Tag Archives: playmates

September 2, 2025

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Triceraton

By Joe
Dinosaurs from space – what’s not to like?

My summer of discounts continues today with yet another Super7 Ultimates! release. Back when wave 7 of Super7’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was unveiled I quickly locked in a preorder for three figures: Punker Don, Robotic Bebop, and Triceraton. By the time the line released way, way, late, I only ended up with two of those three figures. That’s because as product was coming out and impressions and images were being shared online, there was one figure in that set I wasn’t willing to drop $55 on: Triceraton. Triceraton was one of my favorites in the vintage Playmates line. I got him along with Slash and for me the two were a pair of intergalactic do-badders. The figure was on my short list of wants from Super7 so I didn’t cancel that preorder hastily, but I did. Now that I’ve been able to get the figure for considerably less, the hope here is that I’ll be way more happy now than I would have been had I spent $55 on it.

For a big boy, he sure comes with a lot of stuff.

Super7 used to have a pretty good thing going. It got to take action figures that were 30 years old, upscale them, cut in some more articulation, and call it a day. It was a simple business model that seemed to please TMNT collectors. Who it didn’t please was Playmates. And as much as it annoys me that Super7 has seemingly been forced to cancel its vintage-inspired line of TMNT figures, I also get it. Triceraton is a perfect example of the basic approach the company was taking in that this is barely any different from the figure released back in the day. He’s just bigger. There’s a bit more paint, there’s some more joints, and the accessories are all painted now. There are some new accessories as well, but this thing is not much of a departure from the Playmates original. Considering how much I like that old figure, I’m happy with the approach here. Some figures I’ve wanted Super7 to make more alterations to, but this isn’t one of them.

I like how this guy scales.
With some NECA dinos.

Triceraton comes in the old style of Ultimates! box complete with a purple, personalized, slip-cover. The figure is a beast at just about 8″ to the top of whatever that ridge is on the back of the head of a triceratops. He’s not just tall, but chunky, and there’s some weight to this boy. Shockingly, he might be the third biggest figure in the wave he was a part of thanks to Robotic Bebop and the massive Guerilla Gorilla. Like I said, the design does not stray from what Playmates did before. The skin is orange, there’s still the blue around the eyes, the right horn is wrapped in green, and he’s got that weird, blue, abdomen. The base color for most of the figure is orange, but Super7 elected to apply a wash to the skin which really adds some depth. It’s fully textured too and the finish is really strong. The armor on the torso is a lustrous silver and they nailed the shade of blue Playmates used for its own figure. The belt is now fully painted with brown and silver and the rats dangling from the belt are also fully painted. The silver and purple on the forearms is painted cleanly as is the fingerless glove on the right hand. The only painted part that looks off is the exposed flesh on the legs which is orange painted over green and it’s pretty obvious. That’s kind of it though as this is a strong looking action figure and it’s easily the figure’s best selling point.

Snack time!

The figure also comes pretty loaded with accessories. We don’t get a second head, but we get three sets of hands: gripping, fists, and a clenching/style posed hand. He also has updated versions of his old guns. There’s the one that looks like a machine gun and one that looks like some laser or something. They’re both done on silver plastic, but hit with a spray of light, metallic, blue paint that looks really cool. That’s the old stuff, for new stuff we get a pair of canister grenades. They’re the same style that’s molded on the belt of the current and vintage version so it’s cool to get some as actual accessories. They’re also painted silver and they fit well in the clenching hands. We also get two wrist accessories. The first one appears to fit on the right forearm and has a communicator or something on it. It flips open and it’s all silver. It would have been neat if the screen was painted a different color, but it’s cool, though a little tough to get the clasps in place. For the left forearm, there’s a strap-on energy sword. It’s basically all silver with the blade done in translucent green. It’s very fitting for the line and looks pretty bad ass though it too is a bit of a pain to get strapped into place. Triceraton also has a respirator since Earth’s oxygen levels are poisonous to him. It’s done with a gummy plastic that’s very pliable. The mask and hose are transparent with the straps brown. It’s connected to a monitor that’s silver and clips onto his belt. It’s very easy to get onto the figure and I think it looks great, though like the wrist communicator, I wish the monitor had more detailed paint work. Lastly, there’s a third rat for him to snack on or you can just add it to Rat King, but he might not appreciate that it’s dead.

“What’s wrong? Can’t look up?”

The figure looks great and comes with a lot of stuff. The old accessories are here and the new ones are actually pretty awesome, so why didn’t I want to pay full price? It all comes down to articulation. And not just how much the figure moves, but what some of the articulation choices did to the look of the figure. This guy is has more points of articulation than the original, but functionally there isn’t much of an upgrade here. For joints, we get head, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrist, waist, hips, knees, ankles, and tail. Of those, the ones that function only as a swivel joint include the head, waist, and tail. If the head is on a ball joint, it’s not getting any benefit from it. The elbows and knees swivel, but the hinge joint is useless in both places. For elbow, the range of motion is maybe 30 degrees. It’s almost nothing. The bicep swivel basically doesn’t work. The wrists rotate and hinge fine, but the hinge for the gripping hands is the wrong hinge. The hips and ankles are pretty much the only joints that work well.

That’s as far as it goes.
What is this shit?!

And there’s the knees. The hinge joint has decent range. It’s less than 90 degrees, but it’s what we’ve come to expect from this line. The aesthetics though are trash. This is a character with holes in his pants over his knees and Super7 did not consider that when cutting in the articulation. It can bend only a minimal amount before exposing the big, green, hinge right in the middle of that patch of orange “flesh.” It looks so hideous that I honestly can’t imagine ever posing this guy with his knees bent which sucks. Why they didn’t just confine the openings in the pants to be above the joint is beyond me. That would have been the simplest solution. Or they could have done an overlay for the pants. I get why they didn’t just use an orange hinge as then there would be an ugly orange block of plastic on the back of the knee and it too would look stupid. You could argue it would be better to have the eyesore on the back of the figure as opposed to the front, but Super7 seems to always prioritize a neutral pose and that’s their right. It’s just another example of Super7 encountering a problem during the engineering process of an action figure and having no answer. And rather than try to come up with one, they just say “screw it.”

At least these guys look pretty good together.

This figure is a glorified 5 POA figure. You will get rotation at the head, shoulders, wrists, and waist. The hips articulation is only so useful without knee articulation and that’s a shame. A ball-joint at the waist would have been nice and another joint in the diaphragm too. The design of the figure seems accommodating for such with the chest armor and the divided abdomen thanks to the blue coloring. Super7 opted not to cut it up though which would be defensible if we were getting better articulation out of the joints already present. The head being just a swivel is pretty terrible too. The NECA Triceraton is a very similar sculpt and that guy can look straight up. There’s really no excuse for what’s present.

I think they’re going to need some help taking this guy down.

And that’s why I refused to pay full price for Super7’s Triceraton. There’s a lot I like about this figure and a lot that just drives me crazy. It’s a very good microcosm of the Super7 experience: it’s big, it looks good, it moves like shit, and costs too damn much. For $55, I obviously can’t recommend it which is why I didn’t buy it. For $32, which is what I paid for it, I think it’s acceptable. I have a big, orange, dinosaur that’s going to look cool in my TMNT collection and it only cost 2 dollars more than those silly vintage style figures Super7 does. He’s not going to be fun to play with and pose, but at least he has enough stuff that he can have his look changed up to some degree (though I’m probably going to just keep everything on him). And for $32 I think that’s good enough, but only just barely. I got mine from Big Bad Toy Store where the figure is still priced at $32 so if you want him, go get him.

Check out some more Super7 discount all-stars:

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Wingnut & Screwloose

Late in 2023, Super7 started shipping the ninth wave of its line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates! action figures. I bought none. It was a wave with no compelling characters for me as it contained Slam Dunkin’ Donatello, Scumbug, Wingnut & Screwloose, Zak the Neutrino, and a flocked Master Splinter variant. Scumbug had been…

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by Joe

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Foot Soldier (Battle Damaged)

The last Super7 review I did was for the wave of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles based on the 2003 cartoon and I concluded it by speculating it would be awhile before I found a reason to review another figure from Super7. That turned out to be a lie. With it being revealed that Super7 has…

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by Joe

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Mutagen Ooze Leonardo (now with the rest!)

If you’re into collecting action figures then you’re likely familiar with the concept of a variant. Tooling action figures, the process of cutting steel into molds in which plastic is inserted to create the figure, is the most expensive part of creating an action figure. That’s why it’s in the manufacturer’s best interest to get…

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by Joe

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July 29, 2025

NECA TMNT Toon Tattoo and Wyrm

By Joe
A bit of an odd pairing today.

Recently on #TurtleTuesday, I talked about a set of figures from JoyToy that lured me in just by being good toys. This week, it’s a two-pack that got me in spite of my feelings on the product in part via that annoying drive to have a complete collection and by retail’s favorite trick to lure in extra purchases: the discount. Target recently had a promotion on toys that meant consumers could get ten bucks off any toy purchase over $40. What’s a toy that is over $40 and in my line of sight? NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles two-packs!

This past spring, Haulathon returned to Target which meant more NECA TMNT figures based on the original cartoon series. Among those was a two-pack featuring the classic characters Tattoo and Wyrm. Yes, that “classic” is meant to be sarcastic as neither character fits that descriptor. Both were featured in the original toy line by Playmates, but I don’t recall either being a fan-favorite. Tattoo was perhaps one of the most boring releases in the entire line. He was simply a sumo wrestler who came with a bunch of stick-on tattoos you could apply in any which way you wanted to the actual figure. Wyrm was more typical of the line and a gross-out, mutated, worm. If any of these two were more beloved than the other it was probably Wyrm. For me, I owned neither as a kid. Tattoo didn’t interest me and Wyrm may have been a little too gross. Truth be told, I don’t remember ever passing him up at the store so had I been given a chance to buy Wyrm maybe I would have done so, but just because I can’t remember it doesn’t mean it never happened. Plus, he’s a mutant earth worm. That’s definitely not as cool as a wolf or a snapping turtle.

Not a ton in the box for this set.

