The previews of the film don't look too bad so far. Of course, old
school fans will find plenty to hate, but the Turtles are such a classical
cool idea for kids that this film (done well) may just be the thing to launch
them all over again as a major force with the under 10 crowd.
I saw all four Turtles on the peg, and picked up Raphael. Casey,
April and Splinter were also there, as was the Foot Ninja, so I snagged him
for the review as well.
Packaging - ***
The packaging is bubble/cardback style, which should be no surprise, but
the graphics are a snazzy sewer green. The style is more realistic,
without actually reaching 'real'. They've placed the photos of the four
turtles themselves at two separate depths on the bubble/tray, so that there's
a bit of a 3-D effect as well.
Sculpting - ***
Okay, so we haven't actually seen the movie yet, so exactly how accurate these
figures are is up for debate. From the posters
though, Raph's design and proportions do look extremely accurate.As is
probably not a surprise, they aren't super detailed, or uber-realistic, but do
have a nice, classic feel to them.
The shell in back sports the most detail for Raph, but there's some nice
texturing on the front of the shell as well. Raph has a pretty traditional
expression, with his mask trailing out behind his head. The sculpt works
pretty well with the articulation, and the increased scale is a big
plus. Raph stands 6" tall.
The Foot Ninja stands about 6.5" tall, and is a very cool design, with a sort of
insect-like feel to his ninja appearance. Again, there's very little
detail here, very much in line with an animated style.
It's worth noting that Raph's proportions look much better to me than they
have in recent years. He doesn't have the usual pinhead that has plagued
the character from time to time, and the muscular structure of the legs looks
solid, yet still reptilian.
Both figures stand great on their own of course, and both have hand sculpts
that work well with the various accessories. It's also worth nothing
that Raph has two loops in his belt that allow him to carry his weapons while
doing other things with his hands.
Paint - Raph **1/2; Ninja ***
This is mass market paint work, and fairly average mass market paint work at
that.
Raph is cast in the green plastic, and his is a bit darker than some of the
other heroes on the half shell. They did a pretty good job getting the
green of his torso, limbs and head all to match, and most of the cuts between
colors are very clean. He does have some slop around the eyes and mask, the
only real small detail areas on him.
Like Raph, the Ninja is cast in the predominate color, black. The
smaller areas, like the eyes and armor highlights, are a little cleaner than
the work on Raph.
Neither of these figures is a color extravaganza, but one's a ninja and the
other is a turtle - what would you expect?
Articulation - ***
For regular buyers of TMNT figures, some of the new articulation (knees and
elbows for example) has already been showing up in the Fast Forward line
up. And while these figures are an improvement over what was available,
say, a year ago, they still have some deficiencies.
The most notable is the necks. A ball joint would be really useful for
these characters, and Raph actually has one. It's just extremely limited
in its range of movement due to the design. The ninja only has a cut
neck, although making it a ball would have been fairly easy.
Raph does have ball jointed shoulders, with joints on both sides of the
ball, which really helps the arm poses. He also has pin elbows and cut
wrists, along with pin knees and ball jointed hips. Unfortunately, the
hips are only jointed at the torso, so while the hip can rotate around the
torso, the leg itself can not alter its direction in relation to the
hip. The hips do have a decent range of movement though, unlike the
Ninja.
He has the ball joints at the torso as well, but because they are so deep
in the body, they can really only turn like a cut joint. This was a huge
disappointment for me, since the ninja needs deep leg stances for any really
interesting poses.
Fortunately, even though he only has cut shoulders, elbows and wrists, he
can reach far enough toward the center of his body with both arms to hold any
of the weapons in both hands. A cut waist and pin knees rounds him out.
Neither of these figures would rate a super articulated score, but they can
hold a ton of poses considering the number of joints. These are a good
example of doing a lot with a little, and had they improved the neck joint and
the hips on the Ninja, they would have rated another half star.
Accessories - Ninja ***1/2; Raphael ***
Both figures come with a decent assortment of accessories, although I found
Raph's to be a little less useful than the Ninja.
Raph has a pair of sai's, which fit into his hands in either direction
quite well. These have always been his weapon of choice, so their inclusion
makes perfect sense. He also has a pair of dumbbells, and these fit in his
hands well too. Just the thing for those turtle workouts!
The Ninja has two swords, one of them designed to fit in the supplied
scabbard that fits on his back. The scabbard can be removed, but it's tough to
get back on all the way.
He also has a nifty shield, with a handle designed perfectly for his
hands. The handle is even designed to rotate, so the shield can be held
at any position relative to the hand.
Finally, he also has a kama, which can be held in a single hand or both
hands, due to the decent arm articulation. With multiple weapons to
attack the turtles, and a cool shield for protection, you can see why I found
his accessories the better of the two.
Fun Factor - ***1/2
The added articulation - while not perfect - does add to the play value
here. Throw in some great accessories, and some extremely sturdy figures
that can withstand hard play, and you have a nice combination for fun.
Value - ***
Seven bucks each means they crack in there at a moderately low mass market
price point, where many figures in this scale are going for a buck more. The
added accessories, along with additional articulation, means a better value
than even recent Turtles.
Things to Watch Out For -
Zippo. These guys will stand up to most anything, and the odds of there
being much variation in paint or quality is pretty small.
Overall - ***
With the movie not due out til the end of March, it was a little surprising to
see these already on the peg. Then I remembered that it's Christmas -
what better time to get the product out?
The biggest plus for me is the increased scale for the turtles. These
figures have more bulk and fit in better with other current lines, and I think
the overall proportions are much nicer as well.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - ***
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***
Accessories - Ninja ***1/2; Raphael ***
Fun Factor ***1/2
Value - ***
Overall - ***
Where to Buy -
I've seen them at Meijers, but I'm betting Target and Toys R Us have them
soon. Since these are mass market releases, the mass market stores are
your best bet.
Related Links:
I haven't reviewed a lot of Turtle stuff, but I do have a guest
review of the boys, and some of the bad guys. Keep
scrolling down for more photos!
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