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Old 11-24-2019, 07:02 PM   #1
Panther10
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Which set of TMNT toys is your favorite?

So out of the plethora of TMNT figures that we've gotten over the last 3 decades and change, which set of TMNT figures do you consider to be the best in your collection? Do you veer in any specific direction? Do you like the current stuff or do you skew more towards the vintage figures? Do you prefer the more basic tmnt sets or do you like the variants more? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

For my collection, I tend to lean more towards the newer figures from neca, whether its the 87 series or the 1990 movie or even the comic book turtles. But I still have a soft spot for the original figures from 1988 and the semi recent S.H. Figuarts figures. I'm sure the figures from Super7 are bound to trigger some kind of glorious nostalgic trip. (even though they are twice the size of the originals and loaded with articulation) But yeah I really love the direction that Neca is going in with their figures. It's hard to believe that despite the fact that this property has been around for over thirty years and its only within the last decade or so that we are finally getting tmnt figures that are accurate to their source material. How on earth has all of this managed to remain uncharted waters up until this point?
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Old 11-24-2019, 07:15 PM   #2
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The retro TMNT action figures sold from 1988 to 1992. The first basic wave original turtles, 1989 and 1990 Wacky Action turtles (excluding Bebop and Rocksteady from late in 1991), 1992 Headdroppin’ turtles, and 1992 Movie Star turtles were the best TMNT sets for me.

The NECA 1990 Movie figures are my favorites from this century.
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Old 11-24-2019, 08:33 PM   #3
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Very interesting question! It's tough for me to say, because I haven't handled a lot of the more recent toys from the last ten years or so.

First of all, as far as collecting goes, I'm sort of odd in that I generally don't try and get "everything" from a line; I already have nowhere near enough room to display half of what I own, so when it comes to variants and the like, I generally skip them. They kind of annoy me. I totally understand why they exist and I'm not against them in theory, but the fact remains that whenever you release a variant of an existing character, you pass on an opportunity to release one that hasn't had a figure yet. I'd just about always have a new figure than a re-skin of an old one.

There are exceptions to this, however. Certain characters from certain lines, I get as many figures as I can. Like I have to get any Superman figures that come out, for example, or Hulk Hogan. But I'm less like that with TMNT. Unless a new and better version of a character comes out, "One of each character" is what I shoot for. It just makes collecting a lot more manageable if I don't feel like or plan to get "everything".

Each of the lines of TMNT figures that I did get into all had their own strengths. As far as sculpting, variety, and sheer volume, the original line objectively takes the cake. They seemingly released a million different figures, and while a lot of them could have been better, no one can deny the amount of detail in the sculpts themselves. I mean, not all of the little "gross-out" gags like the toilet paper on Burne's shoe or the bugs all over Gen. Traag are exactly necessary, nor to every individual's taste, but regardless, they put WAY more work into all of those "little things" than they had to, and it made each figure mostly unique, with a minimum of recycled parts (whereas most toy lines recycle as much as possible as a general rule, which is understandable). The amount of TMNT variants eventually got a little ridiculous, and ultimately pushed me to stop collecting the series (at one point those "wacky" variants were about all the stores around here had to sell), but they still put out a much wider assortment of characters than any other TMNT line that I'm aware of. And then there's the tons of iconic vehicles and playsets that came out. In many ways, the original TMNT line was the true successor to the Masters of the Universe line before it, which was excellent for all the same reasons despite having little else in common.

I didn't actually end up getting a ton of the TMNT line after the first couple waves - I was more into WWF Hasbro figures at that point - but even now it's hard not to be impressed by how much work went into it. Objectively it's definitely one of the best of all time, regardless of whether the original cartoon is anyone's preferred version of TMNT.

That said, I also have a fondness for the 2003 line, mostly because I prefer the art style for the TMNT themselves much better than the originals, and the Shredder figure is infinitely better than the one in the original series. Once again, I didn't buy much after the first two waves, but I really like the art style, poseability, and action features. I also like how "clean" the figures are versus the original series, but that varies greatly among individual fans. To some, the 2003 toys are too "plain" and lack personality compared to the originals, and that's an entirely fair point. It's obvious that they prioritized cartoon-accuracy over anything else, and they succeeded greatly in that. It all comes down to personal preference. However, it's a much smaller line than the original, I think - I'd have to look it up, and feel free to correct me - but I'm pretty sure that they didn't release nearly as many characters, vehicles, and playsets. The articulation, also, while entirely standard for its time, could be better, as the line came out during that weird time period right before knee and elbow joints were an industry standard. It's really only a "problem" in hindsight but it shows that there was room for improvement.

