Raphael is my favorite Ninja Turtle. Sort of. Raphael was my favorite Ninja Turtle from the cartoon of my youth, but that rendition of Raphael is an aberration. In the original comics (and thus everything else besides the original cartoon) Raphael was the dark angsty rebellious one. (Basically Wolverine.) And so I’m generally SOL on new Turtles stuff since the part I liked the best isn’t ever repeated.
The part I liked second best? Krang. Whoops.
Look, the nine-year-old in me just wants the red guy to be the cheerful dumb-wordplay spouter. His job is to be funny and not in a “he’s kind of touched in the head” sort of way Mikey is. His job is to be Yakko Warner, but as a fork-carrying anthropomorphic turtle.
(Apparently being Yakko is Donatello’s new job.)
And so I picked up the “Classics” Raphael from Laughing Ogre yesterday. He’s kind of massive. See, he’s a six-inch toy, but not six-inch scale, where one inch generally represents one foot. This is too bad, because this means he can’t hang out with anybody but his brothers, who I sure hope I don’t end up buying. He sees eye-to-eye with Batman, and that’s just wrong. But I understand. At proper six-inch scale, you couldn’t get nearly all the joints they’ve packed into this guy. (He’d basically be the size of a G.I. Joe, and I don’t think those have individually-articulated toes and universal-joint thumbs.)
Yeah, all his digits are articulated, and his thumbs additionally so. He’s got some wrist articulation, his elbows and knees are double-jointed so they can bend more realistically, and he’s got balljointed mid-torso joint as well. Not many Ninja Turtle toys can turn at the waist. The only thing I really found lacking was how shallow his neck articulation is. With all of this limb range, it would really help if his head could look up. It kind of makes the whole exercise a little futile.
He comes with a sewer grate with his name tampographed on it and a few footpegs. This is nice because he’s a little backheavy FOR SOME REASON, and his many many joints don’t always support him well, and so the stand aids stability a bit. His hands grip his sais well despite his finger articulation, plus the sais can store in his belt. I do kind of wish he had a swappable head or a different expression. The classic Ninja Turtle 8-shaped grimace isn’t really how I picture happy-snarky 80s toon Raphael. But I understand it.
Of course, if Playmates ever wants to expand their Classics toys to other characters, due to the 6-inch thing, Shredder would be a pretty damn huge toy. I would buy it, but it would be huge.
I would also buy any Krang.
Funny you say that Donatello’s the new Yakko, considering that they’re both voiced by Rob Paulsen, who also voiced…wait for it…Raphael in the classic cartoon!
Yes.
That is in fact exactly why I said that.
You have discovered The Joke.
Ahhh, such wiley critters, those jokes. I never cease to marvel at their skillful use of my own obliviousness.
Have you seen TMNT? I have the DVD, it’s so much fun. Super rebellious Raph.
…I am trying to understand the mental process behind reading someone saying he doesn’t prefer one version of a character and responding cheerfully with more places you can find that version of the character.
And yes, yes I have. I own the DVD. It’s a great movie.
Awe, but it’s so goofy with the armor…
I think the scenes where everyone actually sits around chatting are some of the better ones really. Far less angst in those.
And he has to start angsty to mature!
Quick, someone please write a comment to this review in such a way that I can respond to it without looking like an asshole.
The original cartoon is the only real exposure I had to TMNT…well, I’m not counting the films…and that one cartoon that had space Triceratops, that was cool…but the only TMNT franchise I actively went outside and played was the original cartoon. Then I only wanted to be Donatello, because I understood him to be the smart one (hence the movies failed me). Now I feel the need to revisit Yakko-Raph and see what my younger self was missing. Okay Willis, I don’t think you can asshole this one.
Hi! I hate your faceDAMMIT
You are on a roll!
I remember back at Toy Fair, a Playmates rep said the plan for Classics was to remake the four turtles over and over again in different styles. The guy specifically said if these sell well, we could be seeing more Classics in the new 2012 style, 2003 cartoon style, original comic book style, even first live action movie style…yes, that last one is certainly something I want. 6″ super posable movie star turtles.
