Your Favorite NECA figures

[Zachatello00]

With ToyShiz and Pixel Dan reporting that NECA's time with TMNT is coming to an end, I thought it would be a fun idea to talk about what some of our favorite NECA turtles figures are. They surprised us in 2008 with those comic inspired turtles, and then again in 2016 with the arcade set, and from there it's flourished into a huge toy line spanning multiple genres/universes. What have been some of your favorites?

Personally, the 1990 movie line was a line that I had dreamed of for years and I still suspect that somehow, NECA crawled into my head and extracted the blueprints for it, lol. In addition to those, I have the "First turtle" sketch inspired figures from SDCC from a few years ago. Those are wacky and fun and hold a special place in my collection.

[italianice388]

• 2008 comic figures were honestly unmatched.
• Then the 2017 TMNT Toon Collector set was a dream come true, with cherry on top from the bebop and rocksteady that came out in 2019.
• The 1/4th movie line was incredible.
• I also loved the Zog figure.

Wished they could have gone further with some Chris Allen figures, some later Peter Laird style figures, and some Ryan Brown style mutanimals, and an Armaggon. Maybe Hasbro and them will work something out.

[IndigoErth]

Only have the Ronin Leo, so I guess he's it.

Really wanted that Lawson Mirage Leo, but guess I can stop hoping for it to ever show up in store and for the price of the others.

My Target claims on the site to have 1 Fortnite Leo in stock and I put in a pickup order. I don't trust single item stock counts so I'm half expecting they won't be able to locate it and ends up canceled. We'll see. If that comes through, I guess he'll be the last for me.

Edit: Yup, that didn't work out. So Ronin Leo is and will be my only and my fave. He's a great figure, so I'm happy with that.

[jestergoblin]

There are so many great figures.

1990 Movie Turtles - These are still the finest looking turtles. Truly remarkable how incredible the sculpt is and paint is on those figures.

Movie Tatsu - The greatest example of how far NECA is willing to go to get a figure made and an excellent homage to the actor himself.

SOTO Tokka & Rahzar - these two are stunning on the shelf. Incredible sculpts, absurdly well hidden articulation (Tokka's eyebrows are genius). They look so good.

Cartoon Granitor & Traag - the two-pack that got me hooked. I had wanted those figures and those versions for my entire childhood. The entire toon line was remarkable for how absurdly deep it went.

Archie Dreadmon and Jagwar - two more figures that I can't believe took decades to get made. Love the eye construction on Dreadmon and Jagwar has been a most wanted by me personally since I grabbed issue #14 back in 1990!

Mirage Shredder Clones - another set of figures that NECA was the first to actually release ALL of them. The Mirage line as a whole has some great figures, but those three represent the best of NECA to me.

Looking back at the checklists, it's wild how many TMNT figures NECA released. The Toon line alone is over 125 figures! Mirage is 75+. Throw in another 60 or so live action figures, then you got Last Ronin, video games and more. It's been a wild run.

[IMJ]

-edit- wrong thread.

[italianice388]

Originally Posted by jestergoblin

There are so many great figures.

1990 Movie Turtles - These are still the finest looking turtles. Truly remarkable how incredible the sculpt is and paint is on those figures.

Movie Tatsu - The greatest example of how far NECA is willing to go to get a figure made and an excellent homage to the actor himself.

SOTO Tokka & Rahzar - these two are stunning on the shelf. Incredible sculpts, absurdly well hidden articulation (Tokka's eyebrows are genius). They look so good.

Cartoon Granitor & Traag - the two-pack that got me hooked. I had wanted those figures and those versions for my entire childhood. The entire toon line was remarkable for how absurdly deep it went.

Archie Dreadmon and Jagwar - two more figures that I can't believe took decades to get made. Love the eye construction on Dreadmon and Jagwar has been a most wanted by me personally since I grabbed issue #14 back in 1990!

Mirage Shredder Clones - another set of figures that NECA was the first to actually release ALL of them. The Mirage line as a whole has some great figures, but those three represent the best of NECA to me.

