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TMNT (2013) Toys – M.O.U.S.E.R.s and Rat King

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Walt

Whenever I’m in a Target or Walmart, I almost always “have to” check out the toys section. Over recent months, I’ve dwindled to a cursory glance at the Marvel/DC figures, and these last several weeks my increase has greatly increased with the TMNT toys.

Tonight I decided to take a peek in case the Target I was in had Leatherhead…but while they did NOT, I found what–for me–is possibly one of THE most awesome of all the new TMNT toys: a pack of MOUSERS!

mousers02mousers01

While I vaguely recall the 2003 TMNT line packing a couple Mousers with the April O’Neil figure, the only way I would have to get more than 2 was to buy multiples of April–not a truly viable option for so small a figurine! I think several may have come with some sort of playset…but again, far too expensive for so small a return on what I actually wanted.

This pack comes with SEVEN of the little robots…and I will happily purchase a couple more to have a small army of the things!

I also came across a Rat King figure…and actually put it in my cart where it traveled part of the store with me. Though I’ll PROBABLY come to regret it, I opted NOT to purchase it tonight: too many other recent expenditures and upcoming; so I’ll have to hope that he proves fairly common in the coming months.

Despite that, I made a point of photographing the carded figure:

ratking_front

ratking_back

The Mousers, of course, were just way too cool to NOT buy. I don’t much care for the look of this new Rat King (another factor in putting it back)…but I’ve wanted numerous little Mousers since my earliest days collecting TMNT toys!

mousers_front

mousers_back

While I’d love to see more inclusive galleries of the figures on the back of the cards, I am quite glad they’ve kept the profiles!

The Mousers:

mousers_profile

…and the Rat King:

ratking_profile

I’m also rather encouraged (so to speak) that these galleries do NOT include the turtle variants (ooze-flinging or stealth). Those don’t really–to me–“fit” with the general line, whereas these others do. Even the Ninjas-in-Training fit as they’re not just “costumed” variants.

mousers_assortment_goodguys

And though I’m not a fan of the random mutations, it’s still cool to see the expanding line of villain characters. To me, that often seems to be the downfall of a single “line” of figures…endless versions of the main hero(es) but virtually no villains to offset. And in the Kraang and the Foot Soldiers, we have two generics that truly warrant several duplicate purchases. (I believe I have 3 Kraang and 5 Foot Soldiers at the moment).

mousers_assortment_badguys

I like the bulk of Dogpound, but am not at all a fan of Fishface…and the more I think of it, the more I think I’d prefer a new take on Bebop and Rocksteady to these two.

Still…with only recently discovering the new figures in Baxter Stockman and Snakeweed, it’s very cool to see all these others making it to the local stores’ pegs, not having TOO hard a time finding SOME new figures.

…even if that darned Leatherhead STILL eludes me!

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TMNT Toys Through Time

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Walt

I recently discovered a new version of the Halftone app, Halftone2, which basically combines the original Halftone app with a frames app I had been using.

Rather than show off the various turtles in a bunch of individual photos, I had some fun messing around with the new app, with the results you see below.

The three different sets of turtles:

tmntfigures-all

And then the individual turtles:

tmntfigures-leonardo

tmntfigures-donatello

tmntfigures-raphael

tmntfigures-michelangelo

And then all the figures together by turtle:

tmntfigures-all-byturtle

Now, if only I had recognized the value in the figures a few years ago based on the original Mirage comics designs, I’d be alllll set!

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Looking forward to more new TMNT toys soon!

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Walt

In the packaging for the TMNT Classic Collection figures, Playmates included a mini catalogue of sorts, showing some of the existing and New (“coming soon,” I take it?) figures. Several stood out to me, outside of stuff I’ve covered previously in this blog based on the card backs of figures I’ve already seen:

upcomingtmnt-leatherheadandmousers

I saw Leatherhead at a Walmart a week or two ago, BUT the packaging was mangled, and the blister pack was actually TAPED to the card with clear packing tape. Granted, the figure itself was there, but if I’m gonna pay full price, I darn well wanna open the thing MYSELF! (Plus, I like having the cards–especially for the “profile” bit!.)

