I focus a lot on completing teams when I collect action figure lines, and in my mind, the Ninja Turtle team is not complete until we get the coach, Master Splinter. Thankfully, a two-pack of cartoon Splinter and Baxter Stockman is now hitting Targets across the nation, so let’s take a look!
The packaging is what we have come to expect with bright, eye-catching artwork and photograpy.
These two figures are fairly short in stature, but NECA has absolutely stuffed the box full of episode-specific accessories including:
- 5 extra hands for Splinter (sword grip, open grip, gestures)
- 2 sets of extra hands for Baxter (grip, fists, trigger)
- Cane
- Sword with flame effect
- Pistol
- 2 Books
- Rat
- Shredder fly
- Gerbil Mikey
- Trans-mutation gun
- Scroll
- Doku plant
- Sentient computer
- Floor mat
I think my favorite accessory might be the soft foam printed floor mat, probably because before I opened this I had been thinking about how I would make a floor mat like this for a backdrop. I love it when the toy company takes some of the work off my plate.
The animals all have a lot of character and detail packed into their tiny little forms that match the episodes well.
The books and scroll also have a lot of nice detail packed in there and and impressive number of clean paint hits per item.
The sentient computer also has a good amount of paint and detail in the sculpting and a very cool lenticular screen that gives you a couple different expressions.
The pistol and trans-mutation ray fit a little awkwardly in Baxter’s hand, but I’m really impressed by the tiny printed wheel with the different animal settings on the latter weapon.
You can’t have Splinter without his cane and this fits nicely into his looser grip hand for a cane holding pose and in his grip hand for cane-smacking poses too. The katana fits well into the two grip hands and the flame effect slips over the katana easily. The medallion has a couple paint hits to bring out the ying/yang detail and Splinter can wear it with a little effort.
Sculpting on these two is great and matches the source material really well. Baxter is almost cute in a way and I love all the detail in Splinter’s fur. The robe covers a lot of that beautiful sculpting and is really well tailored. Cloth goods can be hit-or-miss at this scale and I definitely feel like this is a hit. Splinter’s stern expression is perfection and the articulated jaw helps make for a variety of expressions.
Articulation is standard for this line with ball-jointed heads and mid-torso, double hinged knees and and elbows, and swivel/hinged shoulders, wrists, hips, and knees. Splinter gets a toe hinge to facilitate his sort of dog leg. The tail has a swivel hinge where it attaches to the body and has a bit of bendy wire in there. The tail poseability can help stabilize Splinter on the balls of his feet. Baxter also has swivel/hinges where his wings and extra arms attach.
The paint on these is really great with a matte finish and lots of clean detail. I especially like the way they painted Baxter’s eyes with the cartoon style highlights. Overall this set is another great representation of classic characters and a must buy.
