11/2/14

Mirage Comic Book Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Action Figures by Playmates

Do not adjust your monitors. Your color settings are just fine. Contrary to what you may think, you are not seeing a quartet of Raphaels holding his brothers' weapons. What you are seeing are the newest variants of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, based on their original Mirage comic book illustrations!

These Comic Book Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are hitting stores now as part of the standard Playmates TMNT toyline. If you are seeking them, look for the white 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' header. Other figures in the line have the words printed in yellow, making these ones pretty easy to spot on the pegs even when they are hiding behind the other figures. So much for Ninja stealth!

Each of the four turtle brothers is available in this 'comic book' style, the only difference between them being their head sculpts/bandanas and the inclusion of their signature weapons. Some moms, kids and even collectors may opt to only get only one, feeling that the similarities are too monotonous to warrant buying more than one. But in my opinion having all four of these guys together makes for a pretty slick display, and seeing as how they are comparably cheap ($8.99 standard, and often you can find sales on multiple purchases), collecting them all is a hard proposition to resist.

As a small bonus, each figure comes with a card depicting some old-school comic book art. Unfortunately the card backs do not provide any details or any added info. But they look cool on the front!

Word on the streets is that Donatello is the 'short-packed' figure - appearing one per case as opposed to his brothers' two per case ratio. This seems to be pretty standard lately, with Donatello getting the short end of the proverbial Bo Staff. I guess the bean counters don't think he's as popular as his brethren, and maybe they are right. Regardless, if you see Donatello and are on a budget or on the fence about having them all you might want to grab him first, as he could turn out to be harder to find than the others.

That said, Playmates TMNT figures are rarely hard to find , are well distributed and very common at most retailers. So 'harder to find' may be relative, and Donny will probably still be pretty easy to get a hold of if you want him. You just might have to be a little patient - a trait toy collectors tend not to posess.

Speaking of collectors, a common complaint about these guys is that none of the Turtles have sheaths or any way to stow their weapons. This is a design aesthetic accurate to the original art, and perhaps a cost-cutting measure too (since all four turtles share the same body and belt), and really it isn't a big deal for Raph, Don and Mikey. But it is pretty noticeable with Leo, who was given sheaths as the comic art progressed. It would be nice for Leo to be able to sheath his Katana, but the lack of sheaths is not a deal breaker for me.

On the flip-side, Leonardo does have two different sized Katana. They could have easily just packed the same Katana in twice, so there's a point for Playmates.

Mikey's Nunchuku correct an earlier issue for many of his action figure releases by making the 'chain' very thick and not easily bent/stressed/broken. They don't move or bend, but they won't easily break either, or get that hideous stress-induced lightening of the plastic, so that's a plus in my book.

Michaelangelo (or is it Michelangelo?) has the best face sculpt, with his grimacing teeth showing on each side of his grizzled, edgy hard-core schnoz.

But of course Raphael is my favorite, because he's always my favorite. He comes with two good and solid Sai and a bad attitude.

The turtles are well articulated, with swivel shoulders, swivel elbows, swivel hips, swivel knees and a ball-jointed head. Some folks lament the lack of wrist articulation, but whatyagonnado? Lack of wrist articulation isn't a deal breaker for me either.

The original pre-production pics appeared to show dark paint in the sculpted scribble-marks. This paint application is not included on the figures produced, and while it looked good I am actually ok with how they look without it. I enjoy how light and shadow play on the hash-marks; it adds depth and presents a more subued effect. Anyways, it's an easy 'fix' if you are so inclined.

I know collectors are finding a lot of reasons to gripe about these guys, and invariably the comparison to the Collecotr's Grade NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is a bit unfair to be honest. Are these guys perfect? Not quite. Are they NECA quality? No, not any moreso than JLU figures are DCDirect quality. Apples and Oranges.

For what these are, the Playmates Mirage Comic Book Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are not only a mouthful to say, but they are totally radical, dude! They are eight-ish bucks, available darn near everywhere, well made, solid and durable for kid's play (which is the target market, as much as collectors want to argue otherwise), completely unexpected and finally...

...they are in scale with original Playmates TMNT figures! And let's face it, Casey Jones here is the 'Mirage Comic Book' version too, because there was no other source material to draw from when he was designed. He looks absolutely GREAT next to these new comic book ninja turtles.

Being able to pair Raph and Casey together on my shelf is worth the price of admission alone!

