NECA Reveals Video Game-Inspired TMNT Action Figures

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Yesterday, NECA revealed two TMNT action figure sets based on the original arcade game. The two sets of four action figures will be sold exclusively at San Diego Comic-Con in July. Pre-order details for attendees will be released later this week.

Cowabunga, dude! This SDCC-exclusive box set is based on the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4-player co-op arcade game and features brand new figure sculpts and deluxe packaging. Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael stand approximately 6” tall and feature over 30 points of articulation, including double knee joints to fully showcase their mastery of the martial arts. Special paint deco reflects the Turtles’ in-game appearance. The box set is packed with accessories, including signature weapons, interchangeable hands, pizza power-up and more. The set comes in gorgeous, display-friendly 5th panel window box packaging that re-creates the look of the actual arcade cabinet!

Cowabunga, dude! This SDCC-exclusive box set is based on the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4-player co-op arcade game and features brand new figure sculpts and deluxe packaging. Shredder and the Foot Clan stand approximately 6” tall and feature over 30 points of articulation, including double knee joints for dynamic poses. Special paint deco reflects their in-game appearance. The box set is packed with accessories, including oversized hammer, swords, throwing star, rifle, dynamite and more. The set comes in gorgeous, display-friendly 5th panel window box packaging that re-creates the look of the actual arcade cabinet!

Visit NECA's website for even more pictures!

NECA Debuts 1/4 Scale 1990 Movie Donatello Action Figure at Toy Fair

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If the recently revealed statues from Prime 1 Studios don't fit your budget (or your display space), it seems like NECA has a "compromise" to offer you. Depending on your collecting habits, it might not even be much of a compromise.

The first of a planned series of four, NECA's 1990 movie-style Donatello stands approximately 16.5" and features 30 points of articulation, including double knee joints. With an incredibly detailed sculpt, he comes with bo staff accessory and interchangeable hands.

Watch for Donatello to hit specialty toy retailers around June for about $100. The remaining Turtles should then be released one a quarter.

Photos: NECA and ToyArk

SDCC Exclusive Figure: April O'Neil

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A "nifty nugget" of SDCC news comes to us tonight from Randy Falk at NECA via Peter Laird:

"I just wanted to send over an image of our SDCC exclusive for this summer. It will be a brand new April O' Neil figure that comes with a Battle Damaged Mouser and a Regular Mouser with a new head featuring an articulated jaw.

This is the first non Turtle figure in the NECA TMNT collection

This version of April will be available at San Diego Comic Con this July.

We are going to try to make arrangements to offer a small amount of figures online for those who can not attend SDCC."

So there ya go - April figure for Comic-Con! (Now where's my Foot Elite, hmm?!!)

The Action Figure Conundrum

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Last week, ToyNewsInternational.com released the above picture along with the following information:

Celebrate 25 years of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with figures designed after their original comic styling! These classic figures represent the origins of the Turtles and feature all their trademark style and accessories. Collect all 4 turtles, Shredder, Splinter, and the Foot, each packaged with a reprint of the original comic. Or choose from figures that recreate Playmates' original 10 figures, based on the classic television series, complete with classic accessories and detailing. Cowabunga! Blister card packaging.

On first read and at first glance, all of this can very easily sound pretty awesome. What hardcore TMNT fan wouldn't want comic-styled TMNT figures? But umm... wasn't that the point of NECA's turtle-y awesome figures, the first wave of which we saw earlier this year? That's what myself and many other fans were counting on. So how did Playmates change from Music Turtles to Comic Turtles and where is Wave 2 from NECA? Yes, this is quite the conundrum; so let's see if we can dissect it.

To start, we need to rewind about a year and a half, to when NECA acquired its license to make the comic-based TMNT figures. Playmates has closely guarded their action figure license for the TMNT ever since the line started in 1988. NECA only got their license through a bit of accidental luck and Playmates was not happy at all.

Playmates, who for the past two years, has been releasing variant after variant of Turtles figures based on the molds for the TMNT movie series. While these were fantastic figures (for me, at least) on their first incarnation, Playmates' refusal to move forward onto something new has become a source of contention.

This all came to a head last June when Steve Murphy revealed "Music Don" on his 5th Turtle blog. Unfortunately, all comments on the blog have since been removed, but the reaction to this figure was nothing short of outrage. So much so, that two days later Playmates responded through Murphy's blog with a rather juvenile statement that amounted to nothing more than, "Neener, neener, neener. We know toys better than you and this is what will sell, not the silly nonsense you're trying to tell us you want. Neener, neener, neener." To top it off, Peter Laird posted his own, "I know better than you," ramble of a post to his own blog one day after that.

