Mega Bloks Modern TMNT Training Sets Series Two Review
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2016 was the first year of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle license returning to Mega Bloks. And they hit the ground running. Over the course
of the year, they produced an impressive number of sets for a range of price points. But what was even more impressive is that they didn't
settle for just a couple of sets at each price point. Over the summer, they released all new sets for most of the price points. I've already
reviewed the various series of Blind Bag figures. So now it's time to move up the line a bit and check out the second series of Training level
sets which include one Turtle mini figure and a very small play set with some form of action feature. (You can check out the review of the
two sets from Series One here.) For series two, they came up with sets for
all four of the Turtles.
Packaging - 5/10The packaging for the second round of training level sets is very similar to the first two sets. The only significant change being the omission of a photo of the entire line on the back. That is a great change. The photos on the first series were too small to actually see. So it is better to leave it off than include it and have it be too small for people to actually see it. It would be nice if the material used was a bit thicker as they are fairly easily damaged. But otherwise it is a decent design considering the size constraints.
Sculpting/Design - Raph 1/10, Leo 2/10, Mike & Don 3/10The play sets for the first two training sets weren't all that impressive. And for round two, they have been simplified even further. Raphael is reduced to a seesaw mounted on a small plate. And the seesaw doesn't move freely nor is it properly balanced if it could move freely. Leo's set is nothing more than a plate with a turntable on one end and a platform on the other where items can be placed for Leo to swing at. Donatello's set is almost the same. But at least his has a small wall on the opposite end. It's nothing impressive. But it's a lot better than a simple plate on the floor. Michelangelo has the best play set overall, a street lamp that he is suppose to be able to swing around as he attempts to hit a safety cone. But there's no way for the figure to actually swing around the lamp pole. And if their grip actually was loose enough to allow that, the figure would just fall off the pole instead. There are parts of these sets that may be worth using as decoration elsewhere such as the street lamp and Leo's fire hydrant. But otherwise they are little more than small collections of spare parts.
Paint - 4/10The only paint work or decoration on any of these sets is on the Turtles themselves. And even they are not fully painted. Each Turtle has their knee and wrist pads painted. But the ankle wrappings and elbow pads are unpainted. That's more or less normal for the Mega Bloks Turtles. So I can't really be too surprised or disappointed with them. But the complete lack of any decoration on the play sets themselves is disappointing.
Accessories - 4/10Each of the Turtles comes with their weapon or weapons in the case of Leonardo and Raphael. That's all that Raphael has. The other three at least have some accessory, even if it is just to serve as something for the Turtles to use for target practice.
Value - original price 4/10The training level sets sell for $5 to $7 depending upon the store. If you just want plain versions of the Mega Bloks Ninja Turtles, this is the easiest and cheapest way to get them. But the blind bag versions are still cheaper and have more interesting accessories.
Happy Hunting:The training level sets are the cheapest Mega Bloks TMNT sets aside from the blind bag figures. Which is probably why they are also some of the most common. They are available from all the usual toy retailers as well as a lot of chains with only a limited selection of toys such as Walgreens and Dollar General. The biggest challenge may be finding a store that sold through enough of their stock of the series one sets to receive any new shipments of these newer sets. In my area it took several months before these sets became reasonably common.
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