I highly recommend you grab at least one of these guys for your collection. And if you are even a fair-to-middlin TMNT fan, you should probably grab them all. They are really fun to have around, inexpensive, durable, and you can team them up with any iteration of the Turtles and their cohorts for all sorts of parallel universe hopping good times!

COWABUNGA!

22 comments:

  1. Despite being disappointed in the lack of wrist swivels and scabbards for Leo, I did go ahead and pick him up.
    He is a pretty fun figure, although I think the hips on the normal Nickelodeon figures work a little better.
    I am tempted to get Michelangelo too, just because I love the grimacing head and good looking nunchuks. A target near me just got a restock that was cast in a darker green. I doubt it is an intentional color change, but it is noticeable, with the figures from the newer run being in a dark forest green, whereas the Leo I have is almost a blue-ish green.

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    1. Yeah, I got all of mine on three separate occasions (Two Targets in two different towns one Toys R Us) and I was a bit worried they wouldn't match when I got them all together, as Playmates have lately been known for wide variations in paint apps, colors etc. Luckily all mine match.

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    2. Awesome! I will have to look for those- the shade of green was my major issue with the overall look of these dudes, so if the new one is closer to the official colors from the IDW or First reprints, going in on these dudes.

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    3. I have yet to see the darker versions in person. Just glad all of mine match!

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    4. Hey Ronnie,
      I picked up a darker Mikey earlier tonight, and in-hand I have to say I prefer it over my Leonardo. The shell is painted the same color, except the yellow on the front of Mikey is matte, while Leo's is a bit glossy. The darker green really makes the red masks pop. Keep your eyes open because I've now seen these darker figures at two targets and a walmart.
      Unfortunately I didn't realize this Mikey he had two left thighs until I got home and opened him. So now I get to have the fun time explaining to customer service how he is misassembled and I want to exchange.

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    5. I heard of some folks finding them with two left or two right feet as well.

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    6. Ronnie, here is a pic of the two different greens I'm seeing. It isn't drastic enough to make me think it is anything other than a simple variation in the manufacturing. The front of the shell also has a slightly, very slightly, lighter yellow.
      I don't know, I can't decide which I think is the better color, but if you really didn't like the original green you've been seeing you might like these.

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    7. I saw the darker versions in person last night at Toys R Us (The Leo and Mikey versions that come with comics) and they do look pretty good in the darker tone. If I had any patience, I might have held out for all darker turtles. But I don't hate the lighter tone, so I'm content with what I have :)

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  2. You know i was going to grab these then i passed on them the one time i saw them at the Toy Reseller...I was told by a couple of folks to invest in the NECA Bootleg ones as the quality on them are better than expected and are half the price of the actual ones so am thinking of going that route now.

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    1. I have two sets of Neca turtles (the blister carded figures that came with the extra accessories, and the B&W box set). I also have a set of bootlegs with the cartoon colored headbands.
      Although the Neca figures are the better versions, with slightly better plastic and overall QC, the bootlegs are surprisingly good. Especially since you can get a set of the bootlegs for about $50 shipped, maybe less, it does not seem worth it to spend the crazy amount for the official figures that are only marginally better.

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  3. I hear the NECA bootlegs are great and a lot cheaper than the legit NECA TMNT figures. I may track some down eventually, but for the price and scale together, these guys can't be beat!

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    1. This true and if those Neca bootlegs don't pan out I may go for these.

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  4. If I didn't have the NECA versions already, I'd definitely buy these.

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  5. They are just right after my time in toyland. I was 18 when they hit the market.

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    1. I was into the comics and not really into the toon or toys back in the day, but a few years ago the toys started catching my eye and I've been chasing them down ever since.

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  6. You know ,I was gonna go after Mikey next but Donnie might be the move.I think the different shades might look cool and also help in distinguishing the 4 turtles.Or not.

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    1. Good point, the varying greens might actually create a nice distinction.

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  7. As cool as these are, I think I might stick with the cartoon versions. It's not due to any dislike of the comic versions, but I guess it's because they're not the ones I grew up with. I didn't even know about the Mirage comics until the early 90's, and I was already firmly in the grasp of Playmate's world by then.

    Still, I will continue to maintain that this is the best line for children and collectors. Cheaper, durable, and there's actually more villains than hero figures this time around.

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    1. "Still, I will continue to maintain that this is the best line for children and collectors. Cheaper, durable, and there's actually more villains than hero figures this time around. "

      I wholeheartedly agree. No one gets 100% of what they want every time, but I feel Playmates is doing a nice job juggling all the collectors/parents/kids/bean counters they have to please.

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