NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (All 4) - 1990 Film

 

If you haven't seen the 1990's TMNT live-action movies just stop reading and go watch them all. Right now. I'm serious! They were great and like most properties from before the 2000s, full of nostalgia. I rewatched them on Netflix recently and it's interesting watching those movies when you're older. You start to notice stuff that is just kinda funny...I mean....the kids the Foot clan is using are just doing petty crime! That's hilarious. They're literally stealing toasters and TVs. These days it would be like hardcore gangster violence and high stakes heists. 

NECA does some licenses super well, and they've absolutely KILLED it with the NECA TMNT line. Every figure is so amazingly movie-accurate regardless of the scale. The paint and sculpt is amazing.  I got my second hand so they didn't come with all their accessories, one is misplaced (that is definitely not Donatello's staff) and one of Leo's swords broke in transit. What are you gonna do! 

2nd Annual Top 10 Most Viewed Action Figures!

It's the 2nd anniversary of the blog and we've been making a few steps since last year! More S.H. Figuarts, the discovery of the wonder that is Mafex and a guest blog on the Gemr.com website!

With that, here are the most viewed figures from April 23rd of 2018 to the same date as this year.

 10: S.H. Figuarts Rock Lee.

Such a zany character with crazy eyes and even crazier taijutsu skills, Rock Lee is a great support character in the Naruto universe and has had some of the best battles in Naruto show. Styled after the likes of Bruce Lee (sounds like "Blues Lee", so the writer made it "Rock Lee" to follow the unintentional musical genre theme). The fact he came with all the parts to change him into Gate released form is just all the better. 

His Konoha Senpuu is better than yours

Best Transformation award! Also, most involved
parts swapping

9. Hasbro Spiderman (Gameverse): One of my favourite games of this year, Hasbro did a pretty good job of using their spiderman parts and new paint to make this a pretty good copy of the game version. It may be the only spiderman figure I own, so I'm glad I own it! 

Easiest to Photograph in a Hanging Pose
Award! 

I was excited to find out that S.H. Figuarts is making this!
They're definitely getting more of my money.

8. S.H. Figuarts Kakashi Hatake: He is easily one of the most popular characters in Naruto. He's got a great story, awesome jutsu, and is just an all around great character. A few things I wished they had done was to make a better Chidori effect and make his crotch a lot less diaper-y! Other than that this is a great figure. 

Best Winky Face! Also, best
Protagonist award!

Had to add some lightning pieces, but it mostly works!

7. S.H. Figuarts Boruto Uzumaki: There are a lot of people who heavily criticize the Boruto show, but while I hear and understand that people don't like some of the departures from Naruto, I find it very entertaining and in many ways better written. This figure has one of the best leg joints made by S.H. figuarts and I think one of the best Rasengan effects. I only wish they had made Sarada and Mitsuki as well!

Best Articulation Award!

6. Mattel Multiverse Killer Croc: One of my wishes is to always get the rest of the Arkham big figures (Titan Joker, Clayface, Solomon Grundy, Killer Croc) but they are so expensive that it makes it nigh impossible to justify. This figure, however, is easily justifiable! It is meant for a 4" scale figure of Nightwing to see imposing and huge as he is in the game. However, his size matches him up as a man-sized version when compared to regular 7" scale Arkham figures. He's not perfect, but he's a good stand-in for now!

Best Alternative to a Very Expensive Figure Award!

He just wishes he had an ankle joint!

5. S.H. Figuarts Minato Namikaze: Naruto's father, 4th Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves and inventor of the Rasengan makes Minato a force to be reckoned with. He sealed half of the Nine-tailed best in his son to protect his village and sacrificed his life but he does come back every once in a while for some great appearances and even a few fights! Super well designed even if the cloak isn't removable and can get in the way sometimes.

Best Ghost Father Award!

