Traag and Granitor (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

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Traag and Granitor (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon) Review

Traag and Granitor
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca)While NECA has put out plenty of figures this year, one of their most notable lines is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line. They've been in full force with the half-shell heroes this year, specifically their license as it relates to the original cartoon. There's been plenty of toon releases this year, but being Target exclusives has made them hard to find, and scalpers tend to buy them up to sell for twice as much.

Fortunately, NECA and Target have been working to make distribution go smoother, and I've noticed some products are easier to get. Back around September-October, I finally managed to score a two-pack right from Target's website: General Traag and Granitor.

The two were put out back around September, and it may be difficult to find one in Target, but if you manage to find one, the set retails for $52.

PACKAGING

The cartoon two-packs tend to use the same design, being a box with character graphics on the front, and photos of the figures on the sides and back. With these two, the box is a bit larger than usual due to their size. The packaging itself looks simple but fitting for the franchise, though I wish the back had a bio of the characters included here instead of a generic description of the turtles. The backdrop, which resembles the Dimension X landscape, looks great, and you can even slide it out to use with your figures.

By the way, the two are held on a plastic tray with some plastic ties, so make sure to have scissors handy.

SCULPT

Traag's appearance has varied a bit throughout the series, but NECA based his sculpt here on his debut appearance, and he sure looked a hell of a lot better than he did in the rest of the show. His rocky appearance is replicated well here, and the texturing is pretty spot on. There isn't a whole lot for me to say here, but I will say he's great.

Then there's Granitor, who looks just as good. He's been a character who never made it into action figure form before, and it was quite a feat for NECA to be the first to do so. His details are pretty spot on to the show as well, though it is worth noting that he uses some of the same parts as Traag, mainly the hands and lower half. The area around his neck appears to have a bit more depth to it than it does in the show, though that's probably to allow articulation to be worked into there.

Both figures stand in NECA's usual 7" scale, with Traag being about 6 3/4", and Granitor being directly around 7".

PAINT

Good sculpt and good paint are always a good combination, and the paint here is just as great as the sculpt. Like with the other toon figures, NECA did a paint job accurate to the series, complete with cel shading and outlines to bring out the details, and it really makes them look like they came right out of the show. The paint is applied very cleanly as well, and it's some of their best work.

My sole complaint about the paint is that there's some caked on paint on Traag's helmet, making it not look as smooth. Though that may be a sculpting issue as well.

ARTICULATION

NECA does a great job with articulation on these figures, and here it works very well, as all the joints move smoothly with no need to heat them up.

Both figures have a ball joint at both the neck and the head, allowing them in look in all sorts of directions. I did notice that Granitor's neck joint was a bit wobbly, but it's a rather minor issue.

The swivel/hinge joints at the shoulders, elbows, and wrists allow for plenty of arm poses. The elbows are even the double-jointed type NECA loves doing nowadays, and they fit well with the sculpt. Granitor gets some special shoulder joints here, being a swivel/hinge where they connect to the torso, and a plain swivel where they meet the arms themselves, allowing him to take on more arm poses.

The ball-jointed chest has plenty of tilt and crunch, but it's a bit wobbly on both of them, though it shouldn't be a major issue. There's also a swivel waist as well. Below that, there's ball-jointed hips which work a lot like the swivel/hinge joints used on previous figures, though with these you won't have to worry about them being tight, as well as swivel thighs and swivel/hinge knees and ankles.

One thing I should note is that they have a bit of trouble standing up, especially in more dynamic poses, so get a display base on hand.

ACCESSORIES

NECA has spoiled us plenty with accessories from previous releases, specifically April/Foot and Slash/Leatherhead, but the accessory count here is a little bit underwhelming. Though what we got here is pretty good.

There's two blasters included, and the two will need them when carrying out Krang's orders. They can either hold them in their right hands or in the holsters on their belts, though getting them into their hands may take a bit of force. Aside from that, there's the reused mutagen canister and communicator with Krang on it, though the communicator has a different sticker than the one in the initial SDCC set.

That isn't all however, also included are three wanted posters for the Neutrinos, who made their debut alongside the rock soldiers. They're inside a little baggie taped inside the plastic tray, and they aren't paper but rather a thin plastic. Getting them is a nice touch, though I would've liked it if some alternate hands were included, mainly some hands designed to hold the blasters.

QUALITY

Sure, NECA has done a lot of good with the license, these figures are some of their most well-made. The paint is very neat, and the joints move well. Like I mentioned before, I didn't have to warm anything up to get it moving, though a bit of pressure was needed in some cases. But with plenty of articulation, you'll have quite a bit of fun posing them in different ways.

VALUE

For $52, the set's a decent value. However, compared to other sets which have had plenty of accessories, the count here is a bit too small to justify the price. But given how every other cartoon two-pack has had the same price, it's nothing to really complain about now.

OVERALL

I'll admit that I got pretty lucky when I was able to grab it online for once, and I'm glad I did. These figures are great, with dead-on sculpts, great paint work, and plenty of useful articulation. Not to mention the fact that we now not only have the first Granitor action figure, but a screen-accurate Traag as well. While getting some extra hands would be nice, I'm happy with what's here. If you happen to find this set in person, pick it up. You'll be glad you did.

And if you find more than one, get a second one for a friend, they'll appreciate it.