So the 2003 line falls short in some ways. I guess a person's enjoyment of it depends a lot on their appreciation of the art style and the show itself. I like it, but I know plenty who were underwhelmed.

The CGI TMNT movie had a small line of pretty good toys. I only have the Turtles, I think, but at the time they were released they were my favorite figures of the Turtles themselves, by far. The facial expressions were good, the art style was decent and the articulation was by far the best of any TMNT toys up to that point. They were also much bigger than the other TMNT figures released up to that point, and thus looked better next to other figures in the 6 and 7-inch scale which was the standard by then. Those were my standard TMNT figures to display for a very long time. However, like most movie-based toylines, it's a very small line compared to other TMNT sets, and probably holds little appeal to anyone who didn't like the movie. I don't remember that series making a big splash, but again, some things were hugely improved over the earlier toys.

Past that I have not picked up anything more recent, other than the four NECA movie Turtles figures, which are fantastic. It's tough to argue that any line would ever be more accurate with regard to the sculpts and paint; I've honestly never seen a toy in that scale that looked anywhere near as good. The weapons, accessories, and such also add value. On the flipside, it's obviously more of an "adult collectibles" line than a toy line, and as such we can pretty much forget about getting tons of vehicles and playsets, which is perfectly fine from the sense of staying movie-accurate, those things wouldn't exactly make sense. But between that, a small number of potential characters, and how slowly they trickle out (as well as how hard they can be to find occasionally), it's destined to have a much narrower scope in comparison to the "classic" lines. Plus, as amazing as they look, the articulation could be a little better as some of the joints are stiff to the point it makes a person afraid to move them around too much, particularly the legs. Some people report a bit of flimsiness with the belts and weapons as well, which is unfortunate but somewhat expected with any "adult collectibles" line - these things are ultimately made to look good, not be played with. So they're by far the best TMNT toys insofar as art style and accuracy, but the line loses points for playability as well as the fact that it's really not much of a "line" and most likely won't be.

I don't have any other TMNT toys as of yet. The NECA cartoon ones look great, but I haven't been able to get my hands on them yet. I skipped the 2012 Nick line, but I'm thinking about at least tracking down the Turtles and Shredder just for the heck of it. I ignored the two lines based on the Platinum Dunes movies and I'm sure most people did.

If I had to pick a "winner", even though it's not my personal favorite, the first TMNT line is almost impossible to beat. The sheer volume of stuff they put out pretty much puts it over, but there was also the fact that it was quality and the toys had personality. It was endearing and memorable in ways that I don't feel the later lines were able to match, even though they all did certain things better along the way, be it sculpting or articulation or whatever.

Now, as a follow-up question, "Which line did the best version of the Core Four, and why?" guarantees a lot of discussion all by itself. I feel like most people would say that the original toy line was the best as a whole, but it gets a lot more complicated when you narrow it down to just the Turtles themselves. In that case I would actually argue that the original line fell way short compared to just about every other line since then. It's a classic line but the Turtles themselves were not the best figures in the series.

Interesting topic.
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Old 11-24-2019, 09:09 PM   #4
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Generally speaking there have been quite a few good TMNT lines, but for me the definitive nature of the new NECA stuff takes the cake.

If I had my way though, we'd get a nicely scaled 3 3/4" TMNT lined with great articulation and sculpted with the amazing art direction of the (now older) G.I. Joe 25th anniversary line. Those were the ultimate 3 3/4" scale action figures. Imagine a TMNT line like that, with vehicles and all. I'd go apeshit.

But until then the NECA line might permanently fill any voids I've had somewhere in my head about TMNT toys, and I've been a collector since 1988ish. Maybe '89.
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Old 11-24-2019, 10:06 PM   #5
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With all the playmates figures, Neca, super 7, DC, and countless others it’s a really hard decision. Personally my favorite so far are the turtles from bright idea toys. They give you a great feeling of nostalgia but at the same time feel unique in design.
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Old 11-25-2019, 08:51 AM   #6
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The Undercover Turtles of course!

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Old 11-25-2019, 09:01 AM   #7
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Just can't decide which set though

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Old 11-25-2019, 09:05 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmntfannumerouno View Post
With all the playmates figures, Neca, super 7, DC, and countless others it’s a really hard decision. Personally my favorite so far are the turtles from bright idea toys. They give you a great feeling of nostalgia but at the same time feel unique in design.
I have never heard of Bright Idea Toys before. Can you show me some pictures?
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Old 11-25-2019, 11:02 AM   #9
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The likeness on the Henson turtles from NECA is incredible & they're my favorite design of the TMNT, but I think I would ultimately pick the Nick series Revoltechs. They're so full of personality & really fun to pose.

