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 in the USA with the butt of The Boss on proud display clad in denim with a handkerchief sticking out of the pocket. And as a kid, I tended to like whatever my parents liked though I definitely preferred my mother’s taste more so than my father’s and I liked that record. Years later, when I first laid eyes on the Classic Rocker Leonardo action figure from Playmates Toys with its black vest, handkerchief clad head, and denim pants that cover of Born in the USA immediately came to mind.
Classic Rocker Leonardo was part of the Rock ‘N Rollin’ Turtles subline of figures released by Playmates in 1991. Whenever these variants came about I pretty much always got the Leonardo and seldom the rest because I couldn’t afford to be a completist. Leonardo was the most appealing from the set because he was my favorite turtle, but also because he most fit my image of a rock star. Torn jeans, black vest, and a guitar. It ended up being one of my favorites and it’s one of the few figures that managed to survive all these years and that I still possess. He did lose all of his accessories except the one that matters: his guitar.
Because of my fondness for this iteration of Leonardo, Classic Rocker Leo has been on my want list from Super7 pretty much right from the get-go. When Wave 7 was solicited with Punker Donatello in it I was tickled because it meant Leonardo was on the table. At the same time, I was confused and a little irritated since we all were expecting Undercover Donatello to complete that set. Wave 8 followed with Space Cadet Raph and then Wave 9 was revealed to contain Slam Dunkin’ Don – what?! Was Classic Rocker Leonardo no longer on the table? What was Super7 doing going from the disguise series, to the music one, and then to the sports themed wave?
Turns out, my fears were unfounded and I didn’t have to wait much longer to see Classic Rocker Leo revealed as part of Wave10. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at the tenth wave (ignoring the fact that Wave 7 still hasn’t shipped) of Super7’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates! It’s pretty crazy and I’m guessing this line has exceeded Super7’s expectations to go this deep. It’s also arrived at a bit of a crossroads as Playmates has made it a lot harder for Super7 to simply reproduce their work. These Rock N’ Rollin’ Turtles apparently skated by because there’s promotional artwork from the 90s depicting them so these designs weren’t solely confined to the toys. Or maybe Playmates has no intention of re-releasing them so they didn’t make a fuss. I don’t know, I’m just glad it’s here as it’s the only figure in the tenth wave that is based on a vintage figure. The others – Ninja Newscaster April, Casey Jones (Mirage colors), and Karai are new to the line. April did have a similar figure in the old line, but the design of this one is almost completely different. This was also the wave that was supposed to include Rat King, but the design Super7 came up with was so different from the Playmates figure that the collectors basically revolted. It was pulled, replaced with Karai, and moved to the eleventh wave where it will have a more vintage toy-inspired design.
Whatever the politics are behind the scenes, I’m just happy that Leo is here. Classic Rocker Leonardo arrives in the standard Super7 box only now sans a slipcover. He stands around 5.5″ and is basically in-line with the other Leonardo figures from Super7. His design is almost an exact recreation of the Playmates figure and it’s definitely a lot easier to cite the differences than what’s the same. And those differences are limited to the red bandana on top of his head which no longer has any sort of pattern on it. I’m not sure why and I do miss it, but it isn’t something that truly bothers me. The “Turtle Rocks” on the t-shirt is in a different font and the colors have been inverted. The straps on his boots are no longer painted all silver but are black straps with silver studs and the message on the back of the vest has been altered. On the original, it read “Rock N’ Roll” and it was done in silver rhinestones. Now, it says “Rock N’ Out” in a blue font. I don’t mind the change in messaging, but I do kind of miss the tackiness of the rhinestones. His belt buckle has been changed from a peace sign to a shuriken and the harmonica in his vest pocket is now all silver rather brown and silver. It’s kind of odd that this detail seems more simply painted than the original, but it’s fine.
The differences are few and largely inconsequential and are likely done just to give this figure a slightly different flair than the old, even if there’s no mistaking what’s going on here. And from a sculpt and paint perspective, it’s a pretty nice figure. There’s an ample amount of paint to bring the figure to life and it’s nice to see the rip on his left thigh finally painted when compared with the vintage release. The torso feels like it’s mostly a rubbery overlay, but it’s still painted like it’s hard plastic. The vest is part of the sculpt so you can’t take it off or even look under it at all. The green flesh has a nice matte look though I don’t think it’s painted. If you get in real close you’ll fine some uneven lines in the paint here and there, but it’s nothing that will show at a normal distance. The only paint issue I have is there is a small dot of blue at the top of the right eye. Since it’s blue on white, it stands out more than I like. Overall though I’m happy with the sculpt and paint and this is a nice update over the original.
