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Write a Review link for that item. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Collection (Playmates)For much of the 80s and 90s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were a household name, with comics, a cartoon, movies, toys, and everything else. By the end of the 90s, however, Turtlemania had dried up, with the toyline going on hold after Next Mutation's short run, and a forgettable run of comics by Image. A few years into the 21st century, the Turtles were making their way back into the mainstream with both the return of the Mirage comics and a new cartoon. After two failed pitches, the turtle teens were back on the air thanks to Fox and 4Kids, with the end result obtaining a long run and a big fanbase, thanks to a closer tone to the comics whilst remaining quirky and kid-friendly. This gave Playmates the opportunity to put out a new toyline, with plenty of unique variants and characters. About 20 years later, in the midst of the company's various vintage reissues, the '03 brothers hit shelves again, and I got the whole set through Target, after being what I believe were Walmart exclusives. Playmates has usually been pretty good about retaining the old card art with their reissues, and these are a slight exception. There's no character specific card backs like before, with these showing all four brothers instead of one each, but they reused the motif so well you'd swear these were the originals. The only other differences are the smaller height and lack of "Catch it on the Fox Box" graphic, since that block's long dead. You still have the "clip and collect" character bios, and being cardbacks, it's easy to get these guys opened up, with few ties holding in stuff like limbs and gear. It's amazing Playmates still has these old molds 20-something years later, and comparing them to pics of the originals, it looks like nothing's changed. Most of the turtles sport a grin on their faces, save for Raphael, who has a ticked-off grimace. While the chosen expressions are great, the heads themselves could be better. Leonardo's head matches the show's art style the most, whereas the others have heads that are misshapen, somewhat blocky, and plain off-model. Donatello looks the worst out of them, with the flat scalp and pointy right cheek. No, that's not an issue with the reused molds; he's had this issue in the first place from what I've seen. Raphael's head looks more like the Mirage style than the '03 one (though it could be because apparently these figures were built off proposed ones for the cancelled WB show), and Michelangelo looks alright, it's just that one eye is lower than the other, resulting in a very derpy look. It could just be a paint flaw, but I think it has to do with the sculpt. Speaking of which, the paint is clean on the whites of the eyes and teeth, at least clean enough for mass market figures. Standing 4 1/2" tall each, the Turtles share some tooling, namely the torsos and hands, but most of the arms and the legs are different. The way they're posed on each Turtle makes for very dynamic poses, even with the limited articulation. I had a little bit of trouble with Donatello, since his right foot is designed to rest on its toes, creating some balance issues. I love the way the others are posed, and having different parts instead off all get the same limb poses creates some variety between figures. The belts are also unique to each one, with proper weapon storage, and the paint for the clothes and plastrons are pretty clean, though there is still a chunk of bleed here and there. Speaking of, the '03 show was the first one to make each brother a different color; Raph and Mikey are both a bright, bold green, with Mikey being a bit bluish, while Leo is a darker green, and Don is more brown than anything else. The colors don't exactly match the show, but then again, the bodies don't retain the style all too great either (reminder: these were salvaged from cancelled figures). The articulation is a bit of an upgrade over the original line, as while the heads are still only swivels, the shoulders have been updated to swivel/hinge joints, and there's swivels at the elbows and wrists as well, providing plenty of arm poses. However, this line marked the first usage of Playmates' oddly designed swivel/hinge hips, which peg straight up into the body instead of into the pelvis. They work fine here, however, as they allow you to adjust the legs properly enough to get these guys standing. For accessories, the brothers each have their signature weapons - katanas, bo staff, sai, and nunchucks - as well as a pair of yin-yang shuriken, but they also have some unique gear. Leo has a pair of suction cups that can be held in his hands, and he can use them to stick on walls, windows, or whatever. Don has axe and sword blades that can either attach to both ends of his staff, or be held in his hands. Raph has a zipline, but unlike the original release, there's no rope for him to zip down on, so you'll have to improvise. Lastly, Mikey has the most unique extra in a climbing box: have him grip the handle, put the hook on something like a door handle or whatnot that it can hang from, then pull on the other end of the string to hoist Mikey up. Pretty unique bit of engineering, if I do say so myself. These may not be perfect figures, but it's still a good thing Playmates got them back out there, and they're both fun for kids and great for longtime fans who want a chance to get these for lower prices. I'll admit I'm more excited for Super7's '03 figures, as those are more show-accurate and look much more fun to pose and play with, I'll be happy if Playmates gets more into reissuing this line at some point, as we need the rest of the main cast, and the more unique and rarer stuff like Quarry would be nice as well. - 9/23/24    by RMaster007 |
| Captain Shiner |  | Submission Order |  | Keno (Foot Training) / Foot Soldier |
| Toilet Taxi | | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Collection Series | | None |
| Captain Shiner | | Written by RMaster007 | | Keno (Foot Training) / Foot Soldier |
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