Jun 2, 2022

If Playmates wasn't as lazy: another TMNT rant

 Their recent attempts at a 6 inch scale TMNT line haven't been great with the ginormous Turtles that are too big in comparison to characters like Shredder, Bebop, or Rocksteady.
Let's pretend that Playmates was interested putting a bit of effort to do something at least OK.

The 2012 TMNT have a decent range of Articulation and are on a Vintage Friendly 5.5" scale. So are the weird "Mirage Turtles" that I reviewed on the Mirage boxset. Well, how about using those as a base with improved lower legs with Ankle articulation and improved arms with wrist articulation.

Since they are smaller than 6 inches, they'd be in-scale with Rocksteady, Bebop, and Shredder to name a few characters. Perhaps giving Rocksteady and Bebop new Lower legs to give them some much needed Articulation. Shredder has the fortune of having parts that could work on a Foot Soldier and Casey Jones. Even a Rat King could be pulled off from the basic body.  Parts of their current TMNT vs Street Fighter Chun Li could be used for a Karai. Depending on which continuity they take inspiration, they could reuse some Billie Eilish parts for April. Maybe rerelease the 2003 line fugitoid with vac metal.

The idea is to create a "Best of" Anthology line for TMNT and offering something that NECA and Super7 aren't. Going for IDW looks, Mirage looks, or something new could be an adavantage... going for the same turtle molds we've gotten way too many times and that we've complained about the other characters being undersized next to the Turtles IS NOT the way to move forward. I understand the importance of Part Reuse... Look at NECA:
LEATHERHEAD, Rocksteady, and Bebop share the same body but with some minor differences. If Playmates was smart, they could squeeze out a couple of figures by sharing bucks. By tweaking some of the designs to allow more parts sharing, they could have something great. 

The problem is that Playmates would need to start from scratch and put up an effort on making the toys good. The original 2009-ish TMNT bodies that they are reusing to the death now, had some good ideas and were innovative *at the time* but when they began slacking off with Rocksteady and Bebop, making them smaller, less articulated, lazier paintjobs, etc. Playmates KILLED any Good Will they had gained from the fans... Even if they're just "holding over" until a new Cartoon comes out, it pains me to see them sucking this hard... Maybe it's time for Nickelodeon to look for a new Master License Holder...

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