Flyin' Lightnin' Yellow Flash

4. S.H. Figuarts Itachi Uchiha: Only one of two major villains from the Naruto series made in action figure form, Itachi proved to be a complex character with many a mysterious motive. His mastery over his Uchiha bloodline and various jutsu made him a formidable antagonist. He is the main plot drive for Sasuke in the show. The figure is pretty good but would've been better with a cloth cloak in my opinion!

Most Tragic Backstory Award!

Also angriest yelly face!

3. Sasuke Uchiha (Bandai):  This was an amazing find and discovery. I had no idea a figure of that level of articulation and special accessories was made. He's not as well sculpted or painted as an S.H. Figuarts but he looks pretty great for a 2003 figure! I would love to get the Kakashi and Naruto ones as well.

Rarest and Most Surprising
Action Figure Find of the year!

Demon Wind Shuriken action!

2.Playmates Toys April O'Neil: This is easily the worst figure in my collection. Maybe the horrible bashing I gave it caused more of a crowd! Either way, the 2nd spot goes to the worst!

Worst Figure of All Time Award!

Whatever!

1. S.H. Figuarts Madara Uchiha: So glad they had finally made another villain in the show. Not the most impressive way to handle the ab crunch, but the accessories and the rest of the figure is solid!
He received the most views (135 and climbing) and although I've said this many times, I wish they had made Tobirama and more Akatsuki!

Best Hair Award!

Also Coolest in the Summertime Award

Well, there you have it folks, another year of the blog done. I don't know what the next year is going to hold, I have a few figures, and plans to get some anime themed ones as well as more Mafex.
Happy Collecting!

Uchiha family

In rank order 1 to 10, front to back!

Faceoff! I think the bad guys would win this one

Or maybe Madara just take them all out!

Dance off bros! Noe that young Sasuke is too "cool" to show appreciation of dance or music. 

Playmates Toys' April O'Neil - TMNT 2012

April O'Neil has undergone probably the most changes throughout the entirety of the TMNT Universe. See below!

In the 2012 cartoon, she is a half-human, half-Kraang 16-year-old girl who starts as the turtles' friend but quickly develops into a badass telekinetic powered, fan-wielding shinobi of her own.
I like that they give her more of a prominent role in the series, as they did with the 2003 version of April. I have to say though, while I did love the show and most of the animation used, the way human bodies and faces were done was probably the least appealing part of the show for me. Something about the aesthetic never sat well with me.

While most parts are fairly spot on for sculpt and paint, she is fairly disappointing as a figure in a few ways. First, the face sculpt is really overly glossy and poorly defined. Next, while the accessories are mostly fine, there isn't a war fan or two in there. Her hands are quite small and soft and do not hold onto weapons well, and finally, her articulation is much worse than all the others figures I had collected up to this point.

1st Annual Top 10 Most Viewed Action figures!

As of April 23rd, 2018, this blog has officially been running for a year! It's funny to think I've been writing this little hobby blog for *slightly* over a year. Anyway, I figure I'd celebrate that by starting a Top 10 Most viewed action figures. I figure *pun intended* I'd show off the blog posts that were of most interest to my readership. Here goes from 10th to 1st!



#10. DC Icons Aquaman
I did not expect him on this list, but it is --1. Nice that he made it and 2. Painfully funny that he is once again last on a list. I do actually like the figure, even with the gimmicky telepathy effect! He's simple, sleek and I like the glossy green parts of his suit.

Amazing-that-it-got-a-place Award!

"Willy's in trouble at the aquarium!"

#9. DC Icons Nightwing
He's always had a simple design in costume but Nightwing is my favorite in DC comics and this figure is my favorite Nightwing of the ones I own. I love the idea of a sidekick evolving to be his own thing. It's a natural progression that isn't often taken advantage of in comics. His kali sticks could be less plain but I'll be damned if I don't find his face sculpt one of the best of any Arkham or DC Classics I've seen.

Author's Favourite Award!

