 | Hello Guest - Sign In or New Account |
| Hello Guest - Sign In or New Account |
Write a Review link for that item. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca)Having run for at least five years by this point, NECA's TMNT toon line has been scraping a bit for figures. They've done one-shots, characters in outfits not from the show, and now characters who never appeared in the show at all. The other two-pack out now alongside the ghostly pair of Creepy Eddie and Shibano-Sama consists of both a one-shot and a character who was animated around the time the show ran, but didn't actually appear in the show. The one-shot here is Tattoo, who you may recognize from the OG toy line, but he showed up in "Planet of the Turtleoids," where rather than being a good guy, he was a more neutral character. Apparently, he went from being a hamster to a sumo wrestler because of Shredder and Krang, and all he wanted was to go back home… to his cage. I guess they needed an explanation for why he was in the show. The sculpt, done by Tony Cipriano, is accurate to how he appeared in the show, and the expression is very similar to the one his Playmates figure had. The paint on the face is mostly clean, save for some barely visible black smudging, and he has regular flesh-tone skin rather than the stereotypical yellow "Asian" skin the old toy had. Good for Fred Wolf for being culturally sensitive, even in the 90s! At about 7" tall, Tattoo is a big, chunky guy. He doesn't have much clothes on him, as is tradition for sumo wrestlers, but he has elbow wraps, wrist chains, sandals, and some sort of underwear, certainly not the mawashi sumos wear, nor the dragon belt the Playmates figure had. He has a bit more girth than in the show, and his belly sits right on the band of the undergarments, rather than hanging over or being slightly tucked in (the animators couldn't stay consistent). He's somewhat heavy, as the torso is solid plastic, and it's a whole lot better than hollow plastic. The paint on the body is very clean, especially his namesake tattoos on the shoulders, thighs, and abdomen, and the musculature/rolls bear clean lines. The paint on the joints chips off very easily, unfortunately, and even before opening he already has some chipping on the elbows. The lighter plastic color underneath is a bit of an eyesore, and you'll have to keep an eye out for the best-looking one. For such a fat guy, Tattoo is surprisingly mobile. He has a barbell head and chest, swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, knees, and ankles, ball-jointed hips, double-hinged elbows, and swivels for the biceps, waist, thighs, topknot, and even the knots on the elbow wraps. The elbows are pretty tight due to NECA now using pinless joints for them, but everything else moves great and has plenty of range. Tattoo is very light on accessories, however, as he only has two pairs of hands - grasping and gripping - and his true form, the aforementioned hamster. The hamster is a small, unarticulated slug figure, but he looks adorable, and the clean paint certainly helps. Would've been nice to get an extra head or another pair of hands with him, but I'll live. The other figure in this set is Wyrm, and as I mentioned at the start of this review, he never appeared in the show, but rather in an old commercial, more than likely animated by the same crew. The animated design for Wyrm simplified him a bit (and made him less nightmare fuel), but made sure to stay semi-accurate to the toy. Another Cipriano sculpt, Wyrm is accurate to how he looked in the commercial, with a freaky-looking portrait featuring a wide mouth and bug-out eyes, and how am I just now noticing he has a hat? The mouth has what appears to be green slime leaking out (it was purple on the Playmates toy, but all the purples are green here), and the jaw is hinged, allowing him to open wide. He has a few more minor paint blemishes than Tattoo, but at least his joints aren't as prone to chipping. Standing about 6 1/2" tall, Wyrm is a little shorter than Tattoo, but his design is far more unique. Befitting his name, Wyrm has not just a red belt resembling a giant worm tied around his waist, but in place of his right leg is a big tail. I assume the green things on his tail and left arm are larvae and not worms, but I guess he just loves slimy, slithery things. Like Muckman, he used to be an ordinary garbageman, and his uniform is quite torn up, in addition to his spine pushing up against his back. The sculpt isn't quite as detailed or freaky as what Playmates did decades ago, but it matches the old advertisement - and the toon style in general - very well. The colors are very bold, and it's another reason I'm glad recent toon figures ditched the cel shading, as it would've thrown off the colors here. Wyrm's unique design lends itself to somewhat unique articulation, as he has a barbell head and midsection (hidden under the torso), a neck that's either a single ball-peg or a barbell joint, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, and ankle, ball-jointed hips, a double-hinged knee, swivel thighs and shin, and a bendy wire inside the tail. The bendy tail is a great idea, as it allows you to pose it just right to help stabilize him. Too bad the wire in mine broke… Also, his knee is just as tight as Tattoo's elbows, and you may want to heat it up. Having the chest joint on the outside of the torso rather than hidden under it would've been a better idea, because the way they executed it here renders it more of a swivel than anything. Wyrm is also pretty light on extras, but not as much as Tattoo. He's the first character in the line to have interchangeable eyes (and just eyes, not top halves of the head like the Turtles), designed to be popping further out, looking how they did in the commercial. It takes a bit of work to pop out the regular eyes at first, but they swap easily afterwards, though the right eye on mine keeps coming out. He also has an extra tongue piece with a bunch of worms on it, and it clips snugly onto the regular tongue, and that along with the extra eyes makes Wyrm look extra nightmarish! Other than those, he has two pairs of hands - gripping and splayed, a wormy mallet identical to the original figure, and a wrench. I assume the wrench is NECA's answer to the "Porcuepounder" the Playmates figure had, and I guess they weren't allowed to directly copy their sculpts. While an unexpected pair of weirdos to have in the toon line, Tattoo and Wyrm are pretty fun and unique, especially the latter. That said, the higher $65 price isn't as easy to swallow as Eddie and Shibano, as these two are very lacking in accessories, and I don't think Tattoo's girth is enough of an excuse for the increase. With tariffs abound, it seems this price will be the new norm for toon two-packs, but if NECA can keep finding ways to make the cost worth it, it'll be easy to accept. Oh, who am I kidding? I'll pay whatever for these guys. - 5/18/25   by RMaster007 |
| Creepy Eddie and Shibano |  | Submission Order |  | None |
| Creepy Eddie and Shibano | | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon Series | | None |
| Creepy Eddie and Shibano | | Written by RMaster007 | | None |
Please wait...
Update Your Review