Tattoo made his small screen debut in “Planet of the Turtleoids Part 1,” which was the closest thing to an event moment the cartoon series had. He’s a bit of a throw-away villain who opens act 1 and is dealt with pretty quickly. As for Wyrm, he actually never appeared in the show so why is NECA able to include him in the toy line? In addition to NECA embarking on more “What If?” type releases as seen with Panda Kahn, Wyrm did appear in animated form during the 90s, it just wasn’t the show. He was featured as an animated character in a commercial for the action figure alongside Chrome Dome, Dirtbag, and Groundchuck. The other three made their television debut during the Planet of the Turtleoids arc which makes one wonder if Playmates thought the same would be true for Wyrm? Or maybe it’s just coincidence? Wyrm would finally get to appear in the 2012 series, but he never did officially appear in the 1987 one.

Tattoo is more round than tall.

We might as well start by talking about Tattoo since his name comes first on the box and he’s the least interesting of the two. Tattoo is a big, chunky, figure and what you see is pretty much what you get. He stands about 6.25″ to the top of his head and he’s literally a big guy in sumo gear. The show did adopt some of his tattoos for animation like a black widow on his stomach and a lightning bolt on his leg, but they kept it pretty simple for animation. As is typical of the line, everything is painted on Tattoo even if the bare plastic underneath is the same color. You do have to watch out for the joints as they are painted over and that type of plastic won’t hold the paint. That means the elbows, especially, will flake off after repeating use. As has been the case for a few releases now, the old bisected shading with the dark on back and light on front is no longer in use here. Paint is mostly clean, though the right shoulder on my figure has some weird scuffing. It looks similar to a situation I had with the Neutrino Zak and I was able to get that off with a Magic Eraser. Hopefully it works here.

This blemish above the shoulder is a bit of a bummer.

Tattoo looks fine, it’s just that he’s not a very interesting design. I didn’t really want him, but if I wanted Wyrm I had to buy him. For accessories, he just comes with a set of clenching hands and a set of gripping hands. He also has a really large hamster which is technically himself. That’s because in the show this hamster, or gerbil, somehow was mutated into Tattoo. Yeah, it was pretty bizarre and is easily his most noteworthy fact. The articulation for Tattoo is poor. His head, being set forward and not on top of a neck, just pivots. His has articulation at the ponytail, shoulder ball hinges, bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows, swivel and hinged wrists, a diaphragm joint, a waist swivel, ball-socket hips, single hinged knees, and ankle hinges with rockers. The range of motion everywhere is pretty limited save for maybe the diaphragm, though even that just rotates. The elbows are pin-less, but also pretty ugly once bent. The left one is fused on my figure, but I don’t know if I’ll even bother to heat it up. He stands in a semi crouch which means his hips and knees do almost nothing. The range at the knees is probably less than 45 degrees, and since the joints will flake it makes this the sort of figure that is just begging you not to mess with it.

Not the nicest looking elbow joint.

Wyrm, by contrast, is far more of a typical design for the old Playmates line. NECA adapting him for this toon line actually means he’s a little more striking than a lot of the figures in the line since so many of those toy designs had to be toned down for animation. With Wyrm, you’re really just getting an updated version of that old toy as there isn’t much separating the two. He has some size to him as he’s about 6.25″ from the bottom of his booted foot to roughly the top of his head. He’s another character with a head that slopes forward and he has hair and a hat on top of his head to make it a bit more subjective just how tall this one is. He’s very bright though as the flesh is this royal blue while his outfit is basically a neon green onesie. In looking over my toon collection, I can say there isn’t much of either shade within it so this guy should pop. There’s obviously a lot of green in the display, but nothing as bright as this shade with the closest being Zork. The blue also stands out as it’s more saturated than Chakahachi or Rex-1. If you want to slot him in with the Night of the Rogues grouping, he’ll stand out amongst them. He feels like he belongs with the likes of Scumbug and Antrax.

Wyrm fits the aesthetic of the line much better than Tattoo.

Wyrm, as the name implies, is a mutated worm. And since he’s from the old toy line, he contains a lot of hallmarks one remembers from the line. The designers (who were mostly Mirage Studios artists) loved asymmetry with their mutants and that shows up here with Wyrm sporting a blue glove on his left hand and a red one on his right. It also shows up where it most often did: the feet. Or rather in this case, a foot and a tentacle. Wyrm’s left leg is fairly humanoid. It ends in a red boot with the toe ripped open exposing his digits of which he has only four to go with five digits on his hands. The right leg is basically a tentacle or worm tail. It’s blue on the outside and yellow on the inner part with little green and black suckers. It’s the most memorable aspect of the character’s design and I’m surprised he doesn’t have a tentacle left arm, though this is probably more manageable from a play point of view.

Donatello is right to be scared.

The design plus NECA’s ability to execute when it comes to the sculpt and the paint is what is going to sell Wyrm to most people. I suppose now is as good a time as any to list the credits which include Tony Cipriano and Kushwara Studios for the sculpt and the duo of Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo on paint. The detail work is all nice, but not overdone since this is supposed to be Wyrm as a cartoon. Still, animators would have hated this guy with his tattered clothes and this pattern of suckers on the inner, right, leg. He has a few bumps on his flesh and also what appear to be leaches in certain places. I think he’s supposed to be an earth worm, but he’s more like a tentacle monster. The eyes are bulgey and veiny and rimmed with dark green slime (I guess?) which helps make them stand out. The teeth and the green sludge in his mouth are all painted well and there’s a suitable abundance of black linework and detailing throughout. Like Tattoo, the toon shading is not in effect here and the approach is basically no different from what we’ve seen out of NECA’s Archie line. My assumption is that’s the approach we can expect going forward and I don’t hate it.

This mallet has been used to commit crimes.

Wyrm comes with a lot more stuff than Tattoo. He does equal the big guy in the hand department as he has just two sets: gripping and open. The right gripping hand is much tighter and I think it’s so he can get a solid grip on the included monkey wrench. The wrench is a salmon color with tape around the handle. It doesn’t articulate or anything and it’s just a wrench. The vintage toy came with the same, but it had some kind of rodent attached to it as well. The other weapon is a big old mallet and it fits into the slightly wider left gripping hand rather well. It has a wood grain texture and sculpted worms throughout it, or just one really long worm. Both ends of the head are covered in red slime. I guess it’s supposed to be blood? The shade of red is a little light, but what else could it be? It’s certainly one of the most gruesome accessories in the line up to this point.

NECA came up with a genius idea to replicate the original toy’s action feature.

That’s not all though, as Wyrm has a couple more extra parts he can utilize. The old toy had an action feature which was bug-out eyes and these little worms in his mouth that would pop out. NECA isn’t going to include an action figure on a line aimed at adults, but it can simulate the effect with optional parts. Wyrm comes with a second set of eyes which are elongated. To use them, you simply pop out the stock ones and pop these ones in. They’re keyed in such a way that you can’t mix them up and that green goop behind his eyes doubles as an easy way to find some leverage to pop them out. For the worms, NECA included a bonus tongue. You open Wyrm’s mouth as far as it will go and just lay this one over the sculpted tongue inside his mouth. This new one has the worms sculpted onto it and they’re done in a soft plastic so they feel similar to bristles on a toothbrush, just much thicker. It’s a clever way to simulate the effects on the old figure and I’m left surprised NECA was able to get away with reproducing it here when Super7 has run into so many issues with their Playmates homage line. I guess you get more leeway from the licensor when you’re bringing in more money for them.

“Dude, you are one big rodent.”

It’s a good thing that Wyrm comes with so much stuff and looks so good, because he articulates about as poorly as the worst of this line. There’s not much he can do as we have articulation at the head, jaw, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, thighs, knee, and ankle. The elbows are single-jointed so that also serves as the bicep swivel. The gripping hands at least have a vertical hinge so that’s okay. The head is fairly restricted by the placement and shape and there’s no articulation in the torso aside from what ends up being a basic waist twist despite the fact that it’s a double ball peg (it’s way too deep in the chest and the base of it is in a sculpted out cone of plastic so it can’t go anywhere – I took it apart to see). The knee is double-jointed, but that left leg isn’t very useful because we have to contend with the right one. For that, NECA went with a rubber tentacle over a heavy gauge wire. It will bend, but getting Wyrm to stand is a chore. I can get him standing, but it never seems to last long. This is a figure that ever since I got him I find toppled over every morning. The old figure went with a plastic, pre-posed, right leg which actually made him fairly easy to stand. NECA’s approach here is fun, but what good is the bendy wire? It’s just kind of a pain in the ass. I’ll probably bust out a disc stand for this guy and see if that helps keep him standing.

Also scary is Tattoo.

Wyrm’s articulation is obviously better than the old figure, but it’s so limited that functionally it’s not that much different. The range at his elbows is mediocre so you’re mostly going to post his arms with his shoulders and the swivel point. The legs need to be in a specific position to keep him standing if you’re not using a stand so he almost feels like a 5 POA style figure. We’re used to articulation in this line taking a back seat to the aesthetics, but in the case of Wyrm it’s more noticeable than most. He also will have the same paint-flaking issues as Tattoo, though it’s only really noticeable on the back of the left knee.

This is a set of what you see is what you get. If you like the look of Tattoo and Wyrm and want them in your collection then that should be the motivating factor. The accessories for Wyrm do make things a bit more interesting and I definitely enjoy his look far more than I do Tattoo’s. The real problem here is the asking price of $65. That’s at the high end for NECA two-packs (though there’s the threat of price increases looming meaning this could be the new floor) and thus a harder sell. This set isn’t nearly as good as the similarly priced Antrax and Scumbug or even some of the cheaper sets like Space Don and Samurai Mikey. This may be the first two-pack where I really notice the budget as it feels like Tattoo was only bundled with Wyrm because he could be done a bit cheaper. Just one extra set of hands and a slug figure so Wyrm could get extra stuff and a unique bendy wire leg. There’s also nothing unifying the two characters aside from the fact that both were featured in the vintage toy line. In the circles I frequent, I found most people were only interested in one half of this set with most favoring Wyrm but there were a few only interested in Tattoo. Maybe that can create some opportunities for folks to split a set? They’d almost have to be local though with the cost of shipping these days.

If you think these guys look cool and you’re okay with the price, go for it. This stuff almost never hits clearance as it is.

If you want this set your only option right now is Target. They’ve been in-stock on the website for some time, but may be gone by the time this goes live. They should be sold in stores as well, though I personally have yet to see either Haulathon two-pack show up on shelves. International buyers should be able to get these on the Haulathon website. The set gets a tepid endorsement by me. The quality is there relative to the rest of the line and I do genuinely like the look of Wyrm. Tattoo may be boring, but he looks the part of the character from the show, he’s just severely lacking in the accessory department. He should have slapping hands and a yelling portrait, at least. Wyrm looks great, it’s just a problem of cost. Even at the discounted price I got this set at, I still feel like I paid $55 for Wyrm and that’s a terrible deal. I definitely envy those who look at this set and see two characters they need in their collection.