Well, Playmates and Peter Laird must also know better than Walmart, the nation's largest retailer, for come spring, they'll be dropping all TMNT toys from their stores (if your Walmart still has TMNT toys, expect them to be on the clearance shelf come December 26th).

Now, it seems that at some point, Playmates finally recanted and decided that it might be a good idea to listen to what it is the fans are begging for (or, more bluntly, based on the complete lack of sales for all the crap currently in stores). Seemingly inspired by the HUGE success of NECA's comic-based Turtles, Playmates put into plans for their own comic Turtles (see the image above).

But are these actually inspired by any of the TMNT comic books? No particular style is evident aside from all the Turtles wearing red bandannas. Some have suggested that these Turtles resemble the Turtles from the cover of TMNT Vol. 4, #1, but those Turtles were drawn by master Turtles artist Michael Dooney. I would drool over Michael Dooney-inspired action figures any and every day of the week. But I don't look at these and see Michael Dooney's Turtles. I see Playmates' standard shiny plastic and unrealistic weapons (possibly borrowed from the existing TMNT movie Turtles). One of the great successes of NECA's Raphael figure is its ability to actually hold a sai correctly; the Playmates figure is clearly not capable of this. This begs the question: Exactly whom are these marketed for?

The reason the Turtles were given different-colored bandannas beginning with the original cartoon series and original toy series was to make it easy for the kids to all tell the Turtles apart. The most common "custom" NECA Turtle figure to appear on eBay is with the bandannas for Michaelangelo, Leonardo, and Donatello painted orange, blue, and purple respectively. How is it Playmates suddenly thinks the mass market-buying public is going to embrace four Turtles that are "all Raphael?"

In the wake of these Playmates figures, NECA seems to have completely dropped off the map as they've been nearly completely non-communicative with Mirage ever since San Diego Comic-Con back in July. It's being suggested that they are now peeved with Playmates for making these comic-based figures. While there's no way to be certain of what the situation with them is (they aren't talking), it is now December and we have yet to see the release of Series 2 of their TMNT line, which was to include April O'Neil w/ Mousers, Shredder, Foot Soldier w/ Utrom, and the Elite Foot Soldier and was to be released in "Fall '08." As it stands, we may not be able to get word on the status of these or any possible future figures until New York Comic-Con in February.

As you can see, it's a long and complicated situation. Here is how I would simplify it:

Playmates, being a mediocre toy company, found huge success with the TMNT line in the 1980s/1990s. This success was so huge that they have been hesitant to move outside of the formula that served them so well 15-20 years ago. When they finally decided to venture outside of this box, instead of bringing in fresh new minds to deliver something truly new and exciting, they instead used the same, tired old minds that insisted Music Turtles were the shiz-nit. The result is a sub-par product that doesn't at all fulfill the need of the hardcore fans they're trying to pretend to acknowledge. It doesn't help that Playmates has to win the appeal of Peter Laird with everything that they do.

For Mirage is equally guilty of being run by the tired old minds of Mr. Laird and Gary Richardson. With great respect to Mr. Laird, his heart clearly isn't into running the Turtles empire these days (as he indirectly reveals in his own daily schedule). There really isn't anything wrong with this (I'm sure anyone would feel the same after dealing with the same thing for 25 years and not having a lack of money to retire on), except for the lack of a fresh young mind to step in as a replacement. The same can be said of CEO Gary Richardson, who's not only lacking in delivering anything new or exciting, but whose shady business practices would be worthy of huge scandal were Mirage a publicly traded company. Mirage hasn't hired new talent in about 20 years and there's never been an effort to replace those that have left. Is that any way to run a successful company?

To answer that question, I will simply leave you with part of what Jim Collins has to say of what he describes as "Level 5 leaders," from his book, "Good to Great:"

... ambition first and foremost for the company and concern for its success rather than for one's own riches and personal renown. Level 5 leaders want to see the company even more successful in the next generation, comfortable with the idea that most people won't even know that the roots of that success trace back to their efforts. As one Level 5 leader said, "I want to look out from my porch at one of the great companies in the world someday and be able to say, 'I used to work there.'"

Comic-Con: Preview Night

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It's been a long day, but we've all survived the monster that has become Preview Night. This used to be a time to run around the Con floor with a smaller crowd, but the crowd was in force tonight.

Tonight's big items came from the NECA booth where the Black & White box set of figures ($50) was for sale along with the Mouser 3-pack ($20). Also on display were three new figures due for release this fall: Shredder, a Foot Soldier (with Utrom), and a Foot Elite.


