Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Wingnut & Screwloose

QUICK INFO:
Name: Wingnut & Screwloose
Line: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Playmates)
MSRP: $5.00
Year: 1990


Continuing my look at TMNT toys that I never owned as a kid we'll take a look at another character released in 1990, Wingnut!  This was another toy that drew me in thanks to his comic book character feel.

Wingnut is originally from the planet Huanu.  When Krang destroyed his home planet he was sucked into a vortex and ended up on Earth with his mosquito buddy Screwloose.  He is determined to be a super hero and often receives training and help from the Turtles.

There is so much to like about this figure.  From the level of detail to the figure itself or the accessories to the costume design.  This figure is fantastic.  First off I've gotta say I love how his pot belly is busting out of his costume.  Very nice touch Playmates.  His very own "W" logo on the chest is also another nice touch.  In addition to his more obvious bat features I wanted to point out his feet.  I wish I could've rigged something up that shows this overlooked feature, but take a close look at his toes in particular.  How do vampire bats or bats in general sleep?  Hanging upside down from their feet.  The small curved toes allow you to hang Wingnut upside down from a piece of string!

Wingnut's wings are removable.  At first I found that odd, then I realized his actual wings have been integrated in these mechanical upgraded wings.  Too bad his actual wings weren't painted on the back.  So in theory his wings aren't removable.  The story goes that mechanical whiz Donatello created these mech turbo wings for Wingnut.

One of the things about a lot of these later TMNT characters that stood out was the character design.  Each character had a distinctively different look and qualities that made them stand out from their allies or enemies.  Wingnut here is no different.  The designers nailed the bat features in his face - from the nose to the large ears.

 

Wingnut comes packaged with a few cool accessories.  All good super heroes that have a bat theme going for them need an awesome yellow utility belt!  This belt has all sort of cool gadgets on it.  It appears we have some dynamite sticks, an actual bat (maybe it's a boomerang?) along with a few pouches.

In addition to the belt we also have a few weapons - Bat Gun and a Blood-burstin' Bat Bomb.  Of course his mosquito companion Screwloose is also included.

The utility belt has a bat head buckle that unsnaps to put on or take the belt off.  Too bad the belt hides the belly rip on his costume.  Both of his weapons can be stored on pegs on his mechanical wings or obviously be wielded in either hand.  I always liked toys that were self contained such as this.

This figure is another great example of diversity in the original TMNT toy line.  He too can be had for fairly cheap on the secondary market - just make sure he is complete.  Sometimes the inclusion of all of his accessories can drive the price up so be careful that you don't pay too much.  My toy room is under construction as I work on moving it, but I'll have to find a little corner of a shelf somewhere for this guy as well as Muckman we looked at earlier.