As far as the old Playmates stuff is concerned, maybe the Toon or Storage Shell turtles.
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Old 11-26-2019, 03:56 AM   #10
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NECA's!

Can't choose between the Henson and Mirage Turtles.
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Old 12-09-2019, 12:14 PM   #11
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For me hands down the 7inch 1990 movie figures from NECA! I’ve wanted movie 1 accurate Turtles, never thought I’d see that happen but I’m thrilled it did. I have been lucky so far and have all the figures from the NECA line, I won’t lie though I have the Sh figuarts set and those are really awesome. I definitely want to get the set from Revoltech cause they look like they jumped out of the t.v. I still hold a special place in my heart though for the Movie Star figures from Playmates.
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Old 12-09-2019, 01:01 PM   #12
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For me, there are varying levels of what I would consider to be my favorite in terms of "best." When I think the crowning jewel, I honestly think of the NECA 1/4 and 1/6 scale movie figures. They look like they just leapt off the screen!

However, in terms of the most special and my favorite time of collecting was 1988 to roughly 1992....especially 1988. When I received my first Playmates figures, it was about the figures, the packaging...everything.

Now is seriously the best time for an adult TMNT collector with all the crazy goodness coming out, but I must hand it to Playmates that the old detailed wacky figures did it best. The new Rise figures and even the 2012 figures somewhat lacked that...even with better articulation. There is something quite charming about the first several waves of TMNT figures/collectibles and those are the figures I will never ever part with.
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Old 12-10-2019, 07:27 AM   #13
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As for the best, I'd have to say it's the Neca Henson Turtles.
As for the ones I can't live without, of course it's the playmates originals.

As for my favorite, which is far more difficult to really say for sure, I am honestly leaning toward the nickelodeon basic turtles. I just think there's so much awesome packed into those figures.
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Old 12-11-2019, 04:11 AM   #14
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I think I would ultimately pick the Nick series Revoltechs. They're so full of personality & really fun to pose.
Nice! I just ordered a knock off set of these on Ebay! I mean, it doesn't read "knock off" or "bootleg" in the sellers description but it's from China and the figures worked out about $15/£10 each, so I'm not expecting genuine.
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Old 12-11-2019, 02:46 PM   #15
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I really enjoyed the Revoltech set. The joints can be a little bit of a pain, but I personally loved playing with them the most. Next to that, another unpopular opinion but I am still in love with my klunky set from Mondo. I think they have the most striking 1st impression when you see them displayed even if their movement is limited. The NECA's are right up there with them though. I guess it's hard to pick a favorite...
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Old 12-11-2019, 10:36 PM   #16
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Hate to say it but i like the current NECA toon turtles better than vintage figs. But of course the NECA ones can't replace everything as i still like the vintage giant turtles.
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Old 12-12-2019, 12:42 AM   #17
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Neca. The Henson Raphael I have on my Desk is just gorgeous to look at.
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Old 12-12-2019, 02:46 AM   #18
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Hate to say it but i like the current NECA toon turtles better than vintage figs. But of course the NECA ones can't replace everything as i still like the vintage giant turtles.
That being said, i think i'm beginning to realize what i like and don't like therefore i am considering downsizing my collection.
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Old 12-12-2019, 05:49 AM   #19
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That being said, i think i'm beginning to realize what i like and don't like therefore i am considering downsizing my collection.
Exactly what I did. I sold all my vintage Playmates stuff. It's crap compared to Neca. Screenaccuracy is very important for me. I also decided to collect only the core and personal must haves. For example Leatherhead is a must have but I don't need Metalhead. Don't want to fill more than 2 cabinets (with risers in it) so I got 3 lines per shelf.

To answer the main question: my favorite ones are the Neca 1:4 Turtles. Really the holy grail in the collection and eyecatching. So much expression.

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Old 12-12-2019, 07:44 AM   #20
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Easily the Neca movie figures. They literally would have been my holy grail had they existed when I was kid, but having them now is great too. Literal perfection, in my eyes. I was out of the figure game for a while, so picking up a weapon and seeing a bit of "rust" sprayed on is pretty mindblowing. Stuffed in a drawer, I keep a sealed backup of the Raphael figure, the poor thing. That's how much I love this line.

The only TMNT figures I can imagine topping them would be quite niche, like figures based off of Mirage's City at War or Image TMNT figures with lots of accessories (alternate heads for Raph, stub hand for Leo, interchangeable parts for Donatello, etc). That's pretty pipedream, but so were the Henson figures of this quality.

I'm pretty much good off any other TMNT lines for now, although the cartoon Neca figures do tempt me. Also, it's worth mentioning that the older I get, the more I appreciate the original Playmates line. Maybe I expect less playability from a figure now and I just appreciate the sculpt and accessories more.
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