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Old 06-22-2024, 05:39 PM   #5041
Tuxedo Moroboshi
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Originally Posted by Dask View Post
While Super7 figures are overpriced, I do feel that this set of the turtle bros offers more value (shelf presence and aesthetics) than say, higher priced toon Mezcos (despite the plethora of accessories). I know it's not a direct comparison. Revoltechs and Bandais have also set similar or higher price points on their merchandise.

It's arguable whether NECA (they will probably focus on the 2012 TMNT if they follow an extension of the 'gentleman's agreement') would have done better. These head sculpts are near impossible to beat. Perhaps, they would make better body sculpts, but they would not be very posable if you try to attempt something like the airborne pose that Raph is doing on the S7 product page, it would likely snap (unless, they use the superior articulation found in the Last Ronin synjas), and flake. Unlike, S7, NECA doesn't use pinless joints either.
These are all pretty good points, I think. Both in regards to NECA (which I've had more issues with than Super7, but I'll admit I've had issues with both), as well as Mezco's offerings being a far more ridiculous price in spite of the plethora of accessories (which honestly is comparable to what Super7 used to offer, anyway).

I actually don't have an issue with the bodies outside of the legs probably being a bit too short (which I only really noticed after it was pointed out), but otherwise I'm having a hard time finding much to complain about other than the price (which was expected, anyway, and I'm just glad it didn't shoot up again) and the skimpier amount of accessories (I feel like the people that complained about these having too many hands "won", but they were fools for thinking it would have had any effect on the price).
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Old 06-23-2024, 02:43 AM   #5042
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I guess that's a point right there. They're not perfect, but compared to everything else that's come before, they're the best we have. Maybe years down the line, we might even get something better, but I still can't help but feel like the 2003 TMNT are considered too niche and the favor will always inevitably fall back on 1987, despite 1987 not even being the original version of the TMNT.

Sorry if I sound bitter with that last sentiment. I'm just generally unhappy over how Paramount's treated this version of TMNT ever since they bought the whole IP.
The Fred Wolf TMNT (combined with the Playmates line) rocketed the property to becoming a legit cultural phenomenon overnight, but it was lightning in a bottle in terms of the level to which it permeated the zeitgeist. But I don't think this means the 2K3 series is doomed to obscurity (even though Viacom has definitely neglected it).

I see these as sort of like the Playmates classic figures from 2014-ish. When those came out, a lot of us thought those were the best we were going to get - and they were pretty good at the time. But NECA'S toon line (which had a lot of accuracy issues with those earlier figures) came along and really knocked it out of the park with most of what they were doing. I believe the same will happen for 2K3, though not necessarily from NECA and probably not at quite the same level. If you look at the Star Wars prequels, we're just now really reaching the point where the kids that grew up with that are being bitten with the nostalgia bug, and 2K3 was big enough that we should see a similar trend.

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It's arguable whether NECA (they will probably focus on the 2012 TMNT if they follow an extension of the 'gentleman's agreement') would have done better. These head sculpts are near impossible to beat. Perhaps, they would make better body sculpts, but they would not be very posable if you try to attempt something like the airborne pose that Raph is doing on the S7 product page, it would likely snap (unless, they use the superior articulation found in the Last Ronin synjas), and flake. Unlike, S7, NECA doesn't use pinless joints either.
I don't have an opinion on pinless joints versus pinned joints (people complained about X-Men '97 Gambit's pinned legs, but I thought it was a non-issue), but everything else mentioned here... I dunno. Super7 traditionally has had VERY poor QC. Joints that snap for no reason, figures that can't stand up, limited articulation, extremely sloppy (or sometimes no) paint, just generally poor engineering...

NECA is already overpriced at $30-$35... but 99% of the time you're getting a much better figure for much cheaper.

I know the rumor is that the new figures are going to be of better quality... but I'm not sure how much of the poor quality is Brian's fault versus the factory producing these and/or the team actually engineering them. A lot of people are excited about the double joints - which is absolutely fair - but I've owned enough Super7 figures to know that they still struggle with single joints, so I think it's fair to be skeptical about how well they'll pull these off.