Looking back at the checklists, it's wild how many TMNT figures NECA released. The Toon line alone is over 125 figures! Mirage is 75+. Throw in another 60 or so live action figures, then you got Last Ronin, video games and more. It's been a wild run.

Good point on Tokka and Rahzar. I'd add those to my list as well, along with the Super Shredder.

Toon Krang and and his cyborg body are awesome too.

[lonewarrior20]

I really love the Channel 6 set.

[Daytona]

I guess I’m just happy we got some new Mirage TMNT. Although I think I’ve grown to prefer the 2008 ones.

The 1990 movie figures are so perfect it’s almost boring. They couldn’t be better imo.

I’m just bummed we’re not gonna see Chris Allan, AC Farley, and Frank Fosco TMNT.

[Autbot_Benz]

All I ever got NECA turtles was movie raph and mirage red shirt Casey

[Powder]

By far, the 1990 Henson turtles, their original 2008 Mirage set probably in close second. I've only dabbled in most of their modern releases, don't have the space or the income for it, but the Archie line has been a favorite. Articulated figures have been on the backburner for me these last few years, but those Archie figures got me to cave on more than a few occasions.

[Zachatello00]

Originally Posted by jestergoblin

...

Movie Tatsu - The greatest example of how far NECA is willing to go to get a figure made and an excellent homage to the actor himself.

SOTO Tokka & Rahzar - these two are stunning on the shelf. Incredible sculpts, absurdly well hidden articulation (Tokka's eyebrows are genius). They look so good.

Excellent points/examples. I forgot about how hard NECA went to bat to get Tatsu, and just how amazing Tokka and Rahzar (and Super Shredder) really are.

[RaphaelinSTL]

Man, end of an era. Feel like I need to do a proper eulogy for my experience in a way. This is actually a bit sad, as even though I've totally run out of room in my display glasscase shelf ... I've loved, loved SDCC and Toy Fair season to see what new stuff they were going to reveal.

The movie line is, without a doubt, my favorite set of figures ... and I include pretty much everything from 1990 to SOTO to TMNT III and the Coming Out of their Shells in that. But with that said, even as far as figures in general ... I only collected NECA TMNT, and it was strictly the 1987 cartoon and 90s movie line with some Archie sprinkled in for Mutanimal stuff.

It all kind of started with me in 2016 when I got that 1/4th scale Donatello as a Christmas gift that year. Kind of reopened this feeling I hadn't had in years, and from there it was getting the rest of the 1/4th TMNT when they dropped online, until eventually getting the 1990 movie figures in the 7-inch scale as a set from GameStop.

I thought maybe I would just be a movie line collector; I wasn't even going to get the 1987 line in stores, even with how incredible they were and how much new stuff they were going to be doing for them ... thought I might go a bit nuts wanting to get them all. But that changed for me in a very tragic way when my younger brother passed away at the age of 29 in 2021. He had the SDCC 2017 set, and just holding those figures in my hand brought a wave of emotion that brought a lot of peace. My brother and I used to go figure hunting and looking, but it was mostly just TMNT stuff I liked to look at with him.

Those 1987 toon NECA figures were the only things I didn't donate, sell, or give to friends, and from there, I was able to gather a collection of 1987 stuff from local toy shops, and then that led to me really loving the 1987 line. In fact, every time I look at my display case, I think of my brother.

Though I really wish we could've gotten an Archie Armaggon, Next Mutation 5-Pack, or more from those "What If" scenarios ... I'm so thankful for what we got. I mean, I was even hoping at one point they'd even release the forgettable bad guys from TMNT III (Walker and Lord Norinaga).

I don't foresee myself really getting as invested in another line, as even the Super7, Mondo, and other company lines haven't been enough to really scratch that retro-media itch that NECA's line did.

A great run and a great time had by all.

2016 - 2026

[jestergoblin]

I feel ancient remembering the 2008 NECA turtles coming out and how we struggled with justifying the $16 price point per figure.

