Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - Raphael

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. 

We'll kick things off with Raphael, "the angry one". Raph was always my favorite of the 4 turtles and I like how this time around the turtles and their accompanying toys are different sizes. Raphael is noticeably much larger than the others.

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. Red paint was added to the bandana, elbow/knee pads and bandages around the wrists. The belt is removeable and has two holsters on the front to store his weapons.

In addition to his sai weapons, he includes a stand with additional weapons (and a pizza slice) 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. Good character design, good 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.

Matchbox Retro Series: 2022 Collection, 18/24 - Mitsubishi Eclipse

Mitsubishi Eclipse

w/ 2021 Retro Series Mitsubishi Eclipse

Matchbox Retro Series: 2022 Collection, 14/24 - Lamborghini LM002

Lamborghini LM002

Hot Wheels Monster Trucks: Masters of the Universe - Skeletor

 

Mattel comes up with some clever uses of the Hot Wheels brand. I think they hit a home run with their Monster Trucks line as what kid doesn't like large wheeled, car crushing trucks? I've noticed several pop culture brands have started to pop up over the years in this series so I wasn't shocked when I first discovered that Masters of the Universe was being used.

Skeletor here is part of a random 2022 wave of trucks, not part of it's own MOTU series. The back of the packaging does show the other vehicles in this particular wave. The top right corner of the card back also lists some of the characters of this release, such as name, truck type, strength and crash attack. This really has a strong Transformers Tech Spec vibe.

The trucks are all plastic, no die-cast unfortunately. It appears all of the various pieces are molded in different color plastic, no paint apps. Skeletor's yellow skeleton face has a menacing look, especially with the exhaust pipes coming out of his mouth. If you look carefully, you may notice the eyes are cast in a red translucent plastic. If you shine a light in the eyes you do get a faint glow. The back of the truck features Skeletor's Ram Staff with a ball & chain attached to the end. The tires are a soft plastic and are on axles that allow the wheels to move. A small hard plastic "car" comes packaged in with Skeletor for the truck to crush. It's small and cheap and I didn't care for it much so I didn't bother photographing it. Overall this is fun little piece and a nice oddity for anyone's Masters of the Universe collection.

Hot Wheels Monster Trucks: Masters of the Universe - Battle Cat

 

I'm still waiting for He-Man to receive the Hot Wheels monster truck treatment like his arch nemesis Skeletor, so for the time being we'll just have to settle for his trusty companion, Battle Cat.

The cab of the truck is cast in a green plastic with the rest a separate maroon piece that resembles the helmet of Battle Cat himself. Paint apps are limited outside the orange tiger stripes applied to the cat body. The eyes underneath the maroon piece have been painted, as are the tail lights red on the rear of the truck. The vehicle body sits on a series of plastic bars that completes the vehicle frame underneath. A chromed engine rests in the back of the truck, viewable from all sides. Like all of the monster trucks in the line, the front wheels have a loose axel that allows the wheels to move independently up and down...perfect for crushing cars...or maybe even evil henchmen? Overall this is another fun Masters of the Universe themed vehicle / monster truck.

RTR Episode 2: Vintage Matchbox 5 Pack Unboxing

While the blog format may be slowing dying and posts aren't getting near the same eyeballs as it once did, I'm going to keep posting new content as time allows. However I also realize that video is a juggernaut, especially when it comes to the hobby so I may continue to dip my toes into the world of YouTube from time to time with special unboxing videos or just quick takes on new die-cast.

Today I have two videos to share...well one, but my camera overheating during filming and I'm not savvy enough yet to merge video. While traveling for work I found some vintage Matchbox Police themed 5 packs so I decided to head to the backyard and unbox them on camera. Yeah, I know it's crude compared to the likes of some YouTubers out there...but you've got to start somewhere, right?