As an aside, I think Donnie's store page is the best example of how I feel like these are sort of soulless and maybe Super7 doesn't really care about the property. Bow staff? Come on.

But also, how hard would it have been to slap just one extra accessory in there? Give Donnie his duffel bag. Give Raph a motorcycle helmet. Mikey could have a couple comics. Leo could have the Sword of Tengu, broken katanas... something. Pizza wasn't a massive focus in the 2K3 series, but you already have pizza sculpted... throw a slice in there.

I guess it's possible they just cheaped out on these... but it feels a lot more like they just don't know the IP.

Last edited by Y2Josh; 06-23-2024 at 02:56 AM.
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Old 06-23-2024, 04:54 AM   #5043
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I'll be optimistic until proven otherwise, but the track record of Super7 has shown us many times over that until you get the final product in your hands, you can't really trust how cool the figure seems based on their promos. Sadly many of their figures have been big let downs for fans, not just in their TMNT line but Silverhawks and many other of their licenses.

That said... I totally ordered the four pack on their official store so I can score that bonus head pack
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Old 06-23-2024, 10:52 AM   #5044
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I'll be optimistic until proven otherwise, but the track record of Super7 has shown us many times over that until you get the final product in your hands, you can't really trust how cool the figure seems based on their promos. Sadly many of their figures have been big let downs for fans, not just in their TMNT line but Silverhawks and many other of their licenses.

That said... I totally ordered the four pack on their official store so I can score that bonus head pack

Fortunately, their ThunderCats line has been very solid and their Wingnut and Genghis waves are excellent, so much so that people are only talking about 'seams'. But, most people have not picked up the latter waves, giving a false impression that Super7 didn't learn from their mistakes.

I don't think quality assurance has ever been much of an any issue for the TMNT line after they've returned back to the previous factories.

I do find these type of comments to be odd, as I have personally had way more issues regarding quality with NECA figures than Super7 figures but I suppose people expect more when they pay more.

Last edited by Dask; 06-23-2024 at 11:02 AM.
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Old 06-23-2024, 10:59 AM   #5045
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As an aside, I think Donnie's store page is the best example of how I feel like these are sort of soulless and maybe Super7 doesn't really care about the property. Bow staff? Come on.

But also, how hard would it have been to slap just one extra accessory in there? Give Donnie his duffel bag. Give Raph a motorcycle helmet. Mikey could have a couple comics. Leo could have the Sword of Tengu, broken katanas... something. Pizza wasn't a massive focus in the 2K3 series, but you already have pizza sculpted... throw a slice in there.

I guess it's possible they just cheaped out on these... but it feels a lot more like they just don't know the IP.
Speaking of soul-less, the toon Mezco Donnie's expression embodies that (lol, I think I brought up the Mezcos like thrice, I'm going to stop!).

But you hit on an important point, I think the most glaring omission would be a spinning Bo staff. There's high demand for the Pizza Club Donnie for that reason alone. Mikey's spinning chuks look really good, so they could have given Donnie a similar treatment.

And, I do think a lot of what they do is strategic. By withholding all these accessories they are allowing for more options down the line when they have to sell variants of the Turtle bros. That's the biggest issue from a Super7 standpoint, they sold all the brothers at once. It's a double edge sword. I would be super excited for characters like Bishop and Hun, but the average 'fan' wont recognize them, hence the reason to repackage turtles again as variants (like what you're seeing with Ninja Nomad Leo).
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Old 06-23-2024, 01:04 PM   #5046
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2k3 Mike, Don, and Raph are on Amazon: https://x.com/toybroreviews/status/1...7Ctwgr%5Etweet
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Old 06-23-2024, 01:12 PM   #5047
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That's the biggest issue from a Super7 standpoint, they sold all the brothers at once. It's a double edge sword. I would be super excited for characters like Bishop and Hun, but the average 'fan' wont recognize them, hence the reason to repackage turtles again as variants (like what you're seeing with Ninja Nomad Leo).
This is an interesting thought and I'd be curious to hear from Tuxedo Moroboshi on this, too. Do we feel there are casual fans of 2K3 TMNT that are casual to the point they wouldn't know/want major characters like Bishop, Hun, Karai, etc.?

