When I first started reviewing vintage TMNT toys, one of the first figures for which people requested a review was Metalhead. So by popular demand, here's our favorite robo-turtle! I don't remember much about him from the cartoon, but I definitely remember him as a cool boss from the TMNT Konami arcade game. "I'm going to mangle you green slime balls!" So how does the figure compare with the awesome video game boss?
Stats
Year Released: 1989
Company: Playmates
Size: 4 1/2"
Price: $4 loose complete from eBay (C6, in a lot with the Toilet Taxi)
Packaging: Carded
Looks:
This Metalhead is a bit rough but he's in good enough shape for the review. I love the angular 80's styling of Metalhead's sculpt. No modern curvilinear shapes here, he's all blocky goodness. And like other great Playmates Turtles figures, Metalhead's sculpt has tons of cool little details with nifty robo-joints, wires, panels, electrical work, etc. He even has BRAAAAINS!
The color scheme brings his score down a bit, though. The gray of the limbs works better for his roboticalness than Fugitoid's black/gold. But I'm not a huge fan of the gold vac-metallized torso. I like vac-metallized toys as much as the next guy (perhaps even more so), but because that gold isn't carried over in the limbs or head, his body parts look inconsistent. I think he would have been better either all-gold or without any gold at all.
Another thing to note: his teeth are bronze, which I find to be super-cool for some reason.
Articulation:
If you have classic TMNT figures, you know the drill by now: swivel neck, swivel shoulders, swivel forearms, and ball-socket hips. It's a great range of movement for a figure from the late 80's.
Accessories:
Metalhead comes with Portable Party Pack (not "Portable Potty Pack"), Radical Robo-Chucks, Radar/Foot Blaster, and Utility Belt. The backpack is cool (and it's fun in that you can attach the chucks and radar to it) and the Utility Belt has plenty of neat goodies on it. But the radar, being just a radar dish, is a bit dull on its own. It's a pretty big leap to think of it as a "Foot Blaster", that's for sure. And are the Robo-Chucks supposed to look like nunchucks? They look like handles to a drill to me. I would have much preferred a ray gun or something that looks more obviously like a weapon.
Also, URS mentioned that Metalhead's accessories easily broke back in the day. I can definitely see that. The Robo-Chucks and Party Pack in particular have weak spots that look like they can snap.
Value:
Metalhead is one of those TMNT figures that sellers think is more valuable than he really is. Regardless, you can find him on the cheap. In this case, I paid $4 for an auction that included a loose complete Metalhead and a Toilet Taxi. If Metalhead was in great condition, this would be a 5 score, but he has some significant paint rubs. A mint Metalhead will probably be more expensive.
Coolness:
I love evil robotic versions of heroes like Mecha Godzilla, Cyborg Superman, and Evil Bill and Ted. I suppose Metalhead's not technically evil, but he started out as evil, and that's what's important. Also, his eyes glow when you shine a light in the top of his head. (A trick that I thought originated with POTF2 Jawas. Who knew?) All Metalhead needs to cement his awesomeness for all time are opening panels (see Fugitoid).
EDIT: Another cool thing that URS pointed out is that the forearms can be popped-out and switched with the Robo-Chucks. At first, I wasn't sure if my sample actually had removable limbs because trying to pop them out took so much effort that if they weren't removable, the arm pegs would most assuredly be torn apart. I can't imagine kids being able to do that themselves, so I'm guessing that my sample are really tight from lack of use. Or, the muscles in my upper torso are atrophied from lack of use. Regardless, it's a cool feature, but something more along the lines of Trap Jaw would probably have worked better, like a claw and/or a laser rifle. Also, keep in mind that it's really easy to break the flimsy chucks ripping them out of that socket.
Overall:
Metalhead just eked out a 4 rating. Although the robo-turtle concept is awesome and Metalhead's sculpt is fantastic, the somewhat disjointed look of the vac-metallized torso and lack of cool weapons brings the figure down. Give him a ray gun and a color scheme like this sweet custom Metalhead, and you have a truly awesome figure.
And for fans of the Konami arcade game, check out this YouTube video. That brought back memories!
Labels: Playmates Toys, Retro Toy Reviews, TMNT
5 out of 5 - Simply incredible!
4 out of 5 - Pretty awesome!
3 out of 5 - Cool enough, I suppose.
2 out of 5 - Not quite good enough.
