Home News There’s a Playmates Toy For That

There’s a Playmates Toy For That

by Justin W

True to form, when it comes to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, nobody can keep Playmates from capitalizing on the several incredible ideas dreamed up by the creators of the show. Well before we even knew who would become Bebop and Rocksteady, their action figure counterparts had already been announced. As if that weren’t enough, before we could even ask them to give us a certain variant of our favorite heroes in a half shell, they’re already hitting store shelves.

As revealed by Youtube user Pixel Dan, Playmates has just unveiled a series of TMNT action figures based on the Vision Quest episode which just aired a few weeks ago. It’s as if they knew what we were all thinking upon completion of that episode: “I am so buying those toys when they come out.”

For those of you who had similar thoughts, you’ll be glad to know that these variants are already starting to show up at stores around the country. If you want a quick review of the figures, check out Dan’s close up look at all four of them in the video above.

In addition, the turtle’s new Party Wagon is also making its way to store shelves, despite the fact that it made its first proper appearance on the show just a few weeks ago. When it comes to giving the fans what they want when they want it, Playmates isn’t messing around anymore; they’re releasing these toys as close to their appearances in the show as they possibly can. While that is ultimately a good thing, it also means that we could start seeing a few issues with the figures.

As noted by Pixel Dan in the review of the Mystic Turtle series, the paint job on these variants leaves a lot to be desired. It’s also worth noting that the Mystic Raphael toy is lacking a second claw weapon (also known as a form of Tekko-kagi), which was prominently featured in the episode that these figures were based on.

Little things like this might not be a big deal for kids or even some fans, but it’s important to understand that we’re beginning to see Playmates cut a few more corners here and there. It’s likely that this is done to ensure that the product gets out there as quickly as possible, but the result is that the fans will have to give up a little detail or be required to do some painting of their own if they want to make their toys look more like the characters in the series.

In addition to the Mystic Turtles and the Party Wagon, Playmates is also set to release a few other toys based on characters from Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Included in this lineup are a mutated Serpent Karai, Baxter Stockman as a fly, and Michelangelo as Turflytle. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting for a Turflytle action figure since Mikey and Donny came up with the idea during the second season!

 

It’s getting to the point where you can pretty much be sure that anything interesting you see in the new TMNT series is probably going to be made into a toy. With that in mind, I have a few requests – unless they’ve already been made and are heading to market: Mini-Shredder, Crognard the Barbarian (with his faithful assistant Spooch), The Chimera (maybe this could be a vehicle sized toy?) and of course…Ice Cream Kitty. Come on, how can we continue our lives without an Ice Cream Kitty figure? He could even come in his own refrigerator!

What do you think of these new action figures from Playmates? Do you have a wishlist for any future toys in the series? Let us know what you want to see in the comments below. Who knows? Maybe they’ll see our comments and give in to our otherwise outlandish requests. After all, we are talking about the company that gave us all kinds of crazy, fun and inventive TMNT toys in the 80’s and 90’s!

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5 comments

Phill182 February 12, 2015 - 6:17 pm

I still want a fully human karai.
We’ve waited 3 seasons and all we get is mutated karai with a human head.
How’s about a scale body to go with that head!?

Victor February 13, 2015 - 11:52 am

what is playmates reasoning behind this? Im sure the Human Karai, would sell more than a 3 headed serpent version of her.
Talk about kicking a character when they are down.

Nic February 13, 2015 - 11:34 am

I’ve wanted an Ice Cream Kitty figure since she made her first appearance on the show! I love kitties. And ice cream. Kitties made of ice cream…

Also, yes to a fully human Karai. Hopefully she makes an appearance soon in toy form. My theory is that if they released her too soon, her bio on her packaging would have her listed on Shredder’s team, when ultimately she was going to end up on the Turtle’s team, so maybe they just wanted to wait until that was established on the show before they could make her action figure? I’m sure if they know there’s enough demand for it, they’ll make it.

What about the Purple Dragons? And the ghost-dude that gave them powers? And I’m surprised that the LARP Turtles were produced, but not Malakai.

On another note, is anyone else completely unimpressed with the April O’Neil figure? She has next to no points of articulation and for one of the main characters in the show I just feel like they didn’t do her justice. Also, I hate the fact that Casey Jones’s face is painted black and white despite the fact that he comes with a black and white face mask? Why not just give him his regular face? Drives me a little crazy.

nick March 21, 2015 - 4:08 pm

come on just a april paint it like kiri its what i did for my kid

NUMBER ONE TMNT FAN April 15, 2015 - 3:24 pm

did anybody notice how much better the design for the turtles is now compared to 2012? I bought a bunch in 2012 but haven’t got any new ones. (sob) The new ones look a lot more like the show and are more posable.

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