Dec 31, 2020

It came from the Toy Chest: Playmates lazy Cashgrab dudes!

 

The Wal-Mart exclusive Mirage Comics inspired 6 figure set dropped at my mailbox this afternoon. At $40, each figure is roughly $6.66, which makes these a set if SUPER CHEAP TMNT items, especially compared to NECA and Super7.

The set contains 4 turtles, Shredder, and Splinter. The Turtles are redos from their previous "comic book set". Splinter is a repaint of the 1987 figure with a new robe.
Shredder is a modified 1987 figure.


Articulation:
The Turtles have awkward articulation: pseudo balljoint shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. 
Splunter has cut joints on head, shoulders, wrists, thighs, and tail.
Shredder is similar to Splinter minus the tail and instead has a pseudo balljoint on the thighs.
Turtles: 2.5
Splinter: 2.0
Shredder: 2.0


Paint and sculpt:
Paint applications are minimal. They are mostly effective... aside one Horrible Mistake being purposely perpetuated. I'm talking about the eyebrows over the head. The sculpt of these figures is not new since they are repaints of past versions.
Turtles: 3.5
Splinter: 4.0
Shredder: 3.5


Accessories:
Both Shredder and Splinter get their weapon racks/accessory tree.
The  Turtles only have their signature weapons... in Donatello's only his bo.
Turtles: 2.0
Shredder and Splinter: 5.0


Overall:
The Turtles get a 2.67 as their final score. Splinter gets a 3.67 as his final score. Shredder gets a 3.5 as his final score. Poor articulation for 2020 standards and awkward sculpt, paint, and accessory choices hurt the figures. The entire set gets a 3.28 as its final score. But I'll add a point for the nifty case it came with.
4.28 is my final score for the set.  it's very obvious that you believe me just doesn't understand their target audience. I regret helping Playmates not understand what they're doing wrong. This is a nice novelty, but for the holders of the Master License for TMNT, their product is underwhelming. I KNOW they can make decent product, but for some reason they don't... they missed an opportunity when they cockblocked NECA last decade. And rereleasing repaints and redecos will not help them het better.









The toys are more for kids than for collectors, but at the same time Morage Comics stuff isn't exactly kid friendly. That's what I meant by Playmates not understanding their audience. 
You either love this set or hate it... there is NO Middle Ground. And despite my complaining, I actually love the set, with shredder (eyebrows aside) being the best figure of the set.

Happy 2021!

Random Things I would like to see on Super7's TMNT Ultimates.

 With Wave 2 on my hands and it being fresh in my mind, I'm  going to ramble on things that I'd like to see on the line. Yes, it's partly another excuse to plug the Bucket of Mousers idea.

Bucket of Mousers: 
This one is rather obvious: The Mouser we got from Baxter, but times ten or twelve. It just makes sense.

Oroku Saki head:
Again, another obvious item that we need. Before anyone complains about it, need I remind you of 1993 Mutatin' Shredder. Since it's highly unlikely that a transforming figure is made, then getting the head in an accessory pack OR an actual Oroku Saki figure would be great.

Casey Jones unmasked:
This would be an obvious nod to Mirage Casey, since Toon Casey didn't remove his mask... worst case scenario would be a Casey repaint in Mirage colors (red crop top, blue pants, white shoes) with brown golf bag/weapons and extra unmasked head. Here I'm assuming that normal Casey has a removable head... (chances are he won't because the universe hates me)

Cheapskates:
It's a classic toy AND the perfect excuse to pop in some extra hands. A Hang Loose hand for each turtle and a Pointing hand as well. Or simply a pair of Hang Loose hands and we save the pointing/ninja pose hands for something else. And yes, I said plural because there are 2 variations of the Cheapskate.

"Weapon packs":
Unlike the MOTU Weapon Packs, what I'm doing is something different:
Like say: Mikey Nunchucks 2.0 with string, or the twirling chucks that NECA and Ultimate Panthro have. Maybe clip-on effects to the various blasters from Baxter, foot soldier, etc. Clip on slash effect for swords.
Maybe toss some Kunai and some traditional ninja 4 point shuriken. Maybe toss in the infamous ooze canister and 4 turtles on it... uless that's being saved for a Hamato Yoshi figure. (1992 Mutatin' Splinter allows for a Hamato Yoshi figure to exist)
Then there are extra things they could toss in like a Rocksteady knife for Leatherhead, extra bear traps. The idea is to improve the releases with extras. If they do Usagi, toss in a naginata for Donnie.

Keeping the potential for customization via later releases open:
For example not having a removable head on the foot soldier was a missed opportunity . First, chooping off a robot's head on a display is fun.
Second, it could've allowed for a second battle damaged head to be uswd as an incentive to buy a less popular figure/variant. Splinter not having a removable head was another opportunity lost. Even if they don't do a 2.0 head for a character having the option to swap the head should always be there... even if the head is third party.

Wacky Weapons:
The two I'm looking for are Foot Clan mini playsets that involve Ooze. Emphasis on the term MINI PLAYSETS. This is not a ginormous playset like snake mountain. Oozey and Flush-o-Matic are roughly a figure tall and wide, so they shouldn't be THAT Expensive.

That's all I can think of... got to go and prep because I have to work on Jan 1st.

It came from the Toy Chest: Take the best anime series and remove the Cowboy...

 

And that leaves you only with Bebop... or if you're confused and ask where are the cowboys in Neon Genesis Evangelion... and I just ruined my own joke. Bebop, henchpig, mutant, serves Shredder, moron...
PMBebop: Whoops!
NECABebop:Oh No!
S7Bebop: Looks like someone dropped the soap... Who's going to pick it up? Is it you, Peppa? Or is it you with the purty mouth?


