Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Karai Serpent

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this figure at the toy store as I was expecting to see Mikey Turflytle first (still waiting to find that figure!). So far this is the only Karai figure Playmates has given us in this new TMNT toy line despite her having been in the show from the beginning... Plenty has already been said about the lack of female action figures, better than how I could say it, but really Playmates?! We only get a Karai figure AFTER she's been mutated?! Not cool man.

Anyway, let's take a look at the figure out of it's packaging.

First thing you'll want to do is pop the tail on this figure to complete it. It's a very minor and simple piece of assembly.

Out of packaging Karai does not have her serpent head, she has her human head (see Playmates? You can sculpt it...)

Karai's human head is nicely done and includes her signature red eye makeup which is nice, she's got a good, but plain, hair sculpt and her eyes and lips are neatly painted. The overall sculpt is solid.

You also get her serpent head which places over her human head. The mouth is done in a sold red colour, and the eyes are pretty neatly done in a nice emerald green.

The head is on a ball joint so can be turned right around and tilted left, right, up (just a little) and down. And the serpent head covers it quite nicely.

As for the rest of the articulation? I'll make this quick: the arms move forward and back and there's a waist swivel.

Yeah.

I mean, you can move the tail, but the bottom of it is flat and hollow so looks unsightly and the figure can't really balance without it flat on the shelf.

As for the paint apps? That'll be just as quick. As I mentioned, the heads have some paint apps, the body though? Grey and purple. Nice sculpting of the scales, in her hands, and the torso, but with so little paint it's mostly lost and plain looking.

Surprisingly I don't hate this figure. I suppose it's fine for my purpse of display, and it's sturdy enough for play certainly, with so few many moving parts. But I struggled to get any real dynamic poses from here, and the paint? Man, a couple of things would have helped out greatly! A wash over the scales to bring out those nice details and a little paint to the snake hands and this thing would have at least looked a lot better.

But as we know, Playmates keep the cost of these figures down by minimising paint apps and articulation on the everyone but the 4 brothers.

Also, Playmates? A female Karai really would be great. Please.

Go Figure!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Stockman-Fly

We're finally able to pick this new figure up in the UK - I ordered mine online, but I have seen this figure in my local Smyths toy store. I really liked how much build up Stockman got before finally being mutated into a fly and the mutation scene in the show was pretty great itself!

Stockman-Fly comes with the one accessory in his chocolate bar. It's sculpted in a chocolate brown plastic that has "choc" and "log" sculpted onto it, as well as some wrapper and a bite taken from it. It's a nice little piece and goes with the character.

I'll immediately get into the biggest flaw in this figure: the articulation. As usual, the basic range of Playmates' TMNT figures that aren't turtles get a minimum amount of articulation. Stockman's head is on a ball joint, his shoulders are on a ball and hinge, as are his wings, his waist swivels, and his hips swivel his legs back and forth and outwards... and that's your lot. No elbow, wrist, knee, or ankle articulation at all. A bit poor but this is a great looking figure and one of the better looking villain figs from this line.

The paint is good on this figure, but again a little lacking in places. Stockman's skin is a brown and he's wearing his pink sweater, blue jeans and tan shoes. There's black paint on his sculpted tuft of hair that's left on his head, and his wings are really nicely sculpted in a translucent green plastic. The barbs that are sticking out of his clothes are the main annoyance on the body. These would have looked great with just a small application of brown paint.

The real highlight of the paint and sculpt on this figure though are Stockman's big bug eyes that are moulded in that great translucent green plastic that his wings are done in, but then painted in a shiny metallic green that really make them pop.

There are aspects of this figure that, if corrected, would make it into an excellent piece. But sadly Playmates - to save money - won't be able to change these practices. Conversely though, these figures are kept at a pretty reasonable price and here in the UK I'm sure Smyths are selling some of their older TMNT stock off with a 25% discount, so if you're missing some characters, it might be worth a look in!

Overall I'd say this is one of the better villain figures we've got from this line and I'd recommend him for collectors of this line or kids that are into the show!

Go Figure!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Leonardo vs Bebop

I recently made a discovery! That Asda (the UK arm of Walmart) were selling these new "versus" packs. I think, unbelievably, that these sets are only available in the UK and are Asda exclusives. I can't say for sure, but I've not seen them anywhere else. And also, this part is very exciting, this is the first time seeing Bebop in the new line from Playmates!

Firstly let's take a look at Leo.

He comes with 2 new weapons, blades as expected, but this time they're more like Bowie knifes rather than his usual katana blades.

Leo himself comes in tactical gear which is nicely sculpted, but is entirely black which is a bit of a shame.

It's a pretty cool look though, he looks like some kind of stealth mission Leo.

There's storage on his shell for his blades also which is good.

Articulation is what we expect from the new TMNT turtles, head is on a ball joint so it swivels and tilts a little, shoulders are on a hinge but due to the shoulder pads they don't lift up all the way and the elbows are on a hinge and swivel. There's no wrist or waist articulation, legs move forward and back and rotate but don't move out, and the knees have a single bend, no ankle articulation.

