Tag Archives: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

#3656: Casey Jones

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

CASEY JONES

TMNT (PLAYMATES)

I sort of started month (well, sort of, anyway; it was like a preview to the month) with a review of a Chris Evans figure, and you know what? I’m gonna end it that way too. However, in a shocking turn of events, it’s *not* a Captain America. Heck, it’s not even a Human Torch. No, it’s from one of the two comic-adaptation roles he played in between, when he voiced Casey Jones for 2007’s TMNT. Oh yeah, let’s look at some more Ninja Turtles, with a guy who’s neither a ninja nor a turtle!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Casey Jones was released in the main product launch for Playmates’ TMNT tie-in line, shortly before the film’s release in early 2007. He fell into the line’s “The Good” subset, along with April and Splinter.  The figure stands just over 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  Movement is pretty basic, and kind of restricted, especially when compared to the Turtles from the same line.  There’s a distinct lack of movement for the elbows, and the knees are jointed oddly high up on the leg, so there’s not a *ton* of posing to be done with him.  It was pretty typical of non-Turtles figures at this point, so it’s not a shock.  Still a bit of a bummer, though.  The sculpt aims to adapt Casey’s animation model from the film, specifically he’s fully geared up look from the movie’s climax, which is definitely his best look of the options available.  The sculpt does a solid job of recreating the look.  In particular, the head really gets his “likeness” down.   The body’s a little more basic and soft in some spots, but it gets all the main layout down as it should.  The gashes on the shoulder plates are a nice tough, though.  Casey’s color work is basic, but hits all the main marks for the design.  The paint application is pretty clean, and all the basic colors are there.  I do especially like that they remembered to give him the slight bit of visible red from his shirt under the armor.  Casey is packed with a removable mask, two baseball bats, a cricket bat, a golfclub, his bag, and a separate harness for just the bats.  The mask is surprisingly on model, and sits well on the face.  The only slight drag on it is that it’s an off-white, indicating it’s just a standard mask, rather than the metal one April gives him just before the final battle.  It’s a small thing, and this makes him more generally on-brand for the character, I suppose, but it’s such a nice plot point in the movie that I’m admittedly a little bummed it’s off.  The sports equipment is fun, though, and I appreciate the options for the bag or the harness.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

TMNT is the first piece of Turtles media that *really* clicked with me.  I’d enjoyed other elements of the franchise, but this one actually excited me.  It was also the film that really cemented my love of not only Donatello, but also Casey.  I liked Evans’ performance a lot, and the new design just really worked.  I wanted this figure when they were new, but I was never able to snag one.  Over the years, I’ve seen a few, but he was always incomplete.  I was actually talking with Max about it being one of my grails, and then, like, a week later, I came across a sealed one at a toy show, sitting on a table for 50% off.  He’s a product of his time, and certainly lacks in the articulation department, but he looks really cool, and I’m very glad to have finally gotten one.

#3651: April O’Neil

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

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.

#3525: Donatello – Heroic Turtle-At-Arms

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

DONATELLO — HEROIC TURTLE-AT-ARMS

TURTLES OF GRAYSKULL (MATTEL)

Fun FiQ Fact #0004: The vintage Masters of the Universe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toylines shared a designer, Mark Taylor, who designed key portions of both lines.

I’m neither the world’s biggest Masters of the Universe fan nor the biggest TMNT fan, so you may be wondering what’s the deal with me reviewing a crossover figure from the two lines. Okay, you’re probably not, because I’m actually pretty transparent on some things, and one of them is that I like Donatello action figures. Where there are cool new Donnies, I tend to follow. Also, I do like me a nifty crossover. So, behold Man-At-Arms Donatello!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Donatello is part of the first standard assortment of Mattel’s Turtles of Grayskull line, alongside Leo, Man-At-Arms, and Mutated He-Man. The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation. In terms of construction, these figures are very similar to Mattel’s own Origins line, which makes a degree of sense, since it allows the Turtles to fit right in with the established MotU characters, as showcased in the included minicomic. The design brings his build more in line with the typical Masters look, so he’s a little more roided out than usual, and gets less of that typical Turtle physique. This is presumably to keep cross-compatibility between all of the figures in the line. Donnie gets his own Man-At-Arms inspired armor, which is pretty fun. I especially dig how the back shell can turn into a separate shield piece. Donnie’s color work keeps with his usual palette, but there’s clearly more purple, since that’s the main basis for the armor. I like it; it makes him stand out nicely. Donnie is packed with the 7 pieces of removable armor, plus a staff-version of the Man-At-Arms mace, and a minicomic explaining the background of the crossover. Of particular note, it features Roboto in his minicomic colors, which makes me very happy.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