Articulation 
He has articulation similar in range to a MOTUC, minus the ab crunch, but it's executed in a slightly different way. He lacks bicep swivel, but the Hasbro elbows make put for that. His tail rotates and the leg brace on his left knee is connected to the leg so be careful when posing. It hinges but it doesn't twist, so be careful when posing the left leg. I need to emphasize the be careful part. The shoulder articulation is limited due to the Turtle shell pauldrons.
4.0
S7Bebop:Yippe-ka-yay!
PMBebop: I fell down the stairs!
NECABebop: I squealed like a pig!
S7: And this little piggy did a Zack Snyder Batman... I prison raped the other Bebops!!



Paint and sculpt 
 He looks very vintage down to the pink piggy nose. He has a second head without the pink shading, so I have a Blushing Bebop and a non-Blushing one. I had to give him a sloppy blue wash on the hair to male it look purpleish, because I couldn't stand the pink.
Aside that, he's the most kickass Bebop ever... even better than the Toon one from NECA.
5.0
Bebop has learned the basics of CQC...


Accessories:
Drill gun
Knife
Trashcan lid shield
2 fists
Vintage unpainted weapons.
Extra head
My only issue is CAN Anyone use the trashcan lid? I can't make him  it for the lide of me.
5.0
Shredder: KNEEL!!
Bebop: You're not Zod!!
Shredder: I said Kneel before I teach you about Puerto Rican Christmas...
(Pigs are spit roasted over the fire and Pig roast is a staple of Puerto Rican Christmas food)


Overall
Bebop gets a 4.67 as his final score. The limits on his shoulders and lack of ab joint (not necessarily an ab crunch) kinda hurt him a bit. Despite that he's the BEST figure of the entire wave, with Shredder coming in 2, Leo in 3rd, and in last place Mutagen Man.

 I almost forgot! Here's the repainted Bebop


It came from the Toy Chest: He leads... and he's the blue one.

 

Leonardo from Super7 has finally come out the Toy Chest. Eldest son of Splinter, the de facto leader of the turtles, massive wet blanket, often butts heads with Raphael. Both VAs of his 2012 version have played characters that have dated characters played by Alyson Hannigan.


Articulation 
Leonardo has the same articulation as Raphael. His waist is not as wobbly, but it still is wobbly. I had a slight scare with his left knee, which was ridiculously tight when opened. 
4.0

Paint and sculpt 

For the most part he's really good. The sculpt is a slightly more detailed version of the vintage toy upscaled to a larger size. The colors are a bit muted compared to the vintage toy. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but some people may complain about it. (Mostly those who don't understand the MOTUC COMPATIBILITY aspect of these lines by Super7) I wish the second head matched a bit better with the body. Looks better on camera. Yes I pulled a copy paste from Rafael because it's literally the same sculpt and the only differences are on the heads and belts.
Think twice he is a bit closer to the vintage toy than Raphael was but he's still feels a bit muted which is a good thing. They changed the scope on the ice slightly compared to the Vintage figure or he looks more like contemplative instead of afraid.
4.5
Two of these things are not like the others...


Accessories 
He gets all his weapons in both painted and unpainted modes. Instead of alternate Sai Holding hands, he gers a pair of fists... Raph needs a pair of fists now! In addition he gets a slicw of pizza and the Turtle communicator in opened and closed modes
5.0


Overall
Leonerdo gets a 4.5 as his final score and the loose waist is to blame. I'm halfway through the Toitles... Next Toitle is my favorite, so it might mean that I could be harsher on the criticism or super lenient...
But other reviews await...
See you Space Cowboy...


Dec 30, 2020

Continuities and Toylines

 I've mentioned in the past how much I love 200X MOTU and I have influenced my displays to have a sort of 200X inspired style in MOTUC. In addition to that, I've incorporated original characters into my display to create "MY UNIVERSE". 

With Thundercats I'm unable to do so due to the limited roster and that Super7's following Vintage continuity only. And with the figures being $45 each, customizing Might be a bit hard... or so he says after he repainted a Shredder in a toon palette. (And also regretting not getting a third one for a Mirage redeco) which brings me to my next point: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... What is "MY UNIVERSE"? No really, I'm asking myself that... As a kid "my universe" was Toon inspired but with weird child added stuff. Mikey had an unhealthy crush on April... looking at it from an adult perspective my Mikey was a mega creep. Irma was a lot like a young Blanche Deveraux... she dated Casey, Panda Khan, Splinter, all the turtles except Donatello who was terrified of her, the neutrinos, Shredder, Rocksteady, Bebop, Rat King,Vernon, Burne, Pizza Face, she even kissed Muckman...
For some reason Vernon was gay and had a crush on Casey. BTW it wasn't the pink shirt, but his cowardly behavior, that made him effeminate in my child self's eyes. It might have been rooted in Latin American homophobic culture, but I didn't "make him gay" for laughs. He simply had a crush on the sexy crop top wearing Mullet sporting Goalie vigilante. Casey on the other hand was married to Justice. He has no time for love until crime is non-existent. He never said no, but he never said yes.
Leonardo was pretty much Brainy Smurf. He fought in the Gulf War and killed Saddam Hussein. Then President Ted DiBiase gave Leonardo his own tank. Raphael was an alcoholic asshole. Pretty much Wolverine but green. One time Donatello crashed the blimp on Super Shredder to try and stop him... the plan was called operation Hindenburg for obvious reasons. I had read about it recently.
It's weird how dark my childhood universe was. 
 
