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NECA Giant-Sized Raphael

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Walt

While I’m not sure on timelines anymore, I think it was probably about 4 years ago that I came across a 1/4-scale Turtle; and it was a little over 3 years ago that I was getting ready to buy one when I got laid off, which thus delayed me a good year or so, until in 2019 I finally started my 1/4-scale collection with Raphael from the 1990 TMNT film.

After getting all 4 turtles in that scale, as well as "Movie Shredder," and never quite getting around to any Foot Ninjas; I’m "back in the game" so to speak, despite some other issues I have with NECA at present for non-quarter-scale figures. (Namely, I currently refuse to buy any of their non-quarter-scale figures of anything except TMNT as I’m not gonna buy stuff they have on good distribution unless I can get everything I want TMNT-wise). But that’s a matter for another post.

They’re killin’ it (in a good way!) with the quarter-scale figures! I first learned about and pre-ordered "’Toon Raph" in February 2020…shortly before the obvious worldwide "situation" hit and delayed pretty much everything.

Such that the figure didn’t arrive for me until March 2021…some 13 months after I’d preordered, almost canceled, and ultimately forgot about it until an email notifying me I’d just been charged (yikes!) and it would be on its way.

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Here’s the front of the box. Like their other ‘Toon stuff, we get the cartoon color scheme. It also has some nostalgia hearkening back to the classic 12" Giant-Sized Turtles I remember seeing as a kid (but when there was nothing else in scale with the ’80s Giant-Sized figures, and they were as expensive or more than the Party Wagon…it’s no wonder I never went for those then!

I have NOT researched (even via Google) but I suspect this packaging derives some influence from those classic vintage giants.

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Here’s the back of the box….showing the figure, the figure with accessories, etc. as well as a paragraph about the character, and a blurb/box showing the alternate head configurations.

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Here’s a closer look at that paragraph…

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and a rather cool feature for this line–these interchangeable heads! That is, apparently the tops and bottoms of the heads come apart and you can mix ‘n match to combine multiple eyes with multiple mouths to create an assortment of facial expressions! And they should work across figures, so where I think I’d also half-thought this Raph might be a standalone or one-off in the scale…NECA apparently does have plans going forward for the other turtles. And I find this to be something with some REALLY cool potential!

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Here’s the top of the box looking down in…

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And here’s a shot of the bottom of the box. A bit more than I’d expect, but I dig seeing all 4 turtles….and presumably this’ll also carry across the line…and has me realllllly looking forward to completing this set as it comes out…

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Here’s one side of the box…

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…and the other. Notice that each shows off a different face configuration for the character!

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Here’s Raph outside of the box! Though it took me a few days to "get around to" unpacking the figure…as with the others in this line, this is absolutely a must-open for me…there’s simply no point (again, to me) of even having these if they’re not open and on display.

I originally thought the idea of this pizza-slice-for-the-sai was stupid…but once I saw it for myself…it fits, and I actually kinda dig it! We also get two other pizza slice pieces that I believe will make up an 8-slice pie once one has all 4 turtles. Time will tell on that (and whether there’ll be a pizza-box accessory at all…).

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Here’s the figure from the back…

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And a slightly closer-up pic of the shell. I don’t know what it is, but I love the shells at this scale!

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And finally, here’s ‘Toon Raph temporarily (posed-for-this-photo) on a shelf with the quarter-scale movie turtles and some other turtles of varying sizes.

I actually have some shelf-reconfiguring and possible additions to find a good/permanent home for Raph here…as well as the others eventually. Add to that that I do not trust the figure not to keel over and take a header off the top of a bookcase, so I’m a bit more limited in placement with having to secure the figure with some fishing line for my own peace of mind.

But I suppose that’s something for another post.

I believe Donatello is the next intended release, due sometime this Summer. Also may be a re-release of the movie Foot Ninjas, and I thiiiiiink I’m hooked enough to try the quarter-scale BATMAN ’89.

Time will (ultimately) tell!

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Filed under: 2021 Non-Review Posts, 2021 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

NECA TMNT ’80s Cartoon Two-Packs

Posted on April 1, 2019 by Walt

Life’s been its own brand of crazy the last couple months. So I’m only now–a MONTH after the fact–getting around to sharing these cool purchases!

I’ve been AWARE OF the NECA brand since 2010 or 2011…whenever they did the Mirage Comics-style turtles, before the 2012 line for the Nickelodeon 2012 show was out from Playmates.

Having recently (finally) bought the Raphael and then Leo & Mikey 1/4-scale figures, these 2-packs from Target were not a terrible stretch…though it was a LOT to spend in such a short time-frame. But they served as a sort of "retail therapy" or such.