We have plenty more thoughts on NECA’s line of TMNT Toon figures for you:

NECA TMNT Cartoon Antrax and Scumbug

I’ve been looking forward to this one for awhile. Antrax and Scumbug only appeared in the cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles once, but like last week’s figure review, they were present in the toy line long before their animated debut. And these later period episodes, such as “Night of the Rogues,” tended to just…

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by Joe

NECA Cartoon TMNT Chakahachi and Lotus

When it comes to character selection in NECA’s line of action figures based on the 1987 cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I think it’s safe to say we’re well into the weeds. This latest batch to arrive at Target as part of the company’s branded Haulathon have certainly illustrated that. Aside from heroic versions of…

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by Joe

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June 10, 2025

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Foot Soldier (Battle Damaged)

By Joe
Clean-up on aisle F.

The last Super7 review I did was for the wave of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles based on the 2003 cartoon and I concluded it by speculating it would be awhile before I found a reason to review another figure from Super7. That turned out to be a lie. With it being revealed that Super7 has put its TMNT action figure line “on pause” that references the vintage, Playmates, toy line it left me in a reflective mood. I have not been a completist with this line and I’d say I average about two figures per wave that comes out. Most of the figures I have I paid full price for, but I have a growing collection of those that I did not. I looked over my collection and the stuff I didn’t have and considered if there were any holes I wanted to fill, and there’s a couple of characters I had some interest in. One of them was the more recently released battle damaged Foot Soldier variant. It came as part of wave 11 with Rat King, Rapper Mike, and Ninja Nomad Leonardo. The figure looked good, but it wasn’t something I needed. Now that the line may be dead, it had me looking at current prices online. I found one for $40, and figured “Why not?”

He’s got some size to him.

The Foot Soldier figure from Super7 originally arrived as part of the very first wave back in 2020 alongside Raphael, Baxter Stockman, and Splinter. It was a very faithful recreation of the Playmates figure and its accessories with the much welcomed addition of modern articulation so the character wasn’t always in its weird gorilla pose. Working against it at the time was the asking price and the fact that most collectors will want more than one. I wasn’t interested in army-building $45 figures. Plus, I saw numerous accounts of quality control issues with this one where the elbow joints were snapping and I just didn’t want to bother. The figure was re-released along with the rest of wave 1 within a year and I don’t know if the quality control was improved or not. The memory of that issue was part of the reason why I was able to pass on this battle damaged variant (there has also been a glow-in-the-dark variant of the original figure) and did I really need a $55 Foot Soldier? I guess at $40 the answer is, “Yes.”

He’s pretty similar to the wave one figure (that I don’t own), just now charred and slashed.

The battle damaged Foot Soldier sources a lot of parts from the wave one figure as well as introduces a smattering of new ones. Some of this figure’s design can be credited to Super7, while a lot of it rests with the cartoon and Playmates. The figure stands right around that 7″ mark giving it some pretty decent size compared with the turtles. The figure is taller, but slighter, and the colors and designs are pulled right from that Playmates original. That means this is a Foot Soldier with a purple mask, gray tunic, and blue pants. It was a design the animated series carried over almost exactly except switching the colors to black and purple. The sculpt, which the original figure was handled by Four Horsemen, features some nice details with lots of creasing and folds in the material and texturing to the wraps on the shins and forearm straps.

Now your turtles have some Feet to trash.
And trash them they shall.

When it comes to differences with the original release, Super7 sculpted some new parts here and there. The bottom of the cowl is now tattered at the edges while the right shoulder, torso, and left shin are new. For those, Super7 sculpted in the battle damage which consists of the material being torn and the bionic insides exposed. The metal innards are painted a nice, lustrous, silver with black detail work. The torso is really well-defined and I like the little screws present on the shin. The forearm piece for the left arm is also sculpted to be broken. The rest of the battle damage is done with paint with most of it reduced to a black overspray indicating this guy was in a firefight. I suppose it’s unusual considering the turtles fight with martial weapons, but maybe other Foot Soldiers were exploding around this one. There’s also some silver slashes painted on which look okay. From a shelf, this will get the job done, but in-hand it looks a little silly to not have these slashes sculpted in.

A sai is meant for this.
Inferior Foot craftsmanship.

I maintain that army builder types should have alternate looks packaged into the box to encourage multiple purchases and here Super7 satisfies that request. The first Foot Soldier had just the one head while this one has three. It has a new neck joint, from what I understand, so I’m not sure if these new ones would work on the old release since I don’t have that one. The default head is the same portrait as the old one with just new paint effects to imply battle damage. The second one has been freed from the bonds of its hood. This sculpt is pulled from the Playmates mutating Foot Soldier action figure only now it’s presented in silver instead of gold. He has these evil looking eyes that are all red with yellow dots in the middle and the foot logo is raised on its forehead behind where it would appear on the hood. I like the look of this one which is decidedly far more frightening than the normal look. The wires sculpted in are all painted red and if I have one criticism it’s that the sculpt work on the neck is a bit soft. And if you want to nitpick this head it’s also a little bigger than the default one so it would never fit under that hood.

“Rise up, my brothers, and fight back against our oppressors!”
These two are a lot closer in height than I would have guessed.

The third head is inspired by the cartoon series and the Alpha-1 character. That was a foot soldier that was damaged causing the face underneath the hood to be exposed. It gained sentience in the repair process and rose up to challenge Shredder’s authority over the Foot. Super7 also utilized this look for the ReAction version of this character. It looks fine and features some more silver paint which adds some color. If you have a bunch of Foot Soldiers already and want them to have a leader then this head will definitely have some appeal. I much prefer the other battle damaged head to this one so I can’t see myself using it, but as an alternate head it makes sense to include.

This portrait is by far the most menacing.
“Whoa dude, I’m not Sara Connor!”

The other accessories include the usual alternate hands and weapons. Returning from the original release are gripping hands, fists, chop hands, and a two-finger point gesture. Other releases had some wide gripping hands which have been dropped in favor of two new ones: a right, gloveless hand and a left stump. The stump could actually be used on either side and it looks like a collection of wires and metal with some silver, red, and gold paint. It looks like his hand was bashed more than slashed, but it gets the job done and adds to the battle damaged theme. The right, gloveless hand is basically your typical Terminator style sculpt. It’s painted silver and looks okay, but the sculpt is a little soft. There should be spaces between the fingers, but they’re just filled with silver. I wish they had picked a different gesture if they didn’t want to carve out those gaps. It’s in a relaxed position with some of the fingers curled so it’s purely a style posed hand as it can’t handle anything.

This rifle is in need of more paint.

For weapons, the Foot has some reused ones and one that’s sort-of new. Returning from the first release are the rifle, pistol, and twin shurikens. The shurikens are painted silver while the pistol is just all black now (the old one is gray). It looks a lot like the pistol Shredder and his goons would wield in the show which was often white with black or gray detailing. I think this one is supposed to have been charred, though it’s just bare plastic. The rifle is gray, but the end of the barrel has been hit with a black spray like it was caught in a blast. It’s an okay effect, but the rest of the gun looks cheap since it’s unpainted. It’s basically not an improvement over what Playmates did over 30 years ago. The knife returns and that at least has some silver painted onto the blade while the end of the knife has also been charred. And borrowed from Leonardo (and I think Shredder) are two katana. For the Foot, the hilt is purple and black and the blade matches the knife in terms of paint job. The second katana is broken about halfway along the blade which is an economical way to incorporate more battle damage. Unfortunately, the figure only has gripping hands so no trigger hands and they’re very stiff so you may need to heat them up to get a good grip on anything.

“All right, robot, hit them toitles with that grenade!”

If you’ve handled a Super7 Ultimates! figure before, then you probably know the articulation is fairly basic for a modern toy line. Comparing it with Playmates, it’s a noticeable improvement and I think that’s what Super7 has always counted on. The head articulates above and below the neck, but the lower joint does the heavy lifting. Despite the hunched posture, the Foot Soldier can look up and down just fine and gets good range all around. Shoulders are ball-hinged and can raise out to a horizontal position and rotate just fine. There is a bicep swivel, hinged elbow, swivel at the elbow, and wrist swivel and hinge. All of the hands feature a horizontal hinge so no vertical hinges for the sword wielding Foot. Elbows seem fine this time around. In the torso is just a waist twist while the ball-hinged hips provide for full splits and a leg that can kick forward better than 90 degrees, but little back. There is a thigh twist, but it’s pretty limited. The knees are single-hinged and bend just shy of 90 degrees. There’s also a swivel at the knee and the ankles hinge forward and back and also rock side-to-side.

“You piece of junk! You’re supposed to throw it!”

It’s a satisfactory spread of articulation and by the standards of the line this is probably one of the better figures in that regard. I’m also happy to report that nothing is loose and floppy nor is anything overly tight. Whatever issues the original release may have had the factory ironed out. My only gripe is the lack of a forearm swivel. This design has exaggerated forearms that are really long and I’d like to be able to better position the armor present there. The straps on the forearms mean there was an easy place to sneak it in. The elbow swivel doesn’t function as a substitute, in this case. And, of course, the lack of the proper wrist hinge is annoying. It’s also surprising since they made sure to include such with the turtles so I don’t know why that didn’t extend that to the Foot. They also overlooked the same with Baxter back in the first wave. It’s just a shame they didn’t fix it with one of the re-releases or introduce proper trigger hands.

“Hmm…fascinating design, despite its ineffectiveness.”

This isn’t a perfect release, but the battle damaged Foot Soldier from Super7 is a pretty good one. I don’t know if it’s $55 good, but it is $40 good so if you can find a similar discount then I suggest grabbing it. And if price isn’t an issue and you were just concerned with the quality of the figure then I can safely recommend this one. Adding this figure to a collection of other Foot (Feet?) will help introduce some variety into your display and the different heads and hands will help set it apart. I’m glad I went back and picked this one up. I don’t know if I’ll get any other ones as nothing really stands out for me as a necessity. Or, in the case of a figure like Slam-Dunkin’ Don, I doubt the companion figures will ever happen and I don’t want an incomplete set. For now, I guess my Super7 TMNT collection is basically complete. Until I change my mind again.

