Super7 Ultimates! Line

Honestly, I am so glad they spent so much time talking about the 'hot' Rat King head because that is the only reason I bought the figure, so I liked seeing more of it.   I am excited to get this one whenever he finally hits the Pile of Loot.     This is the last Super7 Turtles figure I have pre-ordered and it's hard for me to imagine ordering any more.    Usagi Yojimbo and Panda Khan are two characters I could be intrigued by,  but I don't think Super7 will bother chasing the extra license agreements needed to get those two out - and NECA has done (or will be doing) them well enough.   King Lionheart is maybe the only other one I would consider, and he'd have to be really well done to get me to buy.   Absent that, I think Rat King may well be my last Super7 TMNT purchase.

@misfit  I had a few thoughts on that video, but I totally forgot about it until you brought it up again. So if anyone is upset about my long-winded bullshit, they really only have you to thank.

I do want to point out that, VERY unlike Flynn, I get a good vibe from Kyle. Seems like a genuinely good dude, doing what he can at a job where he is 100% not the final decision maker and also as an artist that wants to do his own thing. I respect that, even if I don't always agree with the direction (Hot King). Not saying a Kyle-is-the-boss Turtles line would be better or worse than what we have, but I think his heart is probably in the right place. And he seems to dig -toys- a lot more than fucking Brian does.

Just saying that for clarity, not because I think he'll ever see it. I imagine these days toy people talking about their reaction to fan comments are pretty much always talking about things like Reddit and, more often, Twitter. I really doubt anyone is paying attention to these tiny forums anymore.

That being said, I have mixed feelings on how he took fan criticism. Obviously a lot of S7 criticism has basically nothing to do with Kyle (presumably). But I'll also admit I don't fully know what Kyle even does. If barely functional POA and figures that wobble all over the place are his fault then he deserves to get shit on. If the worst S7 issue he's responsible for is that Rat King's face was too pretty - I mean... get over it, I guess? Kyle otherwise gets praise heaped on him because the stuff he's actually responsible for seems to be the stuff that people are saying keeps them coming back DESPITE the problems.

As for Heavy Metal Raph - I have thoughts. First, I am ALL about a bunch of Raph variants.... VARIANTS.... showing Raph (and the other brothers, too) in various different types of metal gear. Yup. Bring it on. Great idea. You want to give me a Black Metal Raph or Speed Metal Raph? I will buy that. Make it an SDCC figure or whatever. Or just a retailer exclusive. Or just make it. I want one.

But no. That's not an acceptable way to finish the vintage set. I will NOT buy such a Raph if it's a replacement to the correct figure we need to finish the vintage music Turtles. Do what you gotta do to make the proper version happen. And it needs to happen before any other versions. That's the right thing to do by the fans. And S7 has done so much wrong by the fans that they can stand to figure this one thing out regardless of what it takes.

A concern I have is that Kyle is always talking about how figures we're getting in hand are like two years in his past. And here he is speculating on how maybe they could do Raph. That tells me that, unless Kyle is being squirrely and already knows the answer and has already finished the figure, that Raph isn't coming within the next 2-3 years. And that's pretty goddamn fucked up, actually. I'll tell you this much - the new wave looks pretty good. I'm actually excited about all FOUR of those figures at this point.
But I'm not getting them. I'm not buying a single S7 figure from this point onward until Heavy Metal Raph is confirmed by S7. Sick of the 'maybe we will, maybe we won't' bullshit when they KNOW what the customers want and are just being dickheads about it (not saying it's Kyle's fault - to be clear).

Also, despite how much I'd love a Black Metal Raph, I don't actually agree with Kyle's assertion that the vintage Raph isn't 'really' heavy metal. I'm a huge metal head. Huge. But I'm also not a pompous douche about it, so I recognize a simple fact: glam/hair metal is a genre of heavy metal. So Heavy Metal Raph being 'Hair Metal' doesn't actually make him 'not really' heavy metal. It's a silly argument to even have, but I see this 'not real metal/not this metal/not that metal' attitude within the culture a lot and I fucking hate it. Not saying this was Kyle's intention at all, but it's something often said to discredit certain types of music and it gets pretty obnoxious and exclusionary, so I felt like saying something about it.

For my metal credentials, I'm literally listening to Spectral Voice as I type this.

So, I did get the "processing soon" e-mail on my Ultimates Rat King.    To be determined if that's the last Super7 Turtle figure I ever buy...