DC Icons line really should've made their
staves and sticks more interesting...basically
that's a metal bar with no features

#8 DC Icons Batgirl
Such a great Rebirth version of Batgirl. The fact this came with her big motorcycle is SWEET. With skid effects on the platform that comes with it! And a bunch of great accessories. She's a bit tricky to balance given the very light weight of the figure but is so great.

Punch pose! (for Instagram!)

Best Accessory Award!

#7 DC Collectibles Nightwing - Arkham Knight
He's only been in two of the four games, but his appearance in Arkham Knight was very pleasing. He had speaking parts, awesome dual play fights, and even some of his own missions and challenge maps. The character has a bit to be desired though. I don't particularly like his head and mask design. His articulation from his ab is just bad. His legs and body proportions also seem kinda weird. Oh well!

Playmates Toys' Foot Soldier - TMNT 2012 series

The Footsoldier or ninja is the classic backbone of any evil leader army! The Empire had storm troopers, Bowser had koppa troopers, and The Shredder has the Foot Clan.  By definition, a foot soldier is an infantryman who fights on foot, though in this case, the foot is also a symbol of the criminal organization that attempts to control NYC.

At first, the Foot clan is mostly human ninjas that do all the wet work, then later they are replaced with robot Foot ninjas that are basically Swiss army robot ninjas with a bazillion weapons. Either one is no real trouble for the turtles, but rule #1 of minion club is that the heroes have to have some weak enemies to beat up and show off their awesome moves!

The figure is one of the first releases and is of a pretty basic design. I have to say they are much improved compared to the 80s cartoon. The purple uniforms and oddly shaped heads didn't do it for me so much! The black costumes with red bandannas and eye mesh masks remind me a bit of the live action movies from the 90s. A nice feature on these guys is the crossed dual sheaths that hold both the shorter blade and longer ninja sword. They also come with two four-point shurikens and a comparable amount of posability as that of any of the villain character figures.

Playmates Toys' Dogpound - TMNT 2012 series

Dogpound is one of the many mutant minions that is original to the TMNT 2012 show. Originally Chris Bradford, a martial artist celebrity and secret servant to Shredder, he encounters the turtles and accidentally becomes exposed to the mutagen that turns him into Dogpound. Given he was last bitten by Shredder's akita dog, he becomes a monstrous dog creature covered in bony spikes along with a monstrous left arm with spiked knuckles.

He later mutates even further into Razhar, definitely a more sinister version, but I actually prefer his character as the smarmy, sarcastic, celebrity human self.  This is perhaps because he is modeled a bit after an evil type of Chuck Norris, which is hilarious.I bought this figure cause the sheer bulk of him compared to the turtles seemed like it was a neat difference that I hadn't really seen in the original toys from the 1980s. 

Despite the fact the figure is extremely top heavy, the legs and tail keep him satisfyingly upright. Like the other figures I'd discover in the line, he isn't super poseable, but is just generally neat to look at and have on the shelf. Paint and sculpt was ok as well, though you can't argue with the cheap price I got him at (11 CAD). He's actually not as easy to find cheap anymore, except on eBay and even there, shipping won't be kind to you unless you live in the continental U.S. 

Playmates Toys' Shredder (Customization) - TMNT 2012 series

Oh Shredder, always trying to stop those dang turtles!
In the 2012 show, Shredder is the typical obsessed, megalomanic, arrogant, cold-hearted villain although most of his rage and vengeance is directed towards Splinter. In the show, they both loved the same woman, Tang-Shen, but in a heated battle, she died and Shredder has blamed Splinter (though it's pretty clear Shredder --aka Oroku Saki-- killed her). He's a pretty generic villain in terms of personality and motivation, but the turtles have to have someone to fight!

There's a story about buying this shredder, and it goes like this:
I was buying the turtles, excited by the show and my re-introduction to collecting the toys. I bought the four turtles, then went to order Shredder at the same time. I wasn't really paying attention, and accidentally ordered the 8 inch tall Sound FX shredder. To the figure's credit, the look was pretty spot on, but the articulation was garbage since it was mostly meant as a sound effects toy. So I kept the figure and ordered the first release of the shredder.