If you’re interested in more Super7 or Foot Soldier action figures then check these out:

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)

Who isn’t making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures these days? It’s becoming a far easier thing to keep track of than just who is making them. For years, it was the domain of Playmates Toys and only Playmates Toys. NECA tried to get in on that TMNT action in 2008 and it ended prematurely…

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by Joe

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Rat King

When Super7 unveiled their tenth wave of Ultimates! action figures for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles they learned an important lesson: don’t mess with the classics. For years, Super7’s line of figures has essentially focused on remaking the vintage figures first released by Playmates Toys in a new scale with updated articulation, sculpting, and paint. Fans…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT “Trouble’s Afoot” Deluxe Foot Soldier

I’m back after a much needed break, and wouldn’t ya know, I’m back with another NECA toy review from its mega popular line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures! Today’s subject may not be the sexiest release from this line, but it’s one that is still worth talking about. The lowly Foot Soldier from…

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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…

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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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February 18, 2025

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Rat King

By Joe
Born on the 21st of May.

When Super7 unveiled their tenth wave of Ultimates! action figures for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles they learned an important lesson: don’t mess with the classics. For years, Super7’s line of figures has essentially focused on remaking the vintage figures first released by Playmates Toys in a new scale with updated articulation, sculpting, and paint. Fans have come to expect that when a new figure is revealed in the line, it’s going to harken back to those old figures. When Super7 messed with expectations and revealed a Rat King that did not much resemble that old toy, the Internet revolted! After what must have been a sizable amount of backlash, Super7 relented. They pulled their new Rat King, which fans dubbed Hot Rat King because of his lovely cheekbones and smile, and replaced him with Karai, a character never released in the vintage line who was essentially immune to backlash. Rat King was retooled to better fit that vintage aesthetic and moved to wave 11 where he has now seen release.

Internet rage accomplished something by making sure this figure never came to be.

In truth, the original take on Rat King Super7 first sent out there wasn’t exactly the company trying to do something different. Rather, it was forced upon them. Ever since this line gained steam it has been at odds with what Playmates is doing. That company still holds the master toy license for TMNT and because of that has a lot of influence with Viacom, who owns TMNT. Even though Viacom owns all of the designs, the company is sensitive to the relationship it has with Playmates and is at least willing to hear them out when it comes to what Super7 is doing. They got Super7 to ditch the weapon sprues that used to come with all of their figures and has also been able to extract some meaningful change. Playmates is protective of what it sees as being unique to the figures it still controls, and since they started re-releasing much of these old toys (including Rat King), they actually do have a leg to stand on. Super7 hasn’t come out and said just what orders they’re receiving from Viacom, but it sure seems like if a look only existed in the toyline then it’s no longer fair game. Since that Playmates Rat King is pretty unique, Super7 must have felt like they couldn’t really do it justice so instead they based their version of the character off of his appearance in the video game Shredder’s Revenge. He had a bit of anime styling, a pipe, but was still recognizable as the character from the cartoon. Fans, apparently, just weren’t interested.

No stupid, sexy, Rat Kings here.

To their credit, Viacom listened to both the fans and Super7 and allowed the company to do a more faithful recreation of Rat King from his Playmates days. And by faithful I mean they pretty much let Super7 just redo that old figure. When I heard he was getting a redo, I just figured it would mean a new head or two that better reflected that ugly, old, design. I was not expecting to get a figure that had all of the little sculpted oddities of that old one. The new Rat King is barely different from what Playmates did. He has the same face, same rats, same odd yellow bones, and giant centipede all sculpted into the body. The only real differences that I can easily spot are that Super7 did not include the pair of black bugs on the figure’s lower half (though they did retain the one on the headwrap) and they adjusted the placement of the rat who was on the original figure’s left foot. There, the change wasn’t to appease anybody, it was just to move the rat up so it wouldn’t interfere with the ankle joint.

The Super7 Rat King takes the title of tallest Rat King at 7.75″

Aside from those minor changes, this really is the upscaled and modernized version of the Playmates figure most fans wanted. Rat King is still an ugly dude with red eyes, missing teeth, missing patches of hair, and this weird, patchwork, suit of unknown origin. The centipede on the chest is now painted black, but the rest is basically the same. The rats are still essentially one color and the stitches in the suit are unpainted. The texture of the shirt has also been changed. On the original it’s dimpled, but here there’s just a lot of linework giving it a rough appearance. I always assumed it was fashioned out of many, many, rat pelts or perhaps the pelts of those who threaten the rats. Either way, it probably smells horrible. The figure is pretty well painted as there are numerous wraps of green, white, and brown on the figure and everything is covered in a dark wash to really give Rat King a grimy appearance. This is a dude who lives in a sewer surrounded by rats and he very much looks the part. This is a figure I can almost smell.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a Super7 Splinter to pose him with.

This is a figure who is impressively ugly. That’s a compliment to whoever sculpted Rat King. His face is covered in scars like maybe he was a burn victim and every bit of this thing is textured. His clawed hands can be painful to work with because they’re so pointy as is the hair in some places. It’s a figure that takes me back as I used to love looking over those Playmates figures to see what I could find hidden in the sculpt. I know we started this thing off by pointing out how Super7 got into trouble by deviating too much from the old toy, but I almost wish they sculpted more weird stuff into the figure to give us some more stuff to look for. The only other criticism I could levy at the sculpt is I wish the chest was just a little broader. He’s got these big arms, but comparatively small chest. At least it’s not really noticeable when he’s wearing all of his stuff.

Rear of the cat bandolier when wearing conventionally.
It’s a little less cumbersome to wear the cat backwards.

The original solicitation was pretty light on accessories limiting Rat King to a single instrument, some rats, and extra heads and hands. This one really outfits the Rat King with weapons some of which call back to the vintage figure. It would seem that was the line Super7 was given by Viacom: you can recreate the old figure, but you need to do something new for accessories. The most memorable accessory from that vintage figure is the dead cat belt. Rather, it’s actually a snake that serves as the belt, but it had a dead cat draped over the front like a loincloth. It was cartoony which is how Playmates was able to get away with packaging a dead cat with its figure, and I’m sure Super7 felt like they had to pay tribute to that very odd attire. And they did, only it’s no longer a belt but a bandolier. The snake is gone and it’s just a dead cat that fits over the should and there’s a rat biting its tail to complete the circuit. It’s all orange with a black wash and the teeth and X eyes are painted. It’s a good way to meet the fans and Playmates halfway. I’m pretty sure it’s intended to go over the chest of Rat King, but you can also drape it over him reverse which looks just as good if not better since the cat is pretty cumbersome. Especially if one makes use of the weapon storage built in.

This is a Rat King who likes to get stabby.

In what is likely a reference to the toon version of Rat King, the bandolier has what appears to be the remnants of soda scans built into the front. These act as holsters for Rat King’s three, primary, accessories. The first is a crudely fashions knife. It’s a serrated blade jammed into a piece of pipe and then bound with the same green material Rat King uses to fashion that attractive diaper he features. The blade looks dented and dulled and you know anyone who gets stabbed by this thing better be up to date on their tetanus shot. The middle holster is for Rat King’s scepter. Not much of that old figure really played into the fact that this guy thought of himself as a king so this accessory is a pretty thoughtful one. It’s just a seated rat and the handle of the scepter is his tail. He has a gold crown atop his head and it leads me to wonder who the real king of rats is: the Rat King, or this little guy. The third holster is for his pipe. It’s usually referred to as a flute and it’s something that appeared in the cartoon, though it resembles a clarinet more than anything. It’s all yellow with a green wrap on it and it’s basically the only remnant of the Shredder’s Revenge version of the figure that was scrapped.

“Me know not how play ‘dis ding.

In order for Rat King to utilize his toys, he’s going to need some hands. And for Rat King we get a set of fists, open, gripping, and a set of pipe playing hands. These hands are kind of pinched in the middle like he’s making a “Too Sweet” gesture as made famous by the nWo in WCW in the mid 90s. The instrument can slot into these hands just fine, but the articulation makes holding it in a convincing manner a tad cumbersome. He also doesn’t really have a portrait intended for playing this thing. For heads, we get the vintage inspired head as well as an alternate expression where he’s yelling. For the third head we get the Hot Rat King. For the few who were looking forward to that figure, Super7 included one of the heads. It’s the smiling portrait and the sculpt certainly presents a far more attractive version of the character. It’s not painted as well as the other heads though as it looks like they didn’t paint the skin tone on and instead hit it with a wash. He’s got a bit of a jaundiced look going on as a result when I would have preferred a warmer complexion, not that I plan to use this head (sorry, Hot Rat King). The final accessory is a little bit of a callback to the original figure. That one came with a rat grappling hook and this Rat King has his own version of the same. The old one was comprised of two rats while this is just a single rat with a really long tail and some mighty incisors to serve as the hook. It’s all sculpted plastic so it can’t really do much and I don’t see a storage spot for it on the bandolier, which is a bummer. I suppose you could loop it basically anywhere, it’s just a tad tricky figuring out how to make it look like it’s hanging naturally.

This Rat King was made for shampoo commercials.
The instrument is more this guy’s style than the other guy.

That’s all the stuff that comes in the box, but one pressing question remains: can he articulate worth shit? Articulation is not this line’s strong suit as I would describe it as an aesthetics forward line. And Super7 has some antiquated views on what articulation is needed and what isn’t. In the case of Rat King, the articulation is about what is expected of this line. It’s mostly basic stuff: double ball-jointed head, shoulder-hinged arms, bicep swivel, single-jointed elbows, swivel and hinge wrists, ball-jointed waist, pin and hinge hips with a thigh swivel, single-hinged knees, and ankles that hinge and feature an ankle rocker. All of the wrist hinges are horizontal which is disappointing as even the pipe hands would be better with vertical hinges. The waist joint, despite being a ball-joint, is basically a swivel only point as there’s no real forward and back motion. The right shoulder on my release is very tight at the hinge. Rotation is fine, but that hinge sucks to move every time. It looks a little funky, like it was miscut at the factory, so maybe that’s only a problem with my figure. The left wrist is also a little tight in that it’s hard to get the hands to seat all the way into the joint. There’s a slight gap which honestly isn’t the worst thing in the world as it comes out easy enough. Rat King also has floating wrist straps that can slide over the joints, if need be.

