TMNT Mini Mutants Leo VS Raptor set
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These days, most toy fans automatically head to stores like Walmart, Target or Toys R Us to get their plastic fixes. And when you combine their discount
prices and larger selection, that is understandable. But if those are the only stores you shop at, you are inevitably going miss out on a few rare
gems and oddities. One such item is the Mini Mutants Leo VS Raptor set that was released last year. The only question is whether the set will qualify
as a gem, or just odd.
Packaging - 6/10This set continues to use the same graphics and packaging design from the TMNT movie. I like the overall design. But it would have been nice if they had gone the extra mile to design some graphics to go with the Paleo Patrol theme. The back of the card shows Leo along with the fully assembled Raptor figure. There are also images of the other Paleo Patrol Mini TMNT on the bottom and a brief paragraph which does nothing to explain the set.
Sculpting - 6/10Both of these figures reuse existing sculpts. Leonardo is of course the same as the recent Paleo Patrol Leonardo from the second series of Mini Mutant figures. It is a pretty detailed sculpt for such a small figure. Unfortunately the details aren't very sharp. They included most of the features of the full size Paleo Patrol Leo, but at this scale, it becomes very difficult to make out what the features are suppose to be. Things like the skull for the left knee pad end up being little more than large blobs. The detail isn't a problem for the Raptor of course because its is identical to the full size figure from the Paleo Patrol series. But scale is a problem. It towers over a mini mutant figure, so much so that at first glance you would think it was suppose to be a t-rex instead of a raptor.
Paint - 5/10The paint work on both figures is pretty good, particularly the raptor. While there isn't a lot of paint work on the raptor, the paint for the eyes, teeth and tongue is enough to make the figure look good. Considerably more work was put into Leonardo, but not enough. They still overlooked the shoulder pads. Ideally I would love to see the figure with all of the details, down to the ropes holding the knee pads, fully painted.
Articulation - 5/10Leonardo has seven points of articulation. There are rotating joints at his hips, wrists, shoulders and neck. There have been other figures in this scale with more articulation. But for such a small figure, seven points of articulation is enough. And compared to the raptor, it is down right impressive. While the raptor has a hinged jaw, rotating shoulders and hips and a rotating tail, all but the tail joint are connected as part of the action feature which causes the jaw to close and arms to move when you move the legs. So the only free moving articulation is the tail joint. And rotating a tail that sticks almost straight out is pointless.
Accessories - 5/10The set comes with all of the accessories for both figures. For Leonardo, that includes his two swords and the removable sheaths to hold them. For the Raptor, you get three pieces of armor to cover its head, body and tail and two ankle chains. It's nice that they included everything, but with no mini mutant Savanti Romero I keep wondering who it is that is suppose to have captured the raptor and chained it up.
Value - 8/10The Leo vs Raptor set sold for $5. Considering that the Raptor alone sold for that much several years ago, before the price jump that accompanied the TMNT movie, $5 for a basic size figure plus a Mini Mutant figure is a very good deal. And when you add to that the fact that this is the only actual dinosaur figure to be released to go with the Mini Mutant Paleo Patrol Turtles, it is certainly well worth picking up the set if you are a fan of the Mini Mutants toys. It's too bad that they didn't make additional sets with the triceratops and pterodon as well, particularly since those figures would have fit in with the Mini Mutant figures even better in terms of scale.
Happy Hunting:The Leo VS Raptor set isn't marketed as an exclusive, but to the best of my knowledge the only store that carried the set was Family Dollar. If you've never heard of Family Dollar, it is a chain of discount/close out stores. While the set first showed up months ago, I still see the set from time to time when I stop into the local stores.
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