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Write a Review link for that item. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Mutant Mayhem (Playmates)Even though almost everyone's seen it already, it wasn't until like last month or so I saw the latest TMNT movie, Mutant Mayhem. I loved everything about it, from the unique interpretations of the characters to the grungy art style, it competed with the 2007 Imagi movie as my favorite Turtles film. If you've seen it already, then I'd recommend watching its follow-up, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; the first season was pretty short, but you can get through it in a day, and it's an equally fun ride. But enough praise for those, we all know new Turtles media means more figures from Playmates, and it's a good thing I held off on these for a bit, since now the Turtles themselves are hitting half-price at Target. The cardback motif is nearly the same with every figure, having a brick wall decorated with graffiti, ooze, and stickers, though the turtles each feature character art of them individually rather than a group shot. It makes it easy to distinguish them from the rest of the line, and the graphics fit the movie's style well. The bubble can be easily opened, but much of the contents are held inside with plastic ties, so get your scissors ready. Not sure if such restraints are needed with children's toys, but I assume Playmates thinks it'll reduce likelihood of in-store openers and thieves. Let's kick things off with Leonardo, after all, he's the leader. The expression chosen for him is great, depicting him as ready for anything, and the likeness is mostly accurate to the film, though his mask is too big. At 4 1/2" tall, Leo has an average build, but there is a bit of muscle to him. Phil Ramirez was responsible for not just him, but his brothers, and maybe everything in this line, and he does a good job capturing the film's unique style. Leo has his belt with katana sheaths, of course, with an initial on his belt buckle, taking a cue from the '87 Turtles, and two little shurikens sculpted onto it. His shell has a few small cuts on it, obviously received in battle. The paint is surprisingly clean for a mass market figure, and the outlines around the eyes and mouth give him a more animated feel. Up next is the brains/otaku of the brothers: Donatello. Befitting his smart guy status, Donnie was given a bit of a nerdy look, wearing a pair of glasses (which are removable via pegs into the head) and a fanny pack with phone sticking out of it (unfortunately not removable; it's glued to the back of the belt). He's the same height as Leo, and a little bit more slender, along with having the same issue of the mask being a bit too big. Other than that, the sculpt is another very accurate one, down to having a lighter shade of green and no scrapes on the shell. Donnie also wears a pair of wireless headphones, which come as a separate piece that hangs around his neck, and you can get him on him easily by popping his head off first. Unfortunately, they aren't designed to actually be worn on his head. Raphael is next, and befitting the most aggressive of the brothers, he's a little bulkier, and a bit taller as well at about 4 3/4" tall, and his plastron is covered and cuts and scuffs, but the carapace isn't. The belt, on top of having weapon storage on the front rather than the back, has a pouch sculpted onto it, and the paint for it has clean edges separating it from the rest of the belt. The elbow and knee pads have a nice shade of red, though with a small bit of bleed onto the limbs. Raph has a ticked-off expression as opposed to his happier siblings, and he doesn't have the oversized mask issue Leo and Don have, since his mask covers the whole upper half of his head, a cue taken from his Rise of the TMNT counterpart. He's a slightly darker green than Leo, but not by much, and the paint on him and Donnie is great aside from some minor bleed. Lastly, there's Michelangelo, and he's the shortest of the bunch at 4 1/4" tall, on top of being a completely different shade of green. The shell is a bit scuffed up from battle, but it's much more minor compared to Leo, and his build is similar to him, with some subtle roughness to the skin. The odd head shape is captured well (in the movie, it was described as if "Stewie had a baby with Hey Arnold"), and unlike Leo and Don, the mask is the right size. The sculpt is great as is the paint, but my one complaint with it are the obvious mold lines running down the upper legs and kneepads. Those are present on the others, but their's are much less noticeable, and I guess the colors on Mikey make them more visible. The articulation is pretty much unchanged from I believe the Rise line, but it works fine for figures in this scale. All four brothers have a ball-jointed head, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, and swivel wrists and ankles. All of the joints move with no issues, and can achieve a good amount of poses. One thing I would like changed are the hips; they've been designing them with the pegs going straight up into the body since 2003, and I frankly prefer ball-peg hips, like what the OG line had. If they did ball hips, or at least had the pegs go into the pelvis rather than up into the body, then that could improve the leg motion. More movement to the ankles would be nice, as they could've also been on ball-pegs rather than just swivels, but I digress… Each of the turtles have plenty of accessories, with a good chunk of weaponry and other goodies. In addition to their basic weapons - pair of katanas for Leo, staff for Don, pair of sai for Raph, and pair of nunchucks from Mike - and a solid color non-mutant turtle, they also have unpainted weapon sprues (gray for Leo and Raph, brown for Don and Mike), a throwback to the OG figures which utilized them as a cost-saving measure. It's annoying to have to cut everything off them, and the resulting weapon racks have no use, but everything attached is fun. Leonardo has a small butterfly sword, three kunai, a four-point shuriken, a pizza slice, and a cracked open mutagen canister, the last two which are also included with his brothers. Don has a non-broken canister instead, alongside a bladed staff, a three-section staff, and a three point shuriken. Raph has a pair of hook swords, a somewhat damaged kunai, and a pair of oddly-shaped five-point shuriken (I think these were from the film). Mikey has a kusarigama, a pair of five-point shuriken (different from Raph), a tiny slice of pizza as opposed to a shared sculpt, and my favorite, microphone nunchucks, clearly taken from the old Rappin' Mike figure. While not perfect, Playmates did a great job with these guys. The sculpts and paint are above-average for mass-market figures, and the plentiful articulation and accessories make them fun for kids, adults, and everyone in between. We've gotten a good variety of characters in this line, and I've gotten plenty of them, with the low price and easy availability being a plus, and I'm hoping for a few more basic figures from both the movie and the show. A film-accurate Superfly and some Purple Dragons is all I really need. - 9/8/24   by RMaster007 |
| Rat King (Eastman & Laird) |  | Submission Order |  | Vacation Bebop / Vacation Rocksteady |
| None | | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Mutant Mayhem Series | | None |
| Rat King (Eastman & Laird) | | Written by RMaster007 | | Vacation Bebop / Vacation Rocksteady |
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