Onto Bebop!

The only weapons Bebop comes with are 2 small grenades.

He holds these ok, but I'd rather he came with some better weaponry and accessories.

Bebop looks pretty great though, again, a very small amount of paint detail on this guy.

Articulation on Bebop is minimal too. His head rotates, arms move round and swivel out, no elbow or wrist articulation. Waist swivel though! Hips move out and swivel and there's a knee bend. That's it sadly. Unless you count the wheels on his back, which gives him a kind of slide play feature.

I really do like the look of this figure though, the sculpt is really cool and he's much more streamlined compared to the original Bebop. And there are nice touches back to the original in this figure, such as the Mohawk and super cool stream lined shades.

I'll still probably pick up the regular Bebop when it's released here, as I really want a purple mohawked Bebop!!

Go Figure!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 Movie The Shredder

You'd be forgiven for thinking that in the latest TMNT movie that Shredder is a cyborg. But no, he's a guy in a suit. Some random Japanese man. Really I've no idea who the guy was or why he had such a beef with the Turtles.

Never mind though, this is the figure we're looking at.

The Shredder.

So The Shredder has the "look" of Shredder: the cape, the helmet, the claws. Sadly, no real colour, just silver grey with some flesh tones. Lots of detail in the armour though.

The Shredder's articulation isn't too bad. His head spins right round, his shoulders move up and down and even though his armour does move a little to accommodate this, his shoulders still don't move up all that much. His elbows bend, his waist swivels, his hips bend and swivel, knees bend, and his ankles go up and down. Actually The Shredder might actually have more articulation that the Turtles...

His cape is a soft rubbery material and is removable, but really there's very little point in taking it off.

The only reason I wanted this figure was so that my Turtles had their enemy! Not sure why he has holding hands though - he doesn't come with any weapons!

I haven't bothered picking up the April or Splinter figures as, for me, they look terrible. And the Foot Soldier is just a soldier - why isn't he a ninja?! So that's the end of my TMNT 2014 figures. From now on I'll be sticking to the new TMNT cartoon and the older stuff - that goes for toys too!

Go Figure!

Check out Fezbongo's blog here, this dude took these pictures!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 Movie Leonardo

Cowabunga dudes! The new Ninja Turtles movie figures are now available in shops across the country and you'll probably be able to find them in the bargain bin now... And that's not because the figures are bad - I really like the Turtles, but that movie... oh man was that bad. Such a shame

Anyway, I'm not here to rip into a Michael Bay produced film, because let's be fair, it's easy and it's been done to death. Instead we'll be looking at some of the new figures available. Starting with the leader of the team, Leonardo.

The other available figures are Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael, Splinter, Shredder, April O'Neil, and a Foot Soldier.

Firstly, I think this is a good looking toy, for collectors and kids alike. And I quite like the interpretation of the turtles in figure form much more than how they looked in the new movie.

Leonardo is a solid, nicely sculpted figure though the paint lets it down.

Where there is paint, it's actually quite nice and neat, though there are areas that are completely missing any paint applications and are left green. I assume it's helped Playmates keep their costs down and it keeps cost down for customers, but it looks so poor.

Like I previously said though, it's a good sculpt and is a pretty cool looking figure. Articulation wise Leo's head turns right around however it looks a little weird because of the fact that his head is pushed forward due to his shell. His shoulders move forward, back and forward, his elbows have a joint and swivel but sadly no wrist articulation at all. Nothing in his waist, his hips move forward and back and there's a joint and swivel in his knees - no ankle movement. The articulation isn't terrible, though it is missing some key points, but as a toy to be played with or just posed, it mostly does the trick. I say mostly because that shell makes him quite top heavy so having him stand takes a little time.

Leo is the only brother that comes with storage for his weapons in the form of a double sheath for his katana swords. This is a nicely sculpted soft rubber piece that is removable.

Stay tuned for (a lot) more Turtle fun over the next while. Also, I didn't get through all of my Shocktober goodies, so I'll still be dipping into the horror themed stuff for a little bit anyway!

Go Figure!

Check out Fezbongo's tumblr, the man that took these picture!

Kidrobot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Oooze Action Leonardo

Out of the Kidrobot blind box toys, the only brother I didn't get was Leonardo, so when I spotted these Kidrobot turtle figures, I had to grab Leo.

The rest of the figures in this series are Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, Splinter and Shredder

These figures are the same as the blind box ones other than a few big differences.

1) They're the Ooze Action series, so Leonardo's swords have green ooze smears painted on them
2) They glow in the dark (although my Leo doesn't seem to glow so well...)
3) And this is my biggest issue - No eyes!!

The only reason that the lack of eyes bothers me is because it means that Leo looks different to his brothers, and that's a real shame as I'd love to have got Leo in the blind box series, but it just wasn't financially viable really!

This is a great figure though, and a great little series, and I'll be tempted to pick up Shredder so that the heroes in a half shell can have their main villain. The Splinter figure is so bright though. I assume it's the glow in the dark paint, but it still looks weird. So I'm glad I got Splinter in the blind box series!

Go Figure!