When I got the NECA TMNT, Some Elements of the Toon inspired continuity, with my cynical twist persisted.
-Leonardo was still a Brainy Smurf wet blanket type. "Master Splinter said ____" was literally his catchphrase.
-Donatello *does machines* was well, you guessed it. He was trying to weird science his way into a Perfect Girlfriend. (Venus was a failed attempt.)
-Raphael was still an alcoholic asshole who also smoked and cusses like Samuel L. Jackson.
-Michelangelo was the party dude... who was dating Miley Cyrus. (I made a Miley out of a broken SOTA Sakura Kasugano) Thanks to Miley, he was able to party like a 1980s Wall Street trader. Then Miley began to plot against the Turtles after Selena Gomez took advantage of a drugged Mikey. Sadly, I lost Selena. She was made out of a Marvel Legends X-23. Miley became the new Shredder.
April was Alyson Hannigan playing April because the real April died and the TMNT needed a replacement. She was being paid by Miley-Shredder.

But this is a new line and this is a new continuity...
I need to start anew and see what elements I can bring to this new "My Universe"...

Leonardo will be Splinter's Cyclops. Won't be as annoying as Brainy Smurf, but he will be a wet blanket and still have dick measuring contests with Raph... of the Metaphorical kind. He's wound up a bit too tight with the responsibilities handed to him. He tends to beat himself up way too much for any failure, no matter how small. The reason he's obsessed with training is to smash his fears and insecurities. He's serious 99.78% of the time. But when he chuckles to himself, shit just got real. He's not holding back in order to be the star pupil. He's not throwing corny leader lines like "Turtles fight with honor!" He's a soldier and he must eliminate the enemy and leave no squad member behind. Even Raph knows his role and fully gets with the program when Leo is DEADLY SERIOUS.

Donatello will *do machines* because he's terrified of talking/interacting with women beyond his huge collection of illegally downloaded eroge. I should buy a phicen 1:12 fenale figure or two for him. He's a bit socially awkward when he's not focused on a task. When he focuses on a task he turns DEAD SERIOUS think, MacGyver when he's planning an escape from a death trap. His behavior is cold and emotionless in this "mode" and is willing to sacrifice friends and allies to complete the objective. His least amount of violence stance is ignored when he's DEAD SERIOUS.
When he's not on the Hyper Aware DEAD SERIOUS mode, he more or less behaves like a stereotypical nerd. He often hangs out with Michelangelo, because Mikey is not as judgemental as their other brothers. Also, Mikey has artistic talents that Donnie could benefit from.

Raphael will still be the grumpy alcoholic asshole. Hos anger stems from Splinter chosing Leonardo over him as squad Leader. He's trying to prove himself as the better ninja. He works twice as hard as Leonardo to improve. He also tries to get Donnie and Mikey to disobey Leonardo on non-serious stuff. While normally, Raph is known for his "Wolverine-like" berserker rages, Raph's "SERIOUS MODE" makes him more brutal... almost sadistic. No rage, no growls to intimidate the opponent. Just a blank, seemingly emotionless green face with calculated moves to inflict maximum pain with minimal effort. As the inflicted pain grows, so does his grin.

Mikey will be the party dude... Laid back, slacker type dude. He'd rather be off watching TV, playing videogames, writing erotic fanfics of him and the cast of Victorious. Also, his erotic art is very popular on various internet sites. When Splinter mandates practice, he does the bare minimum just to hang with his brothers. Splinter believes that if Mikey were to focus, he'd be as good as Leo. Like Donnie, when Mikey GETS SERIOUS, he becomes extremely focused. With his extensive studies on human anatomy for his art, Mikey can deliver maximum damage. Unlike Raphael, who enjoys the mayhem, Mikey is terrified of his "dark mode".

The idea of the "dual modes" is to have them struggle with the indoctrination they received from Splinter during their childhood vs the softer style used by Splinter now...

This brings us to Splinter... is he Yoshi, or the rat? Personally, I want to take the Swamp Thing approach. Have Hamato Yoshi have the Mirage Origin up until Saki kills him and burns up the house. Yoshi barely survived. Unable to take Tang Sheng's body, he flees to the sewers in an attempt to reach a hospital without being seen by the Foot Ninja watching to ensure his death. His pet rat, Splinter somehow tagged along. Due to his wounds and traveling through an unsanitary environment, Yoshi suffers from sepsis. During this time, where Yoshi was delirious, 4 turtles dropped from a storn drain above, with them a canister shattered and doused Yoshi, the Turtles, and Splinter with a strange Ooze. Yoshi fainted and when he woke up, the world looked so much bigger...
Somehow Hamato Yoshi had fused with Splinter the rat. Taking the rags from a nearby corpse, the Hamato/Splinter creature took the turtles who had doubled in size.
Much to Hamato/Splinter's surprise, the Turtles had developed human-like sentience.
A sinister idea sparked within Hamato/Splinter when he discovered that he and the turtles were stronger than normal humans... his own squad of terrapin shinobi to avenge him and assassinate the Grandmaster of the Foot Clan, Oroku Saki.

A few years pass and driven by Tang Shen's ghostly apparition, Hamato/Splinter returns to the spot where he found the Turtles. He realizes that Hamato Yoshi wasn't mutated into a rat, but that Hamato Yoshi's "mind" somehow imprinted itself into the rat. This realization broke Hamato/Splinter and brought forth a change in Hamato Yoshi. No longer driven by vengeance, he decides to reinvent Clan Hamato into a clan of Protectors instead of Assassins. This drastic change in teaching methods is the reasoning behind the "split modes" on the turtles.

Of course, Splinter omits, the dark sensei era from his retellings of their origins, or how Hamato Yoshi is dead and what remains is a phantom possessing a mutant rat. Sometimes he says he's Yoshi mutated. Sometimes he's the avenging pet. Sometimes it's a whole different story for Misdirection is part of the ninja way.

Now while strict, Splinter cares for his students, whom he considers his children.
As they have grown, Splinter has tried to be more "Mister Miyagi" and less "John Kreese". For Leonardo, he tries to get him to stop being so wound up about everything. While he does have more responsibilities as the eldest and as squad leader, he needs to be more like water. It can break through stone or go around it. It can adapt to any shape as needed. 

