Since Playmates is apparently cockblocking Super7, is this a blessing or a curse?

 Aside Leonardo, who looks somewhat like the Playmates figure... the rest of wave 10 seems to have abandoned the Playmates Style...

Of course, the vintage purists have complained while ignoring the awful rumor about Playmates cockblocking the line. Wouldn't be the first time,  since they did it to NECA back in the early 10s. I'm going to assume the rumors are true, for the sake of this rant. 

Let's start with the bad:

Are characters that originated in Playmates and had no other media representation blocked? Like say, Hotspot or Halfcourt? Does this mean that Pizzaface might not make it?

Or how about characters that looked so different in the Playmates version in comparison to Mirage?

Like Fugitoid, whose Playmates toy looked so much cooler than the Mirage version and to be honest, I prefer that look over the Mirage or other media versions. 

What about the Neutrinos? Please don't tell me I'm stuck with Zack without Dask and Kala...

The Good:

Mirage is available? Does that mean Shredder Clones, Savanti Romero, Renet, etc. could be made?

The MOTUC Approach for these is actually a good thing. Let's use General Traag as an example. Assuming that they can't make a straight up Playmates Traag, they could use the Toon Traag as a base. Adding enough rocky detail that would be reminiscent of the Playmates figure and call it a day. Wait a minute, I just realized something.

The Rat King is Toon inspired, but taking a MOTUC Approach and Retrofitting him into an item that could fit with preexisting Ultimates... I'm not fond of the Bishounen Face Rat King, but from the Neck down he's pretty close to what I wanted on a rat King Figure. Personally, we should have gotten one head looking like the Archie Comics Rat King:

That way, fans of a more "classic" Rat King could have something going on for them.

I wonder if there are other limitations to what Super7 can do now, thanks to Playmates. 

In the Neftyverse, The ultimates Rat King shall be Rat King II...

If I can get a China Wars Rat King Body in 2024-2025, I could use a spare head to make a Rat King I. (Might have to look at MOTUC compatible heads to find one that can be customized into a Rat King)

But I digress, three heads should've been a perfect opportunity for different styles:

The Bishie Head that he currently has, the Archie Head already mentioned, the more Rat-like IDW look for Rat King. That would've made Rat King feel more Ultimate... you have 2 "classic renditions" and a new take.

Being unbound from Playmates could give us something awesome "down the line". IDW characters, 2003 Characters, Image Comics Characters, Archie Comics Characters, etc. 

Imagine being able to get Armaggon, Karai, Hun, and Venus in a wave. Then the next wave has Merdude (Archie), Lord Dregg, Nobody, and Nightwatcher.

Taking bits and pieces from the TMNT Multiverse and piecing it into its own new universe is, theoretically, an amazing thing. Then there's the sensible variants that could be made: the Brown pad Turtles with 3 heads:

A Mirage red bandana head, a colored Bandana head, and a third head representing a different era of TMNT, like say: Raph with the durag styled bandana, Donatello with eyeglasses over his bandana, Leonardo with the Mutant Mayhem Braces, and Michelangelo with the half cowl mask from Next Mutation... or a 7" Shredder no longer bound by Playmates. One that can take elements from the 90s movies, Mirage, and even 2k3...

We're at the edge of ending the slavish devotion to the vintage line and have some cool looking (albeit a bit overpriced) TMNT Figures.

Alright, here's how I'll tackle Rat King:

In the Neftyverse, there have been multiple Rat Kings. The last 3 have occurred rather close to each other.

The First Rat King is based on the Mirage Rat King who died in one of the earliest TMNT Adventures. He was a minor character, who got dispatched early on. An escaped patient, who believed himself to be Han'taan, the avatar of an ancient forgotten rat deity. Attracted to the scent of death and chaos surrounding the TMNT. Dies in his first and only encounter with the Turtles. Splinter shares a psychic link to him.

The Second Rat King is a biochemist who worked for EDF who was sent for cleanup at an incident involving Alien tech. A rat chewed through some wires causing an explosion causing various alien chemicals to combine and changing the biochemist's body. Gaining the ability to communicate and control rats, adding their strength and agility, proportionally. (Can't fully dislocate his bones to crawl through head sized holes or have the massive bite strength). These newfound abilities drove him mad and now he wants to rule the world in pax de rat.

Bishie Rat King is the son of the first Rat King... he believes he was chosen by the rat deity as the Ha'taan who has to destroy all pretenders that use the rat as their totemic spirit. (I know, it sounds a lot like JMS spider-totem bullshit) before the Pantheon begins their game on Earth once more.

That's how I'd tackle this situation. With Rat King...