Working title for this post: “I’m Not a Toy Collector, I Swear!”
I didn’t know about these Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles BATSU figures from NECA until I saw them over at Top Hat Sasquatch (sup, Tommy?) a few months ago, while randomly browsing old TMNT-related posts. And then last month Amazon had Donatello on sale for only $10, so I picked it up as a Geekmas gift for my buddy Wes of Turtle-a-Day, and I thought it was such an insanely cool toy it took everything in my power not to keep it for myself. (Yeah, you almost got shafted, Wes. Sorry.)
I wasn’t really planning on buying these for myself, but I had a bunch of Amazon credit left, and I’ve already pre-ordered the two video games I’m most anticipating this year (Ni No Kuni and The Last of Us, in case you’re wondering), but something about these just spoke to me. I mean, they’re ridiculously cute, obviously, but so characteristically Japanese. I would watch a whole anime of the Turtles done in this style. I also like that they’ve all got red masks, like in the original Mirage comics. Classic.
I took each Turtle out of the boxes so you can get a closer look, but honestly, I like the design of the boxes so much I think I’ll leave them in there. For now…
Leonardo
Leo’s making the classic double gritted-teeth “TMNT face” and comes armed with his deadly katanas. Remember that one time when he sliced The Shredder’s head off? That was awesome. (Sorry. This blog could very easily regress into The Chris Farley Show.)
Michelangelo
Mikey, unsurprisingly, is making the most ridiculous face. It’s half delighted, half embarrassed–like he just made a terrible joke. One that probably involved a groan-worthy pun. Why does Mikey get to be the only Turtle whose weapon is described as “lethal”?
Donatello
Donatello is more dignified-looking with his closed-mouth, self-satisfied smirk. I love the way his staff looks, with the “tape” wrapped around it. He’s super cute.
Raphael (a.k.a. The Best Turtle*)
Raphael, predictably, has gone full rage-face here. WHY IS HE SO ANGRY!? Probably because those short, stubby sais don’t look like they could hurt a marshmallow, let alone enemies. They are, however, adorable. And this is my favorite figure of the lot, for obvious reasons.
*Yes, I’m trolling you non-Raphael fans.