To be fair, 2K3 is my favorite animated version of the Turtles by far, but I feel like for the fans of that show that have wanted merchandise forever, there's a solid roster of characters to choose from. Honestly, if they don't break from their "a turtle in every wave" mantra, I don't even know how you do more than one or two meaningful variants of the Turtles while still sticking to the source.

And to the quality of NECA versus Super7, I guess it's possible that I've managed to get all the best QC NECA has to offer and all the worst from Super7... but I've had issues with a handful of NECA figures (notably, Android Krang is very difficult to balance), whereas I've had problems of varying degrees with nearly all of Super7's output, and I'm only on the TMNT side of things with them. I know a lot of people have had pretty serious complaints about G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Silverhawks... whatever that Andre the Giant was.

A bit all over the place here, but I'm also not sure about the scale on these. They say they're 7" tall (and I'll cede that maybe they aren't)... but if so, where does that leave the humans? They have more room to mess with scale on the Playmates stuff, but the Turtles were short in this series. April was a full head taller, never mind Shredder, Casey, Hun, etc.
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Old 06-23-2024, 04:27 PM   #5048
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This is an interesting thought and I'd be curious to hear from Tuxedo Moroboshi on this, too. Do we feel there are casual fans of 2K3 TMNT that are casual to the point they wouldn't know/want major characters like Bishop, Hun, Karai, etc.?
It's hard for me to really wager a guess as to how other people would react. I can only really speak for myself, and I can say I'd be ecstatic for other characters. But I also know that most other people, especially older people, are more about the 87 toon, and what comes with that is a love of mutants. And 2k3 had far less mutants and far more humans, which I can definitely see casual TMNT fans as seeing as "too boring". But I'm not 100% in-tune with what these kinds of fans are really into, so I could be making broad generalizations.

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Honestly, if they don't break from their "a turtle in every wave" mantra, I don't even know how you do more than one or two meaningful variants of the Turtles while still sticking to the source.
Well, I have thoughts on this, too. They already have a Mirage Casey in one of the previous waves (granted, it's mostly just a repaint of the previous Casey, but I believe he has new packaging, too). So, I'm thinking in future waves, if they really do need a Turtle in every wave, they could probably do a bit of mixing. That is to say, a vintage Turtle among 2k3 characters. It could also appease the people that are worried about the vintage characters getting pushed to the side. I know Brian said they'd alternate waves between 2k3 and vintage, though, whatever the case, but this is just one thought I was having to alleviate the need to have a Turtle in every wave. Alternatively (or maybe even complimentarily), there are at least a FEW variations they could do with the 2k3 brothers, such as Fast Forward looks, "civilian" looks (like in the episode with Angel), etc. There might not be as much to mine there, though, but it could be stretched out if it's one turtle per wave.

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And to the quality of NECA versus Super7, I guess it's possible that I've managed to get all the best QC NECA has to offer and all the worst from Super7... but I've had issues with a handful of NECA figures (notably, Android Krang is very difficult to balance), whereas I've had problems of varying degrees with nearly all of Super7's output, and I'm only on the TMNT side of things with them. I know a lot of people have had pretty serious complaints about G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Silverhawks... whatever that Andre the Giant was.
I thankfully haven't had many issues with either NECA or Super7, but I have unfortunately still had a lot of issues with NECA. I had breakage once with one of my figure's accessories. One of my in-disguise Leonardo's swords broke with the blade coming clean off of the hilt. I was able to super-glue it back together, at least. Also, a consistent issue I've had is paint flaking. If I had to list my biggest issue, though, it's that a lot of figures have had joints so tough that I'm honestly afraid I'm gonna break them, so I'm worried about posing them. I've never had that issue in general with Super7 except... for Goldar from their MMPR line. I had to keep returning Goldar because posing him kept breaking limbs. Thankfully, BBTS customer support is, like, amazing! But, ya, other than Goldar (honestly the only Super7 figure I've ever had any QC issues with, but boy did I keep having issues with him despite getting several replacements), I've never had any QC issues with Super7. I've had personal issues, though, in that I don't like that each wave has less and less paint apps, as well as less and less accessories.

