Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
NECA - 7-inch figures
SDCC exclusive
It's that special time of year again. Every July, collectors in the fly-over states collectively scream at their computer monitors and pull their hair out over the slim chance to snag convention exclusive figures. Some I can live without. The worst are character exclusives that can leave a hole in your collection. And some are so damn awesome looking, you would do anything to get. I was somewhere in-between on these Turtles based on the 1990 live-action movie. These are definitely as good as it gets, especially compared to
Playmates' recent offerings and the original line's
"real-feel" movie star turtles. NECA started by releasing 1/4 scale movie turtles, a scale I do not collect. They looked great, but I held out, knowing that a smaller scale would make it out. They say the license deal with Nickelodeon/Playmates puts a stranglehold on them, keeping things like this from mass release. I would rather they not do them at all if every fan does not have a fair shot at them. I wasn't getting my hopes up.
NECA made a small amount of this box set available as preorders before San Diego Comic-con, releasing a few batches over a three day period. Each day they sold out in about 30 seconds. No joke. I missed em the first day, getting as far as having them in my "cart" and getting tripped up waiting to log in to Paypal. 30 SECONDS. You can watch some pretty sad
Youtube videos that document the experience.
Raphael has something to say about that...
For the second day, I was prepared. I had logged into NECA early, logged into Paypal early, and was on the product page hitting F4 to refresh the screen as the clock ticked down. Other exclusives offered popped in one at a time with each refesh, then...Bam! Add to cart, checkout, payment...wait...breathe and cross fingers...SUCCESS! Again, I prepared as much as I could, but I was also very, very lucky. I heard it was just as bad on the final day. Now scalpers are selling sets for four times the sticker price. So disgusting that practice comes with this type of transaction.
Anyway, they're here and they're spectacular! They look like they stepped right off the screen of the 1990 film (one of the best comic book adaptations of all time) and they have as good a range of articulation as actors wearing the
70 plus pound, rubber suits with animatronics running down their backs could expect!
You get some additional sets of hands to help convey different expressions, a cardstock pizza box (Tile Game Pizza...copyright law is fun!), a full pizza cut into slices, and the TCRI mutagen ooze canister.
As against keeping toys in packaging as one could get, this box is one I will be keeping. It is designed to look like the
old VHS tape box! Radical!
I'm glad to have these, but I cant help but think of what comes next. NECA is doing a 1/4 Foot Soldier and I assume the Shredder isn't too far behind. The battle is won, but the war is far from over. We'll meet again, awful convention-exclusive game!
That's it for $50. Is it worth it? Eh, depends on how much of a Turtle fan you are. I got a $10 off a $50 purchase holiday coupon from target that helped ease me into it. I wonder how many people are holding out for a TMNT II: Secret of the Ooze version? Pass...the label of TCRI (Techno Cosmic Research Institute) changed to TGRI (Techno Global Research Industries) makes me sick. With apologies to David Warner. 
