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 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 Raphael

HULK SMASH!!

No. Wait. Wrong franchise.

But look at Raph. He's a beast!

Cool shell detail on him though, and a great dark green. Sadly, no where to store those big sai though.

Raphael wears his unique red bandana, but in this interpretation of TMNT it's a full over head mask. The paint apps are nice on this figure; white and red wraps, light brown front, and a nice little silver hoop on his belt.

I'm not sure how I feel about the brothers wearing clothes (of a fashion) in the new movie... I guess, considering everything else, it's really not the worst thing.

Articulation wise Raphael's exactly the same as the other figures, so just a quick run down:

No wrist articulation - boo!
No ankle articulation - boo!

Raph's head spins (well it would if his bandana didn't stop it), his shoulders have good articulation, as does his elbows. His hips move out but is hindered a little by his skirt section and his knees bend and swivel.

Raphael probably stands the best out of all these Turtle figures. Because of his size, he doesn't quite have that 'lean forward' stance that the others have. Though his head still pushed forward due to the hulking great shell on his back.

His sai are nicely sculpted though, but do seem a little oversized.

So, nearly to the end of the movie figure reviews. Got Donatello left and The Shredder!

Go Figure!

Check out Fezbongo's tumblr, he took these fancy photos!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Sredder 2.0

This is the Shredder 2.0 figure - there was an earlier Shredder figure released but didn't come with his cape and was a little differently coloured. I went for his guy because 1: He's easier to find, and 2: He looks better with the Battle Shell Turtles.

Shredder comes in the standard TMNT blister package with some details of the character on the back and a list of figures that you can pick up.

Shredder is a very cool looking figure!

The paint work on him is excellent, with the rich black of his main suit, the silver highlights used really pop off of it. The light grey plastic used is really nicely sculpted into his blades, making him look like the formidable foe that he is.

I especially like the purple cape draped over his shoulders, which is held onto his back by a single peg so is removable. The cape is tattered and wind swept looking which really adds to how menacing this figure looks.

Shredder doesn't have the same articulation as the Turtles sadly, in that regard he's pretty lacking.

His head moves side to side, but only properly with his helmet off. When he's wearing the helmet, it slides up over his eyes as soon as you move his head side to side which is a shame, but not the end of the world. His shoulder mounted blades are articulated to move up and down so that his arms can move up and down at the shoulders, which can also move back and forth. His wrists swivel too, though I'm not sure why really as his wrist blades cover his hands making them a little obsolete. His waist swivels and his legs move back and forth, and that's his lot as far as lower waist articulation goes! He balances well though and you can get him in some cool poses.

I like that he comes with a removable helmet that is nicely sculpted in that shiny, light grey plastic.

Without his helmet... Well...

Ain't he pretty?!

The helmet fits pretty nicely on his head though, with his eyes looking out all sinister like

Shredder is in scale to the Turtles, being taller than all of them, and the Battle Shell Turtles are all a little bit different in size to one another. I'd be tempted to look for more of the Turtles enemies but I'm happy to have the four brothers and their main enemy just now.

I picked up all of these guys in stores in my local area, which is much more fun than ordering online - sometimes it's a necessary evil!

Go Figure!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ninjas in Training

When I first saw these little guys online I wasn't too sure whether or not I was going to add them to my collection. But then I saw them in John Lewis one afternoon when I was out with my wife, and my opinion quickly changed! I loved the look of these Ninjas in Training when I saw them in the flesh, and the fact that you got 2 per pack sold me on them.

The packaging is really nice and colourful and the blister pack itself is a cool shell style.

So in the 2 packs you get Leo & Donnie and Raph & Mikey. They all come with their weapons that are in a block light brown but the sculpting is nice and they look like they're put together for use by kids - especially Raphael's sai.

There's not a lot of articulation on these little guys, but really they don't need it. The heads swivel, the arms move at the shoulders up and down, and round, and the waist swivels. The legs are solid and there's no kind of articulation in the wrists or hands.

The weirdest thing about the waist articulation is that it splits the chest and shell, which looks sort of strange, but it does mean you can get them some nice little poses.

The bandana's are really nice, with a little soft piece coming down at the back.

Even the detailing on the shell is pretty great for it's size, and they're so damn cute!!

The fact that all the turtles are their corresponding colours are really nice and I love that the face sculpts are all different, each showing off their distinct characteristics. Leonardo looks focused, Raphael looks kind of mad, Donatello looks apprehensive (and you can even see his little gap tooth!), and Michelangelo just looks delighted to be there.

All in, I really like these little guys. There's no real need for you to get these if you're not into collecting all the turtles figures, or all the different variations of the brothers, but they're a neat little addition to my now growing collection of TMNT figures!

Go figure!