“Oh, goody – fresh turtles for lunch!”
Hey, it’s #TurtleTuesday again, and with the deluge of new TMNT product starting to make its way into release, we are set up pretty well for the foreseeable future. Plus, last week saw a sizable reveal of new NECA TMNT figures coming early next year, so needless to say, it is an exciting time. While most of the new stuff show for the future was from the cartoon corner of the license, living in the now means that brand new video game figures are landing on our doorsteps. Turtles in Time wave two is here, and we finish off the playable Turtles with Raphael and Michelangelo, and add Shredder and my boy Leatherhead on the villains side. Overall, this is a really solid wave.
I have to admit, even though I have more of a fondness and nostalgic draw to the original TMNT arcade game, Turtles in Time (sorry, I am not abbreviating that to its acronym) is still one of my all-time favorites, and the graphics and gameplay are still great to this day. Plus the villains just kept coming, and face it – the most exciting part of all of the TMNT games was squaring off against new bad guys, no matter how difficult or annoying there were to beat. We got Slash in the first series, but Leatherhead was where it was at in my opinion, so adding this denizen of the old west (in the game) is a big deal to me.
To get things started though, the addition of Mikey and Raph for their game representation was essential, so this wave closes that off. These two match the Don and Leo figures from the first series (duh), and are mostly similar to the versions of the characters released for the first arcade game. The decos are nearly identical, with the pixelated neck lines on these new figures being the most obvious difference. They also get different hands, though, and Raph has the split fingers to hold his sais, and he and Mike each get a thumbs up, too.
Speaking of those sais, the included pair with this Raph are dramatically different from the previous video game version. While the previous version match the elongated and exaggerated graphics of the first game, these sais look more like you would expect a traditional pair to be portrayed. The big draw for these is, of course, the personalize hover boards. These match what we have seen before save for the appropriate red and orange paint jobs. For me, this was worth the price of admission alone and I like that I can display the In Time figures on the boards while leaving the original VG figures in their character select poses.
That said, while the Turtles are nice, you are here for the bad guys, aren’t you? It’s okay to admit it, I mostly am, too, so I am glad to say that they do not disappoint. This is Shredder’s fifth foray into the NECA lines, but this one is wholly unique and stands out while matching the game art. The colors are the most obvious difference from any of the previous version, and they are bright and garish in the most wonderful ways. I mean, we have lots of blues to represent the metal pieces, but Shredd’s pants are brown, and he sports a slick hot pink cape, too. The sculpt definitely got an upgrade, too, to match the game art, and while the original game Shredder matches that source well, this one goes way beyond that. The helmet and face are more realistic this time around, and the shoulder spikes scream overcompensation, just like in the game.
Shredder’s accessories are game-accurate and a lot of fun, too, especially the effects pieces. He has his lightsaber, er, I mean laser sword (totally NOT a lightsaber, dudes) which a guy has to have if he is going to steal the Statue of Liberty after all. The “flame” and hand pieces are really cool though, and they are both able to securely lock in place on the figure to make them convincing. The hand has a lot of detail, especially in the palm, and if you pose him just so, you cannot even really see the circular clips that fit around the arm to the effect in place. Video games are build off of effects like this, so I hope we see more of these as NECA did a great job here.
As you might have guessed, Leatherhead is my favorite of the set, and man, we are seeing an embarrassment of Cajun gator goodness with this release, as well as the cartoon version hitting soon. Leatherhead used to drive me crazy in the video game with his rapid fire knife throws, and then with his speedy low charges, but man, does this figure ever pop. Leatherhead was one of the standouts in terms of guest villains in original cartoon (and he DEFINITELY had the best lines and accent), but I much prefer the video game look we have gotten here. Sure, most of the parts are the same (including the swappable hands), but there are some important differences, and the colors are so much more eye-catching here.
From a construction standpoint, the main differences from this one to the cartoon version is shins and boots. I much prefer Leatherhead’s boots from the game, and the color break-up goes a long way in adding more detail to the design. Sure, the belt is more plain here, but the shoes really make the man, er, gator in this case. Ol’ Leatherhead is light on the accessories here (aside from the hands), but as he only uses an endless supply of knives in the game (aside from his brute force and teeth, of course), it makes sense. He can hold the knife well with the correct grip hand, and this piece really highlights the “pixelated” effect of the game figures in both sculpt and paint.
This video game line is so much fun, and these figures represent such a large part of my TMNT nostalgia. The release pattern isn’t as bold as the cartoon line, but I am glad to hear that there are a lot more VG figures in development, and TiT (whoops, I did it) Baxter has been show to be on the way soon. I REALLY hope they swing back around to Traag and Granitor, too. These are available via the specialty market now, so got get ‘em!
I like this Shredder a lot more than I thought I would. He’s really charming.