The figures are technically 6″ scaled, it’s just that since they’re the only characters they plan on making in classics, the turtles are not scaled against anything else in the line, like a human. So they end up at 6″ exactly.
I would buy a 6-inch hyperposeable Nickelodeon Turtle. I really like their designs, other than my irrational hatred of their three front-toes.
They have three fingers, three toes makes sense to me. I’m really not bothered by it. I dig the designs of the new figures too. I’d love to see them in 6″ form and be super posable.
But movie star turtles would be about the single best thing ever.
Actually, the single best thing ever would be if they made a movie style Casey Jones figure.
As I said, irrational!
“But movie star turtles would be about the single best thing ever.”
but only if they have that same rubbery skin as the old movie turtles.
Traditional ninja footwear has the big toe separated from the others so it kind of looks like they have two toes. That’s why two toes is perfect for mutant ninja turtles.
The current line of 5(?) inch figures is damn good. Yeah, their elbow and knee joints are kind of shallow, but they’re functional, and the sculpting is phenomenal. I didn’t think they’d make each turtle a unique sculpt, but they did.
Yeah, I’d buy a 6-inch hyperposable 2012 Turtle, but only after we’d gotten Mirage and 2003 and live action sets first. We’ve all got our priorities!
I just picked up all the turtles from this set and they’re not nearly as poseable as your Raph above. They are however, totally decent figures. They only major problem is they should have ball joints at the shoulders and upper this for better arm/leg posing. The hinge joints that they have are pretty limited for thier range of movement. The elbows and knees bend well enough and wrists and ankles also have a little movement so it helps to offset the shoulder/thigh problem but like Fryshyguy said it could be better. All that being said I am still going back to get the other five characters even though April O’Neil isn’t quite what I would want her be. I’m gonna get so many foot soldiers~lawl
And that is why they’ll get limited buying from me. Only so many turtles I need, but I’d kill for a movie style shredder and casey.
Comment to this review in such a way that you can respond to it without looking like an asshole!
That aside, Batman vs the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would be quite entertaining.
I think the Turtles would trip and fall into Batman accidentally, and he’d explode.
The TMNT Universe has their own take on Batman. His name is Nobody. He was a member of the Justice Force till his untimely uh.. “death” by giant alien starfish (he was really in stasis for 15 years *lol*). I even have his action figure (he was in the 2K3 series a couple times).
Also, there was an ep of the original toon in which Donatello got amnesia and thought he was Batman. He became known as The Dark Turtle. *lol*
That is awesome. I may have to actually get into TMNT now to see that. Giant alien starfish DO improve everything.
Hnn. Funny. I always felt Raph was the ‘dark rebellious one’…to the extent one can be in an 80s cartoon.
“Raphael is cool, but rude!”
That’s totally rebellious!
(Am I agreeing or not? Am I being sarcastic or not? Goddammit I can’t even tell.)
give me a break
First, I was disappointed that someone got a “cool, but rude” comment before me, but your reply made it worth it. (theme song stuck in my head now)
How much is the ogre selling these for and do they have any Rapheals left?
About $20. When I bought my Raph, they replaced it with another on the pegs. Dunno how many sets they have.
If you need a break, I suggest Michelangelo.
He’s a party dude.
Boy them turtles sure are cool! I fully agree with everything Willis is saying!!!
I always found it funny how the 80s cartoon refused to ever shorten the Turtles names. I guess they figured that kids really, really love renaissance painters.
Naturally! Who doesn’t love them some Renaissance painters?
The turtles were the same in personality about as far as an ’80s cartoon aimed at boys age 6-11 could be. Those shows really didn’t do “dark and angsty”. So, they played up Raph being a smart-aleck. I think there’s always been a little of that there, but it wasn’t as prominent. Check the live action movies for a good combination of the two (Danny: “Don’t shoot!” Raph: “I don’t think it’s loaded, kid.”) So, with Raph as the smart-aleck, Mikey got shifted to being the laid back surfer guy, or “party dude” as the opening theme put it.
