Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Basic Assortment Series 4 & 5 and SDCC Shredder Review
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For me, one of the highlights of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lines has been all of the weird and unusual characters and mutants that get added to
the line in addition to the Turtles themselves. But that meant that the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy line had a very slow start with
only a handful of such characters making it into the line in the first three series. While the actual number of secondary characters being made didn't
increase with the final two series releases, but at least they didn't include four new Turtle variants in each series. Instead series four brought
us Wrestling Leo and Hypno-Potamus and series five ended the line with Bullhop, Wrestling Mikey and Shredder. Shredder also got an earlier release as
an exclusive release at San Diego Comic Con in 2019.
Packaging - SDCC Shredder 8/10, others 7/10The packaging design didn't change for the final two series of releases, which makes sense. The line wasn't that old so a redesign wasn't really due or needed and given that the sales for the line weren't great, there probably wasn't much incentive to invest in any major changes either. But I like the design overall. It would be nice if they used unique artwork for each character. But the compromise of separate artwork for the four Turtles and one design for all other characters is a reasonable compromise. The character profiles on the back of each card are great as always. The SDCC exclusive Shredder got a fancy new packaging design. Each set came in a nicely labeled white mailer box. Inside is the real packaging which has the figure neatly displayed in a pentagon shaped window-box. The new packaging also comes with a new graphic design which is mostly just vaguely ancient looking markings. It doesn't really tie into the line well, but if Shredder is the ancient danger that had to be summoned in the Rise of the TMNT cartoon as I think he is, the design seems quite appropriate.
Sculpting - Hypno-Potamus 4/10, Shredders 6/10, others 7/10With three completely new characters and two brand new versions of Leonardo and Michelangelo, there's a lot of sculpting work between these five figures. And it generally turned out really well. The Wrestling Turtles are great. Bullhop seems like he should be larger. I haven't seen most of the cartoon episodes, so I can't be sure. But I have long since accepted that scale doesn't really exist within the Playmates Ninja Turtles line. And that's something I've long since accepted. And I like the results for Bullhop way more than Hypno-Potamus who looks like he is missing about half of his body from the back. That or he is wearing a remarkably effective corset. Both Shredders share the same sculpt. And it translates the look from the show quite well. Of course he is far too small. But really the only other complaint I have is that they sculpted an indented slot into the upper chest where the neck travels from its upright to outstretched positions. There's no reason to need such a groove in the first place. So why permanently mar the figure with it?
Paint - Hypno-Potamus 4/10, others 7/10Paint applications have been significant weak point for Playmates' figures in recent years. And it doesn't seem like it is an issue with them not being able to provide an impressive paint job. This just seems to be the area where they cut back the most, presumbably to save money and keep the overall price of their lines from having to increase too much. But with these figures, they didn't seem to have to compromise much. There are some small details that could still use paint of course. But the only major issue I see with the figures is on Hypno-Potamus. The purple for his arms don't match the color for his chest. That's a pretty basic quality control issue to get wrong.
Articulation - Hypno-Potamus & Bullhop 5/10, Shredders 6/10, Wrestling Leo & Mikey 7/10Playmates has generally done a nice job with the Rise of the TMNT figures including plenty of articulation. The Wrestling Turtles are great examples of this with twenty one points of articulation each. That includes rotating and hinged shoulders, elbows, hips and knees as well as rotating wrists and ankles and a ball jointed neck. Bullhop and Hypno-Potamus lack the knee joints and ankles and the range of motion on their stubby arms is limited. They did add a waist joint for Hypno-Potamus, but the fitted coat means that it can't actually be used. Finally there is Shredder. Both versions come with the standard leg joints, an ab crunch, sliding neck at the body and ball joint between the neck and head which is all great. But the arms are limited to hinged and rotating shoulders with no elbow or wrist joints. That is enough articulation to allow the figure to be posed both standing up and on all fours in attacking poses. But it means you can't really do a lot of posing with the arms or the blade weapons.
Accessories - 4/10None of these figures come with very many accessories. But Playmates did at least make sure that none of them came with nothing. So Wrestling Mikey has a removable necklace and Wrestling Leo has a championship belt that can clip onto him. But since that seemed fairly light, each also comes with a pair of Nano Clix Turtles as a little bonus. Bullhop comes with a removable necklace and cowbell. Hypno-Potamus has three interconnecting rings. And finally both versions of Shredder come with a pair of handheld blades. Their kind of small, but given the size of the figure, I'm a bit surprised we got any additional weapons.
Value - SDCC Shredder 4/10, others 6/10SDCC Shredder sold for $20 or $30 at the convention. Of course the prices have risen a bit in the two years since it's release. But there are still several available on eBay for around $50. So at least the prices haven't skyrocketed. Actually, the price for a regular Shredder figure has probably climbed higher than the exclusive version. I was fortunate to find all of these figure at retail. But I ran into an ugly surprise when I opened my Shredder and found he was missing one of the shoulder decorations. So now I have to find another on the secondary market.
Happy Hunting:These figures were released in 2019 and early 2020. So finding them at retail now is probably a lost cause. They do seem to be readily available on eBay at this point. But generally figures like these that were produced at the end of a line end up being quite sought after in the future. So if you have any interest in them, I would try to track them down sooner rather than later.
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