“Your place or mine?”

By far, the best thing about the articulation with Rat King is that there’s no looseness. My wave 11 Rapper Mike was pretty floppy in the hips, but Rat King does not suffer from the same fate. The range there is also pretty nice as he can kick forward about 90 degrees and perform some splits out to the side. The knees and elbows won’t give you 90 though, but that’s become expected of this line. I’m just happy that the exposed knee on the figure’s left leg is not broken up by the articulation so it looks fine even when bent because they painted the exposed part. The previously released Triceraton unfortunately can’t say the same thing. I do wish there was a joint in the abdomen, but then they would have had to move the centipede (so what?) and it’s a shame he can’t convincingly play his pipe, but since that thing is really here for Hot Rat King then I guess who cares?

“The sewers belong to me now, reptile!”

Rat King is not a perfect action figure, but he is a damn good one. For a Super7 Ultimates! release, the usual caveats apply where articulation is concerned, but aside from that there’s little to complain about and plenty to praise. The sculpt is what most TMNT fans want – a highly detailed throwback to the vintage Playmates figure with lots of paint. I love the gross factor added by the wash and the new open mouth portrait especially looks terrific. The accessories are appropriately themed for Rat King and I enjoy the new take on the cat belt and its available weapon storage. The only thing missing that somewhat surprises me are some stand-alone rats, but considering he has three on his person plus three more across the accessories then I guess we’re doing fine when it comes to meeting the rat quota. Mostly, Rat King is exactly what fans of this line want. He’s well-executed and is a figure that earns its $55 asking price. There are no wait for a discount encouragements here this time. If you’re a fan of Rat King and that old Playmates release then I think you’ll enjoy this one. And if you’re one of the few bummed out that Hot Rat King was scrapped, at least you get a head with this package. Hot Rat King may be gone, but he hasn’t been forgotten.

The King of Rats is well-represented in action figure form:

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…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Cartoon Rat King vs Vernon

When I last reviewed a NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles two-pack it was the Splinter vs Baxter Stockman set and I referred to it as potentially the last essential set for some. The key word there being “some” as I am not “some” and didn’t consider myself “some” when I wrote that, for there are…

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by Joe

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Robotic Bebop

Robotic Bebop might be the reason, or one of the reasons, why wave 7 of Super7’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates! figures was so delayed. If you recall, this was put up for order back in the winter of 2022. Robotic Rocksteady, who we reviewed here back in November of 2023, was supposed…

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by Joe

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January 21, 2025

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Robotic Bebop

By Joe
Looks like Bebop got an upgrade.

Robotic Bebop might be the reason, or one of the reasons, why wave 7 of Super7’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates! figures was so delayed. If you recall, this was put up for order back in the winter of 2022. Robotic Rocksteady, who we reviewed here back in November of 2023, was supposed to complete the pairing when he was released. That figure retailed for $65. Bebop, on the other hand, was $55. Did maybe a pricing error on Super7’s end contribute to the delay? Perhaps. I have no real knowledge of anything, but if the figure priced out higher than expected after solicitation it may have given the company pause. They may have tried to find a different factory to take the job, though with one figure in the wave being a complete re-release of Metalhead it would have meant the tools needed for at least that one were probably with a factory already. And this was a wave that also included Guerilla Gorilla, a massive ape priced at $75, and the almost equally beefy Triceraton who was also $55.

He’s pretty big, though regular Bebop is actually a tad taller if you can get him to stand up straight.

Whatever the reason (his heart or his shoes), Robotic Bebop and others were late to the party, but they’re here now. I’ve been looking forward to this one and my anticipation for it went up after getting Rocksteady since he ended up being one of my favorites in the line. If you like those big, chunky, figures, then this one is for you. And like many figures in this line, Bebop is a recreation of an old Playmates design which either loosely inspired the toon version of the same, or was loosely based on it. The main difference with Super7’s interpretation (other than the obvious increase in mass) is the lack of a vac-metal coating and an adjustment to the silhouette. Bebop is even chunkier than his Playmates equivalent. His head is a little smaller relative to his body with the shoulders and chest being inflated. It’s a good update and he strikes a mighty nice profile on your shelf.

Finally, the duo is here!

Bebop, because this wave was supposed to come out so long ago, comes in the standard Ultimates! box with slipcover. Starting with Wave 10, the slipcover is a thing of the past. He stands at approximately 8.25″ to the top of his head and you can add another quarter of an inch to reach the top of his mohawk. He’s not massively tall for the line, but the heft with this one is apparent when picking up the box. The sculpt on Bebop is very detailed. There’s grooves and textures galore with this guy and a few wires down by the calf. He still has the radio controls on his belt, or what look to be radio controls, like the old figure and there are some buttons and dials sculpted onto his chest. The finish on the body is more of a gun metal with Bebop as opposed to a bare steel with Rocksteady. I didn’t notice this difference between the two until Bebop was released, but it’s there in the promo pics. I don’t mind and I like that Super7 differentiated the two. I’m not sure I even have a preference as I like this darker color which adds a menacing vibe to the character, while the shinier approach looks pretty rad with Rocksteady. The mohawk is done with translucent, orange, plastic so he has some light piping just like Rocksteady. It’s not as obvious since the mohawk isn’t going to let in the same amount of light as Rocksteady’s dome, but if the light catches it just right it does indeed work.

Since I don’t have the Playmates ones here’s the Super7 bots with the NECA version from the cartoon.

Paint on Bebop is minimal, but present. There’s some black around the collar and on the sides of the legs which looks neat. The other most present color is blue which is used in a few places, mostly on the chest and the glasses. There’s some on the arms as well and even a little on the back of the shin which didn’t need to be there, but I like it. Of course, it’s not all perfect. The yellow on the chest for the buttons and switches isn’t applied in the most consistent fashion. There’s also a blob of black right at the thigh cut on my figure’s left leg. The green for the shell shoulder pads is a very matte green and it kind of clashes for me. I’m left wondering if the figure would have looked better with a metallic green? The main body has a nice finish though and I can’t tell if it’s painted or not. I’m pretty sure it is since there’s some scuffing on the inner, left, bicep of my figure. The mere fact that I have to question it is a good thing. He looks great and if this was the level of quality we got out of Super7 consistently with this line no one would be complaining. Well, someone would because there’s always someone unhappy, but this guy wouldn’t be.

If you think he needs a shield he’s got it.

I’m going to jump into articulation now because there is an aspect of it that goes hand-in-hand with the presentation. In general, this figure doesn’t articulate incredibly well which I think anyone could guess just by looking at it. This is an aesthetics forward release, not articulation. And it’s actually the perfect type of character for Super7 to attempt since they don’t prioritize articulation in general. You still have the double ball jointed head which gets great range, ball-hinge shoulders with the shoulder pads on hinges to move them out of the way, bicep swivels, single elbows that bend 90 degrees and swivel, swivel and hinge wrists. There is a diaphragm joint, hinged-ball hips, thigh swivels, single-hinges at the knees that swivel, and ankles that hinge and swivel. Range at almost evey joint is compromised to some degree by the sculpt. The abdomen isn’t going to twist all the way because of the boxy design nor does it crunch forward very much. The big, flat, feet only swivel so they lack a true ankle rocker which is a bummer. What’s a little irksome though is that the biceps swivels, especially, aren’t sculpted in such a way that they move freely. You’re probably going to scuff up the shoulder if you twist them a whole bunch. There’s some scuffing on the neck of my figure as well, though I think that was the result of the factory process. The diaphragm and thigh swivels could easily cause scuffing too so be careful. Otherwise, joints are nice and tight with no floppiness which is key for such a heavy figure.

“The filthy reptiles blew off my arm!”

Bebop’s sculpt is going to provide for ample shelf presence and it moves just enough to add to it. The accessories are also going to help in that department. Bebop has a few hand options at his disposal including fists, gripping, and open hands. The gripping hands are very thick and very stiff which is important to note because you will want to heat them up for some of these accessories. The hand you don’t have to heat is the open hand, which has a curl to the fingers. This one works well with the included shield which is the exact same trash-can lid inspired shield that came with Robotic Rocksteady only now it’s cast in blue translucent plastic. It and the two flame effects which plug into Bebops shoulder canons are the only reused parts from Rocksteady (or Rocksteady reused them from Bebop?), which is impressive.

Say cheese?
The flame effect for the shoulder canons work in the gun too.
“I want to be a..a..dentist!”
So this happened during my picture taking which kind of sucks.

For handheld weapons, Bebop comes with a big knife and a gun. There’s not much to say about the knife. The blade is pretty wicked looking and it’s basically the same color as Bebop’s body. It’s handle is painted green and, if you’re careful, you can probably get this into one of the gripping hands without too much fuss. The gun, on the other hand, will need some heat unless you don’t care about taking off paint. The gun looks like a combination of an uzi and a camcorder. It’s more a shiny silver color with a green handle and some blue paint applied to the two viewfinders on the back as well as a little on the side.

“I’m tired of these jokes about my giant hand. The first such incident occurred back in…

Both the knife and the gun are remakes of vintage accessories and so is the next one. Bebop has some interchangeable right hands that double as weapons. There’s this big, blue, connection on the right arm that pops off and can be replaced with this big, robot, hand. For when Bebop needs to smack someone around, he has this thing which looks pretty cool. There’s no articulation at the wrist, but it does swivel where it connects to the arm. I kind of wish the fingers were articulated, but it’s cool and fun and it came with the old toy so it’s good to have. If you prefer something that’s a callback to the original Bebop, there’s also a drill bit. It plugs into the blue adapter in place of a hand and it’s a big, silvery, drill. Bebop is often associated with such since he came with a drill in his original appearance, so as an extra it makes sense. He also has another optional attachment which is a battle damaged limb. I like this one a lot and it plugs into the same spot as the blue adapter. The wires and rods coming out look twisted and crushed which makes me think of Terminator 2 after the T-800 gets its arm stuck in a compacter. What’s not here is the second blue adapter that was featured in the solicitation images. That one had a scope sculpted onto it and was seen paired with the drill bit perhaps as a way to recreate Bebop’s drill gun in a new way? It was cut though, but Super7 never sent out new solicitation images which is kind of shitty. It’s not a big deal that the item was cut, but tell your customers, Super7.

Original promo with the cut blue piece.
Good luck, Donnie. You’re gonna need it.

