Over the past few years, Kidrobot has produced some pretty awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collectibles. The style of their vinyl figures is typically very unique, but this latest line of TMNT merchandise appears to be surprisingly under-detailed. Perhaps it’s just me, but it seems like these are toys that should be sold in blind boxes, not limited edition sets. Even Playmates Toys manages to produce more impressive paint jobs than what you will find with these new TMNT Medium figures. Maybe I’m being a tad harsh, but for an MSRP this high, I expect something a little more detailed.
At a price of $39.99, these 8″ Kidrobot TMNT Medium figures might not have a very strong appeal. Each collectible figure comes in the color that is most commonly attributed to our heroes in a half shell. Leonardo is blue, Michelangelo is orange, Donatello is purple and Raphael is red. You would think that they would put a little more effort into painting these toys, but I guess that just wasn’t a concern for them. Alternatively, you can order a faded colorway edition of each figure which splashes them with black paint. The visual effect is definitely pleasing to the eye, but it’s also the kind of detail I would expect from a chase figure in a blind bag which would cost about $5-$10.
To be fair, each of the TMNT Medium figures comes with their respective weaponry. Although Raphael, Donatello and Leonardo all appear to have basic plastic weapons, Mikey’s nunchuks do appear to be connected with a metal chain, which is definitely a nice little addition. At a print run of only 250, something tells me that Kidrobot won’t have too much trouble selling all of these limited edition Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures. Even if they aren’t necessarily the most impressive collectibles you’ve ever seen, limited print runs have a funny way of creating demand.
There’s a chance that I simply don’t represent the market for this product; even if that is the case, you have to admit that these TMNT Medium figures leave a lot to be desired. When there are several cheaper products on the market which feature more detail, how can you really justify charging roughly $40 for something that looks so cheap? I’m sure that this criticism has the potential to burn a few bridges, but I’m not going to act like this is an amazing Ninja Turtles collectible when it’s actually somewhat unoriginal.
That being said, I’m willing to admit that I could be entirely wrong about this. I may be criticizing the product, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be an audience for these TMNT Medium figures. If you have any interest in these new Kidrobot collectibles, you may want to consider ordering them ASAP. With such a low print run, it would be crazy to wait before purchasing these TMNT toys.