Kevin Eastman's Bodycount reprint ($20) is a hit as a long and regular line formed at the Heavy Metal booth where Kevin was personally doing detailed and intricate sketches in each one (no additional fee).

Those two stops and buying way too many Doctor Who action figures were literally all I got accomplished tonight (although that's all I was aiming for), so I barely got a look at the Con floor. There's more Turtle goodies hiding around somewhere. The passports weren't out tonight, but supposedly will be tomorrow.

And virtually all of my day tomorrow is dedicated to Doctor Who, so I might not see too much else until Friday. We'll see.

NECA SDCC Exclusive Box Set Details Revealed

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NECA today released the details for the exclusive box set of Turtles they'll have at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego. The box will be virtually identical to the set that was available at New York Comic-Con, only this set will include the new black & white-painted variant Turtles.

Each set will come with a certificate signed by co-creator Peter Laird, and co-creator Kevin Eastman will be on hand to sign each box. This and the exclusive 3-pack of mousers certainly adds some special excitement for TMNT fans attending this year's Con!

You can read the full details about this exclusive at NECA's Web site.

NECA Packaging: Clamshell vs. Tube

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I am doing a horrible job at restraining myself when it comes to these NECA figures. I really shouldn't need more than one of each, and since I open all of my toys, I shouldn't have anything in the packaging. Buuut... I decided awhile ago to keep one Mike in the clamshell packaging, since it's quite sharp looking. Then the "tube" packaging came out and I decided I'd get Mike in one of those, too. I had to go to eBay for that and I finally got him today. Above is a comparison of the two. It's hard to believe it's really the same figure!

I really like the tube packaging. I'd love to have a bunch of these to stack in a display! But no, I will restrain myself there. I have to stop somewhere. As it stands, I ended up with a second clamshell Mike that is still unopened, I have a basic box set on the way, not to mention the NYCC Exclusive set that I also have. Oy!

NECA SDCC Exclusive Revealed?

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Ectopaul found this link, a Japanese Web site that seems to reveal that NECA will have an exclusive Mouser 3-pack for sale at San Diego Comic-Con this July.

Murphy has previously revealed that there would be an exclusive boxed set at SDCC similar to the set that was for sale at New York Comic-Con, but with an additional accessory. So does that mean that there may be two exclusives in the works?

We'll see if Murphy can confirm anything in the next day or so.

Update: Murphy's official comment on the above picture is "No comment." I think it's safe to take that as an unofficial official confirmation. :D

NECA Figures Unboxed!

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Yesterday I finally received the phone call I've been waiting for - My comic shop had received the case of TMNT NECA action figures I had ordered through them! A whole case! MINE!!!


But alas, I'm not keeping the whole case. That's a bit excessive even for me (not to say that it isn't tempting!). After some time with a box cutter, I had myself four Turtles.


If you aren't lucky enough to have your comic shop deliver these fantastic figures virtually to your door, they are now being spotted in several retail stores. Suncoast is one store where they've been seen, but due to the closure of many Suncoast stores in recent years, you may have better luck looking for a Hot Topic, where they've also been seen. And if all else fails, they're now available on Hot Topic's Web site, here.

TMNT NECA Figures Now Shipping!!!

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Many TMNT fans today received the unlimited edition box set of NECA's new TMNT figures. This is the box set that includes just the Turtles and their standard weapons; no extra accessories. The individual figures, with all accessories included, should be available within the next few weeks. And don't forget that if you're going to New York Comic-Con you can get an exclusive box set that includes all four Turtles AND all of the additional accessories!

Picture above provided by StealthNinjaScyther - Thanks!

New TMNT NECA Packaging Variant

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In the comments section of The 5th Turtle, rm posted a link to Big Bad Toy Store that features the above picture of Leonardo in a really neat tube packaging. They say that these figures will only be packaged with each Turtle's signature weapons and no additional accessories. Considering how neat this looks, I don't think the lack of other accessories really matters!

The Leo in the pictured package, if you couldn't tell, isn't the final product.

Boxed NECA TMNT + NYCC Exclusive!

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The 5th Turtle today revealed the look of the upcoming boxed set of all four NECA TMNT figures. Not only that, but it was also revealed that there will be a New York Comic-Con exclusive boxed set that will include all of the figure bases and accessories (the regular set only comes with the weapons).

And bonus for those lucky enough to attend NYCC: Both Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird will be at the show (and you'd be a fool not to get 'em both to sign your box)!