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A bit all over the place here, but I'm also not sure about the scale on these. They say they're 7" tall (and I'll cede that maybe they aren't)... but if so, where does that leave the humans? They have more room to mess with scale on the Playmates stuff, but the Turtles were short in this series. April was a full head taller, never mind Shredder, Casey, Hun, etc.
Have the other turtle figures before also said 7"? I honestly assumed these guys would be the same size as those, so I'm not sure what to think.
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Old 06-23-2024, 06:18 PM   #5049
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It's hard for me to really wager a guess as to how other people would react. I can only really speak for myself, and I can say I'd be ecstatic for other characters. But I also know that most other people, especially older people, are more about the 87 toon, and what comes with that is a love of mutants. And 2k3 had far less mutants and far more humans, which I can definitely see casual TMNT fans as seeing as "too boring". But I'm not 100% in-tune with what these kinds of fans are really into, so I could be making broad generalizations.
So... here's my story, and this is sort of the logic I'm extrapolating out to apply to the people who'd be buying these. I could be wildly misguided on this, though.

The bulk of my collection is Fred Wolf, Playmates and the 1990 movie. I loved the Fred Wolf cartoon as a kid, but as an adult... it's nearly unwatchable. Outside of those first five episodes, I really don't enjoy it. But I enjoy all the memories tied to it, so it's really that tug of nostalgia that drives my Fred Wolf collection more than an enduring love for the cartoon.

So my assumption is 2K3 would enjoy a similar draw from nostalgia, but with the added benefit of actually being good (even if the fandom is potentially smaller). But again, I could be way off base here, as I loved the show, but didn't actively collect for it.

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Have the other turtle figures before also said 7"? I honestly assumed these guys would be the same size as those, so I'm not sure what to think.
I don't know if it's a placeholder height prior to going into production, but the rest of their products list the actual height of the figure. I just feel like they're going to run into scaling issues if they actually produce the Turtles at 7".
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Old 06-23-2024, 06:24 PM   #5050
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A bit all over the place here, but I'm also not sure about the scale on these. They say they're 7" tall (and I'll cede that maybe they aren't)... but if so, where does that leave the humans? They have more room to mess with scale on the Playmates stuff, but the Turtles were short in this series. April was a full head taller, never mind Shredder, Casey, Hun, etc.
The listing says they're 7 inch scale - not 7 inch figures. Should be the same size roughly as the previous Ultimates turtles since those are also 7 inch scale. Though scale and TMNT is always a weird battle. I expect them to be around 6 inches as close enough.

The 2k3 turtles actually grew as the series went on - at the beginning, they were 5'2" but by Fast Forward they all grew a few inches. Meanwhile characters like April are 5'7", Casey Jones is 6'1" while Shredder is 6'2" and Splinter is only 4'10".

But if you watch the show, scale is all over the place between characters shot to shot.

I really hope this line does well enough to get us more characters, but I do worry that the aesthetic will be such a departure that it will firmly feel like a break in the line, like new concept figures like Karai and Ninja Newscaster April. But I would love to have Hun, Bishop and Drako in my collection.
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Old 06-23-2024, 08:45 PM   #5051
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From a livestream, they just confirmed these aren't 7 inches, but scaled (and that Kyle even had to resize them a few times), so that answers that.
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Old 06-23-2024, 08:49 PM   #5052
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The listing says they're 7 inch scale - not 7 inch figures. Should be the same size roughly as the previous Ultimates turtles since those are also 7 inch scale. Though scale and TMNT is always a weird battle. I expect them to be around 6 inches as close enough.
I was actually looking in the Details and Specs section where they typically list the exact height of the figure. But I looked at some of their other pre-orders and they're all listed as being 7", even when they're clearly massive, so I suppose it's just a placeholder.

For anyone interested, Jay (Geek. Dad. Life.) has Kyle and Brandon from Super7 on tonight, and he's actually asking them harder questions than I'd have expected. After all the nothing burger Veebs interviews, it's pretty refreshing, and I'm kind of enjoying it. Definitely worth checking out, and there's a lot of good info in there.

