
One ugly bug.

These two come with an assortment of hands and vacation accessories. For both, we get a set of fists, gripping, and open hands. Rocksteady comes with a lei around his neck while Bebop has a satchel. Both also have a camera with a strap on it. Rocksteady’s features a large flash while Bebop’s is more compact. Unfortunately, neither can really be held as they’re too chunky for the gripping hands. You could heat them to wedge it in, but then you risk rubbing the paint. Plus, it’s unlikely they’d be able to hold the cameras in front of their face like they’re using it. There’s a large, blue, canister that looks like a water jug, but it might be some mutagen thing from the episode. I didn’t rewatch it. Unlike the cameras, the pair have no issues holding this thing by the handle. Lastly, we get a little rhino-fly. In the episode, a dragonfly has contact with Rocksteady and then contact with the mutagen to become this gross, little, abomination. It’s a fun little inclusion, though I wish he had a little acrylic stand or something because he really can’t do anything by himself. He basically needs to be held.

They can handle waving, but not much else.

Articulation for these guys is pretty basic stuff for a NECA figure. All of the cuts and joints you would expect are there, but they’re kind of limited. You have the ball joint at the head, but they mostly just rotate because there’s a lot of stuff in the way. The jaws are articulated, but the range is poor. The shoulders are ball-hinged and we get a bicep swivel as well. Double-jointed elbows are really limited by the fact that the neutral position for the arm is slightly bent. They’re also really tight and I can’t get better than a 90 degree bend out of them. Wrists rotate with a horizontal hinge. The shirts are basically overlays with not much inside them but a ball joint. They’ll rotate, but they won’t bend forward or back much. Ball-socket hips kick forward an okay amount but not back. They’ll go out to the side a solid amount though. There is a thigh swivel and double-jointed knees. Like the arms, the neutral pose is somewhat of a squat so the legs can’t go perfectly straight. Knee joints are tight, but even if you get both hinges working in tandem it won’t get you more than 90 degrees. The feet hinge forward and back a bit with an okay ankle rocker. Bebop’s is better than Rocksteady’s, but for the most part the pair move the same which is to say not very well.

“It’s more beautiful than I ever imagined!”

If you’re a collector of this line though from NECA Toys then that’s probably not a surprise. This line always favors aesthetics over articulation and Bebop and Rocksteady are no different. They are a little too far in one direction for my personal taste, but given that they’re goofy variants I’m more fine with it than normally. If these were the more evergreen interpretations of the characters I’d want more out of the torso and head, especially. And, come on, the propeller doesn’t whirl? Missed opportunity, NECA. A second one that’s sculpted like it’s spinning would have been fun too. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the box art features Rocksteady holding a little, red, flag from the episode which is not included. That’s just odd since that’s probably a pretty inexpensive accessory, but it’s also not some great loss.

“Do I know you?” “No, but I’m a big fan of your work!”

When it comes to variants of figures, I think more falls on how one perceives that look for the character. With Vacation Bebop and Rocksteady, that is very much the case. I can critique and praise aspects of these figures all I want, but at the end of the day the only people buying this set are those who are amused by these looks. I think they’re fun. I love the bright colors and I especially love how Bebop looks practically giddy to be heading out to an amusement park. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a silly, stupid, show and I want the toy line I’m collecting to reflet that so I didn’t hesitate to grab these. For $60, I can also understand how someone might look at these and conclude “I don’t need them.” If you’re not one of those folks though, then you can find this set at Target. It was part of the Cowabunga Collection released back in August, but it was stocked in generous quantities and is still pretty easy to track down well into November. It probably won’t last forever though and I wouldn’t guarantee on another production run so if it’s something you like you probably don’t want to wait too long.

If you like figures of Bebop and Rocksteady then you have no shortage of options these days:

NECA TMNT Cartoon Super Bebop and Mighty Rocksteady

2021 introduced a lot of good things for collectors of NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of action figures based on the classic cartoon. The toy maker still kept the line a Target exclusive when it came to brick and mortar, but it also started selling a lot of it online to coincide with each…

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NECA TMNT Bebop and Rocksteady Target Exclusive Series

I have been rather fortunate when it comes to toy collecting in recent years. When I was a kid, toy collecting meant going to Toys R Us or a similar store and seeing what was on the shelf. Catalogs, commercials, and card backs were my main source of information. I assume there were newsletters and…

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NECA Cartoon TMNT Mighty Hog and Rhino-Man

We did it! We finally made it to the end of the Haulathon releases from NECA Toys and we may have saved the best for last. Back in early 2020, I made a wish list for what I wanted from NECA and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was only 10 deep, though there were some…

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Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Television, toys