Playmates Toys is offering one more new Splinter figure before the end of the line this year. The figure is called Sensei Splinter, and he is a repaint from the very first wave Splinter figure back in 2012.
Back at New York ToyFair 2017, Playmates Toys announced several new deco figures based on older releases such as Mutagen Man, Splinter, Leatherhead, Baxter Stockman, Casey Jones, April O’Neil, Bebop and Rocksteady, as well as some new figures that include brand new sculpts.
Besides what was shown at ToyFair, there are no additional figures coming out this year based on the current show, as they are currently working on the new series toyline for next year. Official announcements on that have yet to be announced.
Thank you to Playmates Toys for providing their Sensei Splinter figure for review.
Availability: May 2017
Splinter is among a handful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from years past to be offering in new deco as the line wraps up this year. The figure is painted in a turquoise robe with a black ring holding the belt in place, and the robe itself has a sculpted texture throughout the design. The arms and legs are cast in black, as opposed to being painted brown, and the fingers and tail are painted in pink. The head sculpt is the most detailed painted part of the figure. the head is painted in brown, with a white and black face, a pink nose, and red eyes.
The articulation of the figure is the same as the 2012 release, with a swivel neck, swivel-hinged shoulders, swivel tail, and swivel-hinged hips. He includes his walking stick, which is turquoise transparent plastic, just like what this figure should have been offered in.
The deco choice for the robe is an unusual one for Playmates Toys to offer, and we can’t think of any scene where Splinter was shown in this color robe. Does the color choice have anything to do with the Vision Quest storyline? But then that would require the entire sculpt to be painted a translucent blue plastic rather than a turquoise robe. There is also the question about why repaint the figure at all, especially when a Spirit of Splinter figure would have made a great choice for the last variant of Splinter being offered in this line.
It’s not a bad figure regardless of where the idea came from about the robe, and we like having different variants of the same character from the show. Other figures like Splinter also have some deco changes like Casey Jones, Baxter Fly, and Mutagen Man. These also have deco that has nothing to do with their show appearance. This is because Playmates Toys is focused on 2018 with the new animated series being launched on Nickelodeon. They needed to offer new product for fans and collectors, and having repaints is a lot cheaper than sculpting new molds on a show that is on its last legs.
One suggestion we would have made to Playmates Toys was to finish off the Dream Beavers, as those are also repaints, but would have made a lot more sense in the long run, and gives fans a chance to finish off a team. Unfortunately, that will never come to pass, and all we can do now is look forward to 2018, and see what the future holds for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Overall, the figure is worth adding to your collection, but it’s not necessary if you want to focus on completing the core part of this collection.
Purchase:
