The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film is one of my favorite movies of all time. I'm not sure if I would say it's a particularly amazing movie from any qualitative standpoint, but it's a reflection of a period of my life in which I was happily entrapped by the TMNT phenomenon. At the time, I especially appreciated the movie because it was based on my beloved Mirage comics, which were usually overshadowed by the omnipresent cartoon. So with my TMNT obsession rekindled by collecting the vintage Playmates line, the Movie Star Turtles (action figures based on the Turtle designs from the movies, of course) seemed right up my alley. Let's check out Movie Star Michaelangelo!
Stats
Year Stamped: 1992
Company: Playmates
Size: 4 1/2"
Price: $4 loose complete from eBay
Packaging: Carded
Looks:
This dude is one of the best-looking TMNT figures of all time. The head sculpt is a great rendition of the Michaelangelo puppet from the movie; the skin texture is nice and reptilian; and the shell detailing rocks, as do the chest pads. I really like his expression too, featuring a fun smile that gives the figure a lot of personality but doesn't try too hard like some of the other Movie Star Turtles.
The paint apps are sharp and the orange mask and knee/elbow pads give the figure some much-needed eye-popping color. Although there isn't a lot of color variation to the skin, some spots were added to contribute to the terrapin realism. Also, the "gleam" in his eyes is a great detail that really makes the figure come alive.
Articulation:
Movie Mikey has only 5 points of articulation: ball socket head, shoulders, and hips. The lack of the arm articulation typical of Playmates Turtles hinders the use of his 'chucks. But the ball-socket joints move pretty well. And the socket design makes it easy to pop out his limbs and neck for disembodiment battle damage!
Accessories:
Mikey comes with a bunch of cool accessories: a Last Picture Pizza Box Shield, an ooze canister, a Celluloid Sausage Nunchaku, two normal nunchuks, two ninja stars, and a Bodacious Belt. The two normal 'chucks and belt are required for any Mikey figure, and the ooze canister is great for TMNT origin play scenarios. But I especially like the sausage nunchuks because I can finally relive that pivotal scene in Secret of the Ooze! "Combat coldcuts!"
Value:
A great, classic figure for the low, low price of $4? But wait, there's more! The figure's complete, too. There's talk of the Movie Star Turtles being re-released next year, but it might be cheaper just to buy the vintage figures. Watch out, though... I've noticed a lot of auctions in which the bandanna ends have broken off the head.
Coolness:
I think the Movie Star figures (along with the samurai movie figs) are the only Turtles in TMNT toy history to have a realistic rather than a comic booky look. For that alone this Movie Star Mike adds a lot of interest to the TMNT display shelf. But the coolest thing about this figure is that the arms, legs, and head are made of a squishy rubbery plastic that gives him a tacky (almost disgusting) reptilian feel. And the rubber makes the arms and legs flexible for ninja butt-kicking action!
Overall:
There's a lot about Movie Star Michaelangelo that puts him among the greatest TMNT figures of all time: an awesome sculpt with a fun facial expression and nice textures; cool movie-specific accessories; and rubbery limbs for more tactile realism and added play value. And as with most TMNT figures, you can get him for a song. Totally tubular, dude!
UPDATE 12/14/2009: My friend Jason Photoshopped the "frontal" pic of Mike above to be more accurate to the Turtle puppets from the movie. He even make a Raph that looks dead-on! Great job, man!
12 comments:
I can't deny the awesome details and fun appeal of the 4 movie turtle figures. And I have to agree they are probably some of the best looking TMNT figs ever made. However despite this, and the fact I had all 4, they weren't even in my favorites group or near it.
I don't know why that is, but I just preferred the toony turtles to these guys. The good thing about them is that their weapons were a darker brown than the toon turtle weapons so you couldn't get them mixed up. However I recall the movie weapons to be more brittle feeling for some reason, though I can't immediately back that up without pulling them out.
Your also correct about the Bandannas tearing off. Other than that I can't recall having any trouble with them, and I agree that the pop-able parts were probably my favorite points.
I wish toy companies would make figures this durable today. You don't get alot of rubbery figures anymore.
Great figure!
I prefer the cartoon's storyline on how Yoshi was turned into Splinter the rat. In the cartoon, he touched the ooze after being in contact with rats and that made him mutate whereas in the movie, the rat became a human size rat and Yoshi had died by Shredder's hand, which is the Mirage version as far as I know.
Great post. I remember when these came out I thought to myself "Do we really need another set of figs of the Turtles?" I was always hoping for weird, obscure, and secondary characters...but now that I look back on them, especially reading this post...it makes me realize how friggin' awesome the movie star Turtles line really was!!!
URS: If you're talking about the Toon Turtles (the Turtles stylized like the cartoon, like this Toon Mike), you might be right about the weapons. I'm don't know myself as I haven't gotten any of the Toon wave yet. But if you're referring to the Turtles from the first wave, those figures had incredibly flimsy accessories that broke easily, especially Mike. One of the things I like about this Mike is that the 'chucks are relatively sturdy. Although I do wish that they had actual ropes so that they would be flexible.
When I dug my TMNT figures out of storage I discovered one of my Mike's nucks had broke! =(
I didn't have any of the Toon Figures, I sorta wanted Vern and Irma! ;-)
No, I never had the Cartoony Turtles. I was referring to the originals, and your right, their weapons were very brittle. I not only broke and wore out their weapons, but their belts often tore on me. So I'm not sure what I remember with these movie figs...as I mentioned I didn't mess with them alot.
Can't believe you got this guy for $4. Movie Star turtles tend to go for big bucks on Ebay.
Yeah, you got a good deal. Loose complete MS turtles usually go for about $10-$20. Nice pickup.
I did get a great deal, but I'm starting to wonder if the high prices of the Movie Star Turtles are be due more to the sellers who think the figures are worth a lot so they set a high minimum bid, rather than the buyers who jack up the auction prices to that amount. Like the Star Trek TMNT figures... it's very difficult to get decent deals on them because all the sellers think they're worth a lot, and set the prices sky high. I could be wrong, though.
I suppose it won't matter either way next year if/when the Movie Star figures are re-released. I'm sure the prices of the vintage figures (especially loose ones) will plummet.
I agree Nathan. I don't see any reason why these would be worth any more than other TMNT figs. They are just as common as most. In fact aside from a a few later released figures, you should not have much trouble scoring any Turtle fig for under $10 bucks shipped, if not less.
Although I'm not fully familiar with the values set for specific pieces, I can only think of a handful of figures that are considered very valuable.
One of the major reasons the Movie Star turtles go for so much is because they are extremely popular with collectors. Their superior detail and rubbery texture make them fan favorites and help drive up the demand. As far as loose figures go, if they are mint and complete they will usually fetch a premium. Many of the mutants that came out later in the series like Monty Moose, Dr. El, Antrax, Merdude, Halfcourt, Sandstorm, Hothead, Hotspot, Mona Lisa, and the entire toon series have picked up a lot of steam with collectors over the past couple of months. Fan favorites like Slash will always mantain a decent value as well. And surprisingly even though the turtles have been re-released for the 25th anniversary, the original series still fetches pretty decent prices both mint in package and loose mint.
Great review! I loved how he was kinda squishy! You hit the nail on the head, though, about the facial expressions. The other three just looked goofy and not in a good way, but this one was spot on! Speaking of the Toon Turtles, I hated those! I remember asking for a specific figure for Christmas and getting one of those and it was a major disappointment. I really hope we get a TMNT Top 10 Tribute like the Star Wars one that was posted previously. So many to choose from...
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