For Donatello, he tries to teach him the KISS approach, hence he literally has a stick as a weapon. The most rudimentary tool to the most technologically advanced student. He often takes Donatello on Zero-Electronics trips in order to hone Donatello's mind to find simpler solutions to his problems. Also to have him more in tune with Nature and understand the power of emotions.

For Raphael, he tries to teach him how to temper his anger and to be more compassionate.

For Michelangelo, he tries to teach him focus while using Mikey's love for the arts.  Also, practicing katas is a non-violent way to hone his skills.

The idea is to have a Splinter who is growing as much as his students.

April is toon based because it's easier to use that origin than the lab assistant when the toy is all about her being the banana reporter.

Shredder and the Foot are a smidge harder.
Saki and the Foot have been trying to gain  foothold in the US after their attempt at Hamato Yoshi's life. Using local gangs, Saki created a protection racket scheme that allowed the Foot Clan to enter New York.
Until he tried his scam on the wrong person, one of Krang's "puppets". Now working for Krang, who has hidden knowledge of The Foot's history, Saki has become another unwilling puppet of the disgraced Utrom Warlord/Dictator. Unlike Krang's other puppets who are mechanical automatons in a human disguise, Shredder is the first Human who is aware of Krang's true nature.

Shredder intends to help Krang until the latter is able to power up the Katame no Akuma of Foot Clan legends. (Also known as the Technodrome) He's aware of the Foot Clan Legends regarding Maou Kurange. 

Krang is a disgraced Utrom Warlord who was banished to an interdimensional nexus, thought to be uninhabited known as Dimension X, for various crimes against the Utroms. On Dimension X, Krang was able to find enough resources to build a makeshift mobile stronghold for conquest: The Technodrome. Teaching advanced warfare to the Stone Warriors and becoming their leader. With the Stone Warriors and his robotic Army, Krang was able to rise as the Supreme leader of Dimension X. He then began peering into other dimensions in order to find better weaponry and warriors in order to return home and become the supreme leader of the Utroms. As he was looking into our dimension a small cell of Neutrino Rebels activated a bomb intending to blow up the Technodrome. Instead, the bomb caused a glitch in the portal and sent the Technodrome to Feudal Japan.

In Feudal Japan, Krang attempted to ally himself with the invading forces of Temujin. The Mongol invasion's usage of the Katame no Akuma was thwarted by the Founding members of the Foot Clan. Before the Technodrome sank on the Sea of Japan, the founding Foot Ninja stole some extremely rare metals and portable equipment out of Krang's assembly line. With this, they made an imposing armor: The Fugu no Yoroi  a spiked armor reminiscent of the Puffer Fish due to the impressive amount of blades on it. The blades could slice through existing weaponry from the era. The armor was passed down from Foot Grandmaster to Grandmaster. Eventually, most of the armor was lost to time (actually, Krang was able to recover his materials) and only Shredder's Kuro kabuto remains. Known as Mao Kurange, the disgraced Utrom Warlord began to manipulate Human history in order to get humanity at a sufficient level of technological advances that he could gain resources to power up the Technodrome. The Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki allowed Krang to move the Technodrome from Japan to America via portal jumps. The Technodrome lacks the power to jump back to Dimension X without the Kuro Kabuto.

In America, Krang, via his few remaining Robot puppets forms TCRI, a shell company meant to advance Humanity by researching the Cosmos... think of a Private owned NASA competitor. In reality, it's a facility to create a rudimentary version of Krang's Transmat in order to return to Dimension X. 

Bebop and Rocksteady would be Purple Dragons chosen as "sacrifice" by Arnold "The Hun" Jones in order to be released from Shredder's command. 

Arnold Casey Jones is the estranged son Hun and is appalled at the fact that his father is the leader of the gang that killed his wife and left him a widower raising a 12 year old girl with the help of his mother. His obsession with vigilantism is to beat the shit out of his dad for robbing Shadow of her mother, and she's a girl in New York City. He wants to make the streets safer for his kid.
Casey is 27 in my continuity and Gabrielle was 28. Casey married her when Shadow was 5. By the time Casey meets the turtles, Gabe has been dead for 2 years.

Well, that's more ot less what I have going on. I might add to it if more "key players" show up. 

I'm still trying to figure out how to play with White Baxter. I'm waiting to see if Black Baxter makes it to the line before figuring out how to play with the Stockmen...
If Black Baxter makes it, white Baxter would be renamed to Baxter Brundle Stackmann, who is accidentally kidnapped by Rocksteady and Bebop. He was able to reverse engineer Stockman's Mousers, which allowed him to buy some time, but when Shredder figures out the ruse, he mutates Stackmann into Fly Baxter.

Guys like Mutagen Man and Muckman would have no real changes to their origins, since random Krang experiment can fill in those spots nicely.

 Also, we must remember that I'm not a professional writer and these are just some random ideas from an asshole with a Blog.

Dec 28, 2020

It came from the Toy Chest: It's Uncle Phil!!

 


Insert Pillowy Mounds of Mashed Potatoes here. SO, Shredder... main enemy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. When I was a young boy, my mother, got me a bunch of TMNT toys for Christmas and Shredder#1 was among those. Shredder number one broke the peg on his left hand and the bar that held the legs broke off after a fall from a third-story.  I got a Shredder #2 before getting a Super Shredder. Shredder one got a "poncho-like" shirt made by my grandma to look more cartoon-like. Shredder #2 inherited the poncho. Until Super shredder game Shredder#2 with a poncho and the cape was my main Shredder until Super Shredder came with his hyper spiky goodness. Now that I have Shredder the Kid in Me is demanding that I make him cartoon accurate.
Say goodbye to Toy version Shredder!

Articulation:
He has Standard TMNT Ultimates articulation: Translation: No ab Crunch. As you can see on the "in-hand" flashback triggering photo, he can ALMOST recreate the vintage pose.

