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Write a Review link for that item. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca)After years of doing figures from the original TMNT cartoon, NECA taking on the 2012 cartoon alongside it came as a surprise, but a good one. The last collector-oriented 2012 Turtle figures were the Revoltechs, and those go for high prices now, so a cheaper alternative is much needed. Michelangelo was the first one they revealed, and he's the next figure in the line I'll be looking at. In the 2012 series, Mikey's still the party dude, but he's less "surfer dude" and more "wild child," and May Thamtarana captured his personality well with the default portrait, giving him a goofy smile. He looks very accurate to the show (it probably helps the show was already in three dimensions, giving NECA something to work off of), and the paint looks great, with bold colors and various specks on the skin, though there is some bleeding from the mask. The alternate head is more of a combat expression, with blank eyes and a wide-open mouth, kind of like how he looks in Ciro Nieli's box art. We would've gotten a third head that's in between the two portraits here, having gritted teeth but visible pupils. Unfortunately, it got omitted from the final release for cost reasons. Lame! Mikey is the shortest of his siblings, standing about 5 1/4" tall here, but he has the same thin arms and contrastingly thick legs as the others. Like them, he has elbow and knee pads, wraps around the fingers, and forearm and ankle wraps (though brown rather than white like Leo has), and the paint on the body is very clean, with a few scuffs from battle on his shell and armor, and the paint on the joints doesn't chip off as much as they usually do on Turtle figures. Speaking of joints, they blend in very well with the sculpt, partially thanks to NECA now doing pinless elbows and knees, and the elbows don't look all that awkward when posed. I can't say the same for the knees, but we all know most double-knee joints on figures tend to look weird when bent. Since I'm talking about the look of the articulation so much, I may as well go into what moves. Mikey has all the same joints as Leo, with a barbell head and chest, swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, and ankles, ball-jointed hips, double-hinged elbows and knees, and swivel biceps, thighs, and mask tassels. The knees are more on the tight side, and one of the biceps needed some working to get moving, but everything moves just fine, and the heads and hands swap with ease. The shell does limit his movement a bit, specifically in the chest and hips, and I have seen people on Instagram do some modding to these figures to give them more range, namely shaving off parts of the lower body. I don't think I can bring myself to cut these up like they do, but I'm satisfied with their poseability. Like always, Michelangelo's weapon of choice is his pair of nunchucks, but the 2012 series gave him another weapon in his kusarigama, a sickle-like weapon on a chain. The chain can actually be detached from it, as can the chains on the nunchucks, so that you can give one of the 'chucks a longer chain if you want, or attach one end to the kusarigama, as its end is designed to connect to them. It also makes getting the weapons into Mikey's hands or holsters easier, as you can just pop off one end and slide it in. As for other extras, Mikey gets the same communicator, smoke bomb, and pizza slice the other turtles have, as well as four pairs of hands: gripping, relaxed, pointing, and shaka sign. His last accessory is Ice Cream Kitty, the combination of a stray cat, ice cream, and mutagen that turned him into an adorable Neapolitan blob. The sculpt and paint on him is great, and he has a midsection ball-joint so you can change up his pose a bit (a head joint would've been nice to have as well, though). Mikey was supposed to have a water balloon and skateboard as well, but those ended up getting cut alongside the third head. Given these are near $40 each, the extra accessories would've helped the value a lot. Aside from the somewhat hindered articulation and knowing we could've gotten more accessories, the 2012 Turtles line has proven pretty enjoyable, and with more characters in the works, with some coming very soon, I have high hopes for it (especially if we can get a Dogpound that actually looks good). I just wish they were a little easier to find in stores. - 3/9/26   by Toasted Brains |
| Art the Clown |  | Submission Order |  | Tanookie Mario (Super Leaf) |
| Leonardo | | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon Series | | Garfello (Garfield and Odie) |
| Art the Clown | | Written by Toasted Brains | | Tanookie Mario (Super Leaf) |
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