My read on Kyle's talking about Heavy Metal Raph as a possibility is just him being coy. I think he's not allowed to reveal or even comment on stuff that is for sure coming so he has to speak about these things like they're theoretical. My only concern is the talk of changing Raph is him laying the groundwork for a radically altered Heavy Metal Raph so we're not caught by surprise, but I also don't know how far these interviews really spread so maybe that's not realistic at all. It might just be him as a fan of modern metal speaking what a lot of us have already said when it comes to how "metal" Heavy Metal Raph is. I would like to think that they've learned their lesson with Rat King that vintage-inspired figures that don't resemble the vintage figure are going to cause a problem. This is Super7 though, so nothing would surprise me, but I reserve the right to be a "fanatic" and brandish a pitch fork if Heavy Metal Raph gets passed over in the next wave of vintage inspired figures.

Posted by: @misfit

↑

My read on Kyle's talking about Heavy Metal Raph as a possibility is just him being coy. I think he's not allowed to reveal or even comment on stuff that is for sure coming so he has to speak about these things like they're theoretical. My only concern is the talk of changing Raph is him laying the groundwork for a radically altered Heavy Metal Raph so we're not caught by surprise, but I also don't know how far these interviews really spread so maybe that's not realistic at all. It might just be him as a fan of modern metal speaking what a lot of us have already said when it comes to how "metal" Heavy Metal Raph is. I would like to think that they've learned their lesson with Rat King that vintage-inspired figures that don't resemble the vintage figure are going to cause a problem. This is Super7 though, so nothing would surprise me, but I reserve the right to be a "fanatic" and brandish a pitch fork if Heavy Metal Raph gets passed over in the next wave of vintage inspired figures.

Ditto. I'm just speaking speculatively about what could be going on and what I do or don't want to see. I'm not preemptively angry about it or anything. But I'm actually quite serious about not buying anymore S7 figures until they say something official about Raph. Just on principle I'm sick of their nonsense when it comes to completing sets. Hell, they still never bothered to do Undercover Don, and for fans of that original variant set, that's gotta be a real piss-off.

I don't understand why "Where's Undercover Don?" hasn't been asked in any of these interviews over the years. Veebs is a big Donnie fan so it's bizarre he's never brought it up, unless for some reason Super7 has preemptively made the topic off limits. I thought they were just putting distance between the Raph with trench coat and fedora they did for BBTS, but now it seems more like Slam-Dunkin' Don was a replacement for the lack of the Donnie variant most would have wanted. It could be a Playmates thing, but the trench coat is such a frequent look across turtle media that I can't imagine it would have been hard to find a look that satisfied Viacom. That Raph is basically a recreation of the Playmates figure anyway. With this newest wave having both a Mikey and Leo variant, here's hoping the next one gives us the Raph and Don we're looking for. 

I took what I could from that Undercover Raph and put it on an extra Donnie. It fills the blank, but I don't understand why it wasn't Donnie to begin with. He completes my set though.

I got Rapper Mike and Rat King in from BBTS today. Rat King is a pretty nice sculpt and the paint is well done. Hips are okay, maybe a touch loose going out to the side, but nothing that will pose a problem. The right shoulder hinge is really tight though. The depth of the cut for the hinge looks like it's a bit shallow compared to the left arm which is fine. Getting that hinge to work is a bitch though. Hands needed heat to come off as well, haven't tried swapping the head. Overall, seems like about the best one can expect from this line. It looks like the factory actually applied some lubrication to a few joints which is something I've never noticed on a Super7 figure before. 

Rapper Mike is mostly okay. His hips aren't as bad as Punker Don, but not as good as Classic Rock Leo and really not as good as they should be. Sculpt and paint are solid and his head and hands come off okay. The chain for his pizza medallion is too short though, I wish it hung lower. I also think he should have come with an actual table the turntable accessory since it no longer has a strap. You can wedge his hands under the handle bar to get him to kind of hold it, but it looks stupid and his hands are actually covering the needle. By far though, my biggest disappointment with the figure is that Super7 screwed up the shade of green. I was looking forward to using the alt head with the original Michelangelo figure, but the shade of green is off. Rapper Mike is almost a blue-green, it's very close to the shade the character was for the 2003 series. It doesn't look great on the old body and I don't know if I'll end up using it. Also, I had the Sewer Surfer head on it and that was a pain in the ass to get off. The peg gave way in the neck first and I actually got it off by sticking it in the freezer for a few minutes. Swapping heads on that turtle buck has always been a pain in the ass. Anyway, Rat King probably earns his price tag, but Rapper Mike is definitely more subjective.

I'm just.... the least amount of surprised a person can be without actually falling into a coma.

