Currently, I'm not sure of the scope that Super7 has with TMNT. I know that they can deviate from the vintage line, as we saw with Guerrilla Gorilla and to an extent with Lazy Shredder variant based on an unreleased variant.
So far we have gotten figures from
The 1988-1990 waves. Since Guerrilla Gorilla is NOT Sgt. Bananas, then we haven't gotten anything from 1991 or 1992.
"BuT nEfTy, PuNkEr DoN iS a 1991 fIgUrE!"
Alright, I'll ammend my statement: We haven't gotten anything RELEVANT from 1991-1992.
On the other hand 1993 has been nearly halfway done. 1994 has Undercover Raph, from the Undercover wave, which is WAY different than Don, the Undercover Turtle...
And we don't really NEED to look beyond 1994.
Mostly, because it's dumb variant city. BUT if we NEED to look at other directions, the MOTUC and to an extent Masterverse approach should be used on TMNTU...
We kinda have 67% of a Vintage styled Dogpound. IIRC, the FourHorsemen now do Digital sculpts for the figures... if they have the files for say, Guerrilla Gorilla, that sculpt could be tweaked digitally for the new Vintagized Dogpound sculpt. The reason i mention guerilla Gorilla is because he's built in proportions that could work for Dogpound.
Folks like the two mentioned above, Hun, IDW's Jennika, Mirage's Karai, 2k3's Agent Bishop, and others are welcome additions to the line, since they can be useful to expand canon... not to mention cool toys. But I know some folks would say: Gimme Super Shredder, Pizzaface, Rat King, Traag, etc. before adding new crap! I'm KINDA with you, but at the same time, I don't want them to fully blow their loads on 1989-1991, because we're gonna miss out on some cool figures from 1993-1994.
But Pizzaface worries me with his peg leg gimmick. The Articulation and figure's weight vs the flimsy legs. My guess is that he might end up with 1 Rigid pizza cutter leg and 2 Cleavers. 1 for usage as weapon and the other to use as a leg. Also, the pizza discs... will they be vintage accurate, or will they look more pizza-like?
Sewer Surfing Mike has gone under a few changes regarding his "little critters" sculpted into his body in order to fit the articulation... I wonder if it'll be the same for Rat king, or will they do like they did for Space Cadet Raph where the critter became a "Little Buddy"?
The problem with rat king is that a lot of the sculpted rats block his articulation.
I won't discuss Traag, who by the look of things will become a possible candidate for an $85 slot... and I've done Super Shredder way too much.
Playsets are just too cost prohibitive at the moment. I could see Super7 doing a sewer playset for $600-ish. But just an upscale of the vintage set with nothing new... and let's face it, the vintage sewer playset isn't that great.
The Technodrome is a logistical nightmare. I've suggested small scaled dioramas. I'm thinking a plastic "base" with card elements attached. Kinda like some wrestling playsets... The idea is that they could vary in price, depending on what they are:
Like say, a Rooftops diorama would be interlocking plastic pieces to make parapets for 1 or 2 buildings, a combination of plastic and cardboard parts to make a rooftop access structure (non functional), chimneys, old tv antennae, reversible backdrop (night and day), maybe even some pigeons. This would be the cheapest diorama since it's mostly cardboard and a few plastic pieces.
A sewer Diorama would need a bit more plastic than the rooftop diorama. Mainly because of the pipes and the arches at each junction. Not to mention collapsible bits of wall to simulate Mousers chomping up walls.
A streets Diorama would be the most expensive set. Mostly due to the amount of props and background elements. Parking meters, fire hydrants, sewer covers, traffic cones, etc. The backdrops would be the first floor of some buildings, shops, etc. to make the streets come alive. There would be a few different types of backdrops to combine multiples as a longer diorama.
These first 3 types I described were purposely made generic, so collectors of different subset of Ultimates could get them. For TMNT specific types, may I suggest 3 more?
Sewer Lair:
Similar to the standard Sewer dio, but with a different backdrop AND TMNT Specific props:
TV, Couch, bookshelf with books (like art, and martial arts), stuff for Donatello's lab, etc.
The idea is that you get enough stuff to decorate different rooms of the lair. You could use the normal sewer diorama in addition to this one to expand the lair.
Channel 6 Building:
This is basically the front facade of the Channel 6 building. The "first floor" would be a plastic"base" with the doors to the building and the front wall. Then, behind the big [6] a cardboard cutout of the building would be attached.
The Third would be the inside the Technodrome. This one is kinda obvious on how it would be. Personally, I'd include a bunch of spy flies, a6 exterminators, which are tiny figurines that require very little paint and have 0 articulation. These would be an incentive to get the Technodrome diorama.
Since Weapon packs like MOTU can't be a thing with TMNT, I was thinking of Character upgrade packs... I know that I've mentioned these before, but it's an idea worth repeating. Extra hands, heads, key accessories are something I've been thinking of.