Then being so excited when we got the SDCC mousers, and the exclusive April - and then being teased with the Mirage Foot Clan for years. https://forums.thetechnodrome.com/sh...ad.php?t=24666

And then waiting until 2016 for them to *finally* get released as a NYCC exclusive.

It's an end of an era to be sure, but I've seen NECA lose the TMNT license before and I wouldn't count them out for good.

[italianice388]

If NECA should ever get the license back, there’s so much more I’d love to see them do in terms of artist’s styles.??The 2008 turtles were perfect. I wish they would have officially re-released them. Those turtles were based off of the earliest issues of the Mirage comic. I wish we had seen some turtles from issues 10 or 11 or so, and on, in the Peter Laird style, as pictured. This is ICONIC TMNT. ??



Then, of course, how could we not get some Dooney turtles? A triceraton too would be awesome. His cover for issue 4 is one of the most iconic TMNT renditions of all time, so he needs to be done justice, and we need the turtles in this style. ??



Then, as many of us want, some peak Chris Allan style turtles. A Chris Allan slash would be great too, though the one we got already is close (but not 100%). ??



AC Farley turtles, Shredder, Armaggon, and Slash would be an absolute fever dream. Intricate details and a more mature aesthetic as an homage to one of the legendary artists of TMNT.??



Continued in next post...

[italianice388]

Next, this one might be my bias, but I think Corben’s style is one of the best of the original Mirage run, particularly in his issue “Turtles Take Time”. Man, what an incredible style. Clearly, you can tell I’m a fan from my avatar. But this single issue could be mined for so much. Regular turtles in Corben style, medieval turtles in Corben style, pirate turtles in Corben style, maskless turtles in Corben style…man. The list goes on. I would die happy with these.??



For the toony Turtles, I believe the artist I’m referencing is Ryan Brown, but I can’t be sure. This style was featured on many earlier Archie covers and a ton of TMNT merch in the 90s and late 80s. To me, when I think of turtles outside of the comic, this is what they look like. I wish the Ray Fillet that NECA had done looked closer to this.??



And last, as a little bonus but not an essential, is the cool ass Talbot turtles from the Terracide arc of the Archie run.

[italianice388]

Finally, if NECA picks up the license again, I'd like them to revisit how they apply their paint deco.

When you look at the 2008 figures, the paint deco was subtle and intricate. It really felt true to the cover art. Small, thin lines and washes. Some figures, such as Zog, came close to doing this again.??

But many of the later figures failed here in terms of deco. These were actual deal breakers for me. I would have loved the Mirage triceraton figures, the utrom, the Fugitoid, but the deco was not a thumbs up. We see big blobs of ink, like someone (without much experience as an artist, no offense) grabbed a sharpie and went to town. Maybe NECA was referencing the internal page art, which is obviously smaller and more rushed for the Mirage indie standards at the time, but why would you reference that over the cover? And even then, I believe the Peter and Kevin did it much better. ??

Moving forward, I’d hope they’d revisit their deco strategies and align closer to the 2008 styles. Re-release the figures I mentioned with 2008-style deco that’s more in line with the cover art.

With the image below, the deco on the left I think works. The deco on the right I think is sloppy and not appealing.

[RaphaelinSTL]

As I mentioned in the 1987 line, while I'm really bummed there won't be any more TMNT NECA stuff to look forward to, there is a feeling of "ahh, I'm complete" with a majority of the things I would've really loved to have.

TMNT III figures were a big one to see how they would've turned out, and getting that with a Tatsu was like a personal dream come true. Honestly, across the lines ... there wasn't TOO much new that I would've HAD to have. I guess when thinking of things that still were at the top of my wish list.

1987:
* Lord Dregg
* The Technodrome (preferably just how it appears in the series opening, a large-scale figure as opposed to a playset)
* Mutant Bull
(loved this episode!)

What If Line (Characters done in the style of Fred Wolf):
* Tora
* Hothead
* Pizza Face
* Scratch
* Shogun

Live Action:
* Next Mutation Turtles 5-pack
* Dragon Lord
* Lord Norinaga and Walker from TMNT III
* the Rank
* Dr. Quease
* Silver

Archie:
* Armaggon