Casey Jones by Playmates Toys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Colonel Raines
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Continuing my thoughts on the SDCC reveals from last week…
Hasbro
Hasbro has four big licenses action figure franchises: Transformers, G.I. Joe, Star Wars, and Marvel. I don’t really collect Transformers or G.I. Joe at all (with a few exceptions), so I’ll just comment on the other two.
Star Wars
There was 3.75″ stuff, but I don’t care about any of that. The important thing here is Star Wars Black 6″.
To quote Mordecai, “Yay-yuh!”
My SWB6″ collection will probably be fairly small, but this guy will definitely be in it. I must admit, I still don’t think Hasbro is quite reaching the quality of the best of ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends or Lord of the Rings with any of their 6″ lines…but it’s Han Solo. In 6″ scale.
NOTE: Our dog Alfie (i.e., Alfred, as in Pennyworth) chewed the red plastic “laser blast†missile just moments after I opened this figure, hence its appearance in the photos. It’s supposed to be smooth. –PG
[Click any photo for a larger version.]
A very common trope in pretty much any adventure or action franchise is that of the robotic duplicate. Masters of the Universe had Faker, Godzilla had Mechagodzilla, Wolverine had Albert, the Power Rangers had the Robot Rangers, King Kong had Mechani-Kong, Data had Lore – and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had Metalhead.
Like MOTU before it, It was often pretty clear on the 1980s TMNT cartoon that a character would originate as a toy concept before appearing on the show. A robot Turtle was probably a no-brainer, but what made the original Metalhead so cool was all the detail and features in his design. The chrome torso and “light pipe†eyes were already enough to make the figure stand out, but the interchangeable right arm, which could be swapped with a pair of robotic nunchucks, added even more value to an already awesome toy. So it’s a bit disappointing that over twenty years later, Playmates can’t even match, much less top, their first attempt at the character.
