Musical Mutagen Tour

Musical Mutagen Tour

NECA - SDCC Exclusive

San Diego Comicon was killed by Coronavirus, but that doesn’t mean you’re immune to the symptoms of action figure exclusive madness.  Three years running now, NECA has been making fans pull hair out and weep in a matter of seconds and a fury of refresh button clicks.  I have been one of the lucky ones, scoring both Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie packs and now...the Coming Out of Their Shells Tour!  Er...Musical Mutagen Tour?  What?  Aren’t copyrights/licensing rights just full of surprises?

This set of four turtles is definitely a unique time capsule of strange embarrassment.  Not the franchise’s proudest moment...the beginning of the end, really.  Moms hated all that ninja-ing and nunchucks nonsense, so how about we have them play instruments and sing?  How are they playing those guitars with only three jumbo pickle-sized fingers?!

Who am I kidding...I was there, and I ate it up!  I got the promo cassette tape and poster from Pizza Hutt and was ready to soft rock!  My loving parents suffered through the stage show and bought me and my sister some souvenir bandanas, too.  If you didn’t get to live it, you can watch the whole thing on YouTube, if you dare.  Some things are best left in the past...

Anyway, for better or worse, these figures look great.  Oh those creepy, Showbiz Pizza quality eyes and mouths!  NECA has faithfully brought them to life, complete with hinged jaws.  

The bodies are appropriately shared by the earlier movie figures, but you get all new sneaker feet, multiple hands, cloth leg warmers, cloth jean vests, attached microphone headsets, and “Kiss” inspired star and swoosh eye things for Mike and Leo.  

You also get a “pizza” for them to hand toss...in a game of frisbee.  I think it is supposed to be one of those things they throw to the crowd, anyway.  If it is an actual pizza, it looks as crappily appetizing as Papa John’s.

Let’s check out those instruments:  two guitars, a keytar, a saxophone, and an electronic drum kit.  Raph played sax in show, but I never felt that appropriate.  Contrary to popular belief, the saxophone has never been cool when it comes to rock and roll.  It works best as an accessory to comedy and goofball antics...which pairs better with Michelangelo’s character.  Raph has that attitude...and needs to shred, man!  (No pun intended.)

I was forced to buy the set through Target (barf) with a convention exclusive bundle of a T-shirt, backstage pass, event ticket, tote bag, and guitar picks.  $25 mark up for all this, but I do like the t-shirt.

The box folds out into a big display stage...one rare time where I will not be trashing the packaging.

Fake track listings.  Wouldn’t be a problem if Disney would just hurry and absorb the Turtles like everything else.  Mickey has a way of getting around legal holdups, y’know.

Posing the characters with some 80s hair band tunes playing in the background was a lot of fun.  Ever wanted the Ninja Turtles to perform Ratt’s Round and Round?  Dreams do come true! Well, if you were lucky enough to be able to shell out (no pun intended) $150 for these.  Like past exclusives, once they’re gone, they’re gone...to that overpriced EBay listing in the sky.

Iron Man 2020

Iron Man 2020

Hasbro - Marvel Legends

The future is now!  And by looking at Iron Man 2020, it missed the geekdom steampunk fad by about five years.  But that doesn’t mean that this Walgreen’s exclusive figure is a dud...you’ll just have to figure out where he fits in your multiverse.

Jagged metal teeth, big shoulder cogs, belt gizmos...all over the excellent Marvel 80th Anniversary edition Iron Man sculpt.  (Sorry, I never got around to reviewing that one proper...but he has popped up in other reviews.) The red and gold are amped up on this edition, and he features artist-appropriate (read: creepy) eyes behind the mask.  He’s also got an extra set of hands for his power effects.

His blast effects kinda steal the yet-to-be-released deluxe War Machine’s thunder.  The small hand blasts are nothing new, but the boot thruster cloud is.  It comes in two pieces that fit together naturally to act as a stand.  This new accessory really does add some value to a mostly repurposed armor.  The only downside to the figure is no alternate Arno Stark head.

Speaking of streampunk, I also recently finished the Crimson Dynamo build-a-figure from the lackluster Black Widow movie wave.  (I wonder if that movie ever came out in Iron Man 2020’s timeline?). He’s not the ideal, classic look of the character, but he’s big, bad, and totally rad.  I dig the shoulder smoke-stacks and the translucent blue cooling tanks on his forearms.  They really add to that Soviet 80s charm!

Also also...I picked up the Iron Monger BAF that missed out on as part of an all-Iron Man K-Mart wave some years back.  (Does K-Mart still exist in Iron Man 2020’s timeline?).  I got him on eBay during the height of Coronavirus hysteria, and didn’t notice the shipping address until I had it in-hand:  New York, New York!  Yikes!! Time for a bath, Obadiah! (Does Coronavirus exist in Iron Man 2020’s timeline?)

