Playmates sure seems to be milking stuff on the TMNT front lately. There’ve been several re-releases of the "original" TMNT figures. Unfortunately, primarily just the turtles themselves, and maybe Splinter and/or Shredder. But other early figures–Slash, the Triceraton, April, Casey, Metalhead–early characters that I would not imagine would have any creator tie-ups (that a number of other early figures might) have not been re-released.
That said, there IS some sort of "villains" set upcoming–but it’s more "limited release" stuff that has to be bought well in advance and in bulk…and not hitting the shelves of any mass retail. And I suppose that’s a matter for some other post or rant.
Something I was not expecting was a set of the "Movie Star" figures. Of all the "turtles variants" from the Days of Old, these were probably the ones I was most interested in tracking down. (and a couple years ago, I had a heckuva time deciding between a loose Movie Star turtle and Hothead…went with Hothead since I couldn’t afford multiple figures at the prices).
So Playmates did this box set–the third I’m aware of (one previous was the originals, a more recent was a re-release of the "original Mirage" turtles and variants of the original Shredder and Splinter, and now this).
This Movie Star set is apparently a Target exclusive…and a "mere" $44 or so…probably for the leverage a big-box store can bring to the table.
Like those other 6-pack sets referenced earlier, these figures come tightly packed into a box with cool art–this time based on the subway car from the second ’90s film.
And we see images of all four turtles as we look around the box.
The bottom of the box tells you what’s IN the box…
My original vintage Movie Star turtle that I had back in the day was Donatello. I’d just had the figure handy in the not-too-distant past but couldn’t locate it to include a photo in this post, so that’ll likely be something for a future post with these, and out of the packages.
Raphael has become my "new favorite" as an adult–exceeding (matching?) Leonardo. I’m pretty sure I’d wound up with a second Movie Star turtle…but while I’m quite certain that it was not Michelangelo, I don’t recall if it was Raph or Leo.
OF these four turtles, Leonardo’s maybe the weirdest-looking to me with the dots all over standing out more than most of the others. They seem to have more contrast…and maybe I notice it more on this one than Donatello because of the nostalgia factor of my original vintage figure lasting in my possession to present day.
A glaring thing about this iteration of these figures–and where Playmates is "milking" the stuff–rather than re-do the original "Movie Star" weapons, they’re reusing these classic "weapons racks." Better than nothing, sure, but a bit of an anachronism.
Super Shredder looks quite good, and I suppose these accessories are a better fit. I did not remember him being part of the "Movie Star" set…ditto for Tokka and Rahzar (and adding them to this would have really made a bit of an "ultimate" Movie Star set!)
The weirdest one–and even more an anachronism–is this repainted ’88 Splinter posing as a "Movie Star." I’d’ve been great even with them using the 2007 film’s Splinter mold…even drop this one and Super Shredder to include Tokka and Rahzar for the set of 6. Whatever…
And here’s the cardback. Another drawback to this particular release is that these were put on generic cards. And it’s the individualized cards that (to me) really helped set the classic figures apart, and one of the greater nostalgic things for me of older toys vs. modern. This just reeks of the "modern" rather than having individual turtle profiles (even if they’d skimp and put Splinter and Shredder on a shared semi-generic).
But hey…for a $44 or so set; we’re under $8 per figure in a world where figures half the size of these (in bulk) cost upwards of $20 apiece, so there’s that.
And as someone who is mostly content and glad for "re-issued"’ figures over modern prices of vintage figures…getting a figure for $8 that looks and feels more or less like an original, and is a "genuine" product…I’m pretty ok with it not having travelled through time for the past 30 or so years.
I referenced a villains set earlier, so tucking a link to a local-ish (to me) toy store’s page showing it: TMNT Retro Villains Mutant Module 6-pack. Unfortunately, those weigh in at more than double the price of this set, which makes this set all the more appealing just for value. But the price seems to be all around…it’s the same price as the big bad toy store many think of for online stuff.
While I can’t guarantee I won’t get sidetracked…I will hopefully in the next couple weeks get a post up showing the "retro" movie figures with the modern NECA movie figures. Time will tell for sure, though!
Filed under: 2021 Non-Review Posts, 2021 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Movie Star TMNT, Ninja Turtles, playmates, Playmates Toys, Raphael, Retro, Retro Movie Star TMNT 2021, shredder, splinter, Super Shredder, TMNT | 1 Comment »
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