I don’t recall if there was ever a Mousers pack in the 2003 line, but I absolutely LOVE the idea of being able to get a couple packs and have a little mini-army of the things!

upcomingtmnt-battleshellturtles

While I’ve refused to partake in purchasing any of the ‘variants’ so far for the turtles themselves, I do fondly recall the “Storage Shell” TMNT figures from the original line (especially much preferring the sculpts and coloring!) so just for “old time’s sake” I could see “shelling out” for a Battle Shell Leo or Raph.

upcomingtmnt-ninjasintraining-leo-donnie

…and I QUITE enjoyed the “baby TMNT” 4-pack with the 2003 line…I assume these will be the counterparts to those, but split into two 2-packs instead of all 4 crammed together into one pack. I’ll probably get these if I see ’em.

upcomingtmnt-ninjasintraining-raphmikey

I’d sorta prefer a Leonardo/Raphael pairing and a Donatello/Michelangelo pairing. But since I’ll want all 4 whatever the case, and likely wait until I can buy BOTH 2-packs at once, it’ll be a sorta moot point in the end.

I really don’t care for any of the vehicles except the Shellraiser, which I have seen ALL OVER THE PLACE price-wise; it’s varied from about $22 to $35 offhand, and as I remember the original “Party Wagon” being about $20 and the 2003 Van being $20, I don’t much like the idea of paying the higher-$20s, though I’ll probably settle for the $23-24 range. It’s honestly the only vehicle that really “makes sense” to me or has any interest for me at all.

I also continue to have no intention of tracking down any of the random mutants; I’ve seen Snakeweed several times and have left it on the pegs…and have no interest in the one spider or cockroach.

Ultimately, I’m just thrilled to see the potential variety finally getting there…though I just hope I can actually FIND these, rather than pegs choked with endless “pegwarmer” variants of the turtles themselves!

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TMNT Classic Collection [Toy Review]

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Walt

The other day after work, I decided–on a whim–to stop by a Toys R Us to see if they, by some chance, had the new Leatherhead TMNT figure. While they did NOT…what they DID have surprised the heck outta me.

A new “Classic Collection” line of TMNT figures I’d not heard/known ANYthing about coming out!

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-all

Of course, I had to buy Leonardo…my “classic” favorite turtle…and typically, if I ever give in and buy “variants” of a turtle, I go with Leonardo.

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-leo

…But then, since these ARE re-issues of the original figures…and I can’t FIND my original figures…yet had my 2003 Turtles and 2012 Turtles here in my room…I splurged and bought the other three:

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-don

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-raph

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-mikey

The card back is identical on all the figures, with a mostly classic look…except for the Classic Collection blurb, a contemporary “About the Turtles,” the nickelodeon logo, and a lack of clip ‘n collect “profile card.”

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-card-back

The front of the card looks like what I remember from the original figures:

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-card-front_top

And the “origin” of the turtles also looks like what I remember from the originals.

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-card-origin

As said, this About the Turtles is new/contemporary:

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-card-info

I may yet opt to snag Splinter and Shredder for the heckuvit–to have all 3 versions of them as well. But for now I just wanted the four turtles themselves.

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-card-figures

I did NOT see the “Party Wagon,” though if I do, I fully intend to buy it (provided it’s–IDEALLY–NOT a $39.99+ item! I would expect $25-$30ish!).

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-card-vehicles

All in all, I’m mostly satisfied with the figures themselves. The belts are significantly looser than I remember, which is a big drawback–Raphael in particular is ready to lose HIS just standing around!

I do like that the weapons all come on the original “sprues” or whatever–the flimsy brown plastic–you have to bend/twist/break the pieces apart yourself! But this keeps with the classic-ness of the figures.

I also QUITE like that the packaging does NOT include ANY annoying twist-ties and such…the figures and weapons simply popped RIGHT out (with some applied pushing/pulling/folding the plastic inside-out).

$12.99 is a bit steep for these–they’re slightly smaller/lower “quality” than either the 2003 or 2012 line (the current 2012 line being about $9/ea). BUT for being classic, and NOT carried in Walmart or Target or such that I have seen, the extra $4 is still worth it on the whole over paying higher premiums for original or 2010 25th-anniversary editions of the turtles themselves on the card.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW) #25 [Review]

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Walt

teenagemutantninjaturtlesidw025City Fall, part four

Story: Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow & Tom Waltz
Script: Tom Waltz
Layouts: Kevin Eastman
Art: Mateus Santolouco
Colors: Ronda Pattison
Letters: Shawn Lee & Tom Long
Editor: Bobby Curnow
Cover: Mateus Santolouco
Published by: IDW
Cover Price: $3.99

City Fall is shaping up to be one of THE epic TMNT stories, certainly a worthy rival to the classic City at War story that ran in the original TMNT series back in 1992/1993. This issue marks the halfway point of the story, and I’m extremely interested in what comes next!

