Mega Bloks Modern TMNT Leo: Shredder Showdown Set Review
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The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle license seems to have done quite well for Mega Bloks in its first year if the sheer number of sets
released is any indication. Seriously, for a time in the fall it seemed like new products were showing up daily. And while most
of them seemed pretty interesting, there were a few released towards the end of the year that seemed more like filler. This set,
Shredder Showdown seems like just that. It has the Shredder on a motorcycle facing off against Leonardo on a modified version of
his patrol buggy. It's not the worst idea for a set. But Shredder doesn't ride a regular motorcycle and we've already gotten all
of the patrol buggies for the Turtles. So I'm not exactly sure what this set is meant to offer.
Packaging - 6/10The box for the Shredder Showdown set has the same basic design as all of the other sets I have reviewed so far. It looks good. But after repeatedly complaining about the boxes being too small and not having enough room for all of the artwork, now I'm suddenly faced with a box that seems far too large for what is suppose to be inside. The larger size does have advantages. The box itself is made of much thicker material than the smaller sets which makes them less prone to damage on the shelf or in storage. But if they purposely made the box bigger than it needed to be in order to make it look like it is worth more to potential buyers while sitting on the shelf, that's not a great sign for how they treat their customers.
Sculpting/Design - 2/10There are basically four different parts to this set: two figures, Leo's go kart and Shredder's motorcycle. The figures are nice, other than my Shredder missing one claw. But they also are just slight repaints of the same molds that are available in multiple other sets. Leo's go kart is a beefed up version of the patrol buggies. It's slightly larger. There is a bit more complexity to the build, especially for the engine on the back. But other than adding an actual seat, it doesn't add anything significant that the individual buggies have and lacks the combining feature. Finally there is the motorcycle. On its own, I really like the motorcycle. It looks much more realistic than the motorcycle that came with the Lego Karai Bike Escape set or the huge Dragon Chopper that they produced. But when you put the Shredder figure on it, it looks comically small. It looks like Shredder stole some kid's minibike in order to escape. That's quite disappointing. The motorcycle is the one unique part of this set. So having it fall short of expectations really hurts the set overall far more than it should in my opinion.
Paint - 4/10The color choices and paint/decals for most of this set is decent. The figures have the usual amount of paint work for the line. I have to admit that the black hands for Leo are a fun idea since it looks like he is wearing driving gloves. The motorcycle is a bit dull. The grey color used makes it look unpainted. Black would have been a much better choice. The flag also has two issues. It has a Foot Clan symbol on it, but only on one side. And the graphic for the symbol itself is made to look like the flag has been slashed. But the actual flag isn't damaged. So the Foot symbol just looks strange, to the point that it took me a few moments to realize what it even was. Finally there is Leo's go kart which seems to have been pieced together from at least half a dozen other different vehicles. Seriously, I don't think there are any two areas that actually match. It's not as ugly as Michelangelo's patrol buggy, but it's still ugly.
Accessories - 5/10The accessories for this set are pretty basic as well. Leo has a pair of swords. Shredder has a pair of claws, or at least he is supposed to. My set is missing one claw. There is also a projectile launcher for Shredder, the same one as is included in some of the other sets but with a pin to make it handheld. It's a bit unwieldy for the figure to hold. Finally Leo's go kart has the same pizza disk launcher as was on Michelangelo's patrol buggy set and a pizza to launch from it. All of that is fine but quite basic. I was left wishing that the set had some little extra or extras.
Value - Original Price 3/10The Shredder Showdown set sells for $20. That's not a horrible price given what the set comes with. But with the exception of the motorcycle, everything that is included in the set is available in other sets. And in the case of the patrol buggy, the individual set is a much better version. And the motorcycle certainly doesn't justify buying the set. So I'm just left with the feeling that there isn't really any good reason to buy this set over Mega Blok's other releases.
Happy Hunting:This set was a relatively late addition to the Mega Bloks TMNT line up for 2016. And it wasn't as commonly available as most of the other Mega Bloks sets. I ordered my sets from Amazon.com. And online sites seem to be your best bet for finding it. But if you do want to track the set down and add it to your collection, you should do so quickly as the rebranding of the Mega Bloks brand to Mega Construx means that the sets from 2016 are being cleared out of inventory.
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