Robotic Bebop is not a perfect release, but what action figure is? For $55, the sculpt, paint, and accessory load-out is pretty damn good. He moves as much as he needs to and this is a figure that will improve anyone’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles display. This is one of Super7’s bests and so was their first take on Bebop. Maybe they just have a really solid rapport with the character? I don’t know, but I do think their best figures are the bigger ones. They play well with Super7’s approach to articulation and their strength as an action figure producer is their sculpts and big figures really showcase that. I was okay with Robotic Rocksteady at $65 so naturally I think this figure at $55 is a great deal. This is one you don’t have to wait for a sale on. The only thing holding it back is that it’s a bit of an obscure version of a popular character. Not everyone wants a robot version of Bebop, but for those who do, this figure should make them quite happy. For now, this concludes my look at Wave 7 of Super7’s Ultimates! TMNT. I had Triceraton on preorder, but that figure has some problems which caused me to drop my preorder. I may revisit that decision if he hits clearance. As for Guerilla Gorilla, I have no attachment to either he nor Sargent Bananas so that was an easy pass considering the price and shelf space required and I have zero interest in the Metalhead repaint. I’m onto Wave 11 which has actually already started shipping so it shouldn’t be too long before we have more Super7 TMNT to talk about.

We have a whole lot more Bebop if you’re interested:

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Robotic Rocksteady

Last week, it was Space Cadet Raphael’s turn to be put through the ringer by me. Super7 didn’t really impress with that offering, but I did tease at the end of that lukewarm review that a more positive one was on the horizon. This is that more positive review. Robotic Rocksteady is the latest villain…

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by Joe

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Bebop

This is a big figure. That’s the take-away and the thing any reviewer has to mention when reviewing Super7’s take on the classic warthog from Playmates. Back in ’88, Bebop was bigger than the turtles, but he was also really hunched over to the point where it was like his neck was coming out of…

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by Joe

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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by Joe

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January 14, 2025

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Punker Don

By Joe
The punk rock turtle is here to rock your shell off!

It’s been awhile since we last took a look at a figure from a wave of Super7 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates! It was back in July 2024 that I gave a rather glowing review of the first of a presumed four turtle figures based on the old Playmates Rock n’ Roll Turtles – Classic Rocker Leonardo. Leo had the distinction of being the first released from that set, but the first solicited was Super7’s take on Punk Rock Donatello, or Punker Don. I ordered this figure way back in March of 2022. He is part of Wave 7 of this line. Leo is part of Wave 10. What the hell happened?! I don’t know. Super7 never provided any real updates or reason for why this wave lagged so far behind the rest. There were some big figures in the wave, there could have been issues with licensing, or maybe it was funding? I don’t know. Brian Flynn of Super7 mentioned that they probably undercharged for one of the figures in the wave (which we’ll talk about in due time) so maybe they more aggressively factory-shopped to get the best rate they could which maybe pushed them to the back of the line? I don’t know, but Wave 7 is here and has been out for a little while now (we’re still clearing out a backlog here) so hopefully the extra time in the oven did some good.

Donnie is still trying to figure out how this whole punk thing works.

Punker Don has always been an amusing release to me. Each turtle needed to be matched with a genre of music for this set. Leo as a fan of classic rock? I suppose that makes sense since he’s always been displayed as the closest to his father, Splinter, and classic rock is essentially “dad rock.” Raph a fan of the loud, aggressive, and abrasive heavy metal? Sure, makes perfect sense. Mikey as a hip hop artist needs no explanation, but what does Donnie listen to when he’s working in the lab? Punk rock? It doesn’t really jive for me. Donatello would probably be into prog rock. I see him being way into Rush or King Crimson. The problem there is prog rock isn’t as popular a visual as punk rock. Not even close. I’m not sure any genre of rock is more visually interesting than punk with the crazy hairstyles, spiked jackets, torn pants, and smashed up instruments. It works too well as a toy, so someone had to be the designated punker and it fell to Donnie.

I guess it being poorly painted makes it punk rock?

That’s not the only reason why this design is so amusing to me though. The other is the chosen instrument: the keytar. I don’t really know if the keytar truly belongs to any genre of music, but I know it does not belong to punk. I get it. Leo and Raph both came with guitars and while they could have given Don a bass, a bass guitar isn’t exactly visually distinct from a guitar. Especially since the guitars included with the others aren’t accurate to the actual instrument when it comes to string count. I wish he came with a drum kit, but maybe Playmates saw that as too expensive back in the day? And sticking a lone drum around his neck like the Little Drummer Boy would have looked just as ridiculous as a punker with a keytar.

He even comes with a record like the old one.

All that being said, this is a fun release. It was back then anyway, and it should be now. This Donatello is a pretty faithful recreation of the vintage figure with some minor differences. I don’t have the old one for an easy comparison, but we do have the good old internet where such pictures exist. The main differences here are that some sculpted details on the old figure are now off on their own. The necklace is the most obvious as here it’s an actual necklace on a real chain. There was also a sculpted chain on the left arm of the old figure and that has been turned into an accessory. He still has his big mohawk and classic turtle grimace. The color of said mohawk seems a little more yellow this time around as opposed to orange, but it’s a subtle change and probably not even an intentional one.

And he’s turned his bo staff into a flute/recorder/clarinet/whatever.

Mostly, this is just a new version of an old toy. The details have been upped and the paint hits increased. The leather jacker looks especially good with a nice finish. The part of it on the torso is a soft overlay and even the parts of the shell showing through on the back are part of it. It blends well with the harder plastic arms where the sleeves are sculpted and the trim work with the silver paint is very crisp and clean. The “NO” button on the lapel is painted now which was probably a reference to the War on Drugs which was quite popular back in the day. The knee and elbow pads are sculpted to look like they’ve been tied on and they’re separate, soft, pieces. The belt is part of the sculpt and only what’s visible is what’s sculpted, which is fine. The underside of his boots are sculpted like LL Bean boots and it’s quite sharp.

I like how they sculpted the shell as part of this jacket overlay.

Not everything is great though. The jacket is well painted, but the paint hits elsewhere aren’t so clean. The pink portion of his pants is a little thin so you get a sense of the blue poking through. The green boots with yellow laces are also really sloppy. There’s little specks of yellow throughout the pants that seem to have transferred from there and the laces themselves look pretty bad. The left boot, especially, is really poorly done on my figure. The ripped portions of the pants are painted all right, not perfect, but mostly I don’t like the finish on the pants. I can’t tell what these are supposed to be. They don’t look like denim so I guess they’re spandex or something. They’re just bare plastic and look really cheap. The T patch on the right thigh has also been left unpainted, like it was on the old figure, which is a shame though with how bad the detail work turned out on the laces maybe that’s a good thing? These pants needed a wash or something though because they look really out of place compared with the rest of the figure.

The yellow for his laces got everywhere. Also, I need to dust under the musical tour turtles.

What bothers me more with this release is the articulation and an old enemy has resurfaced. These figures are never great when it comes to articulation, but at this point we should be able to expect the same level of quality on the turtle figures especially since they’re all basically the same from an engineering point of view. I was really happy with Classic Rocker Leo, but the same is not true for Punker Don. The articulation points are all the same: double ball head, ball-hinge shoulders and hips, single jointed elbows and knees, and so on. What suck is the range in the arms seems less than what we had with Leo. He’s a little harder to pose with his keytar than Leo was with his guitar. The right elbow, especially, doesn’t bend well and it’s frustrating. What’s worse though are these dreaded Super7 hips. Yup, they’re floppy again. There are slip points on both sides where the legs just won’t stay. Now, I have been able to get him to stand without falling over, so it’s not as bad as perhaps it could be, but it’s still unacceptable. I was hoping Classic Rocker Leo was a sign of things to come, but Punker Don didn’t get the memo. Get your shit together, Super7.

Donnie has a couple of new heads this time around.

The good thing about this figure being from way back in Wave 7 is that it still has the old Super7 amount of accessories. There’s not a whole lot missing from this package. We even get the rare triple portrait approach. There’s the default head, and then there’s another mohawk head with an open mouth and goggles sculpted on. It looks pretty fun, though the paint between the eyes is a little iffy. The third head contains a totally different hairstyle with big, purple, spikes and a tongue hanging out the side. He’s biting down on his tongue which feels very “vintage” and the hair is certainly very punk rock. The paint is a little sloppy in that it doesn’t go all the way to the roots. Still, I like it and I might even like it more than the classic interpretation.

When you only have three digits on your hand, a pointing gesture also doubles as a middle finger.

We get the customary allotment of hands as well. There’s a set of fists, gripping hands, pointing hands, and a set of keytar hands which is basically a C-grip left hand and an almost open right hand. All of the hands have horizontal hinges which is less an issue for Donatello being a bo staff handler. And he does have a bo staff. It’s basically Donnie’s bo repurposed as a recorder or clarinet. It has little holes or buttons and an end with a mouthpiece on it which is clever. The old figure may have referred to it as a flute, but that is not a flute mouthpiece. He also has a record with a purple center label, a direct callback to the vintage toy. It’s really thick and not convincing, but it’s fine. There’s also a tuning fork, a new accessory, which I guess is a decent way to reference Donnie’s more nerdy tendencies, though is really out of place for a punk rock guy. There’s also the chain I mentioned earlier. Previously part of the sculpt, it’s now just an accessory. It sits very loose in Donatello’s hands and feels a bit pointless. I wish they had rigged up a way to make it function like a wallet chain or attach to the figure in some way, but oh well.

This Punker Don figure may not be as good as the Classic Rocker Leo, but they still look pretty cool together.

Donatello also has a repeat accessory – his mic and mic stand. It’s the same as the one included with Leonardo just with a new deco. I liked it with Leo, and I like it here. Lastly, we have the most important accessory for any punk rocker: his keytar. Like the vintage figure, it’s sculpted in yellow. Unlike the vintage figure, the keys are painted. Unfortunately, that’s all that’s painted. This thing is really well-sculpted as it looks like it’s held together by tape. Leonardo’s double guitar received a fantastic sculpt and paint job, but this looks like shit. The sculpt is great, but the lack of paint is so cheap and I feel bad for whoever sculpted this because Super7 did them dirty. Someone needs to tell Super7 that no one cares about the extra stuff like the chain or tuning fork if the keytar, the featured accessory, is going to look like crap. In their defense, this is how it looked in the solicitation so it’s not like they did some bait and switch, but it looks bad and I’m calling them out on it. It looks so poor beside Leonardo’s guitar that I’m thinking of just returning it to its box and making Donnie the vocalist of this fake turtle band.