Nonnef Productions: Transformers Legacy Crankcase Upgrade Kit

I've not been one that has felt the need necessarily to purchase many upgrade kits for my Transformers figures, but when I saw that Nonnef Productions was releasing a kit for Legacy Crankcase I was excited. I thought Hasbro did a pretty good job with the figure, but what made the original G1 toy so special was it's Triggercon gimmick. While this upgrade kit isn't adding spring loaded weapons that flip out, it does give you the look of the original toy, with a modern flair of course.

The kit contains two blue guns, two pegs, two arms, two thigh filler pieces and a set of silver hubcaps. The guns are also available in black if you prefer. 

On the original G1 figure, the guns were embedded into the roof of the car when not deployed. With this upgrade kit attached the guns can be folded back, but obviously are not embedded. You can rotate these forward however to have the same look of the guns deployed on the G1 toy.

The other included part for vehicle mode is a set of 4 silver hubcaps. The front two simply peg into the wheel posts, where as the back two are attached via small glue dots which were also included. All of these parts were easy to assemble and install.

Hasbro did add a small set of faux shoulder mounted blasters to Crankcase, however they were small and just didn't give the same effect as the original G1 toy. Once you've installed this upgrade kit you can simply fold these guns down so they aren't in view.

Once installed you now have a pair of proper shoulder mounted guns that you can fold up and down depending on what look you are trying to pull off. When not deployed, they do hang off the "backpack" of the figure...which does add a little bit of extra weight. I already felt this toy was already a little back heavy, so just be sure to position the legs/feet in a manner to support the weight on the back of the figure, especially if you don't have the guns deployed forward.

The last included piece are two blue thigh fillers. These simply plug into the hollow cavity on the inside of the thighs. I don't usually bother with buying simple kits that only fill in gaps like this, but since it was included with this set I'll gladly add them to the figure.

Overall I felt this was a worthy purchase and a fun and easy upgrade kit to add to Crankcase. I've bought a few kits from Nonnef Productions in the past and they always do great work. Priced at just $8.99, I feel this set really "transforms" Crankcase and makes an already great figure even better. Be sure to check out their site for more awesome kits they have available.

Jurassic World: Dominion - Velociraptor (Extreme Damage)

 

In the summer of 2022 I was finally able to take in the latest Jurassic World movie, Dominion, and as a result the plethora of toys being released started to grab my eye a bit more. The Extreme Damage subline of the toys offered a fun little play feature. Our look at this series brings us to the popular Velociraptor, fresh with a new deco.

For starters, this is just a great mold of this breed. The new paint deco is probably one of my favorites. The skin is molded in a granite color with dark blue highlights running up and down it's head and back. The talons on the feet have been painted black, where as some previous versions went unpainted. The eyes have been painted red and look very eerie.

There is articulation in the jaw, neck, arms and legs. The head is able to swivel from side to side and has some up and down range of motion. The mouth is able to be opened, displaying a nice set of painted teeth. The arms are able to move in a full 360 degrees, as well as being able to swivel out to the sides. The legs have motion at the hips, but sadly that's it.

There is a button on the back that when pressed activates the Extreme Damage gimmick. There is a piece inside that essentially rotates that reveals "bloody" red tissue. It's a simple gimmick, but one that I find fun.

A new feature added to the Jurassic World toys is an embedded "DNA" chip on each toy. This is basically a hidden QR code that is meant to work with a mobile phone app that when scanned, unlocks the dinosaur. After being unlocked, it adds it to your virtual dino collection but also offers facts about the dinosaur. A simple game can also be played via the app. On this particular dino, the chip is hidden in the back, just behind the button you press for the damage gimmick.

I don't know what it is about dinosaurs that is so fascinating, but even in my mid-40's these beasts keep drawing me in. Mattel has done a great job in recent years reinvigorating life into the Jurassic Park/World brand and this Extreme Damage version of the Velociraptor is a great example of what they are capable of. Even as we come close to closing out 2022, this toy (and others from the line) can still be found on retail toy shelves.