Raphael–distraught over his role in Casey getting hurt and Leonardo’s being taken by the Foot–is out busting heads, hoping to find the Foot so he can atone for his mistake by rescuing Leo himself. Donatello talks to Casey on the phone, updating him on what’s going on…Raph’s out, and Splinter’s disappeared with Slash on some personal mission. Don and Mikey are heading out to search for Raph. April and Casey have a moment as we see their relationship continuing to bloom. Splinter meets with Old Hob to enlist aid in rescuing his son. Meanwhile, we see Leo as Shredder’s #2, his “Chunin,” and Karai isn’t impressed.

I recall several panels jumping out at me as the turtles looking kinda strange, which momentarily took me out of the story. However, on giving myself an extra moment to take stuff in, they actually fit with the rest…there were just details I’d not really noticed that I suddenly did (particularly the raggedness of the turtles’ masks, which makes sense and I like…it’s not like they’re going to some shop and buying perfectly manufactured masks or anything!). Overall I’m continuing to really enjoy Santolouco’s art, and very much appreciating the general consistency to the look of this title for this arc at least.

Story-wise, I continue to be fascinated by the possibilities of character growth, development, and change. As this is a relatively new continuity unbeholden to older material (but drawing organically from everything that’s come before and reworking it to fit together), I can see so much potential to things, which pleasantly derails any concrete expectations I might have. At the very least I anticipate this arc having drastic long-reaching impact on Leonardo moving forward as well as tricky consequences for Splinter, and likely long-term stuff for Casey.

It also appears that we’re about to have the introduction of a couple ‘classic’ very popular characters from the original TMNT cartoon brought fully into this continuity, and while I can mostly do without the idea of them, I have faith that they’ll be worked into this continuity quite well and be as different as Cobra Commander in the GI Joe comics was to the cartoon counterpart of that series…or at least, I really hope that’s the case!.

If you’ve read through to the prior issue, I see nothing in particular to this issue to give reason not to pick it up. 

I believe I saw solicitation text somewhere showing that IDW is continuing to collect every 4 issues into new paperbacks, so a new volume with the interlude between the Krang War and City Fall, as well as the first 3 chapters of City Fall itself should be available soon…which would make this a decent jumping-on point if you’re following the series in trades and are looking for a point to jump into the single issues.

And while you’ll certainly benefit from a larger context having read much of the earlier material, if you’re just looking for a solid, major TMNT story…for being 4 chapters in of an expected 7, I highly recommend this!

Filed under: IDW Publishing, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

TMNT New Animated Adventures #2 [Review]

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Walt

tmntnewanimatedadventures002Story: Kenny Byerly
Art: Dario Brizuela
Colors: Heather Breckel
Letters: Shawn Lee
Edits: Bobby Curnow
Cover: Dario Brizuela
Published by: IDW
Cover Price: $3.99

Snakeweed is probably the most memorable of my least-favorite characters introduced in the new TMNT series. He may have also been the first–I don’t quite recall for sure. So while I was looking forward to another issue of the New Animated Adventures…the fact that it featured Snakeweed as the mutant du jour was rather dismaying.

This issue’s well in line with fitting the tone of this series so far (the FCBD and #1 issues), but for Snakeweed it’s certainly my least-favorite issue so far.

Leo’s been looking forward (for weeks!) to a marathon airing of the entire Space Heroes series and exposing his bros to the show. The power cuts out, and while he complains, Splinter suggests a reverence for nature rather than a railing against nature’s storms. Eventually the power is restored, only for the turtles to learn of a plant infestation in the city. They investigate and discover Snakeweed’s involvement and a new plan–to release spores in a storm to spread more Snakeweeds and overtake the humans, returning the planet to a vegetative state. The turtles split up–two to tackle the mutant himself and two to contain the spores.

I continue to enjoy Brizuela‘s art on this, and really like the visual take on these characters. They’re quite recognizable as being based on the tv series, yet maintain a comic book feel that avoids looking like some straight “adaptation” or “imitation”…it’s truly its own thing.

Story-wise, as said, I have a strong dislike for Snakeweed, so I’m not impressed there. In and of itself, the story works, and everyone seems “on” to what one would expect within this shared tv/comic continuity, so objectively this is definitely another solid issue. Long-time TMNT fans will also likely note a surprising yet obvious “Easter Egg” with April partway into the issue that brings back memories.

I’m looking forward to the next issue–the cover preview suggests the involvement of Kraang Prime, which is all the more appealing for my dislike here of Snakeweed, as well as having just a few days ago finally having watched the tv series’ season one finale.

If you’re enjoying the tv series, but don’t want to venture into the full-blown comics continuity of IDW‘s ongoing series, this is certainly a great book to jump into for some TMNT comics’ enjoyment. And if you just enjoy TMNT comics, this is well worthwhile…more color adventures, and it stands by itself (alongside the tv series) offering a “different” take on these characters.