My exposure to the TMNT cartoons was rather odd, I watched the original cartoon when I was little (under 5) but I didn’t really remember it. Then I moved to Singapore for 5 years in the early 90′s where they didn’t have it.
Then I got into the 2003 series much later in life and loved it, and using the power of the internet I then watched the entire original cartoon online.
As such, I love both cartoons equally, but for different reasons. Also, for obvious reasons I feel that Turtles Forever is THE BEST TURTLES MOVIE EVER. The only problem is that you can’t show it someone without them having seen the whole 2k3 series first, or else it’s strange and makes no sense at all.
I gotta say, that is an awesome Raph toy though, but Willis is right he should be like 5 inches tall at 6 inch scale.
I had seen very, very little of the 2k3 series, but I understood Turtles Forever perfectly.
The 2k3 series has my absolute favorite incarnation of the Shredder.
2003 Shredder is awesome.
I also like 2003 Krang, though I could certainly understand some fans not liking him. (For the uninitiated, he was a background Utrom who got a few lines in a handful of episodes, and generally came out looking a bit of a boob.)
as far as scale goes, these figures match up with the 8″ thundercats classics okay. too bad that line only consisted of lion-o and tygra.
i’m passing on these toys for now. they’re great toys, but i can’t justify starting a toy line if the heroes don’t have any villains to fight. i’m going to need some in-scale foot soldiers at the very least. for now, i’m happy with the other new turtles line. but even that line’s inconsistent articulation keeps me from fully enjoying it.
Yes. Every figure outside of the four turtles is horrible. Shredder and the Foot Soldier make up a little in aesthetic but Krang, Splinter and April are just plain terrible.
It blew my mind a little when I found out about the “red sky” episodes of the original ‘toon.
Laughing Ogre is the best comic shop ever! I’ve been a customer at their various locations for a long time
Gonna be real; here I prefer Raph with charateristics besides snarky 4th Wall Breaker.
It’s one of the reasons I prefer the 2003 carrtoon The Turtles actually have personalities.
Funny, I thought the original series turtles had very overtly distinct and obvious personalities. Slightly simplistic personalities, perhaps, but certainly there and distinct enough that they weren’t ever going to be mistaken for one another.
Agreed. Leo was definately the leader, Raph was the fighter, Everyone looked to Don for technical know-how and Mike was always there to cheer everyone up. The storylines were never complicated enough to necessitate deeper character development but the turtles had distinct personalities.
While I was reading that review, I remembered the Turtles theme of the cartoon. And that reminded me of Mike because of that one SP! strip.
Thank you for connecting the catchy and awesome title theme of an 80ies-cartoon to a very dark-humoured joke, Willis.
That moment that you realize, after opening Raphael, that he’s MISSING his sewer grate base.
>_<
“he’s got balljointed mid-torso joint as well. Not many Ninja Turtle toys can turn at the waist.”
Okay, I’m trying to visualise how that even works. Does he twist within the shell? Does the shell move to the side? Something else? I MUST KNOW!
I’ve seen some Youtube videos of this part in action. The bottom sections of his front shell are separate from the top ones. Also, the back shell is only attached at the top.
I am also more used to Raphael being the Yakko. I actually know very little of the different TMNT versions besides the original cartoon, the first couple of movies, and the toys. I loved the toys. Mostly. After a while they just seemed to make them as ugly as possible.
Ace Duck? Fugitoid? Triceraton? METALHEAD! All awesome. Same with the manta and gecko guys, etc. Scummbug.Even Mutagen Man. Pizzaface, not so much. Wingnut and Screwloose, meh… and that wierd giant mosquito vehicle… And look at the difference between Genghis Frog and Napoleon Bonafrog. (Too bad we never got the other two frogs!) Plus, what was with the little non-mobile sidekick statuettes?
Leatherhead always bothered me, too. On the cartoon he was this big, badass gator-man… and in the toy he’s this crouching short-arse who can’t stand up straight. So much potential….
So, yeah, much as I love the TMNT as a whole, and the endless array of characters from the old toy line… I’m a little iffy on the newer stuff, I guess.
No group picture of all the turtles? I am disappoint.