For example, the Turtles:
All 4 turtles would have:
-Head without headband
-extra hands:
(Pointing, Hang-ten, closed fist grasping their bandana, judo chop)
Leo, Don, and Mike would have:
-Vintage and Modern heads with Mirage Red Bandana
Unique accessories for each turtle:
Leo:
-Meditating head (closed eyes, and exhaling through his mouth)
Ninjato and kunai from Sewer Samurai.
-sword slash effect
Don:
-Head with custom Turtle-made Jeweler glasses
-hands holding tweezers and other tiny tools that would be too tiny to be made as loose tools for him to use.
-broken turtle communicator
-spinning bo staff effect
Raphael:
-2 new heads vintage and modern style screaming head to compensate for the lack of Mirage heads.
-3rd new laughing head. (Funny joke or is ready to kick ass, you decide)
-spinning sai hands with spinning sai effects.
-pizza sai. A stiffer plastic sai with painted marinara sauce on the tip and a pizza slice with a hole to slip it in the sai.
Michelangelo:
-extremely determined looking head... like the one pictured above or when he does the badass parrying in the intro. (Just before: Splinter taught them to be ninja teens)
-Turtle Communicator (open and closed)
- special movie 1 inspired twirling chucks hand with twirling chucks.
-special spinning nunchuck. (Like Panthro or the NECA figure)
Vehicles... vehicles... oh man... the Foot Cruiser is most likely going to be in the $400 range. So would be the Transport Module. I shouldn't mention the Blimp because that would totally obliterate our wallets. Since those three vehicles are too expensive, maybe we should try some of the smaller ones. The Cheapskate has they shoot at none of the turtles have Peg holes. Re-releasing a new version of the turtles with peg holes being the sole difference would be somewhat of a dick move. Does anyone even care about the Turtle Trooper... because I Don't.
Not going to like, the Knucklehead would be an interesting one, but Super7 would probably charge $200 for it.
Pizza Thrower without electronics, no way... The Turtle Cycle could be doable and probably would be under $100... but, for symmetry's sake, we need an evil vehicle...
It's the only worthwhile vehicle left...OK, there's the Shreddermobile, but...
Wait there's the Technodrome Scout Vehicle...
April's Ninja newscycle could be a thing, if we get an exclusive April Bike Helmet...
I mean it's less redundant than a $500 redeco of the party wagon... talking about the newsvan.
So yeah, Footski, Knucklehead, and Technodrome Scout Vehicle would be the top 3 picks that are for the bad guys and are small-ish.
I KINDA want the NINJA newscycle, but with a special April... the Yellow suit with orange and blue accents.
But until people get their Thundertank and Party Wagon, we shouldn't get too hyped about vehicles. I'm not saying it as in "they're going to suck ass..." I'm saying it as in "Before we go to crazy, we need to see how these work out." Have the actual wagon or Thundertank in hand, see the photos and actual reviews. Remember the "final figure may vary" posted on the pictures for preordere. What if some of the sculpted parts in the preorder become stickers. Areas that were supposed to have an intricate paint job are now chunks of unpainted plastic?
I hope they don't cut corners, but the fear is always there with every preorder... with a $55 figure, I can complain and take it... a $450 vehicle might be more rage inducing. I wouldn't want to be locked in another huge preorder if the Party Wagon or the Thundertank ends up being underwhelming. They could end up being freaking awesometastic with 2 scoops of hell yeah! and well worth the wait for those who preordered.
I'm well aware that it kind of sounds like I have sour grapes about this. I'm just worried that inflation will be blamed when corners are cut. With the trend of blame inflation, I'm gonna say Accessories will be cut first... like the redundant vintage racks. My next guess afterwards would be some paint accents (we saw that in Muckman, who despite having a lot of painted stuff, some things were left unpainted) or maybe hands, which we're seeing a reduction of them already. I don't want to see the line end up with figures having Muckman levels of accessories, which was the bare minimum beyond what the vintage figure had.
In some cases Full deviations from vintage must be done: I am referring to the vintage Mutatin' figures. I don't want a half-assed Hamato Yoshi that can turn into a half-assed Splinter. We have a decent Splinter. So we should get a Decent Hamato Yoshi. Perhaps he should come with an extra sleeved fabric robe for Splinter. So here's what I'd like to do for Hamato Yoshi:
Fabric clothes (hakama and kimono) extra kimono for Splinter.
Hands:
Standard grip horizontal hings
Standard grip vertical hinge
Fists
Arrow hand
Sai grip hand
Relaxed hands
Mutating into a rat hands*
Heads:
Neutral
angry
Mutating*
Weapons:
Cane sword
Bow and arrows
Quiver
Kunai
Shuriken
Extra accessories:
Art book
Empty Mutagen CANISTER*
*= optional but not required. Could be added in a theoretical pugrade pack.
His body would be mostly new, but based on Shredder's a new truly shirtless torso would be needed. New bare forearms and new lower legs would be required. The idea is that Both Yoshi and Saki can reuse the body with small alterations between them to differentiate both figures.