Filed under: IDW Publishing, TMNT New Animated Adventures (IDW) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

TMNT Villains Micro-Series #5: Karai [Review]

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Walt

tmntvillainsmicroseries005karaiWritten by: Erik Burnham
Art by: Cory Smith
Colors by: Ian Herring
Letters by: Shawn Lee
Editor: Bobby Curnow
Cover: Tyler Walpole
Published by: IDW
Cover Price: $3.99

I tend to use the Comixology “Pull List” app these days for keeping tabs on what’s coming out in a given week that I’ll be getting (mainly to know how much the week’s likely going to take from my budget). This issue’s release surprised me, as I don’t think I’ve even seen it listed–early or delayed.

Karai visits an old mentor for counsel, and we learn through their interaction of her background. Her father was not a good steward of the Foot legacy, and she found a way to bring back the Clan’s glory. Growing up, she met her parents’ expectations by day, though by night she secretly trained herself in the ways of the ninja, and eventually learned how she could restore the Clan, resurrecting a figure from the past–one she’d come to know as “Grandfather”–Oroku Saki. In the present, though, things have gone awry, and Karai has been “replaced” as Saki’s #2, and she finds herself facing the new #2–a corrupted Leonardo.

This issue continues to illustrate how well continuity can work between creative teams and series. We get a story focused on a major character, giving us some real depth that there truthfully would not be room for in the main series, yet the story ties in very nicely with the ongoing story (City Fall) such that one reading “everything” gets the broad picture, and one simply picking this up gets “a story” in one issue.

I like learning more about Karai’s place in things…this issue drives home just how central she actually is in IDW‘s current TMNT continuity, and casts her beyond some “named figure” for the sake of a named figure being present.

I really like Smith‘s art, and aside from the story, the visuals alone were a real treat to take in. Other than this not being an Annual or graphic novel-length issue, I have nothing negative to say about the art!

Two years in–and multiple Micro-Series minis and such functionally giving two ongoing series of TMNT books is (despite the $3.99 price point) very welcome, and keeping to the quality that’s (thus far) been maintained makes me think I’d wholly welcome a third such issue each month, just to continue with new expansion of the stories and characters that much faster, as my impatience grows to have a far lengthier “history” behind us with all this.

Ultimately, that means that IDW‘s doing something very, very “right,” not only holding my interest with more than one book per month but keeping me consistently eager for more.

Filed under: IDW Publishing, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

TMNT (2013) Toys – Baxter Stockman

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Walt

After about 10 months of casually “keeping an eye out” and pretty much thinking this line had been given up on, I FINALLY found a new TMNT figure that WASN’T just a variant of one of the four turtles themselves!

I happened to be in a Toys R Us looking to see what DC Unlimited/Batman Unlimited/DC Classic figures they might have and at what price, and happened to notice unfamiliar-looking TMNT figures (some sort of camo/zip-line variant). But when I looked on the back of the card for THOSE, I noticed a couple other new characters as well…so actually looked through all the figures on the pegs.

Other than the zip-line turtles themselves, I found Baxter Stockman…and bought him on the spot, despite Toys R Us typically having a significantly-higher pricing than Walmart or Target (turned out to only be a few cents, though…I later saw Stockman at Target).

baxter_stockman_front

Offhand, this is probably my favorite Stockman figure to date…sure, he’s got that crazy battle-suit, but it sure beats the mutant-fly of the ’80s line or mechanical spider-body/human-head of the 2003 line.

baxter_stockman_profile

The profile fits what I know of the character from the current animated series.

tmnt_goodguys_assortment_baxter

No new TMNT-allies that I’ve seen, which is a shame…not that I really can consciously think of any from episodes I’ve seen so far that would particularly qualify. Here’s hoping Casey Jones shows up in season 2 and gets a figure soon, though!

tmnt_badguys_assortment_baxter

One of the other cards showed a Rat King figure and some other random mutant in addition to the figures shown here. I have no intention of buying Snakeweed, and really have no particular interest in other randomish “mutation-of-the-week” mutants. Rat King is a possibility for an impulse buy. I’m looking forward to a Leatherhead figure, though, if they actually put that out!