There is a lot about Punker Don that disappoints me, there is also a lot that I like. This is basically a mid tier Super7 release in that the sculpt is there, most of the paint is acceptable, but there’s enough eyesores and poor articulation to dampen the enthusiasm in the end. It’s just a shame because Classic Rocker Leo turned out so well and gave me hope for this one. Maybe Super7 had finally ironed out all of the kinks after ten waves of Ultimates! and this was the level of quality we could expect going forward. Sadly, that’s not the case here. It’s not a bad figure and I mostly am happy with what is on my shelf, but it could and should be better. This one will also set you back $55. Is it worth it? That’s hard to say. If you’re on the fence then you can probably safely wait for a discount to come at some point. Since this is Wave 7 there’s really no danger of the ordered amount being impacted by the massive discounts we saw on Super7 products in the past year. There should be plenty to go around. If you’re like me and love these silly rock n’ roll variants and can’t wait any longer then you may have a touch of buyer’s remorse, but hopefully it fades with time.

There are plenty more reviews of Super7’s TMNT offerings, both good and bad:

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Classic Rocker Leonardo

When I was a kid, I had parents with divergent musical tastes. Dad likes oldies from the 50s and 60s while mom was more into modern rock (then 80s). One area where their tastes overlapped was Bruce Springsteen. We had several of his records in my house and I distinctly remember that cover to Born…

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by Joe

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Wingnut & Screwloose

Late in 2023, Super7 started shipping the ninth wave of its line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates! action figures. I bought none. It was a wave with no compelling characters for me as it contained Slam Dunkin’ Donatello, Scumbug, Wingnut & Screwloose, Zak the Neutrino, and a flocked Master Splinter variant. Scumbug had been…

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by Joe

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Space Cadet Raphael

It feels like it’s been awhile since we had a proper Turtle Tuesday around here, but today that streak ends. It also feels like a long time since we had a new wave TMNT Ultimates! from Super7 to talk about – and that’s because it has! Not including the glow-in-the-dark variant of Leonardo I looked…

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by Joe

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August 27, 2024

Transformers x Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Party Wallop

By Joe
A collaboration 40 years in the making.

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

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

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

Turtle Vans – Assemble!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Every turtle, robot or organic, requires pizza.

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

There’s storage under the shell for the extra head parts and the staff.
The swords and sai have spots to plug into while the ‘chuks slot in under the shoulder pads.

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

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

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

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

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

Party on, dudes.

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

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

Rad Plastic

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

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by Joe

Transformers R.E.D. Generation 1 Soundwave

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

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Transformers Generations Holiday Optimus Prime

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

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by Joe

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June 4, 2024

Playmates TMNT Original Sketch Turtles

By Joe
Who are these goofy looking boys?!

Last week we took a Turtle Tuesday off which feels like a rarity for this blog. And that’s because there seems to be new stuff featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles branding coming out all of the time. And it’s only going to become more plentiful as the franchise celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. I’ve made quite a few TMNT purchases already this year, but this is the first featuring a 40th anniversary logo and it’s appropriate that it comes from Playmates Toys.

Expect to see that 40th logo on many more TMNT products going forward.

Most likely know by now that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were co-created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman as basically a gag amongst the two. They gave birth to this franchise, but perhaps the entity most responsible for a little comic book becoming a global phenomenon is Playmates. Those toys released in 1988 set the world on fire in their target demographic. Playmates was basically a doll maker before it decided to take a chance on TMNT after more noteworthy action figure producers had said “No thanks.” And even though it seems like everyone is making TMNT toys these days, it’s still Playmates that is the primary master license holder when it comes to TMNT.

The original sketches are featured rather prominently on the packaging.

The legend goes, that one night while drawing together in Dover, New Hampshire, Kevin Eastman came up with the idea of a ninja turtle. He passed the doodle onto his partner in art, Peter Laird, who was amused enough by the concept to do his own interpretation. Sometime later, the idea of a group of four anthropomorphic, ninja, turtles was fleshed out in greater detail and committed to paper. This version of the turtles is now referred to as the “Original Sketch” turtles. Truthfully, I had never heard of this image referred to in that way until recently. The actual image has been less celebrated than the original drawings and the Mirage Studios version that followed for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1. Playmates has chosen to celebrate this sketch in action figure form. It makes sense since the original drawings were of a singular turtle which most resembled Michelangelo. Playmates has already made Mirage versions of the characters and even recently re-released them. This set of sketch turtles is basically untapped, but I doubt it will be the last we see of them.

Weapon storage, baby!

Shipping now to Target stores, the original sketch turtles come in window boxes adorned with recreations of original Eastman and Laird TMNT art. It has a black and white deco for the most part with a green “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” logo in a font similar to the original sketch. On the top flap and rear of the box are Laird and Eastman’s original take on a ninja turtle as well as a print of the original sketch itself. There’s a brief blurb about the origin of these fighting teens and the sides of the box are reserved for images of the toys themselves.

Each turtle comes with an ooze canister which doubles as a standee for the original sketch recreation.

Each turtle is released separately and in the box you will find a turtle, a broken canister of ooze, weapons, holsters (if necessary) and a piece of a diorama to recreate the original sketch posing when all are purchased. Each character retails for $15, though I was able to take advantage of a sale going on at Target and got them for around $10.50 a piece. There was only one of each character and they were stocked in the toy aisle with the other Playmates products. Some Targets appear to be stocking them towards the back of the store with the collectibles so you may have to hunt them down. It does seem like stores are only getting one set initially, but since it’s a Target exclusive item there are likely to be restocks. So far there has been no online drop, but one could still come.

You also get a street diorama piece with each figure. Mikey also comes with the detachable box and board.

Even though the original sketch was in black and white, these turtles are depicted in their Playmates colors. That means a different shade of green (or brown, in the case of Donatello) for each turtle plus colored bandanas and pads. These are basically prototype turtles so they look just as funky as the original art. They’re more like tortoises, and if Cecil from Looney Tunes got together with three of his buddies to cosplay as ninjas they might look something like these guys. As expected, there’s a lot of shared parts between the four brothers, but also more differences than folks are accustomed to. A lot of that is due to the four not having a uniform look to start. Leonardo, for example, is the only turtle with kneepads while Michelangelo doesn’t even have a belt. They’re little guys too standing at about 4.5″ in height. The bodies are practically spherical while the legs widen as they go ending in rather large feet. Leo and Donnie feature expressions that are mirror images of each other while Raph and Mikey use the same portrait.

The hollow feet are definitely not great.

The round body on these guys might be fairly hollow, but there’s a nice weight to each figure. The paint is sparse, but where it’s applied it’s fairly clean. It looks nice around the bandanas and it’s pretty good on the elbow pads. Michelangelo and Leonardo both have a blemish on their right eye, while Mikey’s paint at the elbow pads is noticeably sloppy compared with his brothers. If this were a $35 turtle I’d be more critical, but at this price range it’s acceptable. The black linework in the teeth is a surprising touch and there are a few painted hashmarks on the plastrons of each figure. Someone willing to fully paint these to tone down that plastic sheen could probably make these look really impressive. The only other thing about them I don’t care for are the hollow feet. Sure, you can’t see such a detail when they’re on a shelf so long as both feet are on the surface, but it looks pretty cheap and does remove the option for kick displays.

These turtles are quite diminutive, but not really out of place with other Playmates turtles.

As expected, each turtle comes with their signature weapons. Even in this early stage, Eastman and Laird knew how they wanted to arm their creations, with only one slight change. Donatello is the skimpiest since he has just his bo staff. It’s fine. The wraps are painted and there’s a little blackwash so it’s about as nice as a bo can look at this price range. Leonardo has two katana and they feature wavy, distorted, handles and blades. This is in-line with the original sketch and not a defect of the product. He has two detachable sheaths which plug into the rear of his belt. The sketch has them going sideways, but they’re on pegs so you can orientate them however you wish. Mikey has his two nunchaku and they’re done with real chains. In a departure from most versions of the character, his weapons storage is on his forearms. The handles of the ‘chuks slot into them and it’s something I think Mikey should do more often. Raph has his sai and I like the shape of them compared with most versions of the character. He also has a sword because the original depiction of the character had one. He comes with the same sheath as Leo and it plugs into the rear of his belt. The weapons are all either painted or make use of colored plastic so they look rather nice and the figures have no trouble holding them.

Of course, they look downright tiny beside a Super7 turtle.

You can probably take one look at these guys and figure that articulation isn’t going to be anything special, and you would be right. It’s pretty much standard Playmates for their modern TMNT toy lines. Hinged pegs are used for the neck, shoulders, elbows, knees, and hips and they get solid range, but I personally hate the approach for hips. The shoulders actually have really good range because of where they’re placed. There’s no ankle articulation and the wrists just swivel. Some of the joints are a little tight, but nothing is loose. They can basically do the poses they’re supposed to so you can recreate the original sketch or do your own thing. My only real gripe is I wish the wrist cut could have been better blended into the sculpt and the same is true for the knee. Leo has the benefit of knee pads to hide the knee cut, but none of the others do.

It’s getting a little nuts how many versions of these characters we’ve seen over the years.

Each turtle also comes with a diorama piece and the previously mentioned ooze canister. The canister is broken and there’s a sculpted puddle to go with it. It’s not something that was present in the original picture, but it’s obviously a big part of the origin story of the turtles. It looks okay with the canister bits painted. It serves another purpose though as there’s a slot in it to hold the included image of the original sketch. It’s printed on a thick piece of cardstock and it works as intended. A fun inclusion and it comes with each figure. The diorama pieces are part of a city street. Leonardo’s piece includes a manhole cover that is non-removable while Mikey also comes with a box and board so he can be positioned above his brothers to recreate the sketch. The board and box are surprisingly nice with a little dry-brushing on them. Raph and Donatello come with the same piece and all four can clip together to form a display. It’s fun, and better yet, it works as these guys can basically nail the pose from the drawing. The only shortcoming is Mikey was depicted spinning one of his ‘chuks, but Playmates didn’t include a spinning accessory. It’s the one detail I feel like they missed.

There are numerous ways to display these boys, but obviously this is the money shot. It’s not a perfect 1:1 recreation, but it’s pretty damn neat.