Notably, both the front and back of the shell and the belt are a soft plastic overlay and they're hoping to have prototypes at SDCC. And they've answered a lot of the questions people have had here about longevity, scale, etc.

I still don't have a super high opinion of the company (and their QC definitely needs work)... but watching this interview has me wondering how much of that is just due to my generally unfavorable impression of Brian and his propensity for... not being particularly truthful, to put it politely.
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Old 06-23-2024, 08:56 PM   #5053
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but watching this interview has me wondering how much of that is just due to my generally unfavorable impression of Brian and his propensity for... not being particularly truthful, to put it politely.
Honestly, Brian's been trying my patience for a good while now, too. I vibe a lot more with Kyle, from what I've seen, but Brian's credibility has gone down the drain for me.
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Old 06-23-2024, 09:47 PM   #5054
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Honestly, Brian's been trying my patience for a good while now, too. I vibe a lot more with Kyle, from what I've seen, but Brian's credibility has gone down the drain for me.
Yeah. After watching that, I think they should just never let Brian speak again. These two were SOOOOOOOO much better (though I do think they gave a few non-answers to your question and a couple others).

But this is easily the highest opinion I've had of Super7 in a long time, and I now definitely don't understand the sparse accessories because, these two at least, really seemed to know the show.
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Old 06-23-2024, 10:22 PM   #5055
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Highlights from the interview:

Geekdadlife

- figures have already been 3D printed for articulation engineering
- Headbands are swappable between heads
- This is wave 12, back to vintage wave 13.
- “The first action figure costs us $112,000. The second one is a dollar.”
- Prototypes should be at SDCC - and the preorder window got moved so people can see them in person and then preorder them!
- Shell is a soft overlay, have chest and waist articulation underneath.
- Belt is flexible, so Raph and Mike can store weapons on the sides.
- If these sell well, this articulation can be adapted to more Ultimates
- Talking about secondary market… “we pay attention to it. Our sales team does monitor it for re-issues.”
- “This is the beginning of 2000s nostalgia.”
- “I’m 34 and I am the target market for these kinds of toys.” - Kyle
- “They scale appropriately to their appearance in the cartoon” in regard to Cowboy of Moo Mesa
- “We had to do quite a bit of math.” Regarding scale. These are 7 inch scale, turtles are 5 feet 6 inches (this is wrong but I get it)
- Kyle mocked up a sexy Pizza Face as a joke.
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Old 06-27-2024, 03:04 PM   #5056
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Just got the “confirm your shipping address” email for Wave 10!
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Old 07-10-2024, 07:03 PM   #5057
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EE has Classic Rocker Leo, Ninja April, and Mirage Casey in stock: https://www.entertainmentearth.com/s...ium=affiliates
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Old 07-11-2024, 02:12 AM   #5058
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Just got the “confirm your shipping address” email for Wave 10!
So did I, but weirdly, not for all the figures I ordered. Karai isn't shipping for me. I wonder if it's related to how I originally had Rat King in the order, and then later on ended up having them change it over to Karai once Rat King got moved up to the next wave. At least the e-mail does specify that "some items in your order are on the way", so I guess Karai's just gonna ship later for me or something.
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Old 07-11-2024, 10:29 AM   #5059
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So did I, but weirdly, not for all the figures I ordered. Karai isn't shipping for me. I wonder if it's related to how I originally had Rat King in the order, and then later on ended up having them change it over to Karai once Rat King got moved up to the next wave. At least the e-mail does specify that "some items in your order are on the way", so I guess Karai's just gonna ship later for me or something.
Same, I think the system is screwy and she’ll still be in the box. Because my wave 10 Rat King is also showing as “partial” in the system like Karai instead of cancelled.

Curious to see how Karai turns out since the real photo of her shows off some softgoods that weren’t in the render but were in her description.

Also can’t wait to see her alternate head.
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Old 07-11-2024, 12:14 PM   #5060
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Repaint of the Turtle Van coming for SDCC.

lol.
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