1 out of 5 - Horrific!
0 out of 5 - Total suckdom!
11 comments:
My only problem with Vac Metal figures, is that some lines or figures that feature it were improperly vac-metalized. Causing even MOC specimens to flake. And usually once the vac meta is chipped or cracked, it is almost inevitable for the metal shell to flake away with little to no effort when air and moisture start to invade the underlining plastic, causing expansion and contraction. A good example of this are many Transmetal Beast Wars figures, and some other TMNT figures. I can't say I ever had this trouble with Metalhead, though rashing was common.
But I noticed all you have is the character specs for Metalhead. If you had the entire backer card in tact you would notice illustrations where MH is using his nunchuk in the place of his hand. So you should be able to pop out one of his hands and pop in the nunchuck. It makes alot more sense that way, and explains the more socketed appearance on the end of the Nunchuk.
Of another mention is that there was a variant Metalhead figure released later around 94' I believe. He was a green and gold color with blue accessories I think.
Great pics, and review for sure though!
Alright, I'm not even a TMNT fan and I must admit that this Mecha-TMNT is one cool figure. A roboticized TMNT with brains, translucent eyes, AND a helicopter backpack?! This figure's got it all!!!
Great ominous shot of the translucent eyes in action!
Yeah, the chucks make a lot more sense that way! I did a search for Metalhead carded and found this image. From the illustrations, it does seem like the right arm was intended to be replaced by the chucks. I haven't been able to pull off either arm, though. I wonder if that feature was prototyped, but removed from the production figure. Have you ever pulled off Metalhead's arms? If so, which one? I'd hate to put my back into it and destroy the figure if that feature was removed for whatever reason.
And thanks, Matt! Glad you like the figure!
Yes, I recall switching the hands many times. I still have mine. I'll have to pull it out and see which hand I removed. If your concerned drop his hand under a very hot tap for a minute or two, the hands were rubbery if I remember correctly so may pop out with little issue when heated. If you break it... I'll buy you a new one. :lol:
Hm... the hands for mine aren't rubbery at all, they're the same hard plastic as the rest of the body. I've tried a few more times and it still doesn't seem like the arms can be removed. I wonder if it's a variation... like, they released the removable arm version and then took away that playability in a later release for whatever reason.
If you can, could you check out your Metalhead? If the arms on yours are rubbery, then I think we're talking about variations. If the arms are not rubbery and they can be removed, then I think we're talking about me being a pansy. :)
Here you go sweetheart. ;) This is a youtube review for Metalhead. This is a later release. I had the very first release and recall switching out the hands. So stop being a pansy. :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9hlHhyvL6U#t=1m40s
Awesome! I updated the review with that info. Thanks for letting me know!
Awesome review indeed! I never had this figure nor cared much for it until I read your review.
The Glowing eyes and interchangeable hand are real treats.
Thanks so much for taking me up on my suggestion to review Metalhead! Seeing those pictures of his unbroken accessories brings back memories. I detached his forearm too, although I forgot that it was supposed to do that, since I had at least 3 other "Turtles" figures whose forearms detached by accident. In fact I used to switch Metalhead's forearm out with the forearm of one of the "fleshy" Turtles.
Anyway, nice detailed review with great photos. Your observation about how robots were less streamlined in '80s fiction is something I'd never noticed, but it's definitely true. And your criticisms of Metalhead are valid, although I have so much sentimental attachment to this figure that it's hard for me to think anything negative about him.
Metalhead was one of those figures I never got as a kid. Don't really know why, perhaps because my parents would buy me what they could find, and since I never liked the turtle variants and asked them for new characters all the time, they might have thought that good old Metalhead was part of a variant wave (Turtles as Science Fiction Icons or Turtles as robots or something like that), and they never bought me one.
I fixed that a couple of months ago when I finally got my hands in Metalhead. And then there was much rejoicing. He's not one of my favorites, since I preffer mutants over robots in this line, but still a really cool figure to add.
I actually just took down my box'o'turtles after watching Turtles Forever. My Metalhead is still in fairly good condition. I popped off his right hand as a kid, he actually still had his roto-chuck thing still in there. Of course, now I seem to be having a problem getting his hand back IN. There's a little plasticy nub on the end, but any time I try to force it back in it keeps bending. I don't know if I should boil it or freeze it to pop it back in.
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