Tag Archives: Tales of the TMNT

#3686: Donatello

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

DONATELLO

TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PLAYMATES)

I sort of tipped my hat on today’s review last Wednesday, I suppose, when I reviewed a Metalhead figure from a line that contains a Donatello I have *not* reviewed, and then even mentioned getting said Donatello at the end of that review.  Have I shattered illusions that I review things in the order that I get them?  For that matter, were there ever really any such illusions?  Well, a week after reviewing Metalhead, I guess I’m reviewing a Donatello I bought myself a month and a half prior.  Oh yeah.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Donatello is part of the first tie-in assortment for Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the show that’s spun-out of last year’s movie.  The first assortment just covered the four turtles in their slightly tweaked show looks, which seems like a pretty good starting point for a Turtles line.  As with the second assortment, this one plays into the “Mutations Mix N Match” feature.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  His sculpt is all-new, based on his aforementioned tweaked design for the show.  The core design remains the same, but he’s been given a little extra armoring, with a plate on one of the shoulders, as well as the knees.  He also gets a more proper strap for his bo staff going over the chest, as well as wrappings on his feet, which averages him with the 2012 design just a little bit.  I definitely dig that decision.  Additionally, his build is a touch bulkier than the film design, showing a bit of maturing on his part.  Overall, I like the new design, and the sculpt does a nice job of translating it.  The figure’s still got the removable glasses, which pretty much attach the same way as before, so they hopefully shouldn’t get lost during regular play.  The color work on this version of Donnie is very similar to the standard Mutant Mayhem figure, albeit with some minor tweaks to make it all line up.  The application’s all pretty clean, and he looks pretty solid.  Donnie is packed with his headphones, 3 throwing stars, and his Bo Staff, as well as a metal pipe looking thing.  And, for the mix-and-match feature, he’s also got the head of Metalhead and the left arm of the Mechazoid.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back in June, the wife and I were doing a last minute Target run before our summer family vacation, and I happened upon the first series of these guys.  I honestly hadn’t been tracking the line, so the presence of the Metalhead head really was what grabbed my attention.  Not knowing when the figure proper that would be arriving, at the urging of my wife, I opted to grab this one, since he had the head, and, once I got the full Metalhead, I’d still have a Donatello.  I didn’t realize I’d be getting the Metalhead figure quite as quickly as I did, so this one’s purpose got re-worked really quickly.  Honestly, just as a Donatello, he wound up being cooler than I expected, and now I have both him and Metalhead for full Mix ‘N Match-ing potential.

#3681: Metalhead

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

METALHEAD

TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PLAYMATES)

Alright, we had two weeks off, but now I’m going back to having a regular TMNT review.  Because, you know, apparently this is a thing I do now?  Look, it kind of surprises me too.  There’s been a lot of good TMNT options lately, and it’s also been pretty dialed into the three characters I’m sure to focus one.  I’ve had a bunch of Donatello, a little bit of Casey, but no Metalhead for a bit.  And, you know what?  I could go for some cool robot turtle action right about now.  It sure is convenient that there’s some available!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Metalhead was released in the second assortment of the tie-in line for Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is the new show that’s spun out of Mutant Mayhem.  Thus far, both of the show’s tie-in assortments have been under the “Mutations Mix ‘N Match” banner, which is the swapping gimmick that Playmates like to return to every so often.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation, plus an articulated hatch on the front of his torso.  While all of the standard Mutant Mayhem figures had a higher level of articulation, the newer figures have all gone to a more reduced set-up, which is fairly common between main launches, honestly.  It also better facilitates the Mix ‘N Match set-up.  And, with everything being on ball-joints, there’s still quite a bit of range to be had.  Metalhead’s design this time around is a lot more pieced together than prior designs, which is honestly pretty fun.  He very much fits in with the newer Turtles designs, while also keeping some of the more recurrent design elements from other Metalheads  I dig the decision to keep the head more squared off, much like the 2012 version, and I also like the move to a lankier build, which generally feels more in line with the latest incarnation of the Turtles proper.   The sculpt is a pretty solid recreation of the show’s design for the most part.  He’s not quite as lanky in the limbs, since he needs to still be stable, of course.  He shares a few of his parts with the Mechazoid figure, which is sensible, since he’s supposed to be built from Mechazoid parts and all.  His sculpt is rather geometric, which plays in his favor, but there’s some smaller wear and tear detailing, which keeps things from being too bland.  I also like the small touches, like the little smile etched into his faceplate, giving him that friendlier vibe.  His color work is on the simpler side, but there’s a decent amount of base coverage.  The application’s a little fuzzy around the edges, especially on the yellows, and there are a few details, like his shoe on his left foot, which get overlooked, but it generally works well for the price point.  Metalhead his packed with a sword, sai, nunchuck, and bo staff for the purposes of replicating the four brothers.  All of them can be stored on him, which is very fun.  He’s also got a small disc, which I think is a pizza?  It goes nicely in the torso storage, which is also cool.  And, in order to aid with the “Mix ‘n Match” feature, he’s also packed with Raph’s head and Leo’s left arm.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had found the first round of these, which was just the four Turtles, back in June, and I actually snagged the Donnie at the time, since he came with Metalhead’s head.  But, of course, I wanted Metalhead proper, so I was on the prowl for him for a bit.  Thankfully, he wasn’t too much trouble to find, ultimately.  He’s nifty.  I definitely dig this new Metalhead design, and I think it translated well to figure form.  In a perfect world, I’d have loved for him to be a little better articulated, but beyond that, I do really dig this one a lot.