Like the first release of the turtles, it was not quite like the cartoon. For one, the face plate wasn't completely painted, and the head sculpt in general was poor. The shredder gauntlet blades were far too short, even if they were meant to be in their retracted state. Last, there was no purple cape! Though he does remove it sometimes, he is mostly seen with the cape.

Customization steps:

Playmates Toys' Michelangelo - TMNT 2012 series

Mikey is and always has been, my favourite turtle. He is the liveliest of the bunch, he uses a fairly unconventional fighting weapon, and he is just downright hilarious. He is super-improved by the 2012 series treatment. Whereas before Mikey was more of a slight prankster and joker, he is off-the-wall funny in this. His antics between the brothers probably made me want to watch the show more than any other single character. I dare you to watch the episode "The Gauntlet" from season 1 and not laugh. This series also makes him more emotionally immature, but loving, than previous iterations.
He is, after all, the youngest of the turtle brothers.

This figure is the shortest of the four turtles, and his lime green skin tone is pretty close to the show colours. One thing they didn't add to the paint --and I wouldn't expect in a Playmates toy-- is the darker green freckles, which add to his more teenager-innocent look.

Playmates Toys' Donatello - TMNT 2012 series

Donatello is the classic, socially awkward, gadget brainiac/science nerd. As a science and science fiction nerd myself, I really enjoy his character. Compared to other series, Donatello's character is more or less the same, with the addition of being romantically attracted to April. He is involved more in the group than just being their tech and weapons/arsenal designer, which is nice. They really drive his character home as a bit hyper-logical, for example when a piece of Splinter wisdom goes right over his head.

He's a bit taller and leaner physically than the other turtles, and this figure shows that most especially in the head/neck. They gave his regular bo staff a bit of a kick by having him design a naginata type blade that folds out of one end. His accessories include his staff, bladed staff, two saw disc-type shurikens and a three section staff (sansetsu kun). I am a little bit disappointed that the staff is a bit too short. When he grips it with both hands, there's barely any left on each end.

Playmates Toys' Raphael - TMNT 2012 series

Raphael the rage machine! He still keeps that mantle, but in the 2012 series he is pretty hilarious himself, and razzes his brothers pretty well. I find along with all the other turtle personalities, I found this series really made me like each one more, whereas the older series I was more ambivalent about most with the exception of Mikey. I've always thought Raph had the most unique/neatest weapons since he uses them for all kinds of purposes in fights, where the sword, staff and nunchaku's have always been pretty one dimensional as a weapon in most iterations of the shows and movies.

This figure has a very dark forest green skin tone, and a pretty similar sculpt to the others. He's about the same height as Leo and comes with his sais, two "half" sais, two tiger head hook swords, and two four-pointed shurikens.

Playmates Toys' Leonardo - TMNT 2012 series

Leo is the classic leader. He tries to get everyone to work together, mediates Raph's temper, Mikey's impulse and Donny's haywired gadgets. He's got a tough job! The Leonardo in this series is a little bit more dynamic than others. He's a little less serious, and is made fun of by the other brothers to some good comedic effect. He is a bit more naive in his ideas than other iterations of Leo, and even enjoys a hilarious mock-Star-Trek space TV series.

I have to say, this is my favourite version of Leo, and he is one of my least favourite turtles.
This figure has more of a emerald green cast, and unlike the old line of TMNT figures, each turtle has a unique mold. They are even different heights, with Donny being the tallest, and Mikey the shortest of the turtles.

Update: TMNT Tuesdays!

Starting tomorrow, I decided I'd mix it up a little bit with reviewing some TMNT figures every Tuesday for the next little while. They're pretty basic figures mostly meant for kids, which makes it not so much work to write and shoot.

