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. 

DC Icons Batman (Rebirth)

The DC Rebirth universe has been a bit of a softer restart. It doesn't erase the events of the previous New 52 series, but simply puts on a fresh coat of paint to some characters backgrounds/looks and adds some new, interesting conflicts and events. The new Batman definitely has an updated look and life. He continues in his role to try to raise Damien Wayne as his son, while also finding himself trying to form a real relationship with Selina Kyle (Catwoman).

She said yes!

His look has changed a bit as well. He's still got the black and grey (my preferred), but the inside of his cape is purple (not my favourite for him, but interesting when you paralell the Joker). Add to that, his gloves are a bit bigger, and his boots have more pronounced ridges on the treads. I think this gives him a more work-out-tough-guy look. The other thing I'm torn about aside the cape is the knee pads. They are the same colour as the suit, but in a strange H shape. I don't quite get it?

The Batman here represents all those elements really well though. The articulation is pretty good, and this Batman has the newer drop down hinge hips. He is a bit bulkier, so his double joints don't work as effectively. One sore point for me about the DC Rebirth figures from the 7 pack is the lack of accessories or even alternate hands. I can stand not having another batarang, but there's not much choice for alternate hands. All in all though, he's a really nice figure and the design is very cleanly painted and sculpted.

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 Collectibles Manbat - Arkham Knight

Kirk Langstrom is a successful scientist and loving husband who is quickly developing chronic deafness. So what does he do? What any comic book good guy turned-villain would do. Splices DNA with that of a bat in order to counteract his disorder. Now, this is the part where you ignore science, because he ends up turning himself into an animalistic, superhuman strong bat creature.

As an opponent to Batman, he's a little bit limited in what is done story-wise with the character, in that he's more of a tragic villain. A bit of a Jekyll and Hyde type, rather than a malicious, evil psychopath that is typical of Batman's rogue gallery.
In the game, unlike some of the comics, he kills his wife during his transformation, then pretty much just flies around the city until you discover and try to cure him. Now, I was actually expecting his appearance, as it is a bit of a jump-scare, and he still scared the CRAP outta me when the scene came. His role is a side mission called Creature of the Night, which isn't particularly long.

SH Figuarts- Sasuke Uchiha (Itachi Battle Version)

Sasuke has always been a cold-hearted rival to Naruto who hailed from the same Ninja village, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. At least, he started out that way, then became a deserter/traitor, full blown villain and then other things! His character is always portrayed as an angry, competitive and very powerful shinobi.

Unlike Naruto, whose powers mostly focus on the Rasengan, Shadow clones and Wind powers, Sasuke's are mostly those of fire, lightning and his eye-powers of the Sharingan, which can do a variety of things from creating illusions, summoning unquenchable black fire, and precognition of movements in battle. Pretty useful!