I kept Yoshi Splinter themed with the same accessories as Splinter, because he's Splinter.
The Sai hand is emant to use one of the spare sai from the mouser set. The bare human hands could be premaking some parts for Vernon.
For Oroku Saki here's what I'd want:
Reusing the Hamato Yoshi body with new forearms that look like Shredder's but with no spike armor
New lower legs that look like Shredder's without the spiked armor
Cloth Kimono and Hakama based on the Mutatin figure.
His hands would be reused from the original Shredder and maybe 2 new hands with the 2 finger ninja pose.
His weapons would be the same as Shredder, but instead of the single Katana, he gets dual swords and a scepter inspired by the Mutatin figure.
For heads, I'd suggest 3:
Normal Saki
Angry Saki
A Mutatin Shredder helmet in Blue and Silver...
That way it can be used by any of the Shredder figures.
I'm not going to lie and pretend that I don't have an ulterior motive with Oroku Saki. If his fabric clothing were to fall in a bowl full of purple dye and I got a 3rd party head inspired by Tatsu, I could make a custom Tatsu... unless Super7 thought ahead and gave us a Tatsu head that doesn't look like Obata-san... all we need is a bald dude with mustache... hell, the FourHorsemen could use Cornboy's head as a base. Not all bald men look the same.
I won't go into details for Pre-Mutation Baxter, since I've already covered the plan of getting both Mirage and toon Baxters in one figure.
I once did Bebop and Rocksteady, but now I kinda want to go on a different direction with them. The Vintage Mutatin figures are meh at best. Especially white Bebop... feh! So, for starters, They should have clothes that look really close to the outfits worn by the Mutated versions we know and love.
For example, Rocksteady's outfit is the same as his mutated version, but no turtle shells. He also has a bandolier with shotgun shells and a machete holster in the back. (These are nods to the toon version)
For his accessories:
Shotgun (new or reuse Leatherhead's)
Machete
2 Spray cans with removable spray effect.
Sledgehammer
For hands:
Normal grip hands
Pair of shotgun hands (right trigger, left pump holding)
Spray can holding hands
Fists
Heads:
No helmet
With helmet
For Bebop, I feel like toon inspiration is very important over recreating the vintage figure. Meaning, human Bebop MUST BE Black. His outfit should be his warthog self's outfit with a short sleeved pink shirt as a nod to the Mutatin figure.
For his accessories:
Knife
Spiked ball and chain (nod to the wacky action figure)
Battery powered Drill (nod to his eventual Dril Gun)
2 spray cans (same as Rocksteady but different colors)
Chainsaw
For hands:
Normal grip hands
Spray can grip hands
Fists
Gun grip hands for the drill
While he gets no extra heads, his head should be removable (in case of future upgrades)
The idea behind these two is to give them similar, but different stuff that references what they will become. But at the same time make them different from the mutated forms.
Foot Soldier army Builder pack... it would be neat if we could get one of those... I know, that some will say that a $110 2-pack is too much. Or that 2-packs ruin the ultimates style packaging...
Well, let me finish: The army builder pack would not be for the MOC Collector. I'm thinking that Super7 could take a page out of Hasbro and release the army builder pack in the most minimalistic packaging as possible. Even the Plastic free bullshit packaging is welcome for this pack.
2 Foot Soldiers, 1 sets of hands, 1 unpainted weapons rack at a lower price than 2 figures.
I want to say $70... since it's the price of 2 Ultimates figures from the first generation (MOTUC). I removed too much stuff for me to use the TMNT wave 1 $90 price for 2 figures.
If this was to sell for $110, I'd need a third foot soldier to feel "value" in an army builder. Not to mention that Super7 could "recoup" some of their "loss" by doing a Foot Soldier Upgrade pack.
For $20 they could have a set of Foot Soldier hands and 2 Sets of Weapons in Foot Soldier grey... personally, I'd use a Shredder and a Foot Soldier Rack for these.
The idea is to "trick people" into buying the Army Builder and a few months later, they buy the Upgrade pack. With the addition of traditional Ninja weapons from the Shredder rack in Foot Soldier grey, folks who didn't buy the army builder ser, might buy an upgrade pack... or two for the sake of having Normal ninja weapons in a color that makes sense for the Foot Soldiers. If further packs are made, perhaps adding weapons ONLY AVAILABLE through the packs
But a lot of these ideas have the same amount of chances to become real as me hitting the Power Ball WITHOUT BUYING A TICKET!
While Logistically speaking, Super7 hasn't done as well as Mattycollector... mostly because they don't have a Multibillion company backing them up and allowing for swifter delivery and lower productprices. If they could have Mattycollector prices, they would've been in a much better position. Sadly, they're not, so some of my ideas may not be logistically feasable. I will tossing ideas, because you never know if maybe we can get on similar wavelengths and get something similar.
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