The TMNT Line has been owned by Playmates Toys, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong toy company, Playmates holdings, for many many years (since 1966).  Playmates actually sort of hovers for me between the area of too-bright, bulky, unarticulated Vs. adult collectible toy for this line.
The turtle brothers actually have a decent amount of articulation and range for their price point as well as the typical unpainted sprue accessories. The other characters look fairly close to the show but don't really have as many posing options, which is a shame.

Back in the day (oh yes I did), the older TMNT line had the characters in every kind of style and outfit imaginable, such as:

Wind up toys:


to "disguised" turtles (I had Mikey, but really was jealous of my friends' leonardo)



to some REALLY bizarre stuff:


*All images courtesy of tmnttoys.com

There have been quite a few lines since the first line based on movies and other tv shows.
I have a soft spot for TMNT toys because they were the very first action figures I remember having as a kid since I was so inundated at the time by the 1980s TV cartoon. I didn't have most of the crazy versions, but I do distinctly remember owning the basic four, krang, a mouser, foot soldier, and maybe some random versions like the turtle transforming Raph.

The TMNT toys are what actually got me first into collecting as an adult, ironically enough a few years ago. I had seen a friend get a few nice figures that looked great on his shelf and reminded me how much I missed the cartoons and make-believe pastimes of my youth, then I was introduced by the same friend to the newer TMNT (2012) series. I was kinda blown away! It was CG, but it was, what I considered, to be pretty good. The humour was great, and they even added in many japanese terms, something I think the other series --including the original--were missing.

I am kinda sad to see the series end! I'm not a big fan of the aesthetic look of the new upcoming series: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but I was willing to give the 2012 series a chance, so as a fan I'll do the same for this series.

DC Icons - Robin (Super Sons pack)

Damian Wayne is the 13 year old progeny of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul. Raised by his mother and his grandfather, Ra's Al Ghul, he is dropped at Batman's door. He starts out very self-important, lacking in empathy and an extremely deadly fighter.

Even though he can act like a real dick (pun intended), I have a soft-spot for Damian. He's got a very distinct personality, and he experiences real character growth in the comics. He also is pretty good at kicking butt and executing a very independent version of Robin.

DC Icons - Superboy (Super Sons pack)

Johnathan Samuel Kent is the latest and greatest version of Superboy from the DC Rebirth comics. He is the 10 year old half-Kryptonian child of Superman and Lois Lane who has begun to gradually gain his powers. They are inconsistent powers, and fluctuate with his emotional state, but are impressive nonetheless!

He joins Robin (Damien Wayne) in the comic series Super Sons to fight various foes alongside allies like the Teen Titans. Super sons was actually a comic series created long before Rebirth in 1973. In that older series, it was Clark Kent Jr. (Of Clark and Lois) and Bruce Wayne Jr.(Of Bruce and Talia), who were basically young versions of their fathers.

DC Icons - Supergirl (Rebirth)

Kara-Zor El is the cousin of Superman and has undergone a death, retcon and many redesigns over the years. She has the fully matured powers of Superman but with less of the fine control he has had from years living under a yellow sun.

This is the Rebirth version of Supergirl which means she is primarily based off the TV show Supergirl starring Melissa Benoist. Her costume design is a mix of some previous costume elements from other comics. I am really not big into the Superman/Kryptonian storylines but this figure and the Super Sons comics caused my figure-addicted brain to DEMAND I buy this figure.

I really like the proportions and look of this figure. I try on occasion to buy female figures that aren't overly sexualized, which can be quite difficult! Now she does have a skirt but consider for a moment that she doesn't have an exposed midriff, cleavage and isn't wearing actual red underwear with nothing else (unlike the other iterations of Supergirl). This version has a strong facial expression and comes with a few nice accessories. The cape that overhands the shoulders is a tiny big annoying if you want to get her shoulders up, but the material is very thin plastic that does have give to it.