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Write a Review link for that item. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) (Super7)It didn't take long for Super7 to start integrating some of the deeper cuts of the TMNT line into their world of Ultimates. Scratch was the first of them, and now there's a couple other lesser-known characters and variants. One of those variants is Raphael from the "Undercover Turtles" subline from 1994, and they managed to get him complete and into customers' hands in under a year. I'm pretty sure the main reason it didn't take Super7 as long to produce him is because of all the reused tooling. This figure is 90% the same sculpt as the regular Raphael, with the main difference being the paint as I'll discuss below. The default head is a "modern" one, and it's almost the exact same as what they did with the previous Raphael, but the bandana tail hangs down instead of flowing to the side, and a hat has been affixed to his head. There's an alternate headsculpt that's directly based off the original Undercover Raphael, and this is an entirely new sculpt. Both heads look great, and I can't bring myself to prefer one over the other. The body is unchanged, though the figure stands a bit taller thanks to the hat, and he's around 6 1/4" tall. The colors are largely different, adding a bit more uniqueness to him. The skin, along with the ninja gear such as the mask, elbow and knee pads, and wristbands, are less faded and a good deal bolder, and I prefer these over the other Raphael. The front of the shell is yellower, the back is a lighter color, and the belt is solid black, save for a big red "R" on the buckle. There's some fuzziness around the mask on both heads, but they did a great job with his paint otherwise. Same body means same articulation, as Raphael has a ball-jointed head and waist, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles, and swivel biceps and thighs. Most of the joints move great, and he can manage some nice poses, though there is a pretty big issue with the wrists. Half of the included hands - most of the right hands and one left - have stuck tight hinges, and I've had to soak them in hot water a couple times already to get them moving. Since the pegs on them are pretty thin, I'd advise popping them off the arms and heating up the plastic first before trying to pose them. The left hand also pops off a bit more easily than I'd like, possibly due to excess plastic on the forearm. Since this is an "Undercover" version of the hot-headed turtle, Raphael has a softgoods trenchcoat, just like the old figure. Super7 has done some nice tailoring before, but this is some of their best work. It's easy to get the belt off, and there's a button that helps keep the coat closed. I do wish there was a wire in the bottom to pose it flowing with the wind, but it looks nice otherwise, and it doesn't hinder the arm articulation at all. There's plenty of accessories included here to both up the fun factor and justify the price. I already mentioned the toy-accurate head, and I had no trouble swapping it with the regular one. Five pairs of hands are also included: vertical-hinged grips, lateral-hinged grips, grasping, closed, and another pair of lateral grips designed to hold the sai between his fingers. They're very easy to swap out and they stay in tightly (the right hands, at least), but make sure to soak them in hot water before moving anything. All the accessories from the old figure are here, including a pair of sai (reused, but with red handles), night vision goggles, a radar dish, a pistol, a video camera, and a briefcase. The sai can in both his hands and the loops on the belt, and the briefcase opens up to hold his accessories. I wish there was more colors on the camera, radar, and briefcase, especially since the original promo images showed plenty of paint on them, and the briefcase is very cheap feeling. The googles look nice, but you'll have to pop off the head and slide them on through the bottom so Raph can wear them. A couple extras that the original didn't have are included as well, with a pair of shuriken (reused), a slice of pizza, and a tripod stand for the camera. The stand is pretty nice, as it plugs into the camera easily and has moving legs that don't pop off easily like April's did. My favorite inclusion has to be the collector's card, similar to what later vintage figures had. The artwork on it is great, and it's a nice extra overall. I guess time will tell if we see any more with future releases. Undercover Raphael was released as a Big Bad Toy Store exclusive, rather than a regular release, and I'm guessing they did that to prevent turtle variants from overflowing the line (and yet we get a Shredder repaint). Aside from the problem with the wrist joints and the lack of paint on some of the accessories, this is a very unique and fun figure, and it certainly beats paying god knows how much for his 90s counterpart. I'm hoping Super7 gets around to doing the rest of the Undercover Turtles someday, and it would be interesting to see how they handle Donatello, since he got two figures of him in a trenchcoat. - 10/19/22   by RMaster007 |
| Doomsday |  | Submission Order |  | Captain Atom (Gold) (Chase) |
| Slash | | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) Series | | Sewer Surfer Mike |
| Doomsday | | Written by RMaster007 | | Captain Atom (Gold) (Chase) |
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