He has a decent range of articulation, but compared to NECA I find it lacking. Hell even comparing it to MOTU classics, he ends up being a bit underwhelming. Don't get me wrong he can pull off some decent poses it's just that for being a lanky figure compared to a beefy He-Man, the lack of articulation is almost Unforgivable. I know that the 80s figure had limited articulation and that this line is following the MOTUC standards, but he's a NINJA!!
4.0
Bonus fact: The sash that holds the cloth cape on Shredder has a Karate Belt front that can be used on Splinter's cloth kimono.


Paint and sculpt:
Before I went Captain paintbrush on the figure, it had some Great  paint applications. The helmet and blade wear blue, just like you remember, but this time they have a metallic tone to them. The paintwork is very minimal on this figure but it works for him.  the only thing that doesn't work for him is the awful second head with the vintage eyebrow stamped over the helmet.

Despite my sloppy job repainting him, he loold amazing.
5.0 before me painting him.

Accessories:
Gripping hands
Open hands
Fists
Sword
Shuriken
Kama
Push knives
Extra head
Extra cape
I'm not a fan of the vintage toy but it allowed me to repainted and have an alternate to look for Shredder. This time I went for a somewhat vintage movie inspired look.

I used a dull gold, black, silver, and a color shifting paint that goes from black to gold to create the look.  if you want to copy my process first I painted the helmet with the that helmet with the dull gold then I added a bunch of black dots to simulate the chainmail effect that the movie Shredder has on his helmet. I dry brushed a super light coat of the color changing paint in order to darken the dull gold which was a little bit too bright for my taste. Then I added the silver accents to the helmet.
I honestly like it a bit more than the toon accurate helmet for him. It gives me options on like a certain rat sensei who could have used a cartoon or movie inspired alternate head.
5.0

Overall:
Shredder gets a 4.67 as his final score. He's pretty cool I'm not going to lie. I just wish he just had a little bit of articulation like the ab crunch and that would have pushed him up higher on the score.

It came from the Toy Chest: Mutagenless Man...

 

Super7 dropped the wave 2 Ultimates yesterday afternoon at my feet. I got busy repainting Shredder in Toon colors, which I'll go in detail on his ICFtTC. So Mutagen Man. Duude experimented on by Krang lives in a jar that's fused to his mutated and rotting limbs. On the Vintage figure, you could fill him with water or Ooze and he'd have little objects floating inside.
You cannot do this on the new one. It's not water tight. Since he's not water tight it defeats the purpose. Yeah, this pisses me off and you will read about it.

Articulation 
Believe it or not, Mutagen Man has a decent range of articulation. All his joints have hinged ball behavior. Obviously there is no waist twist nor ab crunch. Head articulation is non-existent for obvious reasons. The only issues lie on poor engineering making the figure leak more than celeb nudes from the Fappening... or  movie industry if we believe wegotthiscovered. I would've paid $55 or $65 for a non-leaking Mutagen Man. But back to Articulation. He gets a 
4.0


Paint and sculpt:
Dude is HUGE!!! I don't have the biggest hands ever, but this guy would look huge even in Shaq's hand!! He looks just like I remember, only bigger and with slightly more paint Application. But what's the point of looking like the vintage figure, have the little sinkers and floaters, that cannot be suspended in fluid. Might as well had them sculpted on the inside and "floating" in a static position.
4.0


Accessories:
His gun, an extra set of fists, his floating trash. You can see them on the MOC Pic. Not taking them out of the package for obvious reasons. Then the vintage rack with yellow plastic versions of the items.

He has plenty of stuff... but pretty much everything is useless! The only reason he gets a 5.0 is sheer number of accessories.

Overall:
Mutagen Man gets an undeserved 4.33 as his final score. Personally, I'd dock a point for teasing me with the action feature and not even delivering an acceptable imitation.
I feel that having him being in a double walled tank would've worked better for him.
That way, the "inner wall" which would be the actual tank wpuld hold water, while the outer wall, hidden by the purple armor would support the articulation. Sadly, Bryan Flynn

 But if that was impossible, then a slightly tinted tank with a fake liquid line would've made the trick...

Dec 26, 2020

My First Storm Collectibles casualty and the Sharkboy and Lavagirl sequel that mo one asked for...

 Reptile's left leg just gave up on me. The thigh clio that holds to the ball in the torso shattered without touching the figure. He simply fell down. I reattached the leg, which was already loose. Set him up and he fell again. Clip shattering in the process... not cool... So I decide to watch the Big Show Show Christmas special and Surprise! WE CAN BE HEROES aka The Sequel to the Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl that no one asked for, especially without Taylor pedowolf Jacob Lautner. Of course I'll watch it and spoil the hell out of it, cause I'm pissed about Reptile.

Begin!!

We have a child narrating the fall of the heroes and quick title screen. Little girl waking up in the morning... better stop before I start making Rebecca Black references. The kid goes to school after her dad messed up breakfast and wait a minute!! Her dad is Mando!! Looks like he got over Baby Yoda pretty fast... what, you thought I was gonna call him Gogurt? So, Mando is going to break the promise he made to his non-Baby Yoda child, and hero up. Ooh, they mentioned Sharkboy and Lavagirl!! 6 minutes in and the world has gone up in shit so badly that ALL THE HEROES MUST BE SUMMONED TO STOP THE ALIEN THREAT... which they will fail and a bunch of kids with little to zero training will easily defeat... No, I haven't seen the movie yet, but it's a kid's movie. We know That will happen because, Have you seen Harry Pottah?

Like I said, Mando suits up. His kid is picked up from school by the Heroics agents... and I'm getting some bad guy vibes from Mrs. Nick Jonas. Yes, I'm aware that priyanka Chopra is her own person, but the only thing I know her from is from banging a Jonas Brother... and this. So if I call her the Jonasbanger it's not as an insult to her. It's a lot easier than saying she was in Zack Efron's Baywatch but she was so forgettable in it that only thanks to Imdb I know she was in it... now that would be insulting to Joe Jonas's sister-in-law.

