Sure, NECA just showed off some shiny new images of heavy-hitters Master Splinter and Baxter Stockman earlier this week, but gather ‘round Turtle fans, for I have a thought or two as to why Granitor is my favorite release so far in the line.
As toy line keeps getting bigger and bigger in terms of scope and character selection, it often gets more difficult to assign a favorite designation to a particular figure. While we are in the midst of the release of series four in the Ninja Turtles cartoon line, it feels like next year is going to blow the whole thing open and our shelves are going to get jam-packed very quickly. We already have a lot of the main characters in the books or at the brink of release, and while I always want those top-tier characters in my collection, the background and obscure weirdos have alway been my favorites, especially in a universe as crazy as TMNT.
There are certainly a lot of impressive figures on the shelf already, but if I had to pick my current favorite, I would choose the newly-released second-in-command Krang’s stone warrior army – GRANITOR. Granitor, you say? Why Granitor when we have the likes of Leatherhead, Bebop, and Casey Jones, too? Well, there are a lot of reasons why I like him the best, and those include things that are particular to the figure itself, but also things that the figure represents. We all have our reasons for liking the things we like, but ever since I saw the video game version of this character many moons ago at SDCC, I was totally taken.
Frankly, I am pleased as can be that we got the cartoon version first (I still want that VG version for sure, though) because it really is the iconic version of Granitor. It seems crazy that he only appeared in one episode of the original Fred Wolf show, but that appearance and that episode was so impacting to me, he has stuck with me ever since. That original first season (five episodes) of the TMNT show are so good, and they hold up nicely even today, and much more so than the rest of the run. Indeed, it is a priority for me to get all of the characters of any consequence from those episodes in the cartoon line, and we are well on our way. I remember seeing Granitor and Traag chasing the Neutrinos (also favorites of mine) the first time and thinking, man, if Krang can get his army onto Earth, the Turtles are in for some real trouble. Unfortunately, my boy did not show up again in the show, but having him as a (very difficult to beat) boss in the original TMNT arcade game helped add to his aura.
Having this Granitor in my hands now is so cool for me, not only because the figure is rendered pretty perfectly, but also because THIS IS THE FIRST TIME GRANITOR HAS EVER HAD AN ACTION FIGURE! That is a BIG deal to me, to say the least. It is big not only because I have wanted a Granitor figure to along with Traag my entire life, but also because he is the first figure in the line to be a “first time” figure. I can go on all day long about the sculpting, paint, and articulation being great, but guys, every other character released in the line thus far has had a figure in some form or another over the history of the property except for Granitor, so for me, that makes him really special. Sure, series four has a few characters like that (Roadkill Rodney, Zarax, and Zork) but Granitor is first and I hope this is a harbinger of a lot of “first time” figures for the line. Sure, I want everyone, but with Granitor with us now, we can maybe count on getting into some “Cantina Aliens” territory with TMNT.
So, I have some lost time to make up for with Granitor, and to finally have him on my toy shelf to “crush the Turtles” is complete joy for me. Past that, he gives me hope for the likes of Scrag, Dopey, Dumbo, and Grunt from Rocksteady’s gang, army-builder rock soldiers, REX-1, Punk Frogs Attila and Rasputin (I know they had figures in the 2012 line), and countless others who never got a chance to sit in the spotlight, but were memorable none the less. The cartoon line doesn’t show any signs of slowing down any time soon, so with Granitor here, all things seem possible. Sure, I might be the only one to put him on the top of the list of favorite figures in the line so far, but I make no apologies for it, and I am glad we are in a spot where those top figure picks are going to be more and more diverse. ALL HAIL GRANITOR!
Oh, and if you came here looking for a full-fledged review, MattK has you covered via his First Look from a few weeks ago, go check it out!
