Let's first go over our leader, Leonardo. He'll have the sole focus as the other turtles share the same bucks. This mold looks good, capturing a good balance between athleticism and cartoony aesthetics. The limbs have a bit of musculature while the gree is consistent throughout the entire figure. I am also happy to see the beige portion of the torso look opaque as it should, and the harness that holds the sheaths on the back of the turtle shell is another great aspect of this guy. Leo's shell along with the harness and sheaths has some decent sculpting to add a layer of completion to the toy. Even the belt buckle is nicely painted, though the circle does look a bit misshapen. The only issue I have is that the left leg has its knee joints warped out of the box. I'll have to fix that at some point.
Head sculpt is pretty good, even if the facial expression is angrier than in the cartoon. Leo and the turtles were more expressive in the cartoon than the promo art would imply, but it's worth mentioning that this would be more of an in-between phase of Leo from Seasons 1 through 7 and the Red Sky era in Seasons 8 through 10. The eyes are thankfully facing forward, though I wouldn't mind if the pupils were not added. His articulation has a ball joint on the neck, shoulders that move front and back as well as in and out at a much wider range than I've seen with a lot of figures in this scale. The biceps swivel, elbows bend at two points, the wrists swivel, the hands hinge in and out, and the fingers as well as the thumbs are articulated (my Leo's right hand has slightly messed up right fingers). There is a diaphragm joint, the hips are on a ball joint and weirdly don't have normal front and back movement because of the angle of the ball joint, but you can pose him in an action stance with no issue. There are thigh swivels, double-jointed knees, ankle hinges as well as foot rotation, and toe articulation. Unsheathing the twin katanas, Leonardo looks ready to take on the Foot Clan as the badass leader he is.
Next up, let's go over Rocksteady. This guy is loaded with military gear, which is fitting for his character design. This version gives him his camo pants with turtle shell hip guards, which don't really hide the areas that connect them that well from the back. At the very least, the bullet chest strap, the belt, the wrist and arm bands, and the grenades are nice details on the figure, though I can't help but feel his shirt looks like it's painted on even if there is a bit of sculpting added to it.
His head sculpt is gnarly as hell, even if it betrays his dimwitted personality from the cartoon. I like that the helmet is added on with night-vision goggles to boot, but while the strap for that is unpainted, the helmet requiring the rubber band to hold it in there is more problematic. His articulation is not as plentiful as the turtles, as the head is limited somewhat due to its shape, no finger articulation, and no foot rotation, as the boot takes care of that. He does have his rifle and machete, the former even coming with a stand for shooting public figures from far away that you really can't pose him well with.
This 2-pack is a good start for fans that want a taste of Playmates' iterations of the turtles and one of the villains. Leonardo's great with a few issues, and Rocksteady, while not perfect, doesn't feel too far behind his packmate. And yes, you can remove the rubberband if you want him to be posed without the helmet, but good luck leaving it on there! I'd appreciate it if it was pliable enough for it to stay in place. Also IDK if you can tell from this angle, but each figure comes with a display base that is a sewer lid which comes with the logo and the respective figure's name.
For a size comparison with other figures in the 1:12 scale line, the Turtles did seem shorter in the cartoon at around 5 feet, which, while not towering over Anakin Skywalker, Spider-Man, Superman, or Dino Charge Blue, does make him unusually scaled for those who are more used to their shorter selves. This would probably scale better with the McFarlane DC Multiverse line, but since I don't have much of that line, this is the closest we'll get unless fans were to get the BST AXN figures, which measure at 5 inches but appear to be of a lesser quality than Playmates. And if you're wondering, there's a chance we may see these characters in a future project of mine. Stay tuned...
Before we cover the other villains, I want to go over the other Turtles for a moment. I love that each of them not only have their respective bandanna and arm/knee band colors to go with their already distinct weapons, not only do they have their own shades of green to make them a tad bit more distinct, but they also have their own facial expressions that make them unique from one another! Michelangelo's got a neutral face while Donatello's snarling from the right in contrast to Leo's left snarl, and Raphael's got an even gnarlier expression! Otherwise, they all have the same articulation and pros/cons that their brother possesses, but they at least have their own weapons. Mikey's got nunchucks with die-cast chains, Donny's got his bo staff with a signature band around the middle, and Raph's got his twin sais he can hold either with the handle or with the fingers in-between the three blades!
Next up, here is Triceraton, Raph's packmate. An alien race member from a species that actually predated the TMNT comics made by Mirage, this is an anthropomorphic dino as one would expect from seeing humanoid animals. The figure does look a little more cartoony, but there is a good bit of surface texturing that makes the figures feel believably organic, even if it is more toyetic in this style by comparison. I do like how the outfit has a bit of a sci-fi edge, even if it is pretty toyetic with the back antennae and the orange triangles. He could use a bit of a wash, though.
