Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - Leonardo

 A new TMNT animated movie is just around the corner and with that comes a new plethora of toys. While I'm not the biggest fan of the Turtles, the look of these figures immediately captivated me. While the animation style of the upcoming Mutant Mayhem movie doesn't appeal to me, the character designs look great, especially in plastic form. 

Finally we'll take a look at Leonardo, "the leader". While Raphael is my favorite turtle, I think Leonardo is the best overall looking figure in this new Mutant Mayhem series.

Packaging is your basic blister card, the bubble show casing the character and their included weapons and accessories. The back of the card has a small bio card as well as a cross sell of the other figures included in the initial wave.

Playmates Toys took a less is more approach to these figures. What I mean by that is the paint apps are minimum, which helped keep the price point to just $10 per figure. There is some detail sculpted into the figure, such as scars on the chest or the intricate pattern to the turtle shell on the back. Blue paint was added to the bandana, elbow/knee pads and bandages around the wrists. The belt is removeable and has holsters on the rear to store his katana weapons. I think Leonardo has the best overall look of the bunch as he resembles his other iterations better.

In addition to his katana blades, he includes a stand with additional weapons (including a slice of pizza!) attached. These can be removed pretty easily by twisting them off or use a small pair of clippers. He also comes with a baby turtle of himself, pre-mutation.

Articulation isn't bad as there are points located in the neck, shoulders, wrists and hips. You have to keep in mind the price point of the figure, but all things considered it's a pretty posable figure. The shell can make them a little top heavy, but I was able to pull off several poses that would stand on their own unassisted.

Final impressions: Positive. Great character design, great sculpt, decent articulation. While I may not be thrilled about the new movie, the toy line based on the new movie is off to a great start thus far. As of this post, these figures are now widely available at local retail stores such as Target and Walmart and seem to be pretty plentiful. If you're a turtle fan, you probably already bought these on day one, but if you are a casual fan such as myself these are a nice, inexpensive treat.