Tag: TMNT Page 1 of 6
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.
So Toy Fair starts today – well, officially it starts tomorrow, but there are two major events today: the Hasbro event, which is going on as I write this, and the Four Horsemen’s Toypocalypse party tonight, which will unveil their Glyos-based Power Lords toys.
Anyway, I thought I’d run through a breakdown of the toy lines I’m keeping an eye on this year:
- S.H.MonsterArts – Obviously. I suspect there won’t be any new reveals, with the possible exception of Mothra and/or Battra from 1992’s Godzilla vs. Mothra. Biollante may be there, hopefully with a release date. I’d love to see a SHMA BioGoji (Godzilla as he appeared in Godzilla vs. Biollante), but I think that’s a long shot. Of course, my dream would be to see anything from the 1960s-1970s-era Godzilla films, but Tamashii doesn’t seem to be there yet.
- Masters of the Universe Classics – I’m not sure if there will be anything left to reveal, but I’ll post my thoughts on anything new.
- Star Wars Black 6″ – I’m hoping for pics of the other figures – R2D2, the Sandtrooper and Darth Maul. Evidently there will be a Boba Fett SDCC exclusive. If this is the only way to get a Boba Fett for this line and he turns out to be difficult or prohibitively expensive to obtain, I will not collect this line. I just don’t need to deal with that shit in my life.
- Pacific Rim – My most anticipated movie of 2013 is apparently getting 6″ action figures from NECA. If you could only see how hard I’m crossing my fingers hoping these will look like they’re in scale with S.H.MonsterArts. They’re bleeding. My hunch, though, is that the figures will be a little too tall, since some of them will be as tall as 8″. Still, I am definitely on board for this line.
- Aliens/Predator – I’m guessing we’ll see some new stuff from NECA. Hoping for more Predator soldiers (Jesse Ventura pleasepleaseplease) and Aliens Marines, and maybe a Ripley, or the Alien Queen.
- Batman 1966 – The Mattel 6″ figures look quite nice, actually. Entertainment Earth revealed the Riddler and the Penguin, while TNI revealed Batman himself and what the article says is an in-scale 1966 Batmobile that will supposedly retail for $50. I at first thought it was just a re-issue of the Hot Wheels Batmobile, but maybe not…? $50 just seems low for that big a vehicle, but I suppose the Wind Raider was only $45. Anyway, the figures look great and appear to be almost entirely new sculpts, which is a refreshing change of pace for a superhero line from Mattel. I’m not sure whether I’ll be buying these figures or not, but I’m definitely tempted to at least get Batman. The figures will evidently be $16 apiece, which seems surprisingly cheap for a Mattel licensed line with new tooling. It almost makes me wonder if Warner Bros. is subsidizing this for some reason.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – I’ve only been cherrypicking this line, but I will no doubt continue to do so, especially if they start bringing more of the 1980s cartoon and Archie comics characters into the mix. (I still think Bebop and Rocksteady are better designs than Dogpound or Fishface.) A new Ray Fillet, might I suggest…?
- Power Lords –
I’m curious to see what the figures look like. I understand entirely why going the Glyos route makes financial sense, but the small size and lack of articulation on the Outer Space Men kept me from really getting into that line, and if Power Lords are presented the same way, I suspect I’ll pass on most of them as well. Truth be told, while I was very fond of the few Power Lords figures I had as a kid, they were never a full-on obsession like Transformers, and my toy budget is going to be tight this year…I’ve got to draw the line somewhere.Okay, forget all that – based on this preview pic at IAT, even if the Power Lords are Glyos-compatible, they don’t look it.
I think that’s it…actually, I feel like I’m forgetting something, but anyway: what are you looking forward to seeing most at Toy Fair this year?
One thing that has made it increasingly difficult for me to write reviews these days is that I’m often reviewing a character I’ve reviewed before. For me, the appeal of a review is often discussing the history of the character or the franchise, my own childhood memories and so forth. I’ve already covered all that for Leo and the rest of the TMNT in two previous reviews here and here, so I refer you to those if you want the flavor text. This review is going to get down to brass tacks.
I took this shot while working on a review of the Leonardo Classic Collection & Nickelodeon TV figures, but the main reason for taking it was to participate in this week’s assignment for CoolandCollected’s League of Extraordinary Bloggers.
You can see C&C’s own entry here, as well as a list of links to other entries in the comments for that post.
I suppose I should comment on the Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles controversy, which has had a ridiculous amount of media coverage, with articles appearing in major newspapers and parody videos popping up on Conan. I was a HUGE Turtles fan from 1989-1991, so I feel on fairly solid ground in expressing an opinion.