This whole endeavor is Max’s fault. He let me know about this crossover’s existence, and he made darn sure I got one of these, with this particular one landing in my hands just days before Christmas. He really likes to look out for me. I don’t feel the need to go in-depth for this line (but I certainly wouldn’t say no to a Roboto/Metalhead crossover), but this one figure is definitely worth it.

#3523: Donatello – Battle Ready

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

DONATELLO — BATTLE READY

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES BST AXN (THE LOYAL SUBJECTS)

Fun FiQ Fact #0002:  Donatello was the favorite Turtle of TMNT co-creator Peter Laird, who modeled Donnie’s personality most closely on his own.

When I got into TMNT as a kid, alongside my brother Christian, we each had our clear favorite member of the team.  Mine was Raphael!  What’s that?  You assumed it was Donatello?  Why, just because I’ve spent ten years here on the site saying that or something?  Well, I was initially a Raphael kid, believe it or not.  Christian, on the other hand, was a Donatello fan.  By the time of the 2007 TMNT movie, however, I realized it wasn’t Raph that really spoke to me, and I’ve been a Donnie fan all the way since then (for his part, Christian settled in on Michelangelo, again a much more natural fit for his personality).  Since I’ve latched to Donnie, though, he’s become an easy target for gift-giving and the like, especially when there’s new versions that I don’t yet own.  Like, say, for instance, this guy!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Donatello — Battle Ready Edition is part of The Loyal Subjects’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles BST AXN line.  He’s based on their takes on the team’s IDW comics-based appearances.  There are two releases for each of them, with the “Battle Ready Edition” being an SDCC 2023-exclusive, which was also available on The Loyal Subjects webstore.  The figure stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  While a good number of the BST AXN Turtles are prone to sharing parts between releases, the more unique nature of the IDW designs means that this Donatello gets an all-new sculpt.  The IDW illustrations are a little more flowy and free-form with the designs, ultimately making the Turtles a little more human in appearance than they usually are.  The sculpt does a respectable job of capturing his look.  He’s tall and lanky, and gets all the proper texturing you’d expect from this particular design.  I especially dig that they even remembered to give him his artificial shell that he got later in the book’s run.  That’s a very fun touch.  Donnie gets two different head sculpts, one slightly goofy and grinny, and the other one is serious and teeth-baring.  They’re both decent matches for the source, but I do lean more towards the goofier one.  Donnie’s paint work is one of this particular release’s main selling points.  In addition to the base level work, the “Battle Ready” figures all get an extra wash to help to accent the smaller sculpted texture details.  It actually works really well, and it’s surprisingly consistent between the different parts of the figure.  Also worth noting is that the two heads get two different styles of eyes, with pupils on the goofier one, and no pupils for the more serious one.  Given the usual back and forth on the styling, it’s nice to get the option there.  Donatello is packed with three sets of hands (gripping, open gesture, and a pointer grip/fist combo), his bo staff, a pair of goggles, and his anti-gravity gauntlet.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I’ve not really messed with the BST AXN Turtles, but there’s just been more and more, and I guess it was inevitable.  The inevitability came to a head when Max got one of the fancy SDCC ones for me as the first part of last year’s Christmas gift.  It’s a different style of Donnie, and it’s a slightly different style of figure, but both elements work nicely.  I definitely dig it.