For 10-15 bucks, depending on your luck with Target sales, these are pretty solid and fun figures to own. No one has done turtles based on this sketch before and it’s cool to see Playmates tackle it. I’m sure others will follow and we already know that NECA is at least planning on doing the original two turtle sketches in figure form, though neither has been formally announced as of this writing. This is likely just the first of many 40th anniversary celebrations for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and it’s something I think most fans will want to add to their collection. It’s presently only available at Target, but Playmates stuff seems to rarely stay exclusive. I would not be surprised to see it offered later at online shops, or maybe even as a black and white variant (you know that’s coming) so don’t fret if you’re having a hard time tracking it down. Patience will be rewarded in the end.

Want to keep celebrating TMNT’s big milestone? Look no further:

NECA Mirage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A dozen years ago, toy company NECA dipped its toe into the world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the first time, and shockingly it failed to stick around. That’s incredible to hear for collectors currently chasing down Bebop and Rocksteady at Target, but it’s the truth. There are a lot of folks at NECA…

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by Joe

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November 29, 2022

Playmates TMNT The Last Ronin PX Previews Exclusive (Chase)

By Joe
What’s this?! A brand new TMNT sculpt from Playmates? And I bought it?!

A few years ago, Mattel launched a new subline of action figures based on their most famous IP: Masters of the Universe. The subline was titled Origins and it basically took the vintage toys of the 80s and updated them with more modern articulation while still preserving that vintage aesthetic. And ever since then, collectors have been barking up the tree of Playmates Toys, known throughout the world as the producers of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of action figures, for something similar. And so far, Playmates has said “nah.” Instead, the company seems more interested in reissuing figures from its back catalog and reworking the Classics line from 2012. This is all well and good for folks looking to add or replace vintage figures, and I guess the 2012 reissues are good for those who want a Shredder or Ryu figure? All right, those reissues are pretty terrible, but I’m guessing they’re doing well enough that Playmates sees little value in sinking money into a new line. Then again, who knows with Playmates as they recently re-sculpted a new turtle body for the Stranger Things two-packs. They look okay, though scale with nothing, making the whole thing feel very perplexing.

In-box collectors should be pretty happy with this one.

Since Playmates seems to delight in surprising us, they had a new figure to show off earlier this year based on The Last Ronin. The Last Ronin has been a popular addition to the TMNT universe and it’s a not surprise to see toys follow, it’s just a surprise to see one from Playmates. Especially one that would appear to present a solid enough blueprint for a hypothetical TMNT Origins line. I was initially going to pass on the figure when it was first shown, but my curiosity recently got the best of me. Playmates released two versions of the figure: a standard, painted one, and a black and white version with some hatching, “comic,” paint effects. For some reason, that black and white version really appealed to me, which sucks for me since it’s considered a “chase” version and virtually every retailer that carries it will apply a surcharge to it. Oh well. It comes in a nice window box though with artwork from the series on it and surprisingly no product shots. Since there’s no cross-sell, I’m assuming this is a one and done release, but I suppose if it does well Playmates could revisit it in the future.

This deco just does “it” for me.
Any Last Ronin figure is going to need some weapon storage, and this edition does a solid job. Still needs more though.

Even though this is considered the rare chase version, I am an opener so we’re going to talk about this figure. The figure stands around 4.75″ in height and is pretty close to the same size as a turtle from the vintage line. A direct comparison is a little difficult since those figures all had pre-posed legs, but the height is pretty close though the vintage figures are all chunkier. It’s especially noticeable when comparing the hands between the two releases. Even so, the face on this new figure definitely has a vintage look to it. He has visible teeth on both sides of his beak, but more of an effort has been made to round the features and add detail. He has way more teeth, for example, than a vintage figure and they don’t have a large gap of green (or white, in this case) between them. As far as sculpting goes, this guy is all unique as far as I know. He’s depicted in his overcoat complete with hood and it’s all done in plastic with no soft goods or removable pieces. The hood is a separate piece that doesn’t seem to peg into any part of the figure, but is nevertheless quite secure where it is. With heat, I’m guessing one could pry it off, but I’m not going to attempt any such thing. The bandana underneath is fully sculpted though from what I can tell. The goggles are part of the sculpt on the hood so you can’t do a goggles-on look, but I’m not particularly disappointed by that. The belt and bottom of the coat seems to be the only other overlay and it’s either glued or keyed in. It’s a slightly softer plastic, though the flex isn’t going to facilitate any extra poseability with the figure. The black linework on this guys is very clean save for the top of the bandana on mine and I love the added scuff marks and such all over him. I would have welcomed a little more in some places, especially the hands, feet, and weapon holsters, but it looks solid nonetheless. I also like how he has different knee pads since that asymmetrical look was so popular in the old line, though in this case it’s done to be accurate with the source material.

This sword could probably use some heat to straighten it out.

This guy is really charming to look at. It’s not the hyper-accurate to the source material the NECA version goes for, but it has a certain appeal for those who either grew up with or just collect the vintage line. He may lack the chunk of that old line, but I think he can fit into a vintage display without too much issue. The standard version might stand out a little more given it has far more paint apps, though a stark white figure doesn’t exactly have any comparables in the line either. This is a fun look though, it just might be a little too pricey for what it is. Most seem to list the regular version for around 30 dollars. If Playmates could do this level of quality at 20 or even 25 that would feel a lot more agreeable. Having this black and white version has made me more curious about the regular release and how many paint hits it has. Are all the ropes painted? Are there any wash effects? I don’t know if I’m 30 dollars curious, but maybe if this thing hits clearance I’ll add another.

You also get the broken sword, which just reminds me of all of the broken swords I had in the old line.
Raph had a pair of sais, so Ronin gets two as well!

The big selling point of the Origins line is the addition of modern articulation, so it’s fair to wonder if this figure could be a model of things to come in a similar line from Playmates. And if that’s the case, well then there’s some good, and some not so good when it comes to this figure. The head appears to be on a ball peg, but the hood makes manipulating it rather difficult. I can get him to look left and right, and even up and down a little, but I’d call it more nuance posing than anything. The shoulders are ball-hinged and he can raise his arms up past a horizontal position, so that’s good, and there’s no real shell to prevent rotation all the way around too. The elbows are double jointed and bend past 90 degrees with ease and the wrists swivel and feature horizontal hinges which is a bummer since vertical would have been better. There is a waist twist and the legs attach via ball and socket joints. He can spread his legs basically as far as the skirt of the jacket will let him, which isn’t much, and the same is true for kicking forward and back. You get a tiny bit of thigh twist, or pivot, on that ball joint, but it’s not a lot. The knees are double-jointed and bend past 90 without issue while the ankles feature a hinge. The feet appear to peg into the hinge so you get a tiny bit of swivel there, but there’s no ankle rocker which is a bummer. That’s the biggest omission for me as being able to pivot down at the feet really opens up the stances available when posing a figure. Without it, there’s not a whole lot he can do below the waist. The other major omission is the lack of a biceps swivel. If they added those two points, which might not have cost them anything when they were tooling this guy, it would have made a world of difference. Instead, he moves just okay. It’s certainly below average for a modern figure, and this is a guy with a lot of weapons so it’s an extra bummer he can’t pose better. Yeah, he’ll pose better than your turtles from 1988, but that’s probably not the standard we should be holding Playmates to in 2022.

Donnie typically only wields one bo staff though, so he only gets one of those.
If you don’t want him wielding any of the more traditional TMNT weapons, he also has some shurikens he can turn to.

One of the hallmarks of The Last Ronin is the character is basically a one turtle army. He has all of the weapons of the core 4, and even more in the book, so this edition has to do the same. There are no extra hands or portraits so all of the accessories are weapons. In the box, you get: two sai, two nunchaku, one sword, one broken sword, one bo staff, two star-shaped shurikens, and two diamond shaped shurikens. It’s a good assortment and the only weapons missing are the tonfa the character wields in the book. There’s also a grappling hook that pegs onto the belt, though it’s just a lump of sculpted plastic and not something he can really do anything with. All of the weapons are sculpted in a light gray with a black wash added. The shurikens might be a darker gray, but they also have a much heavier wash on them making them appear more black than gray. The sculpt of the weapons is all solid. The ‘chuks are sculpted to have ropes instead of chains and they all feature wraps sculpted onto the handles. The sai are the only ones I don’t love since the bladed portions have been rounded off significantly and look a bit silly as a result, but I guess that’s because Playmates adheres to department store standards when it comes to safety. Like the book character, this figure has room for weapon storage, but he can’t store everything. There’s a slot for the bo on his back and a scabbard for one sword. There are two pieces for the sai, one on the rear and one on the front, and they even pivot so you can adjust them as needed. There’s no way to store the nunchaku though nor is there a place for the shurikens. He can at least hold everything and his hands are sculpted so the sai blade can go between his fingers if you wish. I just wish he had a true belt to slot some of this stuff into when he’s not holding it. I almost feel discouraged from displaying him holding any of the weapons he can otherwise store.

So where does this guy fit? We have a NECA toon on the left, and a Playmates vintage on the right. He’s close to the vintage, but decidedly less chunky. I think he mostly exists on his own, which is appropriate given the source material, but some may want him to blend more seamlessly with the vintage line than I do.

On its own, this Playmates version of The Last Ronin feels like a worthwhile release. The word I keep coming back to with this guy is “charming.” He’s a charming figure. It has enough of that vintage aesthetic going for it with the face, but it also brings its own flair to the shelf. As a one-off, it feels okay at this price point, but as a blueprint for a potential revival of the old line it does feature some room for improvement. I would like to see the articulation shortcomings addressed, and if they can’t get the price below 30 then it might not matter what they do. That feels way too close to the going rate for something from NECA, though an Origins-inspired line might not face competition from NECA, but Super7. Maybe a 30 dollar price tag is good enough if consumers are comparing that to the $55 remakes Super7 is doing? It’s hard to say. I’m not even sure I want such a line to exist as I feel pretty well covered at this point when it comes to TMNT toys. As a novelty, I could see myself kicking the tires on the four brothers at least, but as another line I’m all-in or nearly all-in on? I don’t know if the appetite is there, but I could be in the minority. Hopefully, if Playmates continues to do one-off styled releases, or even does more of those two-packs, they try to adhere to this style more than the 2012 Classics Collection mold which just doesn’t hold up very well. More of this, please, Playmates.

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