Thoughts on 2012 Nick figures
 

Best toys ever. Playmates and Nick have taken design elements from every generation of Ninja Turtle and melted them into one near perfect set of toys. With the best in sculpting and articulation I've ever seen,Playmates has definitely woken up and started producing toys worthy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle name.


As someone who had hundreds of 88-97 TMNT toys as a kid (I was born in 93 so they were on their way out when I was young, this meant I was able to get new ones dirt cheap at KB toys and tons of loose figures by the dozen at garage sales) the 1988 toy line never looked outdated to me until now. When I compare the original figures to the 2012 ones they look very aged and lacking in detail, crude representations at best of the characters they were modeled after. This time Playmates did an outstanding of representing the old toy-line with these, by leaving the eyes white and by going with more classic style head and facial expressions. Leo's head reminds me of storage shell Leo, or the one that talked when you pull the strip through his back. The original comics were also represented well, I feel. Donatello especially looks straight out of a comic book. Playmates went beyond different skin colors for the turtles to make them stand out from each other. Michelangelo is the shortest, and If I remember right he was the youngest of the four, and Don stands tallest at about a head taller than Mikey. The sculpting and design varies just enough between the four to make them all stand out in their own way, while still looking like part of the same set. Donatello looks hardened and serious, Mikey looks happy and high on drugs as usual (as he should look). Leo has a less serious but still upbeat expression, and Raphael looks like he's about to brawl with a dozen foot solders.

They really took into consideration the size of the original figures when designing the new ones, as the new Nick figures fit perfectly with Classic and 2k3 vehicles and weapons. This is awesome because when the 2k3 series came out it did not blend well with the 88 series. The new series looks good next to a 2k3 shredder or a 88 shredder in an almost perfect balance of old and new.

The three toes do not bother me at all and in fact look better than their two-toed predecessors. The turtles have a realistic feel to them, not in the same was as the Movie Star turtles did, but almost as if they way they they are standing they are feeling the effects of gravity like everyone else (if that makes sense).


I am used to things going down hill as time goes on, just as the TMNT were doing. I thought the Ninja Turtles were going the same route as Sonic the Hedgehog and took it as a sign of the times. I was very wrong. These new figures are all a true TMNT fan could ever ask for and make up for every bad figure playmates has ever made in the last 25 years


Between this set of toys and Sonic Generations, the 2010's might be the year of rebirth for the franchises of mine and many others' childhood

tl;dr- they are good
.

Best ever? That's debatable. And they are far from it in my opinion. The Turtles are great, and probably are the best Turtles I've seen or played with (not counting nostalgia, that is), but as for Splinter, Shredder, Foot Soldier, Kraang, April, DogPound, and from I've seen, Metalhead and FishFace, the figures are lacking a lot. A LOT. So while the Turtles could arguably be the best Turtles we've seen, the 2012 series toys are far from the best ever if you include anything other than the Turtles.

I'm convinced the Nick TMNT figures and their recent Classic line are the best turtles since the NECA figures, which themselves were the best since the originals. In my opinion. :)

The non-turtle figures are, of course, a very mixed bag -- bordering on bad at times. That Playmates let some of those designs through after the amazing job the 4 turtles received doesn't inspire a lot of hope in me for the future of the line. The problem is none of the other figs quite live up to the 4 brothers, which is sad.

I feel metalhead is pretty close to being as good as the TMNT. OT Metalhead is overrated IMO, the only thing he really has going for him is the great chrome paint that this new one is sadly lacking. I loved him as a kid, but he's not as good as the new one. That flick missle is a great addition.

I think Fishface will grow on people -- that is, if he is an interesting character in the show. Dogpound is not that bad, he just suffers from lazy paint compared to what his protype had.

Main disappointment to me is the Kraang figure, which has terrible standing problems. I'd love to see what Splinter looked like in a cloth robe like the OT figure had... but we may never know. I think it would be a big improvement.

