Playmates Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classic Collection Verses Two Packs Review
|
2021 was an interesting year for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle collectors. Even with no mainstream media support, TMNT product
kept hitting shelves thanks to multiple collector forcused companies such as NECA, Super 7 and Funko. And even Playmates
Toys seems to have taken note of the collector driven demand this year and responded with numerous reissues from the vintage
Ninja Turtle line. And this fall they stepped it up even further and brought back their Classic Collection line with a series
of two packs matching each of the Turtles up against one of their enemies. For the most part, the series is just reissues of
the Classic Collection figures from 2012 and 2013. But when the full line up was revealed, fans were treated to the news that
the line would have two new figures, never released in the Classic Collection line: Shredder and Triceraton. (A prototype
of Shredder was shown years ago. But it never made it into production.) But are a couple of new figures worth the effort
for a line that has basically been dormient for close to a decade?
Packaging - Bebop & Rocksteady sets 4/10, Shredder & Triceraton sets 5/10The Classic Collection Verses two packs come in a fairly simple window box with similar graphics to the original Classic Collection packaging which intern, was designed to mimick the packaging design of the vintage toys. The issue comes with the character artwork used both on the front of the boxes and the back. The artwork for the Turtles falls into an uncanny valley of being almost like the vintage artwork, but not quite. But when you get to the artwork for Rocksteady and Bebop, it's less a matter of being slightly off, and more like bootleg artwork trying to skirt copywrite laws.
Sculpting - Shredder 2/10, Turtles 5/10, others 6/10The four Turtles are the same sculpts as the 2012 release. And judged in a vacuum, while they do show their age, there's still a lot to like about them. But a decade of advancements in sculpting mean that the gaps around the joints stick out a lot more then they did originally. And unlike when I reviewed them back in the day, they no longer exist in a vacuum. There are other figures in the line to compare them to. And with the addition of the four villains, scale has become a big issue. The Turtles are suppose to be short, around five feet tall. But they are the tallest figures in the line. They aren't as beefy as Rocksteady or Bebop, but they still dwarf them in size. And speaking of Shredder's henchmutants, time has taken a toll on their sculpt as well. Unlike the Turtles, there aren't big gaps for the articulation. But after seeing the releases from Super 7 and NECA, there's a noticable lack of detail, especially skin texture. But Rocksteady doesn't even have a sculpted shirt. The Triceraton is one of the two new sculpts. And it comes really close to being a great figure. Scale is still and issue. But my biggest issue is with the lower torso and crotch. In every incarnation of the Ninja Turtles, the Triceratons are hulking brutes. But the slim waist on this guy doesn't fit that look. It's a shame too, because otherwise the figure is great, he just needs a beefier torso. Finally there's Shredder. They did a lot right with Shredder. His outfit look great. There's an appropriate amount of detail for his tunic. His arm blades are going to be an issue for some. They are squared off and extremely blunt, likely for safety issues. But the big issue is with his head and face. I think that they made the head too small, too round and then mounted the helmet too far back. The result can look okay from some angles. And from others he looks like they mounted a baby's head on an adult body. And from other angles he looks outright deformed. He does seem to be growing on me though.
Paint - Shredder 3/10, Rocksteady 4/10, others 6/10The paint work for all of the classic collection figures are reasonably well painted but lacking any shading. The figures could certainly benefit from some additional paint. But the only figures I actually have an issue with is the color of Rocksteady's pants and Shredder's face. Once again, the pants are the same shade of gray as his skin color. So he ends up looking like he isn't wearing pants. But the screw up on Shredder's face is pretty bad. They missed the ends of his eyebrows near his nose. And the paint for the mask thins out to the point where the skin tone shows through on his nose.---
Articulation - Turtles 6/10 Triceraton 8/10, others 7/10The articulation for all of the figures is the same as their original releases. And once again, time and advancements in action figure design in general have taken their toll. The Turtles aren't too bad. But they still retain the hinged toes and fingers which makes it very difficult for them to hold their weapons. After tens years and over half a dozen uses of this mold, you would think that Playmates could have put aside enough money to tool up some proper hands. They were more restrained with the articulation for the villains. But for Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady, they always end up dropping some articulation that is necessary to fully utilize what is there. For Bebop and Rocksteady, that is the missing ankle joints. All of the range of motion in their legs means little when the feet can only rest on the ground in one position. For Shredder, the issue is a lack of bicept rotation which means Shredder can't cross his arms over his chest. So that just leaves the Triceraton as the best articulated figure out of the eight.
Accessories - Turtles, Bebop & Shredder 5/10, Triceraton 6/10, Rocksteady 7/10Each of the figures comes with a display stand and a few weapons. The stands are the same manhole cover stands that they have been including with these figures for years. They are a nice touch, but they figures can easily stand on two feet without them and they can't support them on just one foot. So they really aren't needed. The Turtles all have their weapons and can store them on their belts. But just holding them is still and issue. Bebop has just one weapon, his drill gun. It's interesting and a nice update to the original figure. But just one unpainted accessory isn't too impressive, especially when Rocksteady gets a rifle, combat knife and helmet. Shredder gets an assortment of weapons based on the original toy. But they all come off as fairly generic. The Triceraton comes with updates to the original Triceraton figure's weapons, a pair of guns. Although in this case, they aren't so much updated as just scaled up to match the larger figure.
Value - Don/Shredder and Raph/Triceraton sets 7/10, others 5/10These sets are sold as two packs for $35 each. Given that six of the eight figures sold individually for $15 to $20 nearly a decade ago, it's impressive that they are selling for basically the same price so many years later. But the value is largely going to depend upon if you already own the figures from the previous releases. The Donatello verses Shredder and Raphael verses Triceraton sets are the only sets where you are guaranteed to get at least one new figure.
Happy Hunting:The verses sets are a Walmart exclusive. The Leonardo verses Rocksteady and Michelangelo verses Bebop set did show up on store shelves and even now, well into January, I have seen fresh shippments show up in stores locally. I had to order both the Donatello vs. Shredder and Raphael vs. Triceraton sets from Walmart.com. The Donatello verses Shredder set is still listed and available there.
|
|
