Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Nickelodeon): Slash

I'm not the biggest TMNT fan in the world, but I was alive and young when the turtles first hit and made a splash in popular culture. The original toy line only held my attention briefly before large transforming robots quickly took over, but I remember enough about the classic toys and characters to still have some what of a connection.

Keeping an eye on the current Nickelodeon series of toys, every once in awhile there would be a new figure that I would deem worthy of purchase. If nothing else it would give me new review fodder for the blog. Well when Slash was released I knew he was one I should pick up.

This version of Slash doesn't look as mean or terrifying as the original, but I still find him fascinating. Gone is the hunched over, snarly teeth evil looking turtle; only replaced with a large, bulkier version with a huge underbite with a spiked mace for a weapon.

As you can see on the back of the packaging, the roster for each side was really starting to get rotund by the time Slash saw release in 2014.

Slash is a turquoise-ish blue turtle with some girth. He's got some great design all over, but especially his shell. Articulation on these modern TMNT figures leaves a lot to be desired, and Slash is no different. You can move and pose his arms at the shoulders and his legs at the waist. Movement is limited however so don't expect to pull off many striking poses.

The original Slash had weapons similar to the other turtles (katana, sai), but this newer version comes packed with just one weapon; a large black spiked mace.

The back of Slash's shell is very rigid and features some great detail and texture. Even the edges of the shell are ragged and "sharp". To me this is the one aspect of the figure that makes him look like the evil bad guy he is supposed to be.

I'm not sure what to make of the face sculpt. The large jaw and huge underbite gives him a dopey look in my opinion. You can also argue that this makes him fall into that "stupid but strong" category that villains often get lumped into.

Slash does have a few short comings, but it's one of the few things that I deemed worthy of purchase. Now if you're a hardcore Turtles fan then I'm sure you've already bought this. If not and you want to add him to your collection, finding these 1st release at retail may be a little tougher. Worry not! There is a new series current on store shelves (1st quarter 2015 when this was written) where the figures have interchangable limbs. Slash is a part of this series and when he has his own limbs, looks identical to this release.