 | Hello Guest - Sign In or New Account |
| Hello Guest - Sign In or New Account |
Write a Review link for that item. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Collection (Playmates)In 1984, up-and-coming comic artist Kevin Eastman sketched up a goofy drawing of a ninja turtle, which led to his friend Peter Laird doing his own version, ultimately leading to them starting their own comic book. What was supposed to be a one-shot turned into a long-running comic series, and it wasn't long before it became a global franchise and pop culture phenomenon. Now it's 40 years later, and Playmates has been celebrating the anniversary with plenty of re-releases of figures and vehicles from the original toy line, alongside some new products, such as a set of turtles based off Laird's initial group sketch. In contrast to the usual cardback, Playmates put these figures in window boxes, likely due to them being more orientated to collectors than kids (still says 4+ on the box). The torn paper look fits nicely for these, and there's renditions of the original drawings on the top and back. There are twisties holding in the figure and some accessories, along with a paper twisty for the bases, holding them to the cardboard insert, so make sure to get some scissors out when opening these up. In Laird's group sketch, the turtles all pretty much had the same expression, and with these, Raphael and Michelangelo seem to share the same mouths, but Leonardo and Donatello both have unique heads, with one side of the mouth showing more teeth than the other. The eyes all look the same, but I assure you the masks on each is a unique sculpt. The heads aren't a dead-on representation to how they looked in the sketch, but it's very close, and there's even a subtle texturing to the skin which enhances the sculpt a bit. Only the eyes and teeth on the heads look to be painted, but the work is mostly clean, with some fuzziness and bleed at the edges. Each of the brothers stands about 4 1/2" tall, putting them in line with Playmates' usual Turtle fare. The bodies all have the same build, with the big hands and chunky legs, but there's unique tooling to each one. Leo and Raph are the only ones with waist belts for their sword sheaths, which come separate in the box, and I'm having trouble figuring out how Leo's sheaths should go. Donnie has a strap around his chest with a holster for his bo staff, and Mikey doesn't have anything on his torso, with a bit of plastic in the back where a belt/strap should be glued in, but he has holsters for his nunchucks on his forearms. Speaking of, the limbs and carapaces are shared tooling, but with some unique parts, like Leonardo's upper legs and left arm, due to the kneepads and asymmetrical elbow pads. The brothers bear the different skin tones and clothing colors that match the original toy colors, and while Mirage fans may be bothered by it, I imagine Playmates went with this to make it easier to tell them apart. The paint is very nice on these figures, including some metallic accents for the weapons, but Leo suffers from some blue bleed and slop on the thighs. The turtles all move the same, close to the current articulation scheme Playmates uses. Each has a swivel/hinge neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, alongside swivel wrists. The joints allow for some pretty good poses, with the neck offering plenty of looking down and a bit up, but a ball-peg for the head would've allowed for more dynamic head movement. As for accessories, each have their signature weapons: Leo has his katanas (with crooked handles), Don has his staff, Raph has his sai, and Mikey has his nunchucks (with metal chains!). Raphael also has a katana, like he was depicted with in the sketch. Each also has a chunk of a larger base; Don and Raph have the big parts, Leo has a smaller section with a manhole cover, and Mikey's section has a box and plank from his to stand on. These fit together, but not really click, and are designed to recreate the sketch. Speaking of, each figure has a reproduction of said sketch, along with a base depicting a broken mutagen canister in a puddle of ooze. I definitely have to give Playmates credit; this is a fun set of Turtles that haven't been done before, and corresponds to a piece of TMNT history. Some may have a problem with them being Target-exclusive, but they're easy to get ahold of it. If your main issue is the colors, then it's a good thing Playmates did black-and-white ones with red masks for SDCC. They sold out quickly, but don't fret, they should be hitting speciality retailers some time soon. - 8/1/24   by RMaster007 |
| Earl Sinclair |  | Submission Order |  | First Turtles (Eastman & Laird) |
| Night Ninja Leo | | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Collection Series | | Toilet Taxi |
| Earl Sinclair | | Written by RMaster007 | | First Turtles (Eastman & Laird) |
Please wait...
Update Your Review