#3433: Donatello

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

DONATELLO

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (PLAYMATES)

Hey, do you guys know what time it is?  It doesn’t really matter, but, if you just want to play it safe, you could always just say “time for a TMNT reboot.”  I mean, your odds of being correct are pretty high.  Almost as high as if you say “time for DC to announce a new 10 year plan.”  But we’re not talking about DC today.  No, it’s the Turtles.  Let’s talk about the Turtles.  There’s a new Turtles movie in theaters, subtitled Mutant Mayhem, which is doing pretty darn well, and, of course, there’s also toys.  Which, for me specifically, means there’s a Donatello.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Donatello is part of the launch assortment of Playmates’ basic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem tie-in line.  The run is officially chopped into two breakdowns, one for the four turtles, and the other for the other mutants.  No points for guessing of which of those Donatello is a part.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 21 points of articulation.  While not *quite* as well articulated as the tie-in figures for Rise, these figures are still very high on the mobility side, which is always cool to see.  Obviously, Donnie’s sculpt, which is all-new to this release, is based on his new design from the movie.  This round of designs are definitely dialing into the first cartoon’s designs pretty heavily, albeit with a touch of updating to more modern times.  Donnie gets hit with the modernizing perhaps the heaviest of the main four, gaining a pair of glasses, a fanny pack, and a smartphone.  While there are parts of the look I was a little iffy on at first glance, I can appreciate them trying something different, and there’s no denying that the figure captures the look pretty well.  The glasses and fanny pack are both removable, if you’re looking for a more classic Donnie, and minimal remnants of their presence behind, so that’s definitely a plus.  Donnie’s color work is bright and eye-catching, as it should be, and the paint work behind it is all pretty crisp and clean.  The eyes seem just a touch off on their placement on mine, but not terribly so.  Donnie is packed with his bo staff, glasses, headphones, and an unmutated turtle version of himself, plus a weapons tree that includes a variation on the staff, a throwing star, a canister of ooze, a slice of pizza, and a nunchuck-looking thing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As of this writing, I still haven’t actually seen the movie, but when it comes to TMNT, I’m always down for a good Donnie figure.  This very definitely looked like one of those, and after getting it in hand, it very definitely *is* one of those.  His new design is different, but it’s certainly not bad, and he’s definitely fun.  Playmates did a very good job on this guy.

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.

#3368: Donatello as the Invisible Man

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DONATELLO AS THE INVISIBLE MAN

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES X UNIVERSAL MONSTERS (NECA)