So Mrs. Jonas locks not Gogurt in a classroom dungeon with the kids of other heroes... wait are Sharkboy and Lavagirl background characters and their kid is a supporting role, while not Gogurt is the protagonist?

Kid in a wheelchair... oh no, nonononono...


They call him Wheels... oh the cringe is strong with this one. We have a black kid who stretches a la Reed Richards called Noodles. Then there's a girl called Ojo who can only speak through drawings... Is this some kind of sick joke? Aside having Christian Slater on a jetpack, we have a girl whose super power is drawing? We have a girl called A Cappella whose super power is singing... Damn, Dazzler and Jubilee must feel relieved. Oh wait, Ojo predicts the future with drawings... that's kinda cool. A shapeshifter and a oair of twins who can rewind and fast forward time for a few seconds. A Wild Card with all the powers but zero focus... ah I see, so Sharkboy and Lavagirl's kid is a supporting role because she's a smidge above toddler but beneath tween... in other words a kid. So not Gogurt will creep up to leadership because she's not a moron like the rest of them. The kids saw on live tv the fall of their parents... Yikes! Also, the US President is a moron who can't form two sentences together... I won't say any names, but we all know who us the target of that jab by the movie.

The kids decide to escape the facility, because they are an easy target there... also because they need to escape in order to do child adventuring in a kid's movie. Wild Card is a douche, noted. So the kids make their escape. They reach Not Gogurt's grandma who happens to be the trainer of all heroes. Looks like Abuelita will train them in 2 hours before the end of the world... Also, Not Gogurt's bracelet is leading the Jonasbanger to them. 

The kids ID4 themselves into the Mothership... they end up being chased by a tentacled creature... Hopefully not one from Japan... YOU don't have any idea how long I resisted to make a tentacle joke with this movie!! I had to resist half the movie but I couldn't hold it in anymore.

Oh jeez, the President is working with the bad guys... again, we know who this Prez is supposed to be a parody of, but I won't say any names. Oh look, Priyanka Chopra was the bad guy all along...

The kids get captured and They aliens put Abuelita with the heroes... Big mistake. The kids comment about the aliens hacking the election to put their own President in... Ooh I'm smelling a massive boycott to this movie on an alternative social media site... seriously Land Dump Rot fans must hate this movie... not because it's bad, but because it mocks their hero. And while I wrote this, the kids started crying to power up Guppy and escape the room they were captured in... something the Heroics were unable to do even with the Mighty Abuelita with them... because Kid's movie!!

Wait, Ojo was the traitor? Even I didn't expect this... I know I saw Ojo draw a single eyed alien and... Robert Rodriguez, you son of a bitch! You gave it away and I didn't notice... But the twist with Wild Card and Facemaker was pretty good.

So the kids fight the alien doodles and Not Gogurt ends up making a seemingly sacrifice play. Noodles saves her and they release the heroes thanks to Slow-Mo.

Wait whut? Oh, so the aliens of Planet Amigo spelled backwards were helping humanity by forcing the next generation of heroes to rise. What kind of Robert Rodriguez Spy Kids bullshit is this?

We end witha group shot of the new Heroics wearing their superhero costumes... a bunch of mechanic jumpsuits reminiscent of the 2000 X-Men outfits... not cool!

Now this is the part where I say that I hated that movie and you shouldn't waste your time watching it. I can't do that. Despite it being corny, cringey, campy it was enjoyable. it's not perfect and we must remember that this movie was made for kids and it wouldn't have overcomplicated plots and deep continuity/lore. Sure, I nitpicked some stuff, because that's what I do. The movie is a lot better If you don't the baggage of growing up with Sharkboy and Lavagirl. That way you don't have to question the Ginormous continuity gaps... Also, I just found out that A Capella is the daughter of Keno the Pizza Delivery Boy from Secret of the Ooze...

Or the dude from Surf Ninjas...

 Robert Rodriguez made a much better superhero movie than Zack Snyder ever could...

Super7 and the Classicizer

 Remember the Classicizer excuse by good ol' Scott the Toyguru/professional "writer" Neitlich? Yeah, good times... Super7 has access to TMNT characters and so far they have been Improved Articulation on the vintage toys but in MOTUC Scale... We know that they can make stuff outside of the toys, like say Archie Comics characters... Not so sure if they can do toon characters that weren't in the vintage line... but I will use the Punk Frogs as an example.

In the toon and upcoming NECA line, they were four similar frogs... the vintage Genghis Frog is the only one of the vintage toys whose appearance is very close to the toon.

Napoleon Bonafrog, on the other hand looks like a horny toad... So my questions are:
-Can Super7 do Attila and Rasputin?
-If so, do they get some creative freedom, or do they have to adhere to some rules like "Mattel's Classicizer"?

The second point is important because, I'd be disappointed if they were 2 plain Repaints of Genghis for "Toon accuracy". Personally, I'd rather have the "Classicizer" approach and reimagine Attila and Rasputin as a "1994 Redemption wave" fun fact: 1994 was the first year of the line becoming purely Turtles, Shredder, April, Rocksteady and Bebop variants only line.

Like say, making Attila out of a modified Napoleon body with the lower arms, lower legs fron Genghis, and new head. This would make him a sort of Giant Bullfrog-like character. For Rasputin we could go for a mostly Genghis redeco with hew head and torso. (His quiver needs to plug into the torso) Remember that Tokka was a Slash redeco from the neck down. 

The other reason I ask about "accuracy to the source" is because of Irma... The toy is in garish colors compared to the toon. IF we were to get her, could we get her in the "Jeanette Miller" colors from the toon instead of the Red, yellow, and green Rastafarian mess that was the vintage toy.