His head sculpt is more cartoony than the Turtles in my opinion, and while it is just as gnarly as the heroes, I do find it odd that a Triceratops would have normal human teeth considering how they're herbivores, but that along with the blue beak and eyebrows are pretty alien, I guess. His articulation is the same as the villains, but he comes with two different guns, one of them being more of a grapnel gun at least in terms of appearance.
I'm lucky that Raph doesn't have any real issues with his quality control, because Tricer has somewhat loose elbows. I feel that's going to be the trend for the other two villains we'll get later in the review.
I gotta admit, the fact that the tail (which is articulated on a swivel) coming disassembled out of the box is funny, but the display base for the Triceraton being a triangle is pretty uninspired compared to the sewer lid.
Our sole human character in this review from the same series, Shredder looks mostly good. I wish he had a wash on his clothing, but I have a feeling this guy was somewhat held back in terms of quality compared to the Turtles and even some of the villains. The spikes on the arm gauntlets, knee guards, and shoulder pads look bad, the claws are a little stubbier, and the cape looks so plastic it makes Hasbro's Marvel Legends capes look more realistic. While there are some creases to make it resemble fabric, I don't like how toyish it looks on him (in addition to it not staying on the collar as well). The proportions also feel a little off; his legs feel a little skinnier than I'd like, but the upper body's diaphragm joint doesn't flow well compared to the rest of the lower body. This would have been acceptable in the 2000s when collector-friendly action figures were moving away from the pre-posed statues of the past, and seeing it look a bit dated in 2013 is somewhat annoying, but having it come with no improvements feels embarrassing for 2023 since it's in the Ninja Elite Series with a higher price tag than it originally had back in 2013!
Head sculpt is not that great, feeling like a far-away shot of the character rather than a well-sculpted noggin from a more close-up face shot of the character. Once again, acceptable for the 2000s, not too hot for the 2010s, and embarrassing for the 2020s. The same can be said for his articulation. Not only is his leg movement terribly limited because it uses the same joint construction on the turtles, but there are NO bicep swivels! Every other figure has bicep swivels, and this guy has the same problem that Legacy Pointblanker had. I can sort of understand why Hasbro didn't give him bicep swivels because of the transformation and engineering (even if it was stupid to ditch it), but this is a 6-inch scale figure. To not give him bicep swivels is an embarrassment. Not even Hasbro's most recent Legends don't fail this simple point of articulation.
Now we got to talk about the weapons. The sword is alright, but the other weapons he includes range from being okay (third pic) to being terribly sculpted (second and fourth pics). It also hurts that there is no bicep swiveling involved.
This two-pack is the weakest one of them all. Donny's fine and all, but Shredder lets it down and becomes an embarrassment like his appearance in Turtles Forever.
But it needs to be said it's not all gloom and doom; Shredder's got his own unique base, but even Donny hates his limited arm movement!
And finally, here is Bebop. He's got some personality to him, from the street gang punk aesthetic to the fact that he's a warthog. The ripped shirt, the skinny jeans, and his fake Jordans make him such a fan-favorite, especially with the contrast to the more simple yet effective Turtle designs. I do feel bad for his waist feeling scrunched up compared to the rest of the body, but that's the effect from being a mutant.
His head has the iconic purple mohawk and shades, which goes with his smug snarl and nosering. He may be a hog but he has the aggression of a bull...when he isn't an idiot, of course. His articulation is the same as Rocksteady's but he does come with his signature drill gun. Of course, all of the villains lack paint for their weapons.
As for this two-pack, it's comparable to the other two sets that don't feature Shredder. Mikey's great, and Bebop's alright. Though clearly Bebop and Rocksteady should be taller than the turtles.
It's funny how he has grenades like his teammate, but they are once again removable. Hope he can survive a beating from Mikey, even with his nunchucks put away.
Overall, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are the reasons to get these two-packs. They may be the same base mold, but they have unique weapons, band colors, and different shades of green, with their altered expressions and belt buckles completing the cherry on top. They're not 100% perfect, but these are very good, and a nice way to get a standard TMNT display. These guys have been used a lot since 2013, and I know there were comic versions (which aren't as cool as the NECA ones) in addition to collabs with Cobra Kai and Stranger Things.
As for the villains, they're not that great. If I were to pick a favorite, I'd say Bebop is in first place, Rocksteady in second, Triceraton in third, and Shredder in fourth. Man, I don't want to shit on Shredder even though his portrayal, iconic as it is, can be whiny, but his figure is not good. Get these multipacks at a half-off price. You're paying for 2 toys for the price of one, and combined, you're paying for 8 toys for the price of 4.
Turtles ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Villains ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (especially at the half-off price)
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