During the vintage TMNT line run, Playmates was faced with the dilemma of needing to keep the main Turtles in the line, without the line becoming just repeats of the same basic looks over and over again.  Enter the wacky variants.  But not just any wacky variants; the Turtle variants were like variants on steroids.  They covered all sorts of themes and play features, and eventually they even started doing cross-over figures with other properties.  In 1993 and 1994, they did two sets of Universal Monsters cross-over Turtles, and 30 years later, NECA is also exploring that concept.  They’re actually reaching the tail end of the line-up, it seems, but they’re also getting around to the best Turtle, crossing over with the best monster, with Donatello as the Invisible Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Donatello as the Invisible Man is the sixth figure in NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles X Universal Monsters line, and he started hitting retailers at the end of March/beginning of April.  He’s the second to last figure in the line (at least based on what we know so far), and he’s also the final of the four Turtles.  For Playmates’ vintage versions, there was an Invisible Man, but it was actually Mikey that got assigned the identity, while Donnie’s only figure in the set had him as Dracula.  NECA’s changed almost all of the crossovers for their versions, and while I think some of it’s been a bit of a mixed bag, making Donnie into the Invisible Man is one that feels much more natural than either of the Playmates choices.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  The movement on this guy is pretty decent, an improvement on the usual set-up for their actual Turtles molds (which were first sculpted a good long while ago), bringing him closer to their more recent Ultimate offerings.  Range of motion has some slight restriction on the mid section and hips, due mostly to how the design is laid out.  Donnie sports an all-new sculpt, courtesy of Tony Cipriano and Kushwara Studios.  It’s an all-new design, of course, since they’re not doing a direct translation of any prior figures.  It’s a pretty good set-up; the actual turtle side of things seems to be more 1990 movie-inspired than anything else, which I think vibes pretty well with the horror feel.  The Invisible Man elements are a bit more broad strokes, and less specifically the Universal version.  This one’s a tad more steampunk, and that honestly works out alright with it being Donatello.  The sculpting has quite a bit of detailing, including some impressive texturing, especially on the jacket and the scarf.  While other Invisible Man figures go for making the invisible parts truly invisible by just omitting them entirely, this one molds those parts in clear plastic, which feels more Playmates-y.  The standard head has exposed “eyes”, and the feet are wrapped up to the toes, both featuring clear parts for what you can’t see.  Likewise, the shell is also clear, which allows for some fun Playmates-esque details, notably the pizza slices visible in his shell on the back; how exactly they got there is anyone’s guess, but it’s a funny touch.  The only thing I’m not keen on is an issue I also had with the movie Donnie; the straps on the back of his shell for his bo staff storage are just cloth ties, and they really don’t work all that well, especially at this scale.  It’s really difficult to make use of them at all, and I’m honestly just not going to bother.  Donnie’s paint work is rather on the muted side, which has been the general theme on this line.  While the other three turtles kept their bandanas in the usual colors, the adjusted design for Donnie removes the bandana, replacing it with a more Invisible Man appropriate set of goggles.  To help keep some of Donnie’s trademark palette in play, the strap of the goggles, as well as his scarf, are purple, which adds a nice little splash of color.  Donnie is packed with three sets of gloved hands, one set of clear hands, an alternate set of clear feet, an alternate head, his goggles, his hat, his bo staff, a TGRI journal, and a beaker of serum.  For the most part, the extras are pretty solid.  The only one that’s weird is the extra head; it goes for the “going mad” partially wrapped look seen in the original film, and achieves its invisibility by leaving it hollow, much like the standard NECA Invisible Man did.  That’s all well and good, but everywhere else this figure commits to the molded clear plastic look, so it makes for a rather strange mix of styles.  I wouldn’t have minded seeing a standard turtle head in clear for an unmasked look, like the vintage Mikey had.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The crossover Turtles are a cool idea, but they weren’t wowing me at the start.  That said, I’m a Donatello fan, so I was always planning to wait until they showed him off to pass final judgement.  I wasn’t really big on him as Drac in the vintage line, so the move to Invisible Man, who’s also one of my favorite monsters, was quite fortuitous.  He’s not a perfect figure, but he’s a pretty good one.  I don’t see myself getting anything else from the line, but he makes for a fun standalone piece.

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.

#3337: Metalhead

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

METALHEAD

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: ULTIMATES (SUPER 7)

“Designed as Krang’s ultimate weapon against the Turtles, Metalhead was re-programmed by Donatello to serve the side of good. The chrome-plated sewer servant’s eyes light up when you hold him up to the light. Always the life of the party, Metalhead can whip up a whipped cream and jelly bean pizza, serve sodas, display video games or rock the sewer with tunes from his jazzed-up juke box. When trouble’s brewing, Metalhead becomes one annoyed android and dishes out trouble with his Robo-chuks and Foot Blaster to all who dare mess with his Turtle masters.”

