Everything old is new again. Following in the footsteps of Mattel’s MOTUC and Bandai’s Thundercats Classics, Playmates brings us the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classic Collection. They’re basically super-articulated versions of the 1980s cartoon Turtles. They look VERY MOTUC-style. And yes, I’m on board for this line–unlike Thundercats, I actually collected TMNT (…a lot).
No news on a release date yet, but apparently we’ll see more of these at Toy Fair, and there will be a second series.
More pics and the exclusive scoop at MTV Geek. (Thanks to Joe Amaro for the tip!)
Update: On more reflection, I’m less psyched than cautiously optimistic. Playmates tried super-articulation before with their Fightin’ Gear Turtles and the results were mixed; the articulation was plentiful but poorly engineered, especially the articulated fingers which couldn’t hold their weapons tightly. Moreover, I can’t think of a single previous Playmates figure, of any line, that had quality super-articulation. [But feel free to remind me if I’m forgetting something.]
Also in the figure above, the head looks too big and the swords too small. I’ll definitely get a Leonardo–because I always buy Leonardo–but whether I end up wanting the whole line remains to be seen.
daveydaken89
i'm pretty psyched about these, but i do share the concern about canellation. i grabbed lion-o and tigra as soon as i saw them, and now have just two seemingly random figures on my shelf. if playmates keep this alive enough to get at least 8 characters, i'll be impressed.
VECTORFAN
Please tell me that I can finally get the updated Slash & Mutagen man figures I so desperately want!
A.J.
The figures for the CGI TMNT movie from 2007 had pretty good articulation–I have Donatello, and it's my favorite Turtles figure I own. Still I'm definitely getting few of these.
PrfktTear
SOLD and SOLD!
I saw the first post at TNI today about the line based on the new show and thought "cool" but then I just saw the second post about the "Classics" so now I'm super jazzed!
Valo487
I’d still rather the NECA line continued, but I’ll be keeping an eye on these. I do think it’s a bad idea if the four turtles are the only characters in series one, but that remains to be seen.
AJ86
SOLD!
I'll buy them all. And "Classics" versions of Splinter, April, Casey Jones, Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady as a bare minimum! I think they look fantastic.
I share the concerns about the hand grips, but I'm hopeful that the joins will either be "ratcheted" or that the weapons will "plug" into the hands (although that will mean that "ugly" plugs are visible when the weapons are stored in their belts). The scale and proportions all look good to me, but Leonardo's swords could probably be a tad longer. Worst case scenario, I'll just swap them out for swords from another Leonardo figure if they look ridiculously short once "in hand".
3B_
Based on the articulation Play Mates had in their "Lucha Libre USA" line of wrestling figures, I think these will be fine.
http://www.3bstoyhive.com/2011/01/lucha-libre-usa…
Poe Ghostal
Haha, I think I actually have a Lucha Libre figure here. I should open it…but you're right, that line appears to have good articulation.
Mecha-Shiva
Super Poseable Casey Jones is all I want…