Playmates Toys brand new Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures are available now and inspired by the Nickelodeon series. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles takes the franchise into a new direction that is re-branded including character designs, appearance and characters that are introduced in this series. At New York Comic-Con, we had the opportunity to attend and cover the panel, which did not have any toy reveals, but did have a preview of an upcoming episode, Q&A with the cast, and some other tidbits of information. The Turtles figures offered in wave 1 includes Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Meat Sweats, Baron Draxum, April, Splinter and a Foot Ninja.
For those of you remember the old days of the brand, Pizza Points are back and included with each of the figures, vehicles and play set where you can earn and redeem points for prizes. This loyalty program has two options – a free membership and a Ninja Warrior membership, where you pay a $15 fee where you will receive exclusives and can accesses the pizza points program to redeem for prizes. More information can be found on the Playmates Toys website.
Thank you to Playmates Toys for providing their Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Meat Sweats figures for review.
Availability: October 2018
The Turtles figures are repainted from the San Diego Comic-Con 2018 figure exclusives that were offered from Playmates Toys and Nickelodeon, and the retail versions do not have the premium deco and there also some changes in the accessories that are being offered. Each of the turtles includes their iconic colors and stands at different heights and character designs.
Each of the Turtles are in 5″ scale and features an all new unique figure sculpt, painted in a different shade of green, stands at different heights, and includes unique chest harnesses, belts, shells and accessories (they do share the same throwing stars). These are also different character designs than what has previously been done before for the franchise While the Turtles keeps their iconic color masks and bandages to tell them apart, there’s some major differences such as the style as well as some key characters have had their personalities altered such as Splinter.
Raphael is the Leader, and has the bulkiest and tallest figure sculpt, making him the muscle of the team. His head sculpt has the top half covered with a red bandana, which covers most of his head. The chest is soft plastic that is painted in yellow, with white bandaids on the upper right hand side overlapping each other like an X, and there are lines sculpted on to give it some definition. The shell has a lumpy surface that reminds us of Slash’s shell, and is the most unique shell of the four Turtles. The shells and chest have the red belt over it, which is made of a soft plastic. On the front of the belt, is a green and red oval shaped object such as a Turtle comm, and on the sides are clips to store the sais. His legs and arms have white bandages on the ankles and feet. The upper thighs and elbows have pads on them. His articulation includes a ball jointed head, swivel-hinged shoulders, swivel-hinged elbows, swivel wrists, swivel-hinged hips, swivel-hinged knees, and swivel-hinged ankles. Included with Raphael are two sais, two red energy fists and two throwing stars.
There are also some slight changes in paint applications compared to the San Diego Comic-Con version, including missing paint on his legs and shoulders, and the oval on his belt being a different color. His sais are now painted all in brown, as compared to the handles being painted in silver.
Leonardo is best known as the leader of the team, but not in this series as Raphael has taken that position. His head sculpt features a blue mask around the eyes and sticks out in the back, and there are red stripes on each side of his face above and below the eyes. The chest is painted in yellow (a different shade compared to the SDCC version) with lines sculpted and detailed definition. The shell has some patterns and details sculpted on, and is flat and not lumpy like Raph’s. The chest harness and belt are connected on the waist and lower back, and is painted in dark and a light blue. There is a clip on the back for the katana. On his arms are yellow stripes, two on each side, and one on each side on his hips. His wrists and ankles include gauntlets and bandages that are painted in light blue and green, and the harness is painted in light blue. His articulation includes a ball jointed neck, swivel-hinged shoulders, swivel-hinged elbows, swivel-hinged hips, swivel-hinged knees, and swivel-hinged ankles. Included is a Katana, a big translucent blue energy sword, two throwing stars and a blue translucent skate board with rotating wheels.
There are some slight changes in paint applications compared to the SDCC version, including missing paint on his shell, yellow stripes on his arms and legs, different colored boots and chest, and the oval on his chest is painted in a light green with blue, compared to being dark green.
Donatello is the inventor of the team, the this figure comes with gadgets and technology that he invented. His head sculpt is mostly covered in a purple bandana, with binoculars on top of his head. His chest is painted in yellow, with detailed lines and definition. His shell is flat, with some sculpted lines and details, including what looks like a spine down the center of it. There is a purple belt that wraps around his waist, with pockets on either side of the green and purple belt buckle/turtle comm. There is a backpack that goes on his back like a clip, and a drone that is removable that flies and acts as a spy. The drone is made of translucent purple plastic. His arms and legs have purple elbow pads, gloves, knee pads, and footwear. His articulation includes a ball jointed neck, swivel-hinged shoulders, swivel-hinged elbows, swivel wrists, swivel-hinged hips, swivel-hinged knees, and swivel-hinged ankles. Included is a bo staff with tech, purple translucent spinning staff, a drone and two throwing stars. This figure does not have a place to store the bo staff on his body.
There are some slight changes in paint applications compared to the SDCC version, including missing purple stripes on his arms and legs, light grey binoculars with missing red and blue paint, darker boots, the belt buckle is now light green and purple compared to dark green, the bo staff is all grey compared to having purple and some silver, and even the clip and drone on his back has a slightly different shade of color.
Michelangelo is the younger and shortest of the brothers. His head sculpt includes an orange mask around his eyes and goes out the back. The shell is yellow and includes sculpted lines and details giving it definition, as well as green and red shapes. His shell is similar to Leonardo’s, with some detailed patterns on the back. This shell however is smooth, with the edges beveled. The chest harness is over and below his right shoulder, and there is a clip to hold the nunchucks on the front, and there is a green buckle/ turtle comm where the straps meet. His shoulders have yellow paint splattered on them, which includes a large and small oval shape on both sides. The wrists have a band around them, and he includes orange knee pads with images on them, and orange bandages around his feet. His articulation includes a ball jointed neck, swivel-hinged shoulders, swivel-hinged elbows, swivel wrists, swivel-hinged hips, swivel-hinged knees, and swivel-hinged ankles. Included are two nunchucks with objects such as a boxing glove and mace made of orange translucent plastic, a long nunchuck with three handles, a orange translucent skate board and two throwing stars.
There are some slight changes in paint applications compared to the SDCC version, including missing yellow paint on his shoulders and legs, the oval shape on his chest harness is now light green and orange compared to dark green, missing yellow paint on his chest, and the nunchucks are now all translucent orange and missing the silver deco on the chain link.
Meat Sweats is a brand new character introduced in this show, and we’re just loving the name and design of this mutant chef. This figure is big, chubby and menacing looking. His skin is painted in light and dark pink, with his head, arms and feet in dark pink with some yellow, purple and brown deco on his arms and chest that are painted over the parts that are beveled out in the sculpt, and he has blue pants. His apron is tied around his back and is painted in a light grey, His chest, back arms and head also have lumps on the sculpt. His hands have gloves over them, and the right one can be removed with an interchangeable arm attachment. The head sculpt is nicely done and detailed, and he has a chefs hat, what appears to be shades over his eyes, yellow teeth and a snout. His articulation includes a swivel head, ball hinged shoulders, swivel-hinged elbows, swivel wrists, swivel waist, and hinged-swivel hips. Included with Meat Sweats is a hammer used for cooking, and a removable arm attachment.
Overall, the Turtles figures and Meat Sweats looks great, and we are especially fond of all the articulation and accessories that you get considering the $8.99 price point. There are some slight issues such as the wrists being a little wobbly on Donatello as the peg sticks out a little, but we looked at some of these in the store and it appears that some of these figures also have wrists popping out, which is a production problem.
The likeness of these figures looks great and the quality and attention to detail is superb.
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