You know a thing that I like?  I mean, aside from the rather obvious “action figures” answer, which is sort of just all around us here.  No, I was actually thinking of “robots” in this case.  Robots are just pretty cool.  And, they make everything else just a little bit cooler.  Case in point?  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Pretty cool, right?  Robot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.  Even better.  Thankfully, the TMNT have one of those on-hand, in the form of Metalhead, who I just so happen to be taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Metalhead is part of Wave 3 of Super 7’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates line.  He’s based on Metalhead’s original 1989 Playmates figure, which, since he was one of the few characters to appear on the show first, means that he’s also pretty accurate to his animated counterpart.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme matches up with how the standard Turtles move, which is to say it’s a little more on the restricted side.  Obviously, it’s an improvement on the vintage figure, but it’s not quite as good as, say, the Casey Jones figure.  Metalhead’s sculpt was new to him, albeit it’s already slated for re-use on the upcoming Michelangelo Metalhead, just like in the vintage line.  It’s a pretty impressive offering.  It captures the general feel of the vintage figure, while also scaling it up and adding quite a nice selection of smaller details.  He’s also got a really cool boxy and robotic feel, just like he should.  Metalhead’s color work is generally pretty decently handled.  He skips out on the chromed parts of the original figure, which feels better for the figure’s longevity over time, and is also more consistent with the rest of the line up to this point.  There’s actually quite a bit going on with this one as well, which gives him a lot of visual interest.  Application is generally pretty clean, which is always nice for this line.  Metalhead is packed with an extra head sculpt, which features light-piping instead of painted eyes, as well as seven hands (a pair of fists, a pair of gripping, a pair of open gesture, and a right hand with a tendril extended), his Portable Party Pack, two sets of his Radical Robo-chuks (one for his hand, and one for the Pack), a radar dish for his pack, two grenades, and a vintage-style weapons tree (which, like with Casey and Ace, isn’t actually accurate to anything specific, but is still cool).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My interest in Metalhead is pretty clearly spelled out in the intro.  I mean, he’s a robot turtle; what’s not to like?  I missed out on Wave 3 of this line during its initial run, so I didn’t really expect to get this guy.  That said, in the fall of last year, All Time got an almost complete run of the Ultimates traded in loose, so that gave me another shot at this guy.  Like the rest of the line I’ve picked up, he’s just a lot of fun.  Hard to go wrong with this guy, really.

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.

#3327: April O’Neil

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

APRIL O’NEIL

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ULTIMATES (SUPER 7)

Over the years, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have gathered quite an entourage of allies and other associates, but the very first was April O’Neil.  Originally a computer programmer working for Baxter Stockman, April would later be re-worked into a news reporter for the first cartoon, with the live-action movies following suit.  She’s been a number of things in the various re-works over the years, but she’s always been a fixture of the franchise, no matter the form (unless it’s The Next Mutation, but I don’t wanna talk about that).  Unsurprisingly, she’s part of most of the toy coverage as well, including Super 7’s Ultimates.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

April O’Neil is part of Wave 3 of Super 7’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates line.  The line-up also included the standard Mikey, Metalhead, and Rocksteady.  April is seen here in her classic yellow jumpsuit, patterned after her vintage Playmates counterpart (who was in turn pretty consistent with April’s original animated incarnation).  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and she has 28 points of articulation.  The articulation scheme for this line is pretty consistent across the board, so April’s movement is generally pretty similar to both Casey and Ace.  The neck movement’s kind of restricted by the hair, and the elbows aren’t able to do a full 90 degrees due to the construction of the sleeves.  April’s sculpt is unique to her thus far (though repaints probably wouldn’t be the craziest concept, especially if they want to follow the vintage line’s lead), and it, like the rest of the figures I’ve looked at up to now, is taking the Playmates figure and up-scaling and adding a little more detail to it.  It’s a pretty decent sculpt; she definitely looks a fair bit like the old toy, albeit with some slightly tweaked proportions.  There are actually two different styles of head included, one based on April’s original 1988 figure, and the other based on the 1990 release, which was a little more glammed up and in-line with the original cartoon look.  They’re internally consistent enough to look like the same person, with just tweaks to the hair for the most part.  I can definitely dig the option, and I like aspects of both sculpts.  April’s color scheme is more closely patterned after the 1988 figure, since she lacks the extra orange accents of the 1990 release.  She’s got the blue striping on the jumpsuit, as well as the Turtles logo on her back, which is pretty cool.  The two heads get two slightly different color schemes for the hair, but more or less the same detailing for the face.  The cheeks are a little bit heavy on the red accenting, but otherwise the paint work’s pretty solid.  April gets a rather impressive selection of accessories, including four pairs of hands (fists, open gesture, grip, and trigger finger), a hand gun, three throwing stars, a flashlight, a microphone, two versions of the shell phone,  an opening brief case, a camera (with articulated legs and a spot for hiding her gun, just like the vintage one), a third head (patterned on the ’88 style sculpt) with a headset, and a weapons tree like her original release included.  The extra head actually winds up being my favorite of the three included; I just really dig how the headset looks.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been desperately trying to get an April and a Casey in one consistent style since this whole collector-oriented Turtles lines thing started.  I struck out with NECA in both styles, and by the time I’d finally settled on the Super 7 version of Casey, April had kind of come and gone from most places.  Fortunately, back in the fall of last year, All Time got an almost complete run of the Super 7 Turtles, loose, which gave me easy access to an April to go along with Casey.  She’s not quite as much fun as Casey, but I like her more than I’d expected.

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.

#3247: Ace Duck

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

ACE DUCK

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ULTIMATES (SUPER 7)

What’s this?  Another TMNT-centered review?  But I just did one of these in February!  Certainly it’s too soon!  Okay, I’ll lay off my usual lead-in for TMNT reviews now.  Back in February, when I looked at my last TMNT item, I took my first look at Super 7’s Ultimates umbrella of figures, of which they’re TMNT line makes up quite a hefty portion.  While I’m not one for getting all of the Turtles over and over again, I do quite like some of their allies.  I’ve already looked at my favorite of the bunch, Casey Jones, but now I’m following up with something of an under-dog character, in the form of Ace Duck.  While Casey is a fixture of most incarnations of the franchise, Ace Duck is a far less explored character, with only a handful of rather brief appearances, most of them not even that closely related to his original toy.  But, he’s a duck in a bomber jacket, and it’s hard not to find that cool, right?  Right.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ace Duck is part of Wave 6 of Super 7’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates line, which also includes Sewer Surfer Mike, Slash, Scratch, and a Mousers pack.  This is actually Ace’s second figure this year, quickly following up on NECA’s toon-based version.  This one, like the rest of the line, is specifically based on Ace’s vintage toy, albeit upgraded to a more modernized detailing and articulation scheme.  The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is pretty similar to Casey’s, which makes sense.  The waist is still kind of restricted, but the neck’s a little better on this figure.  The rest of the joints have a decent range of motion, and he’s quite stable on his feet.  He’s sporting an all-new sculpt, which takes the original figure’s sculpt and upscales and adds a little bit more to it.  In a similar fashion to Casey, the nature of Ace’s toy design relative to his very brief animation appearance makes him more comparable to NECA’s offering, though his adherence to the toy design results in this particular figure having a lot more in-depth detail work, especially when it comes to his exposed feathering.  The head sculpt sticks pretty close to the vintage head, keeping the general expression and detailing, just larger and with a little more going on.  He’s got that same goofy, crazed look going on.  Ace Duck’s color work is rather on the basic side, which is kind of expected.  Most of it’s molded colors, and that works out alright.  There was some concern brought up that the brown for his jacket was a bit too light, and I can see that.  It’s perhaps a touch too light, but not as bad in person as I’d feared based on early reports.  The rest of the molded colors are pretty spot on, though, so it works out alright.  The paint work is lighter, with some work on the face and jacket, as well as some accenting on the feathered areas of the figure.  As with most Super 7 Ultimates, Ace is packed with an impressive selection of accessories.  Like the vintage figure, Ace is packed with his pilot’s cap, his wings and tail (which in this release are now three separate parts, rather than one), a bandolier with removable grenades (six of them for this one, rather than the four from the vintage figure), and a small pistol.  In addition to the strictly vintage inspired items, the figure also gets five sets of hands (fists, gripping, trigger finger, open gesture, and relaxed), a Tommy gun, an alternate head with an aviator cap and a cigar, a pair of goggles, and an alternate jacket piece without the holes in hit for the wings.  It’s all topped off with one of those simulated weapons trees that all of the figures in the line have been getting.  Ace, much like Casey, didn’t have a tree on his vintage figure, so Super 7’s had a little more fun with it, making the excess look like a plane’s landing gear.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

It’s actually Ace Duck that really sold me on the Super 7 Ultimates as a whole.  I’ve just always wanted an Ace Duck; the duck in the bomber jacket’s just a cool look.  Same reason I love Launchpad McQuack.  Whatever the case, I was weighing my options on Casey Jones figures, and Ace Duck got shown off around that time, and I just really liked the look of this guy.  As with Casey, this figure comes with a hefty price point, but one that really feels worthwhile.  He’s a lot of fun, and I love all the extra stuff they included.

