Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Epic Sewer Lair Review
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As someone who grew up in the 80's, I had the privilage to grow up in what could easily be considered a golden age for toy collectors. And one large
part of that experience which has sadly fallen by the wayside for the most part these days was the playset. Castle Greyskull, Boulder Hill, Cat's Lair,
the Hive, the Terror Drome, the U.S.S. Flagg, it seems like almost every line that gained any notoriety at that time also had at least one playset. And
many such as Masters of the Universe and G.I.Joe had multiple playsets. And while the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toy line is often known more
as a line of the nineties, it carried on that tradition first with the Sewer Lair and later the Technodrome. And time and time again, Playmates has
marked each new generation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with a new version of the Turtles' home, the sewer lair. And the Rise of the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles line got its own version as well. And Playmates wasn't satisfied with JUST another version of the sewer lair. They had designed
this version to combine with a second playset to be released later. Sadly the premature end of the toy line means that second playset never made it
to store shelves. But we did get this new version of the Sewer Lair so I suppose there is a certain poeticness to having the centerpiece of the
Rise of the TMNT line as the last item in the line that I review.
Packaging - 5/10The packaging design for the Epic Sewer Lair follows quite closely to the three sewer lairs released during the 2012 line and 2016 movie. The large box has two front panels, one done in a portrait format and another in and landscape format on the reverse side. This allowed stores to display the box either way on shelves. But it has a downside as well. There's no back of the box on which to show off the features of the playset. But where the previous playsets made up for this by showing many of the features in action right on the front, this time they have the entire first series of figures displayed in the playset but only three of them are actually doing anything. There are photos on one of the side panels and a listing of all of the features on the side panel. But with a box this large, I doubt many people were going to pick it up off the shelf unless they are ready to put it into a cart. I also have to note that this version of the lair could really have used some reinforcement. Mine shows way too much shelf wear for the limited amount of time that it was actually on a store shelf.
Sculpting - 10/10Playmates has made some impressive playsets in the past. But this one blows them all away in almost every way. It is bigger. It is taller. And it has more attention to detail shown than any of the past sewer lairs or TMNT playsets in general. The design maintains the verticality of the 2012 lair. But in this case, almost all of that height is actually used. There is a cardboard backdrop again. But it only extends ten inches above the sculpted background at its highest. Probably the biggest design improvement over past lairs is a concerted effort to make sure no area is left unused. The 2012 lair had a few features in the back wall. But for the most part, only the bottom level and street level had any significant room for figures beyond platforms that would only fit one figure at a time. Contrast that with the Epic Sewer Lair which has four full levels. And the three bottom levels have both open space in the large common area and smaller "rooms" in the back. Even the sides of the playset have sculpted details and opportunities for additional play. It is also worth noting that despite the huge size and height, the playset is remarkably solid. That makes sense since it was designed to be able to be mounted ontop of the underground city playset that never got produced. But compared to the 2012 version where I was always concerned about figures falling if the palyset were to be bumped, this is a big improvement. The playset is solid enough that it isn't difficult to pick the whole playset up and carry it around. The playset isn't quite perfect though. I am still not a big fan of the cardboard backdrop for the skyline, especially since on the right side of the street level, the backdrop actually blocks access to part of the surface area and doesn't allow you to open the manhole cover without sliding part of it out of the way. (To be fair though, the backdrop is designed to slide out of the way in that area.) Beyond that, the biggest drawback to the set is the size itself. The set is huge. And because there is so much going on with the playset from every angle, it can't really be placed up against a wall or in a corner without blocking full access to the playset. So it becomes a bit of a space hog, especially if you don't have a large amount of dedicated space such as a playroom. This may be why I see so many of these sets hitting the used market so quickly after it's release. HEY, it really IS just like a new version of the USS Flagg!
Paint - 5/10Playmates released a toy that is not fully painted. If this fact shocks you, congradulations on your first Rise of the TMNT toy purchase or review. For everyone else, this is no surprise. And really, it's not the detraction that you might think it would be. Part of that is just that there are so many pieces that make up this set, that you get a decent variety of color just from the color of the molded plastic. And there are over two dozen large decals that the consumer needs to apply as well as a limited amount of paint applications as well. The final look of the playset isn't nearly as impressive as it could be. But it isn't all that bad. And it sort of matches the look of the show as well. So while I'm okay with giving the playset a pass as it is, I have to admit that I would love to see just how amazing it could look if someone had the talent and the patience to fully paint it.
Features - 10/10The box touts that the Epic Sewer Lair has "20+ Features." I'm not going to run through a checklist of all of them, but that number sounds pretty reasonable. The playset is packed with different action features of one type or another. I'm also very pleased to see that all of them are quite well integrated into the playset. Nothing looks too terribly out of place other than mounting a basketball hoop facing out into empty space instead of an area where someone could actually play basketball. The features aren't just limited to ones built into the playset either. As I've already mentioned several times, the entire playset was designed to interact with another playset which, sadly, we will never get now. The playset also has two locations where the rear turrent from the Turtle Tank can be removed and placed on the playset. It's really nice to see that they are integrating the other products into the design.
Accessories - 4/10Surprisingly for a playset of this size, it comes with very few accessories, only four in total. There is a barbell, skateboard, a projectile for use in the spring loaded launcher and a barrel that can be launched from behind one of the arcade games. I can't really complain since there isn't anything obvious that should have been included with the playset and wasn't.
Value - 8/10Retail for the Epic Sewer Lair was $120 at the time of its release. That is a slight increase from the previous lair playsets, but even those sold for $120-$140 when they were first released as a Toys R Us exclusive, and that doesn't account for six years of inflation as well. So any way you look at it, it wasn't a bad price. But just as with previous lair playsets, that price didn't hold out for long. The price quickly dropped to under $100. For that price, this set is a steal.
Happy Hunting:The Epic Sewer Lair was released in 2018 and was available through most of 2019. But the large size of the package means that most stores couldn't keep alloting shelf space for it by the fall of 2019. It's mid-2021 as I finally get around to writing this review. So finding the set at retail is no longer an option. But I do see the set popping up fairly often on the secondary market locally on sites such as Craig's List. And given that there are only a few accessories that could be missing from the playset, the secondary market may not be a bad option.
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Street Level
Top Floor
Second Level
Bottom Level
Side Views