 But we shall see what happens...

Dec 25, 2020

NECA's 2021 TMNT plans are weird.

 Which means a huge break for my wallet... and an opportunity to get scalped for a Casey, Leatherhead, and Toon Shredder... in addition of Splinter and Baxter. If anyone wants to donate a Roadkill rodney or 2 from the Triceraton set, I'd be super grateful. Yes, I got scalped with a Wrath of Krang.



OK so 2021 includes the Turtles in disguise, Easter... since I use the SH FIGUARTS TMNT, these don't do much for me. Ace Duck is too Toy based... namely the wings. Also, Ace Duck!? He was like a 2 second cameo in the old Toon... He's more of a Super7 line character. Where is Zack the 5th Turtle, Mona Lisa, Or freaking Irma!?

We are getting the Punk Frogs... all 4 of them. Dammit! Something we didn't get in the original toyline... Super7 can only do Genghis Frog and Napoleon Bonafrog from the vintage line... unless they can "Classicize" the other two (Attila and Rasputin being made witha combo of parts from Genghis and Napoleon) then NECA is our only source for Punk Frogs.

Chrome Dome is almost tempting, but if I'm totally honest, I'd rather get the Super7 one.

Speaking of Super7... they've been awfully quiet after the Donatello sale.

Microsoft and Sony have a new Unorthodox Challenger...

 And it's none other than KFC!! You read that right... KFC is launching a videogame console... with a cooling system that sends the console's heat to a special chamber to keep your finger lickin' good chicken warm... Gaming and Chicken? All I can think of is:

LEEROYYYYY JENNNNKINNNSSSS!! 

The Legendary internet meme... seriously, a gaming console with a food chamber? That's a dangerous combination...


But that's not all... KFC also teamed up with Lifetime to make a Colonel Sanders Lifetime movie...


Yes, that's Albert Clifford Slater as Harlan Sanders. Oh 2020, don't... it's time to stop!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at the House of Rants

 By all of us I mean me, Spike, the Toy version of Me, and that's pretty much everybody. I hope you were good for goodness sake! I still haven't received my Snake Mountain and TMNT wave 2 from Super7. Advent calendar ICFtTC was a bit easier this year. I tried to delay it as much as I could hoping that Snake Mountain or NECA Tokka and Rahzar would've made it. Billie Eilish was a last minute addition, because I didn't have enough time to properly review the Avengers 6 pack from Toys R Us. Mattel is still keeping Masterverse way too close to their chest. 

The most pleasant surprise out of the whole 2020 Advent calendar ICFtTC is definitively Spawn. He's not perfect, but it's the Spawn I had been hoping for since 2002. Now for 2021, I'm going to look into PVC panels, PVC pipes, epoxies and resins to see if I can make my own Sewer Lair for the TMNT (SH Figuarts and NECA) or Super7. Maybe a Fright Zone and Slime Pit for MOTUC in order to motivate me to finish "the toy room". Maybe even a Pit and Goro's lair for MK toys by Storm Collectibles. The Pit would be easy... theoretically speaking... a PVC board held up by PVC Pipe. Said pipe would most likely be sculpted over and have holes drilled for coffee stirrers to act as spikes. Nothing too complicated. The back wall can be foamboard and the base a PVC panel with coffee stirrer spikes. Goro's lair might be a bit more complicated and expensive, but in theory, not that difficult. My goal is to go by klassic 2D MK style displays.

The Sewer Lair will be a lot more complicated. Mostly due to pipes, ladders, etc. It would be a lot easier to make an Inside the Technodrome display. I'm still debating about this because I have 3 seta of turtles to display: the NECA and SH FIGUARTS set, the 1990 movie figures AND The Ultimates from Super7.

Street Fighter is another problematic display... because of the Storm Collectibles vs SH Figuarts display war... I'm leaning more towards SH Figuarts getting a dynamic display thanks to the WWE car. If I can get drumcans and barrels in 1:12 scale, I can do other Bonus stages.

Sorry, I got a bit sidetracked with plans and ideas. Back on topic, toys...
NECA TMNT:
Toon line:
I had to go reseller route to get Krang's android body... because of No Target in Puerto Rico.
Right now all I need is Splinter, Casey, Shredder, and maybe Rat King to "complete" my collection. Kinda want Traag and Granitor, but as they are, it's a bit too expensive for me. Maybe I should  Leatherhead and a TiT Slash to repaint. Wonder if we'll get "toon" Tokka and Rahzar... dammit, I need a Metalhead!

Movie TMNT line:
The rumored April, and IF they make Tatsu and a SotO Shredder, I can complete this one.

Super7  Thundercats:
Vultureman, Snarf, and Bengali would allow me to "complete" the line. I would welcome a Hachiman and maybe Mandora.

Super7 TMNT:
Krang is really the one I need to "complete" the Line. Sure, I'd like Leatherhead, Slash, Tokka, Rahzar, Krang's Android Body, and a Super Shredder. Maybe I'll go the reseller route for Muckman and Mondo Gecko.

Street Fighter:
I still want to get the World Warrior 12... or the SSFII 16 but dunno who will complete the roster. Both Storm Collectibles and SH FIGUARTS are taking their sweet ass time. There are rumors that Bandai canceled the SF line. Need confirmation of that. 

Marvel Legends:
They are doing characters I want... they will get my money for them. I kinda wish they could slow down a bit, since I haven't seen many of the waves released...

MOTWWEU:
Mr. T, maybe The Rock, but I don't think I'll be deep into that one.

