Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Basic Assortment Series 2 & 3 Review
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I'm a couple of years late with this review. So I'm going to make this short. But as long as I was finally getting around to opening these figures
and taking photos, I wanted to also add a few of my thoughts about them as well.
Packaging - 7/10I liked this packaging design when they were first released. And I still do. It works well both stylistically and on a practical level. My one complaint which I didn't cover with series one is the addition of additional banners and stickers to the front of the bubble. There's already an insert at the bottom and name banner on the right side. So when you add stickers for Pizza Points or to announce the action feature and it starts to look crowded pretty quickly.
Sculpting - Foot Lieutenant 4/10, Bug Bustin' Raph, others 7/10The sculpting for these figures is pretty solid. Alberto has the most ambitious sculpt. And it has a lot of nice detail to it. With the exception of the Bug Bustin' Turtles, the various Turtle variants don't differ that much from the first series figures. They did have to bulk up some of the Battle Shell Turtles a tiny bit to have enough room in the shells for storage. I'm split on the Bug Bustin' Turtles. I wasn't thrilled with Leo as there didn't seem to be much detail. But then again, if he is suppose to be wearing a shell tight suit the sculpting makes sense. Meanwhile Bug Bustin' Raph has some nice costume details for the arms and legs. But the rear shell was basically omited completely. The backpack accessory covers that issue which would be fine if the backpack wasn't removable. But it is completely removable. And it looks ridiculous when it is removed. Finally there is the Foot Lieutenant. The figure doesn't look that bad. But as I was looking at it closer I began to realize that I couldn't tell if I was looking at parts of the character's body or his outfit. And if that isn't clear, something is very wrong.
Paint - Alberto 7/10, Foot Lieutenant 5/10, Bug Bustin' Leo 4/10, Bug Bustin' Raph 3/10, others 6/10There's not a lot to say about the Battle Shell Turtles or the two extra versions of Donatello. The paint work is more or less the same as we saw with the first series. That's decent, but not overly impressive. The one issue worth noting is that the shoulder straps for Battle Shell Donatello are a different color on the front and the back which seems a bit lazy. The Foot Lieutenant has a reasonable amount of paint work. But as with the sculpting, there isn't enough there to clearly define what is character and what is outfit. Alberto has the lion's share of the paint work. The face looks great. But there are still quite a few unpainted details on the coat. The two Bug Bustin' Turtles have the least amount of paint work. Bug Bustin' Leo gets away with the limited paint work thanks to them being able to cast different parts in different shades of blue. Bug Bustin' Raph has about the same amount of paint work, but is such a large figure that it's hard to look past the large areas of unbroken red.
Articulation - Alberto 3/10, Bug Bustin' Raph 5/10, others 6/10The articulation for these figures is pretty good. The Turtles have twenty three points of articulation which includes rotating and hinged joints at the shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles and rotating joints at the wrists and neck. They don't quite reach the level of the likes of Marvel Legends. But they don't feel overly stiff either. The Foot Lieutenant lacks the wrist and ankle articulation due to the slim sculpts in those spots. But he does have a waist joint and better range of motion for his neck. Bug Bustin' Raph has all the usual articulation, but the outfit does restict some of the movement. Finally there is Alberto. With fifteen points of articulation including the same joints for the shoulder, elbows and hips, he has plenty of articulation. But the range of motion on the elbows is very limited. And the stubby little legs, just getting the figure to stand firmly is tough.
Accessories - Spider Shell Don 8/10, Jet Pack Don & Bug Bustin' Leo 7/10, Bug Bustin' Raph & Alberto 2/10, others 6/10The Battle Shell feature, the Battle Shell Turtles should give the figures lots of room for all kinds of extra weapons and accessories. But then they got rid of the weapon storage for them. So instead of stuffing their shells with extras, they come with foldable versions of the normal weapons and just one or two extra weapons. It's nice to have something different, but I was really hoping for an arsenal. The Foot Lieutenant comes with three different weapons including a nice translucent weapon with a painted handle. The one let down in series two is Alberto who comes with a single slice of pizza and a club. Almost as bad in series three is Bug Bustin' Raph who just has his backpack and helmet. The backpack is removable, but the figure looks ridiculous without it. So you not likely to ever want to remove it. And the helmets for both Bug Bustin' Turtles are pretty poorly designed. But Raphael's is the worst by far. They may as well just give him a bucket to put on his head. Bug Bustin' Leo's helmet is a bit better. And his backpack can be removed without the figure seeming unfinished. Plus they gave him a couple of Nano Clix versions of himself. I don't know if they have any relavance in the cartoon or are just a bonus. But I appreciate them either way. Donatello with Jet Pack comes with his jet pack and a bo. The bo is underwhelming, but the jet pack is cool. And that leaves Donatello with spider pack, the best of both series. He comes with not only the spider arm backpack that gives him four partially articulated arms, but also his bo staff, a blow torch and a wrench, all of which can be held in either the figure's hands or by the arms of the spider backpack.
Value - Donatello with Spider Shell 8/10, Alberto & Bug Bustin' Leo 5/10, Bug Bustin' Raph 4/10, others 6/10One of the best things about Playmate's Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle line which they don't get enough credit for, the price. At full retail these still sold for just under $10. For a modern action figure that's quite cheap. The Battle Shell Turtles probably aren't worth buying if you already have the series one versions. But if you passed on those, these can easily fill that gap and offer a nice little bonus. Alberto and the Foot Lieutenant are not quite as nice of figures. But the fact that they add new characters to the line up more than makes up for that. Bug Bustin' Leo and Raph are interesting variants, but if there were any figures that I could pass up in this line, they would be at the head of that list. Finally there are the two Donatello variants. And unfortunately they are both the best figures in the two series and the hardest to find.
Happy Hunting:Alright, I'm a bit late with this review, like three years late. So at this point, your only hope to find these figures is on the secondary market. Fortunately the demand for them isn't that great yet, so they seem to be available fairly easily. The only one that might be more costly is Donatello with Spider Shell. But I was able to find even him on eBay for under $30.
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