Leonardo (2003 Animated) (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7)) Review

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Leonardo (2003 Animated) (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7)) Review

Leonardo (2003 Animated)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) (Super7)Super7's TMNT Ultimates line has been one of their most recognizable and more enjoyable lines they've done. Granted, they aren't perfect, suffering from things like odd aesthetic choices, articulation issues, and high prices (and they're getting worse), but for the most part, their work has been solid. However, Playmates at some point seemingly got cold feet about letting S7 copy their designs (probably because of all the reissues they're doing now), and they've been forced to do fewer OG designs. They've gotten around this issue by doing in-house designs, but they're now including figures from the 2003 cartoon in the line. 4Kids Turtles figures aimed towards collectors is something I've been wanting for a while, and I'm glad Super7 is delivering. Ever better is that the first wave has all four brothers, so no waiting years to get them all!

A notable change to the Ultimates packaging is that they've stopped doing slip covers (or at least less than before), and it's allowed for them to do more unique stuff with the window boxes. The motif is very similar to the original Playmates figures, with a bit of a turtle shell look combined with a city byline on the bottom. There are no character bios like before, but the artwork chosen for each character is great. They're easy to open, too, with only a single twist tie for each, along with some tape.

Like most adaptations before it, the '03 cartoon gave all of the turtles the same design, just different colors, though their skin color is different as well to make them more distinct. All four brothers are sculpted by Brandon Gash (who previously did S7's Ultimate Biggie), and each has two heads matching their personalities. Leonardo has a confident smile and a grin, Donatello has an equally confident smile and an irked expression, Raphael has grimacing and shouting heads, and Michelangelo has an excited expression and a calmer, but still happy, head. All of the portraits adapt the show's art style very well, and even feature different mask tails; the default heads have relaxed tails, while the extra ones have dynamic, flowing tails. They move on swivel pegs, and can be swapped between heads, but just be careful with the thin pegs; I broke the one on Raph's main head getting him out of the tray.

The four stand about 5 3/4" tall, making them a bit smaller than the Playmates-inspired turtles, but I feel they'll scale better with other 7" figures. The benefit of sharing the same basic design meant Super7 was able to cut down on tooling, with the only unique parts being the heads, weapons, and the belts on Leo and Donnie. Don just has a loop on the back of his belt for his staff, but Leo has a chest strap and scabbards, and the belts are all a soft rubber (as are the plastrons), allowing for easy storage with the other two brothers. There were some nitpicks about how the legs looked too short in the initial renders, but in person the proportions are just fine. Paint is great as while the colors are simple, there's some wash here and there to really make them pop. The work is clean too, though my Donatello has a small yellow speck on his right thigh.

We all know Ultimates have pretty basic articulation that is occasionally rather poor, but Super7 knew these were something special, so they went beyond their usual articulation scheme for something that feels more like NECA. All four bros have a barbell head, ball-jointed neck and chest, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows (double-jointed!), wrists, hips, knees (also double-jointed!) and ankles, and swivel biceps, thighs and mask knot. These figures are the first time S7's doing double-jointed elbows and knees, and they work great whilst blending in with the sculpt, and are arguably the best example of this type of joint I've seen. While much of the hinges can be tight at first, everything moves and poses well, and the heads and hands swap easily. Now why can't Super7 put this much effort into the articulation with the rest of their figures?

The accessories are pretty basic - no deep-cut or toy-inspired extras - but the necessary goodies are here. Each turtle has an extra head, three sets of hands (vertically-hinged gripping, closed, and splayed), a communicator, and their signature weapons. Most of the weapons look great, with Mikey's nunchucks having metal chains like before, but Raphael's sai are a bit too small. They'll fit well in his hands, being able to hold them both ways, but their small size becomes clear when equipped. Leo and Raph don't have much, but Don and Mike get some unique stuff. Donatello has a pair of goggles, and they fit on his head easily thanks to the rubbery material, while Mikey gets a pair of spinning nunchuck effects. The 'chucks can pop off at both ends to fit the effects, and they add a whole lot more fun to him. I wish these figures had a few more extra parts, like horizontally-hinged gripping hands and a third head with each. Leo could really use a more serious portrait.

Speaking of extra heads, direct pre-orders of the whole wave gave you a "Super Pack" with a separate third head for each brother. Leo has another smiling head, and I think it looks better than the default portrait he has. Donatello gets a wild grin that reminds me a bit of Playmates' style for them, and it's a pretty cool expression. Raphael has another gritted teeth head, and he looks more pissed off here, and Mikey has a winking expression that's my favorite of the four here. I love the option of additional portraits, but getting them meant having to pay full price upfront for the wave. Good thing Super7 offered free shipping with them!

Having gotten tons of Ultimates, I can tell when and when Super7 doesn't put effort into them, but these? These have far more effort put into them, so much so they're actually worth $55 each. The sculpts and paint are great, and the articulation is far better than what we usually get. The accessories could've been handled better, but what's included works very well for these four. If you're a fan of the 4Kids show, you'll definitely want to get these figures, and I already pre-ordered the next wave, so hopefully that comes out by year's end like it's slated to.

- 7/2/25