2008 ToyFair Round-Up

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Ah, Toy Fair. It's one of two or three times a year where fanboys and fangirls everywhere gather around their computer monitors to drool over pictures of little plastic dust collectors. Naturally, I love it! ^_^

While the TMNT showing at Toy Fair is never huge, this year felt particularly disappointing. Well, half good, half bad. The display of the new NECA figures was nice, but nothing particularly new (especially for readers of The 5th Turtle). We did get to see the painted April prototype for the first time (with mousers!). Perhaps best of all is the numerous Web sites photos of these figures showed up on, giving the figures wider exposure to collectors at large.

But then there's one of the longest constants in the world of the TMNT: Playmates Toys. Their TMNT display, to quote Steve Murphy, was.. lame. The entire display consisted of the Mini-Mutants line and (brace yourself) re-issues of the old MECH Wrekkers figures (now called Shell Shifters), this time with movie figures thrown into the center. I will admit to purchasing the original MECH Wrekkers Michaelangelo, but only because I found it on clearance at Target for $10 (possibly less)! What kind of idea is it to rerelease toys that didn't sell well in the first place? I digress...

In the Mini-Mutant department, it was revealed that Playmates isn't just dressing the Turtles in stupid extreme sports gear, but also secondary characters like Drako. Yay?


I suppose I shouldn't complain too much; this just leaves me with more money to spend on the cool stuff that was shown at Toy Fair. Let's see, there's General Kenobi, 12" Indy, Indy Mighty Muggs, Doctor Who Mini Mates, Flight Control TARDIS, Doctor Who Weeping Angel (I'll need 4 of these), Padme Evolutions set, and more Galactic Heroes than I can count.

What do all of these toys have in common? Absolutely none of them are dressed in made-up costumes and all of them are awesome.

NECA TMNT Figures Fully Revealed!

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After being initially revealed in the current issue of Lee's Toy Review, NECA has now posted pictures of all four Turtles with their display bases on their website. You can check all of them out here.

NECA's TMNT figures are scheduled to ship in April and many retailers are now taking pre-orders.

For a preview of what's in store for the line after the four initial Turtles, check out The 5th Turtle where Murphy has given a sneak peak of the planned April O'Neil figure.

NECA TMNT Figures Make The Cover

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The current issue of Lee's Toy Review features a fantastic picture of the upcoming TMNT figures from NECA. Inside you can expect to find more exclusive pictures of these great-looking figures.


Thanks to batman27 for the original picture and a slew of other TMNT fans who spread it like wildfire.

NECA Figures: Final Sculpt & Paint

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This is old news now, but to the left you'll see the final sculpt and paint for the upcoming Leonardo figure from NECA. All four Turtles will be available in the spring.

You can read NECA's press release on the figures on their Web site.

NECA: First Glance at Final Version

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The image to the left comes from the December issue of Previews, Diamond's comic shop catalog, and is from NECA's up-coming series of TMNT comic book-based figures. Items in the catalog are scheduled to ship in February 2008.

Hopefully we'll be seeing bigger, cleaner images in the next few days.

Thanks to duhril for providing this picture!

Update: Steve Murphy has posted a bigger version of the Previews pic at The 5th Turtle.

First NECA Figure Sculpt

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Today on his blog, Steve Murphy released an image of NECA's preliminary sculpt for their upcoming TMNT series of figures.

Here's a glimpse of NECA's first TMNT sculpt submission. As you can see, it is totally right on with regards to the way the TMNT looked in the first Mirage comic. PL was thrilled too, and had only one minor change to suggest with regards to the neck (not entirely visible here), asking that it be either shortened or thickened by about 20%.

The big picture can be found at The 5th Turtle.

A Few More NECA Details

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NinjaTurtles.com today posted this information about the recently announced deal with NECA.

NECA, National Entertainment Collectible Association, has signed a license to produce and distribute collector's market TMNT action figures, statues, busts, weapon prop replicas and bobbleheads based on the TMNT comic books from Mirage Studios. These items will be avaialble to small independent retailers, independent toy stores, comic and hobby shops, and specialty chains. The design and development process has just gotten started, so prduct won't be available for awhile. We'll post news from the folks at NECA as soon as possible!

Earlier this week, Steve Murphy posted to his blog NECA's first design sketch for these new action figures. Due to its lack of resemblance to any of the Mirage comic books, this design was rejected.

NECA to Produce Comic-Based TMNT Action Figures!

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Now this is some exciting news.

In an interview with Action Figure Times, Randy Falk of NECA reports that the company will be releasing comic book-based TMNT figures.

RoAR: Will this be oriented toward the animated series or the original Eastman/Laird comics or a different source?
RF: Starting with the Eastman/Laird comics and we’ll go from there. Expect more detail and texture and loads of articulation on these.

That's the extent of details so far, but as soon as more is known, you'll find the info here!

Thanks to mattmanw54301 for the link.