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A Look At the Bookshelves

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Walt

The last several years I’ve been keeping “recent” books separate from the main collection–they’re more convenient this way for me. Until this week, they were in any which order, and I kept finding myself wondering where, exactly, I had stuck something…so I finally got around to organizing three shelves’ worth of graphic novels.

dcshelf_full

Above: the full “DC Shelf,” which includes the handful of non-big-name stuff.

dc_01

Vertigo and Batman stuff…

dc_02

Superman…

dc_03

The rest of the DC stuff, primarily Flashpoint and Green Lantern stuff.

indy_stuff

These are recent non-DC/non-Marvel (and non-TMNT/non-Valiant) books…

marvel_full

The “Marvel shelves,” primarily Marvel but also my IDW-TMNT and Valiant stuff. The GI Joe, Dark Horse Heroes, and Aliens book got moved to join the Transformers and Highlander books so I wouldn’t need to use bookends.

tmnt_valiant

I love the TMNT Ultimate Collection volumes…just waiting for the fifth/final in that series to come out. I have yet to snag the Valiant Classics Shadowman volume, and may “upgrade” the current Valiant when the hardcovers for those start coming out later this year (if I recall correctly).

marvel_01

I continue to be amazed at how much Marvel I get in bookshelf format, and how much of it is “older.” A lot of Marvel volumes I’ve bought for anywhere from 50/60% off cover price to a mere $1-$3 apiece.

marvel_02

And I think part of why I have so many Marvel books compared to DC is the seeming constant “liquidation” of Marvel stuff, and the sheer plentiful-ness of cheaper volumes pretty much anywhere I go. Good and bad, but that’s a topic for another post.

marvel_03

Though not all that much a fan of the Ultimate line these days, I don’t mind checking ’em out when I can get a $25 hardcover for $3 or so. However, I’m actively looking to fill in my Ultimate Spider-Man run…just need vols 6-9 and I don’t know if there’s a 13 yet.

marvel_04

I’m definitely interested in tracking down other “major” X-event volumes…most specifically the Age of Apocalypse Omnibus and the Fatal Attractions volume…along with X-Force vol. 2.

Lately I seem to be back on the single-issue bargains train, working on filling out a number of “sub-collections” like DC ’90s Events (Armageddon 2001, Zero Hour, One Million) as well as Classic Valiant and Ultraverse, ongoing Bat-family books from ’86-2011, and ongoing X-titles 1990ish to 2003, with Uncanny X-Men to 2011 or so. But again…that’s for another post.

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TMNT New Animated Adventures #1 [Review]

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Walt

TMNT New Animated Adventures #1Story: Kenny Byerly
Art: Dario Brizuela
Colors: Heather Breckel
Letters: Shawn Lee
Edits: Bobby Curnow
Cover: Dario Brizuela
Published by: IDW
Cover Price: $3.99

I’ve been quite looking forward to this premiere issue for a couple months now, since at least the FCBD issue back in May. In many ways, this is sort of a #2 issue, as it fits excellently with the FCBD issue (which was itself a full issue and not just a few pages’ preview or a short one-off amidst so-called “dvd-style extras” or such.

As I’d said then and hold with this issue, this truly feels right at home within the continuity of the Nickelodeon animated series–the characterization is consistent, and I even “hear” the voices from the show as I read this.

The visuals are a great blend of simply “comic book art” and “adaptation form another medium” as the characters are very recognizeable as based on the CGI designs of the animated series…yet Brizuela‘s art is distinctive and does not seem to “try too hard” to BE what it is not–it’s 2-D art and works very well, and avoids being particularly “cartooney” or over-simple.

Story-wise, this is an April-centric issue, focusing largely on her integration into the turtles’ family unit, and showing her increasing skills unter Splinter’s tutelage while we see her equally as fallible as the turtles themselves–also teens.

After showing off her stealth and receiving praise from Splinter, April accompanies Donatello to a junkyard to track down a piece of of tech for his inventions. Unfortunately, the junkyard turns out to be a bit more than they bargained for, and April is captured by the military, and the turtles have to intervene. Ultimately, a lesson is learned by all, and things continue on.

I’ve enjoyed the main/”real” TMNT continuity from IDW these past couple of years, and despite not being entirely enamored with the animated tv series, I did enjoy reading this issue. As long as I’ve been into TMNT in general, I very fondly remember the original Archie-published TMNT Adventures, so this TMNT New Animated Adventures is a bit reminiscent of that in intent, it seems. It remains to be seen if this will branch off into its own individual continuity, but I’m content to follow this as an extension to the tv series’ continuity.

As with the tv series, this story is a done-in one/self-contained story…you get a full story in one issue, and there’s no need to get the next issue to FINISH this story…which is another nice thing about this. Though the next-issue ad indicates one of my least-favorite characters of the series, I’ll happily give it a chance simply for being TMNT, and of course Brizuela‘s art.

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