APRIL O’NEIL

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE MOVIE (NECA)

“Also following the city’s unprecedented crime wave is intrepid Channel 3 reporter April O’Neil, who eventually finds herself face-to-face with the Turtles when Raphael rescues her from Foot Clan ninjas.”

NECA and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles go together like…two things that sort of go together, but there are sort of complications to it, and also one of those things also goes with a bunch of other things, so it’s not really all that special when you get down to it?  Okay, admittedly not the cleanest metaphor there.  Back in 2007 when NECA did the first comic-style Turtles, Playmates had kind of a stranglehold on the license, so it was kind of a big deal.  These days, it feels like everyone has some form of the license, so NECA’s offerings are just sort of part of the pack.  Not helping matters in their favor is their reliance on exclusives for so very much of their line.  The movie-based figures started at GameStop, but transferred to Walmart, which was rather frustrating, but is now just sort of the background noise of existence.  Or something.  Anyway, back in 2022, they finally added the live-action version of the Turtles’ best human pal, April O’Neil to the line, and here I am, reviewing it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

April O’Neil was released in early 2022 as a part of the Walmart-exclusive Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie line.  While Walmart had initially been taking only two-packs, April was a single release, done in NECA’s “Ultimate” styling, something that has become a little more commonplace as the line has progressed. The figure stands 7 inches tall and she has 32 points of articulation.  Compared to some of the other figures in the line, she’s a little restricted, especially the legs, due to the skirt piece.  The hair is also a little restricting on the neck, but not nearly as much as I’d expected it to be.  The sculpt, handled by Adrienne Smith and Trevor Grove, is a solid offering.  The likeness of actress Judith Hoag is quite strong on both of the included head sculpts, though I think it might be just a touch better on the more neutral expression.  Her hair in the movie is very much a remnant of that late ’80s vibe, and it’s the sort of style that’s difficult to translate.  That said, it’s not badly done here; it’s a little thick in some spots, but it generally reads the right way for her appearance in the film.  The body sculpt is respectable enough.  The proportions seem like a decent match for Hoag, and her outfit is well detailed.  I don’t really dig how the articulation is worked into some spots, especially the knees, but it’s generally not bad.  April’s paint work is certainly ambitious, with painted patterns on her shirt and skirt, as well as accenting on her hair, and a fully detailed face.  The patterning actually turns out very well, and is nice and consistent.  The faces, likewise, are very lifelike, and help the sculpt in selling Hoag’s likeness.  My only issue is that the joints on her knees and ankles are molded in her regular flesh tone and painted to match the stockings on her legs, resulting in the paint sheering off pretty much the first time those joints are used, leaving her with rather differently colored joints.  That’s a real bummer.  April is packed with the two head sculpts mentioned above, as well as three pairs of hands (gripping, relaxed, and a fist/pointing combo), her purse, a stack of frozen pizza boxes, Raph’s sai, a microphone with a posable cable, and a small black display stand.  There was also a yellow raincoat piece made available for the first batch of people to get the figure through NECA’s online store, but I obviously didn’t get one of those.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The NECA TMNT figures aren’t what I’d call “fun” to collect.  I got the four turtles because Jess was working at Gamestop at the time, and really only got Casey through luck and connections.  April was really the only other figure I wanted, but, again, the whole process of getting one was not thrilling.  I wound up getting her quite a while after the fact, thanks to a sealed one getting traded into All Time right as her aftermarket price was bottoming out, giving me an easy in. Yay?

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.