This is the Rat King they should have done from the start if they weren't able to do Playmates recreations anymore. This face at least captures the spirit of the original figure.. Two Turtle variants though? WTF is that Leo, by the way? Is that from the comics? And another variant with the Foot Soldier.. there's so many other characters they still need to do, and these already take so damn long to release. They couldn't do a new character like General Traag?
Glad to see the status quo of one unique interesting figure per wave being continued. What a great way to sustain the line. Rat King looks great, and great to see toy details being included with him.
The rest are a huge pile of meh. Well, except for the new swords with Leo, which he should have had back in wave two. I'll pick him up when he's $25.
I've said it elsewhere but the new Leo looks like they wanted some of that Last Ronin money but didn't want to invest money in too much new tooling.
In for Rat King but that’s it. Wasn’t a fan of the rocker Turtles but happy for those wanting Mikey. If we’re going to continue with this many variants per wave then the next wave had better give undercover Don and rocker Raph to start completing some sets.
That said, I hope we only get one of them in the next wave. This line is becoming way too variant heavy, especially for the rate the figures come out. I actually like most of the design of Nomad Leo but who is the target audience for new variants that aren’t based on existing media in an adult collectible line that only puts out about 12 figures a year and has dozens of characters still to get through?
Sadly if this line continues to be so variant heavy then I feel we won’t get a fraction of the characters we should see before it ends. Especially with 2003 starting next wave.
@karl_space they're technically not even new. I'm pretty sure they're just the swords included with Sewer Samurai Leo, but with a different deco. Hopefully they're not as warped as those ones tended to be for whoever orders it.
I actually like most of the design of Nomad Leo but who is the target audience for new variants that aren’t based on existing media in an adult collectible line that only puts out about 12 figures a year and has dozens of characters still to get through?
Sadly if this line continues to be so variant heavy then I feel we won’t get a fraction of the characters we should see before it ends. Especially with 2003 starting next wave.
I think the ultimate issue is that we're probably not getting to those characters. Between Playmates interference, the pivot to 2003, and major clearance of Super7 stuff, it's looking more like if you're waiting for a certain toy to be remade, it might just not happen. Hell, I'm concerned about them getting out all 4 regular 2003 turtles if they spread em out over 4 waves.
It's really weird that they haven't put out undercover Don ain't it?
Anyway, this wave. I think Rat King is way better than the previous version, I will likely grab this one. Though whether I pre-order or not is up in the air right now. I don't exactly have that "grab it now urge" anymore. I REALLY like that Foot variant, but again...am I going to bother ordering it? Eh. That mutating Foot Soldier was one of my favorites as a kid, so this is digging at me a bit. This would be a great figure to snag for $20-$30.
As for the Turtle variants? They do nothing for me. Especially that weird Leo. I'm annoyed that it's two turtle variants in one wave and that's a concerning step into the future. I want Rat King, but he's kind of a weird reminder that the line is essentially "dead" for any Playmates updates.
But hey, kudos to Super7 for not putting the extra heads in that stupid Exclusive pack incentive! I 100% thought Hot Rat King's head would end up in there. It's just a bunch of weapons...which is not exciting at all. That's good in that I don't think people will feel like they're missing out on anything. It's bad if Super7 thinks it was any kind of incentive at all and will improve their direct sales.
I think the ultimate issue is that we're probably not getting to those characters. Between Playmates interference, the pivot to 2003, and major clearance of Super7 stuff, it's looking more like if you're waiting for a certain toy to be remade, it might just not happen. Hell, I'm concerned about them getting out all 4 regular 2003 turtles if they spread em out over 4 waves.
Honestly, I think you are probably right. I mean, even with Playmates being a pain that shouldn’t stop them from doing characters like Tokka & Razhar or Dirtbag & Groundchuck, or “new” characters in vintage style like the missing frogs, Ninjara, etc. (like they just did Karai). But with 2003 now becoming the focus & waves being more and more variant heavy, the odds are slim of them hitting the remaining figures I’d like to see never mind anyone hoping for all the unique characters from the vintage line (minus the Playmates exclusive ones).
For 2003 I’m half expecting 2 turtles per wave based on the last few waves and to get them out in a (somewhat) timely fashion, especially with vintage waves in between. That said we’re back to basic look turtles & all the main characters so they may try and go over 4 waves again to try and boost sales.
The 4 figures look good, but it is also kind of an underwhelming assortment. I'd say just to cut costs, since we just have one unique, new, first-time character to the line. Then two Turtles and a Foot Soldier. jeez. Then the last wave all we got new was Karai, then a Turtle, April, and Casey.
They may need to do this to keep the costs at $55 a figure, but simultaneously that feels like a formula to kill the line. There are so many characters in TMNT, and only getting one new, first-time character every 4 to 6 months per Wave really isn't going to go over well.
I will say, this is much more the kind of version of Rat King I wanted. If they can't make it just like the Playmates figure, this at least captures the look and feel more than the other version.