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.

#3039: Casey Jones

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

CASEY JONES

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ULTIMATES (SUPER 7)

Apart from they year 2019, which saw an inordinately high number of TMNT-themed reviews, they tend to be a little bit scarce around these parts.  Not that I deliberately avoid them or anything, especially when I’ve got a good reason not to.  I guess I’ve got a good reason not to.  The story of where we are right now starts with Matty Collector.  I know, that’s rarely a good start, but this one plays out okay, I swear.  After running pretty much the whole platform into the ground, Mattel decided they didn’t really want to support a collector site anymore, and was looking to shut things down.  However, Masters of the Universe Classics still had a little traction left in it.  Rather than giving up entirely, they licensed the whole thing out to Super 7, who had previously been pretty much exclusively focusing on smaller Kenner throw-back figures.  Super 7 took the assignment rather to heart, initially continuing, and then circling back to further improve upon what Mattel had been doing with MOTUC.  When Mattel decided to take Masters back in-house, Super 7 opted to keep the style they’d started going, under the banner of Ultimates, and spread to other ’80s and ’90s properties, chief among them being TMNT.  They’re a good way into the line now, and they’ve just added one of the Turtles’ two best human friends, Casey Jones!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Casey Jones is part of Wave 4 of Super 7’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimates line, alongside Donatello, Mondo Gecko, and Muckman.  As with the rest of the line, his focus is specifically on recreating the vintage Playmates figure, up to modern standards of sculpting and articulation, so that’s what he’s specifically based on.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is sort of its own style of thing.  There are certainly some elements of the Mattel work that Super 7 inherited with their Ultimates lines, but with its own sort of flair, which honestly marks some improvements to how things work.  There’s a pretty solid range of motion on most of the joints (the neck and waist are both a little restricted on mine, but that’s really it), and he holds poses well and maintains a pretty stable footing without much trouble.  The figure’s sculpt is all-new, with the express purpose of recreating the original Playmates toy design for the character.  For Casey, that’s not as far removed from the animation design as some others, making him perhaps a more comparable offering to what we got from NECA.  That said, there’s a slightly more in-depth level to the detailing, especially the smaller stuff and the texturing.  You can make out the individual wrappings of the bandages on his knees and right hand, as well as little traces of hair on his arms and what we can see of his torso.  I also really dig the smaller, personal touch details, like his left shoelace being untied, adding to Casey’s classically disheveled appearance.  His mask is even sculpted to look convincingly like a separate piece, even though it’s non-removable.  Casey’s color work isn’t terribly involved, which is rather true to the original design.  There’s a lot of swathes of solid colors, largely molded in the proper color of plastic.  That said, the base work is generally pretty clean, with only a few minor fuzzy spots.  He’s also got some decent accent work to help some of the sculpted elements pop just a little bit.  Casey is packed with a rather impressive selection of accessories.  He includes four sets of hands (fists, open gesture, gripping with a forward/back joint, and gripping with a side-to-side joint), three different baseball bats, a golf club, a hockey stick, three hockey pucks, and his bag to carry everything.  All of the figures also include a weapons tree simulating the ones included with the old Playmates figures.  The vintage Casey didn’t have one, but this one still gets it.  It’s actually kind of neat, since the excess parts of the tree resemble a goal net.  I don’t see myself getting any use of of this piece from a display standpoint, but it’s still kind of a nifty piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While the idea of spending $50 a pop on TMNT figures doesn’t exactly thrill me or seem like a thing I’m really game for, I do certainly have a soft spot for Casey Jones, and after all of the fiascos surrounding NECA’s various figures, I decided it might be worth my time to at least give this one a try.  After snagging this guy, I think it’s safe to say that he was definitely worth my time.  He’s a lot of fun, and I think Super 7 really found a footing to justify the price point on these.  I’m not going to be jumping in full force or anything, but I’m definitely game for at least one or two others, to say nothing of the other Super 7 Ultimates offerings that are upcoming.  But, in the mean time, I can safely say this is the best Casey Jones I’ve got, and that’s certainly a plus.

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.