 

“I said...”

“MAINTAIN SIX FEET APART!”

More Iron Men to add to the ever-growing hall of armors.  Watch out Batman, that wannabe playboy is tryin to catch up to you in my collection!

Third Doctor Who and TARDIS

Third Doctor Who and TARDIS

Character Options

I assume a past dip in the economy was was made Character Options’ 5-inch Doctor Who classics figures stall out.  But recently, there has been a fair amount of classic series love trickling out as store exclusives in the UK.  I have to sweat a little to find them and maybe pay a bit more for them as imports, but it’s not really breaking the bank so far.  The third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, is my favorite and, having missed the last exclusive TARDIS set, I wasn’t going to let this one go.

The Doctor’s suit and TARDIS deco are based on their appearance in the serial, “The Monster of Peladon.”  Both of his trips to Peladon (Curse of Peladon is the first) are great stories.

The jacket is a dark green, that could be mistaken for blue at first glance.  The same for the shirt, except light green/blue.  It’s not my favorite of his many looks, as I tend to gravitate toward the more flashy lapels, capes, and riding boots.

The sculpt is more of the same...this is my fifth Third Doctor figure?  However, I think the paint on this one is much better, really bringing out his hair, eyes, and facial features.

No accessories this time around.  C’mon...it’s hard enough not to lose the few tiny sonic screwdrivers I have for this guy.  Even if he doesn’t use it in this particular story, I know he has it on him!  And even if he didn’t wear a cape this time, use your imaginations...we know you have the sculpt and it isn’t that much plastic to spare.

I guess you could call the TARDIS accessory enough.  It looks great, but is pretty bare bones.  No lights and sounds this time.  Worst of all, they didn’t bother to sculpt over the battery box and speaker holes from previous incarnations.

The doors still function as before:  push to open, and one has a quick-shut button on the floor.  There is no cardstock backdrop to simulate the ship interior, so you’ll have to print your own.

Gripes aside, the paint job on the wood grain looks spectacular.  Love that lighter blue!  The windows are appropriately dirty, as is the police box signs.  There’s no phone inside, but the signage looks great.

I paid $60 shipped from a UK seller on Amazon.  It’s a little lightweight of a set, but it was the only way to get it.  Probably the last TARDIS I will need, and that’s a relatively small price to pay to get them to keep the classics line going.  Just need a few more companions and I should be able to close the door on this collection.

Masters of the WWE Universe

Masters of the WWE Universe

Mattel

Mattel is selling us the same crap thrice (Original line, Classics) with the upcoming Masters of the Universe retro line?!  However, unlike most double-dips (Or triple-dips) into nostalgia, these figures sport all-new tooling and articulation.  So, while your He-man looks as squatty as you remember in the package, you can actually get him in some dynamic poses with added knee, ankle, head, elbow, and wrist joints.  Cool, huh?  Only one problem...they aren’t out yet!  For whatever reason, Matty decided to test the waters with a bizarre WWE/MOTU mash-up.

Weird, yes, but very fun!  I already jumped back in time with the Funko DC Primal Age figures, so why not?  Plus, who wouldn’t want to see the Rock (coming soon) and He-man cooperatively lay the smack down on the Joker or Skeletor?  As with my regular WWE figures, I’m sticking to Classic and Attitude Era only.

Some of the gimmick mash-ups are better than others.  Macho Man-at-Arms was what really sold me on the line.  Translucent “you-cant-see-me” Faker Cena is a riot!  I’m looking ahead hopefully to some more creative pairings, like a Slime Pit Piper (playset is a must).  If Andre the Giant’s size doesn’t make him the perfect fit for Ram Man...

 

The line debuted at Walmart last December with a special MOTU inspired ring, a standard Cena, and Terror claws HHH.  Even if this isn’t your bag, it isnt beyond belief that He-man might have a training ring like this in the basement of Castle Grayskull...so it fits in just fine with my MOTU Classics.  It even comes with some nifty “wooden” steps with accessory posts to help your warriors armor up before heading into the ring.

Again, these may not be for everyone, but there’s a lot to like at a $15 price point per figure.  If the throwback cards and overall style weren’t enough, you get a small mini comic with each figure.

These are pieces of the first two waves.  So far, there are two more on the way which I will cherry pick from.  Rock, Undertaker/Scareglow are definite locks.  Mr. T and Hulk Hogan are also making their way to Eternia soon...I have the power, brother!

Take a look back at the MOTU/DC mash-up:
DC Primal Age