If I decide to continue buying the Super7 TMNT Ultimate figures, I will get Rat King and Mikey. But I still haven't decided. I am done with all other Ultimate lines once I get the last 4 T-Cats I need.
But TMNT is so important to me. I still haven't bought any figures from the new Wave with Genghis Frog while I decide if I'm done, or if I will get some here and there from the Turtles line.
@chrislyne There's always the worst case scenario that they variants early in the 2003 to keep people around. We might get two turtles in wave but one could be regular and the other could be something like flash forward.
Actually comparing the new Rat King to the original Playmates figure. They're pretty close, even with the placement of the bones and the mice and the bug on his chest. Definitely what they should have done from the start.
@Misfit They don't have the pommels on them like the Sewer Samurai, but they're pretty close. Sewer Sam's are the closest to the original Playmates look as they also had that pommel on the end.
@Handsome Thanks for the comparison, it's good to the changes up next to the previous version. It's too bad we're not getting the rats anymore. Would have loved to have Binky up on his shoulder. I think that was the rat's name in the cartoon? Going on thirty years of faulty memory...
With the doom and gloom talk about getting unique characters (which is probably the truth, it's going to take a looong time) I had to wonder what my own perfect wave would be. Say if there's no turtles variants, and they announced one more wave, toy accurate, to close things out.
I think it's General Tragg, Walkabout, Dirtbag and Wyrm for me. I would be happy with them in the collection. Thoough, close runner ups are Napolean Bonafrog, Groundchuck, Chrome Dome, and Antrax (a nice split of '90, '91 and '92 figures). Man, it's hard looking at the year by year archive on www.tmnttoys.com and choosing just a few..
I actually preferred the previously offered Rat King to this version, but at least they included the head from that one - the only head I would consider using. I honestly wish I could get the first version they solicited though - even though I'm probably the only one.
Looking at and chatting about a new wave of Super7 product always seems to come with the same caveats: I hope these are actually good figures when they're produced, they're still too expensive for what you get, I don't have any confidence these will not be trash - and therefore I would NEVER pre-order no matter what the incentive is, and (to keep repeating it because it's important) Super7 has destroyed my confidence in their ability to produce a good toy which keeps me from -truly- getting excited about anything.
Rat King is pretty bang on to what I would have wanted from this line. An important thing to bear in mind here is that I never owned his accessories. I got my Rat King and promptly lost everything he came with somewhere outside - I believe the same day I got him kind of promptly. So I was never going to be fussed about what accessories he came with because I have no memory of them anyway and therefore no nostalgia for them. So he looks like what -I- would want, or need, from this figure and I really like it. Hope he turns out well.
The Foot Soldier is a weird one. I feel like it has more new tooling and paint involved than I would expect from a quick cash grab tooling re-use. Which sort've implies, to me, that this is further in the neighborhood of something someone at Super7 thought was cool and wanted to do versus a way to re-use tooling. It's not like Casey or Shredder where you maybe get a new head but it's mostly just a straight repaint. I'm also a total sucker for Foot Soldiers, and damaged ones at that. HOWEVER.... with whatever new tooling this figure has, I'd guarantee the moving parts are all re-use, and those figures seem weak-jointed and fragile as hell. Super7 will never convince me to buy another Foot Soldier unless they drastically change their QC (which they will not) AND re-tool the actual guts of the figure (which they won't).
Rapping Mikey is what I'd call a necessary evil, but they did a great job with the design. I say a necessary evil because I hate this version of Mikey and I always have. He's just the Mikey that goes with one of my favorite Turtle group variants so.... I have to get him because I can't do 3 out of 4 Turtles. Assuming I ever bother to get the others (who knows). Again, though, they did a great job on the render there and if the figure turns out like that and doesn't have Super7 QC, it'll be a very nice figure.
But it will still be a very nice figure of a design and concept I don't care for.
And here's where I'll break from a lot of commentary so far on this wave; I emphatically adore that Leonardo. It is worth noting for context that I'm a sucker for Leo and He-Man variants. That's just my thing. I think the idea of doing a Leo inspired by wandering ronin in various anime is fantastic. I think the trashcan lid straw hat is inspired. I think the swords are great. It may seem very bare-bones, but I just really really like this design and if I only had 55 dollars to spend at the store and saw the whole wave, and Super7 made good figures that could be relied on for quality, THIS is actually the figure I would buy first.
I'm not going to deny that it's a bit bare-bones by having just a few hand options (but, in fairness, it mostly comes with the options I would want to use anyway, so it's easy for me to care a lot less than I should).
In my perfect display, I'd give ronin Leo's swords to S2 Leo, give one of the 'incentive' Leo swords to this Leo, and the other 'incentive' Leo sword to Samurai Leo with this Leo's tanto/wakizashi. Unfortunately, even if I get this figure I won't be pre-ordering anything, which means I won't get the blue-hilted tachi. That's a shame.
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