Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Playmates Toys)

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) are ageless! Forever, they will always be an all-time favourite for kids and "big kids" across the planet. And for all the generations and the levels of the human evolution to come, TMNT will always be around kicking some butts in the comic books, animated shows, and on the shelves! Despite all the different versions of the TMNT, the butt kicking turtles I know and that I'm a huge fan of are the ones in the late 80's, and I'm very pleased that Playmates Toys reincarnated and reintroduced that classic feel into these new TMNT action figure collectors edition.

Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael & Michaelangelo - TMNT Classic Collection by Playmates

Normally with this blog, I single out just one action figure and talk about it per blog entry but in this case, the common features of these four turtles are alot with only a few minor differences that it's preferable to put them together in one blog.

(clear stands not included)

First, I'd like to point those commonalities then proceed with taking a close look at each of their unique features. What I like about these action figures is that they captured the best of both areas; sculpt and articulation. Obviously, the sculpt and body mold is the first thing you'll notice and they're all alike, no one is leaner or bulkier or shorter than the other, and their bodies are well proportioned. They all stand about  6.5 inches tall. They are the perfect quadruplets!

The paint apps on these figures are not highly detailed- it's plain solid colours. This is the rendition of the classic cartoon series in the 80's and I got no issue with that, but their eyes... oh those eyes! Except probably Raphael's, but the rest got these chameleon-like eyes; you're not sure where they're aiming at! - some ninja move I suppose.

Now if you think Toy Biz Marvel Legends rules the "articulation realm," wait 'til you get your hands on these turtles. They each got a whopping 32 points of articulation and they are highly poseable! They all got ball-jointed neck, ball-hinged shoulders, bicep swivels, double-jointed elbow, wrist swivels, individual finger articulation, diaphragm swivel, T-jointed hips, upper-thigh swivels, double-jointed knees, hinged ankles with no ankle rockers, and toes can move individual.

Each turtle comes with their own weapons and they got special holsters for it. However, all these weapons can be wielded by all four of them; you can have Donatello wield Raphael's sai on one hand and Mike's nunchuck on the other. You can swap their weapons whenever you feel like. Leonardo and Donatello wear these straps and belts across their torsos while Michaelangelo and Raphael just wear the belts. All their belts got buckles with their initials embossed on it. In addition, they come with these manhole covers with pegs that serve as bases, and each one got a name. But without using the bases, these guys can stand on their own feet pretty well,... except probably for that complex martial arts pose, then it's time to use a clear stand with that.



So lets start with the leader of the band, Leonardo. He is the only turtle here with a removable holster for his weapons, while his brothers got theirs molded on their straps or belts. He carries his favourite swords, which I personally call the Ninjato. I know some guys call it the Katana or the "Samurai Sword" but they need to know how the two weapons differ from one another, and the Ninjato perfectly classifies Leo's swords because it's short and straight. Anyways, he wears the blue bandana and blue elbow and knee pads. He got the darkest shade of green of all the four, and he looks kinda smirking his mouth to the left.

Smirking to the right is the smart and brainy Donatello! He wears the purple bandana and carries this simple yet deadly weapon called the Bo that you can snug right across his back. One thing that is inconsistent with Don's Bo staff is that the "grip tape" laced around the mid-section is suppose to be purple (matching his bandana)... and not white, yet I've seen some of it being white and some got the purple one- so I'm not sure which one is accurate. But regardless of whether it should be white or purple, Don's combat staff has a reasonable height and diameter.

Coded red is the hot head, Raphael. Being the toughest of all the four turtles, Raph got an angrier look than his three brothers with his teeth clenching. This pissed off turtle wields his primary weapon, the Twin Sais where he keeps them at these holsters located at the front of his belt. Interestingly, these Sais are somewhat created to fit right in between Raph's fingers, so you can have him hold his Sais stylishly and ninja-like which is pretty impressive. Raphael has the brightest green tone of the four.

And lastly and definitely not the least is the life of the crowd, Michaelangelo. Despite being the party dude, Mike here still has that stern look on his face. It's like he's saying- "I may be a jolly little fellow but you still need to keep your distance." Furthermore, Mike got the worse pair of eyes of the four. Now it's probably easy to fix and customize these eyes yourself but still it is an "F" mark on whoever designed these freakin' eyes. What's exciting about Mike though is his pair of nunchucks that got all these real chains, and this is what made some action figure junkies crazy about having an actual mini-nunchucks for Michaelangelo! I can't stop looking at it especially when I place them on these holsters located behind him.

I can see how the TMNT Classic Collection will succeed and become hot collectible items to those "turtle fans." I can see how awesome Shredder would look in this toyline; he's probably going to be bigger and taller than these turtles with his spiked armguards and his stuff. There's probably going to be Bebop and Rocksteady, Leatherhead, Mondo Gecko, Casey Jones... I can go on and on with all the TMNT cartoon characters and hope Playmates will release some new set of action figures anytime soon.