This kind of stuff really is just indicative of a company that does not care. Brian Flynn has proven time and again that he actually does not give even the smallest fuck about the quality of the products he sells. It's gotten to the point where it's simply not believable that he's not aware of the issues, even for a complete fucking moron. He just doesn't give a shit. Wrong colors? Send it. Loose joints? Send it. Joint tolerances too tight and might break? Send it. Poor quality materials? Send it. Engineered poorly? Send it. He doesn't fucking care.

Like I said before - I'm not touching another S7 figure until they solicit Heavy Metal Raph. And even then, I just want the four brothers in their music looks and, I'll admit, I'd also break and buy a King Lionheart. Besides that, Super7, and Brian Flynn specifically, can get fucked and go broke for all I care. They certainly both deserve it.

Another thing that is kind of bugging me about Rapper Mike is how they colored this underarm area the same as the plastron. This is green on all of the other turtles. Went back to check to the glamour shots at BBTS and found they've actually been taken down. They're up at other places and it's too hard to tell what color this area was intended to be, but I bet there's a paint master somewhere at Super7 with some initials on it approving this because it happens too often for it to be chalked up as a "factory error."

Finally opened up Leatherhead. Love the sculpt and the size of him, and even the buck teeth don’t bother me as much, but his joints are a fair bit loose. It would’ve been nice to be able to put him more horizontal to the ground like the original toy, but the hips are way too loose to hold him up. Still my favorite version of Leatherhead though.

I'm guessing most already saw it, but Super7 teased Wave 2 of the 2003 line the other day. I'm guessing we get the full reveal this weekend. I kind of don't care and am 100% focused on getting Heavy Metal Raph, even though I'll probably get Shredder if he looks okay.

So... I finally got my "pretty" Rat King and... well... to KD's utter lack of surprise I am sure, I am shall we say... underwhelmed.    So, obviously -  I go in with my eyes wide open.   I know what I'm getting with Super7 -  but as I've said in the past,  I'm actually a fan of their typically articulation scheme with Ultimates and much of their sculpting style appeals to me - so on an aesthetic level I am not disappointed.    The figure is what I thought I was getting in that regard.    I only ever wanted the unpopular new style head which looks good.   However the figure didn't come packaged with that head on and unfortunately the hole inside of the head was not sufficiently drilled out to fit on the neck peg.   No amount of pushing, twisting or straining was going to get it on so I literally had to carve plastic out of the hole to get my desired head -  that comes packaged with the figure -  onto the peg.   But I'm industrious and determined so eventually we overcame that obstacle and Rat King does in fact look the way I want him too.     

But then I stand him up among my other figures and he's a frigging giant.   He's at least a half inch taller than the recent Lord Drakkon and nearly an inch taller than my Ultimates Darkbird.    Heck... he's taller than my Masterverse figures too.   He's a damned giant and that annoys me a little.     

I'm guessing he is the last Super7 Turtles figure I buy...  unless they come out of nowhere with a King Lionheart or something else truly surprising.    Never say never I guess.

The new wave is up for preorder on Super7's website. As expected, it's Casey, Splinter, Shredder, and a Foot Ninja:

$55 each, and if you preorder them all you get a bonus pack with includes an alternate portrait for Casey, alternate Utrom Shredder (spoilers?), alternate gauntlet for the Foot (I think? It may have been tied to the sword of Tengu, but It's literally been over 20 years since I watched that arc), and Shredder's SECOND SWORD! Why is Shredder's other sword locked behind a bonus? Even the Playmates toy all those years ago came with both as they can connect into a big, bladed, staff.

Anyway, I think Shredder turned out the worst of the bunch. He looks okay, but I don't really like his proportions. And he almost looks purple. His armor is supposed to be all steel, but I'm not getting that by looking at the images which are very obviously renders so I have a hard time thinking they'll look like this in the end. Casey actually looks really good, as does Splinter. I don't like the torso on the Foot as I don't see how he's going to articulate well, but I'm also guessing there's some soft plastic involved for the overlay. I don't know if I need any of these. I'm salty about the sword thing with Shredder which dampens my enthusiasm there.

Posted by: @misfit

↑

The new wave is up for preorder on Super7's website. As expected, it's Casey, Splinter, Shredder, and a Foot Ninja:

Anyway, I think Shredder turned out the worst of the bunch. 

This is interesting because,  immediately after posting that I thought I wouldn't buy anymore Super7 Turtles figures they released these images and I was like... dammit, I might have to buy that Shredder.    I get the irritation that the torso especially should be shinier metal armor,  but I think the figure looks OK since I have no attachment to the cartoon it's based on.    My only hesitation is that I think the head looks small.  Obviously that's an aesthetic choice for the line as the Casey's head also looks smallish and the Foot ninja's head is downright miniscule....  so I'm tempted but the tiny head might hold me back.