MOTUO: Tri-Klops, Merman, She-Ra, Hordak, stratps, Ram Man, Mekaneck, Man-E-Faces, and Adam (via ebay without skysled)

Power Rangers Lightning Collection:
Once I get Zack and Billy, I'm done. Having Kat as a Pulse Exclusive was a bit of a dick move. If we get Scorpina, Finster, Baboo and Squatt, I'm there. I still want the Teenagers with attitude set and a Bulk and Skull.

Or not... I'm not psychic and I can't see into the future.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

But wait! There's MORE! Someone is coming out the Toy Chest as a Christmas bonus to the Advent calendar ICFtTC after the jump!

Dec 24, 2020

Advent calendar ICFtTC 24: Snake Mountain... The Wrestling Ring.

 

I'm still waiting for my Super7 Snake Mountain, but Mattel helped soften the blow with the Rattlesnake Mountain squared circle. Back in 2012 I made an Arena of Pain: a Grayskull Themed Ring for Castle Grayskullman. The Grayskull ring seems like a knock-off of my Arena of Pain... Again, I mades mine in 2012 this was made in 2019-2020.

I never thought of making a snake Mountain themed ring, because the ring I made was mostly for a: "Castle Grayskullman looks like Hulk Hogan" joke.  I also wasn't interested in buying a snake Mountain themed ring... but Mattel forced my hand.

By making a MOTU-ized Maniac Sibling... 
Of course, I mean Hulk Hogan. Y'all should know who he is and what he means to me.
Stone Cold is cool and all that, but deep down I'm a Hulkamaniac, brother!!


That is how I ended with a Snake Mountain ring.

To be honest, I do have a small nitpick with the rings. They look a bit too WWE-ish. Take a look at my Arena of Pain.

Ignore the scale issues for a minute. The ropes are not ropes, but chains. The turnbuckles are stone pillars with skulls adorning the tops of them. The entire ring is made out of rocks. It still looks like a ring, but very "MOTU-ish". The Mattel rings look very WWE-ISH, but with some MOTU accents. Check out other Mattel WWE Rings to see what I mean. It looks like a WWE ring cosplaying as MOTU.


Don't get me wrong. It's cool but

So I strongly WISH that the MOTWWEU was more influenced by MOTU. But Vinnie Mac wo

n't Allow it to happen.

But back to the ring. It has a pseudo MOTU vibe with the rocky edges surrounding the ring and the vintage Snake Mountain inspired snakes atop the turnbuckles. It's supposed to have a sticker for the center of The Ring. Mine didn't come with one.
As a way to enter the ring we have a ramp inspired by the Snake Mountain bridge.


The good thing, if you're NOT into Origins or MOTWWEU is that the ring fits with Classics. But not only we have a ring... we have 2 figures to review:
Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin.


Articulation 
I won't bore you here. Their articulation is exactly the same as MOTUO. This is because the lines share body parts for the customization aspect. Everything He-Man can do they can do as well.
3.5


Paint and sculpt 
Here everything goes to hell. The sculpt is nice for the most part. Hell, you could get away with some sticky blu tac and use the heads with MOTUC. Out of the 2 Hogan looks better and not because I'm a fan. It just does.
Paint can be hit or miss. On SCSA it was mostly misses. The Goatee was a miss. His leg tat was a hit.
What?


Hogan 4.0 Austin 3.0


Accessories 
Expect the line's incoherence here. Austin is modern Earth Austin  (minus leg brace) with two Serpent hands that don't fit MOTUC... snakemen. They COULD fit females.
He also has his vest, which is pretty much an Earth piece of Clothing.


Hogan on the other hand, has a modded MOTUC Flying Fists HE-MAN Armor with the HE-MAN insignia instead of Hulkamania merchandise logos. Best part is that the back has the holes for the Hulkster to tear off his shirt. Yes, MOTWWEU Hogan gets armor crafted with holes in the back that allow him to tear off his own armor as an intimidation tactic.
He also has a new Hornless Viking helmet and a MOTUO He-Man axe...
Hogan 4.0 Austin 3.0

Overall
The ring is a very worthy addition to MOTU. Including Classics.
Hogan is the superior figure (paintjob and MOTU-ISH accessories) with a 3.83 as his final score. SCSA on the other hand gets a 3.16 as his final score. (Technically, a 3.17 but I rounded it down for obvious reasons. Before you ask, no. I did not lower Stone Cold Steve Austin's score to reach a 3:16. That was a serendipitous thing.) Now I need to get Mr. T!!



Dec 23, 2020

Advent calendar ICFtTC 23: BT Battling Billie Eilish!!

 

I managed to get a Billie Eilish figure. I regret EVERYTHING... As I stated in an earlier rant, She is meant to be displayed with Billie Eilish. Not even Playmates toys can be displayed with her... aside maybe the CGI TMNT movie figures.
Who is Billie Eilish? She's a singer whose life started as a Goldeen who was anthropomorphed into a humanoid girl.


Articulation
Ms. Eilish has peculiar articulation. Kinda reminds me of 2012 turtles with a ball joint under her breasts.. the wings are on a ball, but the articulation range is slightly limited... mostly because of the weight of the wings. They also throw the balance off from Billie. If she didn't have the wings, her articulation range would be almost decent. Sadly her baggy soft vinyl shirt limits the articulation.
3.0


Paint and sculpt 
The figure is a stylized version of Billie Eilish adter appearing in a bukkake video with Noob Saibot, or is a character in Death Stranding.  This allows Playmates to be lazy and give Eilish black joints. Her body is not a featureless skeleton like imported figures. She kinda has a body, but it's weirdly proportioned so the shirt looks fine.
3.5


Accessories
Wings, stand, eco-friendly display box. 
I know that there isn't much you can do with a Billie Eilish figure.
N/A

Overall 
Billie Eilish figure gets a 3.25 as her final score. This is mostly due to Playmates Toys being weird. Had Hasbro or Mattel done this, the toy would be much better. It's a nice oddity to have, but sadly it can't be displayed with anything... Avoid like the Plague.