Psst, hey – TMNT fans! I just realized that in the last month I have gotten new Ninja Turtles based on their cartoon, video game, movie, vintage toy, and with the arrival of my latest Loot Crate, comics appearances. All of that, in the span of a month. Yes, dudes and dudettes, this is a shell of a time to be a Turtle collector.
Admittedly, there are a to of really cool action figure lines going right now, and for better or for worse, I collect a lot of them. That said, I am pretty sure the all things TMNT are what excite me the most when it comes to new reveals and releases. As a life-long fan of the property, and the fact that, along with Masters of the Universe, the vintage TMNT line is my all-time favorite, I have been waiting on good collector-grade Turtle figures for a long time. Well, over the past couple of years right up until today, I have gotten almost more than I can handle, and I am loving every minute of if. It is pretty amazing that so many different iterations of the Turtles are getting their due in plastic as of late, and NECA has been the main driver behind so many of the diverse releases.
The new TMNT golden age really started several years ago when NECA released their first Turtles based off the original Mirage Comics, now my most recent get is right back with that style. The movie, cartoon, and video game figures have all been allotted to different distribution channels for their releases, and with NECA’s recent acquisition of Loot Crate, we now have another avenue for figures that creep more towards the hardcore fans. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the comics and their style (my body is MORE than ready for Eastman-style Turtles), but I think the comic figures are likely a bit more collector-pointed than the rest, so making this Mirage Shredder the focal point of the latest TMNT Crate is pretty savvy.
I remember back a few years ago when we were unsure if we would ever get any of the Foot Clan to match our comic Turtles, but NECA found a way to make it happen, just like they always seem to do. Now, I am happy to be able to have a comic version of Shredder that very important to his original appearance arc. It will be interesting to see where this all goes (this Crate is really strong overall, IMO), and while the rest of the TMNT Crates planned for this year are not comic-based, I could see this as being a real path to more of those in the future if a wider channel cannot be found. There are still a lot of comic characters and versions of characters that can come into our collections, but this Shredder makes a lot of sense for this release.
At its base, this figure is a repaint of the Shredder figure included in the original Foot Clan box set from a few years back. As far as I can tell, all of the parts from figure to figure are the same (we will get to the accessories in just a moment), but it makes sense as this new figure is really the same as first down to the outfit, just that it is repainted in a way to accurately represent the lighting and shading from the actual comic panel. The fact is that this is still a really good Shredder base, and it has plenty of articulation to keep up bases that are much newer. This speaks volumes to the original sculpting and design work laid down by the Four Horsemen (I would guess this was actually sculpted in 2007 or 2008!), and all of the joints have a very nice range of movement that help achieve some pretty dynamic posing.
The real appeal of this figure is, of course, the slick new paint job, and NECA has done some great work here. They most certainly have a history of dynamic decos that can recreate source material in creative ways (the video game figures are great examples of this), and this Shredder is no exception. The original Mirage Shredder is a great representation of the comic look, but this one digs deeper into the actual art in the panels from the climax of the original TMNT comic arc. The dark blue and black used here represents the shadows and lighting very nicely, and the bright silver helps show off the highlights, too. I mean, this guy is just BEGGING to be taken out by Leonardo, so I am excited to see what some photographers come up with.
Not everything with this release is reuse, however, and I am happy to report that, if I remember correctly, all of the accessories and new and unique to this offering. While traditional martial arts weaponry was plentiful in the original four-pack, we now get a bow, arrow, and scythe on chain (I am positive there is a proper name for this that will be called out below) to help keep thing fresh. I am not sure if these are newly-sculpted pieces or if they were created at the time when everything else was done, but they fit in with the style of the figures and other weapons perfectly. The bow and arrow are particularly cool to me, and it is great that the bow actually includes a string!
Now, my one quibble with this figure is that the grip hands (Shredder also has included fists) struggle to hold the accessories tightly. The grip width is too wide, and while this guy can hold the accessories from the old box set just fine, the bow and scythe handle are both thinner than say, the sword grips. So, these new accessories struggle to be held properly, at least with the figure I have. The one exception to this, and it is a surprising bright spot, is that since there is a string included on the bow, Shredder can actually hold the bow in a perfect firing position thanks to the tension caused by pulling back the string. The figure looks GREAT doing so, and this will be how I pose this figure on the shelf because I like it so much. So, while I was going to initially give Shredder or sword or something else, it all works out in the end here.
This is a really cool release meant of the hardcore TMNT fan, the Loot Crate inclusion is a pretty great way to get it done. Hopefully you bought into this Crate when it was available for purchase because it looks like this Shredder is already fetching a pretty high price tag on the aftermarket. Mirage fans especially should love this, and I hope this is the gateway to seeing more comic-based TMNT releases in the future. If you bought into the full Loot Crate offering for this year, the video game-inspired Crate is supposed to ship next month, so after a bit of a delay, things seem to be really moving now. What a time of be Turtles fan!
*Thanks to our friends at NECA for sending along this Shredder sample for a feature. We appreciate it!