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Write a Review link for that item. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca)Last year, SDCC went on in a usual way thanks to COVID. However, I’m not sure what to really say about it aside from the fact that a good deal of exclusives ended up being pre-orders rather than being directly available. NECA was one of the companies that did pre-orders with retro-inspired Flash Gordon figures and a new TMNT four-pack (like every year), both going up on their site first then both shipping out and showing up at Target around the end of the year. And surprise, surprise, the TMNT set is based off the cartoon, bringing together the Channel 6 news team, and is appropriately titled “The Catwoman from Channel 6”. The pre-order was a long while ago, but if you missed that, it shouldn’t be too hard to find at Target (unless you’re in MD). The box for this set is huge, which is not surprising since it’s a four-pack, but it also has a slipcover. The slipcover has a nice illustration of Catwoman April on the front, and photos of the figures and accessories on the back. Remove that and the actual box underneath has an illustration on the front. It’s April again, but as a regular human reporting the news. Once you get all the plastic ties and tape removed from the plastic interior, you’ll find that everything is easy to take out and put back. Let’s kick things off with the star of this set, April. In a season two episode in which this set is named after, a teleporter malfunction resulted in her turning into a feisty feline who Shredder used to attack the Turtles and Splinter. The figure here is a mix of reuse from the initial toon April and new parts. The head sculpt looks great, and it’s actually in proper scale with the body this time. That said, however, the figure feels a little short for me, only standing at 5 ¾”, and I feel that it would’ve been better had they based the size of this figure on the head of that April rather than the body. Aside from that, the collar and tail round out the look, along with the pointy claws on her hands. For me, she has the most paint issues out of the set, with rough lines and black marks on her right shoulder. April has some nice articulation, with a ball-jointed head, chest, and hips, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows (double-type), wrists, and ankles, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, and a bendable tail. There’s a bit of tightness to the joints, no thanks to NECA not yet realizing to stop painting the hinges on this line, and you’ll have to find that sweet spot to get her standing, but you can still manage some good poses. However, the head doesn’t move very well thanks to the hair, and the chest pops apart easily. Up next is Vernon. This Vernon is mostly the same figure we got last year with the Rat King, but the head sculpt is new. I really prefer the terrified expression here over the grin the first one had, and the hands are new as well, with a wide gripping right and a pointing left. An extra head for him is included, and this one is blindfolded, perfect for if you want to display him as a hostage. The colors are notably a bit different on the clothes, helping to differentiate him from his earlier counterpart. The size and articulation remain the same, however, standing at about 6 ¼” tall with movement at the head, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, chest, waist, hips, thighs, knees, and ankles. Now onto someone who hasn’t been done by NECA yet, and it’s Irma. Standing somewhere around 5 ¼”, Irma is shorter than April, but the sculpt is just as nice, and I like the worried expression she has (though a happier face would’ve been good too). The paint job is great as well, with clean lines all around. Her articulation is similar to Vernon, but she has no chest or thigh joints, though she does have a ball-jointed waist, and her ponytail swivels as well. However, the main issue with articulation on Irma is her wrists. When I first got this set, her right wrist became separated at the joint, and her left one was misaligned. I contacted NECA about a replacement, and they eventually sent me a new body for her. The dress limits her leg articulation as well, so don’t expect to get really dynamic poses out of her (unless to make a cloth one for her, which I may just do). Finally, we have Burne, the head of Channel 6, and he may just be my favorite out of this set. Standing almost 5 ½” tall, Burne is a chunky figure with great proportions and clean paint all around. The head sculpts are great, as they practically scream “cartoon”, and that angry yelling head may be my favorite head sculpt in this line. Burne moves similar to the other figures here, with ball-joints at the head, waist, and chest, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, and ankles, swivel thighs, and double hinged knees. The knees are pretty tight, but everything else moves great. There was a bit of excess plastic on the left leg of mine, so I had to cut it off. We got a lot of accessories here, which isn’t surprising considering the fact that it’s a four-pack AND an SDCC exclusive. Everyone here gets extra hands, except April, who has supposed to have some, but they got cut. Irma has a pair of relaxed hands, a pair of grasping hands, and a gripping right. Burne has a pair of fists, a pair of gripping hands, and a pair of grasping hands. Vernon gets his regular gripping hands again to go with his new ones. Burne and Vernon both have alternate heads, but Irma has a “Were-Rat” head and forearms, matching the earlier Vernon. The detail on them is great, and the head has a hinged jaw as well, but it looks a bit crosse-eyed. Make sure to heat up the plastic on them when swapping them in and out, because those Were-Rat forearms are tight, and I separated the elbow joint on my initial Irma when trying to remove it, so I’m hesitant to do the part swap with my replacement. Aside from all the alternate parts, also included are two photo frames. One of them is of Tiffany, Burne’s turtle-hating girlfriend from the season two premiere, and the other is the unnamed reporting that was hitting on Irma’s robotic double from “The Turtle Terminator”. Both images are rendered in 3D instead of being illustrations, which is a nice touch. Other goodies include a cat with articulated head and tail, a wind-up mouse, bowl of turtle soup with spoon, telephone, the human-turned-turtle Burne and Vernon from “Donatello Trashes Slash”, a headset for Vernon, camera bag with microphone, two spotlights, and two big cameras. I love all the news equipment, since it’ll help for a great display with the backdrop inside the box, and they’re articulated as well. If you pre-ordered this set from The NECA Store, you would get a few extras outside of the figure set. The main thing there is the T-shirt, which is loaded with shout-outs to various episodes of the classic cartoon, including Catwoman April, giant Irma, REX-1, Clayton Kellerman, the TV show host in “Turtles on Trial”, and more. Other extras include April’s press pass, an iron-on patch of the Channel 6 logo, a pin of the news van, and a poster of the Channel 6 building. Sure, having to pay $25 extra along with $15 shipping is a bit much, but I think it’s well worth it for all these. While not a bad set, I feel that some of the quality issues, such as April’s paint and the wrist joints on Irma, could’ve been ironed out a bit more to make this a perfect set, but overall, I’m happy with it. The sculpts are great, finally getting Irma and Burne in the line is good, and all the accessories are really good for enhancing your display. And the confirmation that NECA will be releasing an updated toon April sometime this year means we’ll be able to have one kickass anchormen display.   by RMaster007 |
| Michelangelo |  | Submission Order |  | Donatello |
| Raphael | | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon Series | | Dirtbag and Groundchuck |
| Michelangelo | | Written by RMaster007 | | Donatello |
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