Super7 Ultimates Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 set review

Of all of the versions we had throughout the years, the 2003 version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles remains my favorite to this day. While there is an obvious obsession over the 80s versions from the nostalgia crowd, or the 2012 version being surprisingly good despite concerns from the Viacom purchase of Mirage Studios, and I guess there is some appeal from the Rise series for the "animation = cinema" crowd, but 2003 was the perfect balance between action, humor, and great story-telling that hasn't been compared to since its ending. Sure, some will say that Fast Forward and Back to the Sewers were downgrades, but the overall series remains the best we've ever had in the franchise history. Ironically, as much as a phrase like "I love being a turtle" gets repeated in my mind from the theme song, the franchise as a whole gets yearly review rep since I got the MMPR crossover figures back in 2022. While I reviewed the reissues of the 2003 figures, we're now about to see if some long-awaited collector friendly options from Super7. Yes indeed, the same company that makes all those ReAction figures with barely any value like a Funko Pop, you probably remembered that I reviewed their Unicron from that same line because it's the cheapest option I could get for now based on that old toy. The Ultimates subline seems to be a way better approach to making action figures compared to these wannabe Kenner things, but are they each worth $55 plus the tariff tax if you buy from their site?

Here we have Leonardo in-hand, with his katanas in the sheaths. Since I never really messed with any other Super7 figures, I can't tell you if they have any similarities or differences from the prior waves. What I can say is the figures are generally accurate to the artstyle used for the show. I wish the arms could go down a bit further, and the shoulders to be bigger, but the sculpts looks pretty close to what we saw on TV. While paint apps are somewhat minimal, they are at least used for the shell, mask, and the weapon handles. The front of the shell as well as the straps, belt, and elbow/knee pads are made of a PVC material to allow for more flexibility in the articulation, which makes sense than something like the ENTIRE torso for Maximum Hulk. I wish the browns were darker, though, because the current shade makes the toy look somewhat cheap. The ball-shaped hips are more noticeable in some angles, but I have a hunch this was the best they could do given how the Turtles' proportions usually work. So for the most part, the figure looks good, with some slight tweaks needed here and there.

His head sculpt is mostly the same-ish when it comes to his brothers, but I do like that we have a bit of line work for the eyes as well as the eyebrows to add an extra bit of personality to these masked characters. His articulation includes a double ball neck with a decent amount of range, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, bicep rotation, double jointed elbows, rotation within the elbow joints, wrist rotation, inward/outward or lateral wrist hinges depending on what hands are used, a diaphragm joint that thankfully isn't hindered by the shell, ball-shaped hips that move front and back as well as in and out, thigh rotation, double jointed knees and ankles that hinge as well as pivot. His katanas are a decent length for him, though I wish the blades are painted silver to make the budget slightly easier to stomach. Thankfully, they aren't too rubbery, and the grey plastic isn't entirely cheap-looking. Alternate parts on him include a head with a smirky sneer, fisted hands, open hands, and a communicator that he can't really hold in the gripping hand. Maybe extra hands or slightly wider circumferences to the hands can fix that. On the plus side, all of the heads have articulated bandana straps in the backs, and they are swappable.

Here we have Leo in-between two standard 1:12/1:10 scale examples from McFarlane and Hasbro. While Batman and Iron Man's heights should probably be swapped, we should keep in mind that the 2003 Turtles are usually 5'2" while Keaton Batman is 5'9" and Iron Man in the comic armor is 6'6". In that case, Leo may be taller than normal next to Iron Man and pretty undersized next to this version of Batman. Maybe some better examples from both lines could help showcase a proper canon scale.

And here we have Leonardo with his 1987 Classics counterpart and his original 2003 figure, both from Playmates. I was hoping to do a Turtles Forever display, but for that to work, I would have to get those subpar Loyal Subjects versions that better match the earlier seasons of the 87 cartoon. 

Naturally, since they all share the same body and articulation, let's go over the rest of the brothers. Donatello naturally comes with a bo staff as well as both a smiling head and a sneering head with one eye bugged out. The former is currently wearing the goggles, but the eyes are a slightly different shape from Leo's neutral head.

Up next is Raphael, who comes with his twin said as well as both a snarling head and one with a berserker yell that fits nobody else but him. Interesting how he doesn't have a neutral head but if anyone is going to be angry, make it Raph.

And finally, Michelangelo comes with an open smiling expression and the most positive neutral face (shown in the bottom pic). His nunchucks are genuinely fun with how to can remove most of the pieces and give him these mid-motion twirling parts. 

He also comes with the regular nunchucks with diecast chains, though what sucks is that the pegs being painted means they not only don't go all the way in, but the sockets are seemingly starting to crack. Be very careful with your copies. That and the inevitable paint rub on the weapon handles. One thing I wish these came with is the preorder bonus set featuring four extra heads. Leo gets a slightly different smile, Raph gets a different snarling expression, Mikey gets a winking expression and Donatello does his own sneering expression. The worst part is how expensive the set became in the aftermarket; the lowest it went for was $80 while the highest it usually reaches is around $200. 

Overall, as a huge fan of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, I REALLY want to recommend these figures entirely; the problem stems from how the price betrays the value they each have inside their boxes. Judging by the prices of earlier waves, they used to cost $45 each, and with later waves fluctuating with the accessory count and the MSRP creeping up over the years since they began making the Ultimates, there is no excuse for that supposed tariff fee (especially for purchases made after the set was made in stock versus preorders which made some sense). If they came with the bonus preorder heads, extra hands meat for the communicators, thumbs up hands, and/or the accessories their old toys came with, then the price would be easier to justify. Even then my copy of Mikey seems to have some minor yet problematic QC issues. If you can get them for around $40 or less like they had for some sales on Amazon or their site during the holiday season, then I recommend doing that. I went with that approach for my Turtles, and I look to do the same when Shredder, Splinter, the Foot Soldier, and Casey Jones pop up. I'll also see if I'd even bother with April O'Neil and Hun for the wave after them.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for all 4 at their MSRP)