Playmates Toys – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem Basic figures review
We’ve already had a pretty amazing year in terms of action movies and animated movies, but 2023 isn’t done yet. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is arriving in theaters Aug. 2 and it’s looking like it’s going to be a lot of fun. TMNT fans have had plenty of options for amazing figures over the years and Playmates Toys is all set to scratch the inevitable itch for Mutant Mayhem style versions of Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michaelangelo.
Based on the trailer and these figures, I can see this being a massive hit with TMNT fans and collectors that just appreciate cool action figures. Playmates Toys was kind enough to send along the Basic figures of the four turtles from the main Mutant Mayhem line. This is the one that also includes some fun vehicles and playsets. A figure playset in 2023 clocking in under $100? Yes please.
Let’s take a look under the shell and see if these ninja warriors are feeling turtle power.
Packaging: This packaging is clearly designed to get TMNT fans of any ages’ attention. The bright purple unique die cut packaging will be hard to miss on shelves and definitely pops.
As the turtles are pretty fun-loving, this applies to the packaging design as well. There’s some playful graffiti with different tags with the Mutant Mayhem logo prominently displayed.
Each of the turtles has a designation — Leo is The Leader, Raph is The Angry One, Donnie is The Brains and Mikey is The Entertainer.
Flip to the back and the graffiti continues with character art from the film used for the cross sell. This seems like the first TMNT project in a while that isn’t going to start out with Shredder as the main villain, which is a nice change of pace although I’m already curious how he would look in this style.
Playmates really seemed to have a blast with the bios. I love how each one is tailored to the turtles with some playful notes like Donnie is devastatingly smart or Mikey’s the Comedian.
A few sentences further explain their personalities and there’s even more notes on their dreams and weapons of choice. Best of all, the bio is intended to be clipped and saved. Nice touch. There’s also a YouTube link for new webisodes of various iterations of the turtles. That’s smart marketing.
Likeness: New movie, new style for the turtles. I like these designs a lot more than some others as there’s little touches to further help each turtle stand out while still retaining enough of a uniformed look that they look like they’re together.
Leo has the classic ninja turtle expression with his teeth exposed on either side of his mouth.
Since he uses two katanas, he’s the only turtle to have straps connected from his belt around his shell. Leo is also ready for battle with a pair of throwing stars to the left of his belt.
He’s got a more intense look with his focused eye sculpt as if he’s ready to rally his brothers into battle.
In keeping with more modern takes, Donnie wears his glasses over his mask, and he’s got a half smile/snarl expression.
Donnie ditches the cross-shell strap in favor of loading up his waist. He’s sporting a fairly big fanny pack with a phone sticking out of it.
That’s a fun little extra touch. His eyes are moderately wider as if he’s just cracked a case of an equation that was bothering him.
Mikey has a ton of personality with a wider eye sculpt and a big smile that wonderfully captures his outgoing demeanor.
He’s got the most simplistic body as he doesn’t have any extra touches. A random half- slice of pizza stashed in his belt might have been fun. The back of his shell features loops for his nunchakus.
Raph has the most distinct look as he’s wearing a half-mask that covers the top of his head instead of the mask that only goes around his eyes like his brothers.
His brow is furrowed like he’s ready for a fight with a gritted teeth expression that suggests he’s set to bring it.
Since Raph is more of the bruiser, his plas-tron (a turtle’s underbelly shell section) has some deep cuts and several scratches. That’s a terrific special bonus for Raph. To further prove he likes to go his own way sometimes, he’s wearing his belt the opposite direction of his brothers. His belt also has two loops for his sais.
Scale: In the film it looks like Mikey is the smallest with Donnie and Leo being about the same height. Raph is taller and bigger. Raph’s scale is bigger while the others seem to have the same mold.
Paint: Beyond the standard color scheme differences — Leo is blue, Donnie is purple, Raph is red and Mikey is orange — Playmates gave the turtles their own distinct shade of green.
Donnie is more of a pale green, Mikey is the vintage turtle figure green, Raph is more of a lime green and Leo is a light green.
For a “kids” line, the paintwork is impressively done. There were no issues with sloppy paint applications, color bleed or fading. Line work for the teeth and the pupils, which are essential in conveying the turtles’ personality are very clean.
One slight gripe. In the trailer, Raph is missing a tooth so it would have been a welcome bonus to have one of the teeth blacked out.
But for $10 figures, the paintwork is very impressive.
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Articulation: This isn’t a hyperarticulated line, but the turtles still have a surprising amount of joints for fun posing even in a basic mode.
I was able to get some terrific weapons wielding poses although they are missing an up and down ankle joint, which would help provide better stability and aid in creating some poses.
The turtles have:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- elbow
- wrist
- hip
- knee
- ankle
Accessories: Each Turtle comes with at least two specific accessories while each come with a baby turtle to show them before their mutation.
Leo has his katanas.
Donnie has his bo staff and headphones.
Raph has his sais.
Mikey has his nunchakus. In a nice subtle touch, Mikey’s nunchakus form a subtle M when plugged into the ports on his shell.
The detail on the weapons is better than I expected with sculpted elements for all of them.
Donnie’s staff should be the same brown as Raph and Leo’s handles for their weapons and the shells for the baby turtles would look better colored as well.
This is the tradeoff for budget-friendly figures so it’s a worthwhile trade-off.
The turtles also come with a rack with other goodies like slices of pizza, throwing stars, hook blades and daggers. Again, these are all single colors which could provide some fun custom painting opportunities for big and small kids.
Worth it? I’ve been stressing the $10 price point as the quality of the figures, the personalities coming through each figure and a solid array of accessories makes for a great value.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
The turtles prove to be a ton of fun with excellent head sculpts fully showing off their personalities and nice small touches to make them a solid purchase for longtime TMNT fans as well. That ankle joint is the only area holding them back.
Where to get it? The turtles are now available at retail. You can also get each figure individually from LMF affiliates Amazon and Entertainment Earth.
Leonardo: Amazon and Entertainment Earth
Donatello: Amazon and Entertainment Earth
Raphael: Amazon and Entertainment Earth
Michaelangelo: Amazon and Entertainment Earth
As an affiliate, I receive a percentage of qualifying purchases.