Where this figure differentiates itself from the vintage the most is with the accessories. The original figure came with a guitar, two guitar fret swords, and some plastic records. This new version has a lot of the same, but different. For hands, we get a set of fists and gripping hands. The gripping hands have vertical hinges for sword and “axe” wielding while the fists have the standard horizontal ones. He also has a right hand that’s pinching a blue guitar pick, a left hand where the fingers are positioned in such a way that it looks like he’s squeezing a fret board, and a pointing gesture left hand for when he needs to point out bootleggers in the crowd.
Those guitar playing hands are here to handle Leonardo’s new, double, guitar. It still has a turtle shell pattern, but with silver pickups and white plating which makes it resemble a Fender Stratocaster. There’s a soft, rubbery, strap for it that’s done in blue with silver clasps. It slots onto it just as it would a real guitar and works pretty well. The two fret boards are actually removable and feature blue, katana-like, handles so this version of Classic Rocker Leo still has his unusual swords. The connection is fairly loose, but the frets won’t fall out or anything. I think it’s done this way so as not to disturb the paintjob, which is excellent. The detail work and paint on this accessory looks great. This is one of my all-time favorite accessories I think I’ve ever received with an action figure because it looks so convincing as just a miniature version of a real thing. Some may be disappointed in the change from a more traditional guitar to a double one, but the absurdity of the double guitar (in both real life and toy) works for this line and it’s an easy way to take the old figure and turn it up to 11.
Also included with Leonardo is a microphone stand. It’s black and gray with a hinge for the mic and blue wrappings on the stand. It doesn’t telescope and the mic is non-removable, but I suppose a guitar player doesn’t need to hold his mic. It’s at the right height and it’s a nice touch if you want your Leo to be the lead singer of his group or prepared to sing backup. There’s also the requisite slice of pizza which appears to include clams this time and Leo gets a pair of round shades. They don’t fit all that well, but they’re slightly transparent and done well enough. They may make more sense to use with Leonardo’s alternate portrait, which is just a regular Leo head, but with his eyes closed like he’s really feeling a guitar solo. It’s a good idea for a second portrait, and if you don’t want him to have closed eyes then the sunglasses hide that detail well enough. Swapping hands with this figure is also pretty easy, but getting the default head off required some heat.
All of that fun stuff would be no good if Leonardo couldn’t even be posed with his instrument properly, but fear not, this figure should deliver well enough on the articulation front. He’s pretty typical of the line with a double-ball joint at the head, hinged shoulder pegs, biceps swivels, single-jointed elbows, and wrist hinge and swivels. I do like that Super7 hid the biceps swivel behind the rolled up part of the t-shirt so it looks good. The head joint is the same as the other turtles, which is lacking. It’s seated way too deep in the head and since there’s no joint at the base of the neck the range is pretty limited. Nothing in the torso, and the hips are the old hinged peg setup, but this time at least they’re not loose. A thigh twist follows with single-jointed knees that also swivel, hinged ankles, and an ankle rocker. Range at the knee is less than 90 degrees which is, again, typical of a Super7 turtle. The ankles are the best part and at least the elbows can hit a 90 degree bend.
Leonardo is limited, though obviously more articulated than his vintage counterpart. The range in the arms is enough that he can mime playing his guitar. He can’t really get his pick all the way down to the bottom pickups, but you could still pose him with his right arm raised or something. He can stand on one leg to imitate Angus Young and he can do jump kicks or stomp around like the guys from Iron Maiden. He can’t really be posed on his knees unfortunately and it’s too bad they didn’t take advantage of all the clothing to sneak some articulation into the torso. With a soft enough overlay they could have snuck in an ab crunch or at least a twist. Even without that stuff, the figure should be up to the task of posing, your imagination will just be limited some by it.
Classic Rocker Leonardo is not the best figure Super7 has made, but it might be my favorite. I am obviously biased because I adored the original so I was going to like this so long as it wasn’t butchered (like Sewer Samurai Leo). The figure looks great, the accessories are a ton of fun, and the new additions to the package are worthy additions indeed. This is basically what I want Super7’s line for this brand to be and I’m glad we know that at least two of the remaining three turtles from this subline are on the way. The only one unconfirmed right now is Heavy Metal Raph, but if he’s not part of Wave 13 (Rappin’ Mike is in Wave 11 while Wave 12 is dedicated to the 2003 Turtles) I’ll personally be surprised (and irritated). The four don’t exactly combine to make a cohesive band, but it’s okay and maybe Super7 will do an original design of Casey the drummer or something. Classic Rocker Leonardo should be available now or very soon from your favorite retailer where he’ll set you back $55. It’s a steep price, it always is with Super7, but at least for me it’s definitely worth it.
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