I like most of the figures so far. My least favorite is Kraang because of the lack of articulation and Dogface looked really bad hanging on the peg at Wal-Mart. I would like to army build Kraangs but I'll wait to buy more when they release an update with better articulation.

Yes, your thoughts required their own thread. This has been discussed thousands of times already.

to clarify, I was only talking about the turtles, haven't picked up the others yet

sorry delete it if you want

He won't be able to point things out if the threads he doesn't like are deleted.

Sorry boss :trolleye:

Loving the toyline thus far! Can't wait to own more!!!

I got a set of these just to check them out. These toys do much justice to the overall Nick TMNT appearance. I really dislike the new look of the turtles on the Nick show with the weird proportions, but Playmates makes them look so much better. They closed Don's mouth so the gap in his teeth doesn't have to be exposed. Why would the smartest turtle have a gap in his teeth? Articulation is great, nothing too unsightly. The front of the shells on these figures are very reminiscent of the original comics. It is weird to see a third toe and I know it is considered to have always been the third secret heel toe but it looks weird compared to all other turtle feet. Why did they make Mikey so much smaller than the other turtles?

I agree 100 percent. For once Playmates inability to create figures accurate to the show they are based on has turned out well. It seems like Nick/Playmates designed them using design elements from previous figures to better blend in with OT, 2k3, and the new toys. When I put the new figures in the Party Wagon they do not look out of place like the 2k3 ones would.

Also Donatello's cold, lifeless stare makes it look like he is about to beat the **** out of somebody, very well done.

or he's just killed someone.... :lol:

Actually he wouldn't have a post count

Agreed. I love having my small but mighty army of Foot Soldiers (They all have back stories and their own reasons for having to join the Foot, one for revenge, one to appease the wishes of his deceased Father, one was blackmailed into joining, and one just need to make the rent each month). I would love to have the same, but since based on the show the gray Kraang seems to be the least prevalent member of their troops I'm waiting for a blue Kraang or Human Suit Kraang to shore up their numbers

This. Was. Funny! Thank You

I love the incredibly detailed and poseablw job on the turtles. I'm also fond of the vehicles.

So far I only have the 4 Turtles and Metalhead. I love them all and they are definitely better than my originals. I do wish all the figures had the same level of articulation as the 4 Turtles (That's actually one of the reasons I haven't and may never pick up a Kraang)

What would be even better is if they had the level of articulation GI Joe and Marvel Universe has had the past few years

Metalhead is neat, he looks much better with a 2k3 belt (they fit pretty well).
More color would have been nice, although the sculpt is new and unique, the paint and colors are generic and low effort, even compared to the original figure from the late eighties.

I don't understand why they left the indentation for the belt yet didn't include one...

I'm loving them so far. I own all of them minus Krang, the Foot Soldier and Fishface (can't find him out here). Looking forward to Leatherhead and maybe some Turtles with pupils to match the show version down the road.

That's how the character is designed. That's not Playmates' fault. Ask Donatello why he built him that way. Besides, a belt would be silly. At least the 2k3 kind, would be. A robot has no use for a cloth strap.

I just wish playmates or whoever, would do a better job with distribution. Why are these damn figures so hard to find? Wtf is up wit dat?

I wouldn't worry, with Christmas 2 months away, I'll bet playmates will release a ton more of wave 1 and wave 1.5.

God I hope so!

I found 1.5 today at my local ToysRus. I was so excited. Dogpound is a really neat figure and I'm actually liking him a lot. I can't wait for the next wave. I wonder who will be in it.

might be heading outta town on Tuesday, so will be visiting SuperCentre Walmart, so hopefully will get lucky

Finally got Fishface, love the figure!

I just wish the nick figures were at least an inch bigger. I don't like how the torsos aren't as bulky as in other incarnations.

I only have the 4 turtles for now, but I absolutely love the detailing of them. That and their heights are different like in the series with Donnie being the tallest. Most TMNT figures I have they're about the same height - so it's nice to see this little change.

I seem to favor the Donatello figure so far - I don't know why - I just love the overall sculpt of it.