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I’m not the greatest fan of the 1980s cartoon. For a time, I actually held a fair bit "against" it, though as the IDW comics have continued and have incorporated elements, stuff has been somewhat "redeemed" and I’ve come to appreciate its place in history–in general and of the TMNT property in general. And these 2-packs made for a decent "set" of figures…that’s certainly one thing about the TMNT stuff–it’s totally geared for sets of 4 with the main characters!

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Leonardo and Shredder make for a good pairing here. All the 2-packs are one turtle and one villain. So of course, matching the "leaders" up works quite well on a number of levels! 

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While the front of the boxes are showing off the figures themselves, the backs show a staged photo, a short description, as well as the other 3 boxes available for this "wave" of figures! 

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Donatello and Krang are the "brains" of their respective groups…Krang pretty literally so. That makes these a good matchup as well. The walker contraption Krang rides in–from the earliest episodes of the ’80s cartoon–is roughly the same height as the classic Playmates figure…though Krang himself is a lot smaller here and more proportionate. 

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Back of the box showing Donnie poised to tip Krang right on over… 

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Though Raphael has come to be my favorite turtle as an adult, his 2-pack has him and "just" a Foot ninja. I’ve never been overly keen on this version of the Foot–mindless robots just seem like they shouldn’t be a threat whatsoever. And generally they were not MUCH of one, just a delaying tactic. Still, the poseability on the NECA figure(s) makes this far, FAR superior to the classic Playmates iteration! 

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Cliché as it is, there IS the classic line from Raph’s first encounter with the Foot bots. "Klang?!? Did you say–‘Klang’?"

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Michelangelo also comes with a Foot bot, that seems basically the same as the one with Raph. Though it would seem a someone generic thing to have half the packs come with these…it also actually, truly makes sense as the Foot bots ARE generic and to just have one is to defeat the point of having generic minions. And as these are a much better quality, I’m glad TO have two, although I’d have also been rather happy if these came in their own 2-pack, so that their slots could be filled with other characters!

Of course, I believe I saw stuff coming out of the one toy convention that NECA has upcoming plans for Bebop and Rocksteady. And if they come in 2-packs like these…I’d be grateful to get the pair as their own pack. But if there’s to be more hero vs villain foolery to further induce buying of multiple packs…I’d take April and Splinter with them, and/or Casey Jones! 

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Here we have the back of the pack with Mikey gut-kicking his Foot bot.

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I like the sides of the packages. One side shows each of the turtles…

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…while the other side shows the villain that turtle’s paired with!

The packs are definitely quite attractive as-is. But these being TMNT, I "couldn’t" just leave them in their boxes. So I did get them out. However, the photos of the unboxed figures will have to wait for another post!

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Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

After 12 Years…Finally: The Complete Classic TMNT!

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Walt

Twelve years ago, Summer 2004, I was excited at the (then-finally) release of the original episodes of the "classic" TMNT cartoon on dvd. Prior to this, there was only old VHS tapes (That were hardly complete runs) or less-than-stellar downloads and such.

So when a dvd of the first season–the original 5-episode "mini-series"–was released, I was stoked! (Even though I still prefer the 2003 series above the 1980s and current shows).

Not too long after there were a number of other releases, as Volume Two and Volume Three and so on…simply collecting a few more episodes at a time, but stuff was spotty…and then there was crap like a season being released as four parts, four different units to purchase instead of just one, and so on. More recently, stores have seemed spotty on carrying stuff (by "stores" I primarily mean Target and Walmart with a bit of Toys R Us thrown in) with a mix of the "volumes" and "seasons". Finding them for around $5 each, I’d (over a period of months) acquired seasons 10, 8, and 9) after buying the season 3 set (which duplicated several of the early "volumes"–and the discs actually still bear the "volume" labels).

I was thrilled recently fo find a full Season 7 unit (containing the entire season, not just a "slice" of the season) for a good price (about $15).

Of course…that still left me with a gaping, expensive hole: I had seasons 1-3 and 7-10…but no 4, 5, or 6.

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Presumably to capitalize on the new live-action movie, Walmart seems to have at least temporarily stocked more TMNT stuff…including new double-season editions.

Over the weekend, when I literally came face-to-face with the Season Four box set and then spotted the double-season edition with Season 5 and Season 6 and realized I could complete the series for a "mere" $25, I jumped on it. (In an age when single 2-hour films cost $20-$25+…to get 3 seasons for that same pricing was fantastic!)

And now, "only" 12 YEARS later, I finally own the entire "classic" Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series.

I’ve also "kept up with" the releases of the current series…and may "splurge" on the live-action series now…as that’ll just leave the 2003 series missing. I have some of those dvds…but hardly the full series, and those were horrible as they only had 3-5 episodes each (even splitting a 5-part story labeled parts 1-5 onto two different releases!).

Time and "patience," I guess!

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »