It’s the third day of TMNT Week and today the spotlight is on the Party Dude himself, Michelangelo. We’re going to take a look at the new Nickelodeon Michelangelo and the TMNT Classic Collection Michelangelo action figures in the same post, because I’ve written a lot about these lines this week and I don’t want to sound like a broken record.
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Even though we were “too old” for themed birthday parties, my 11th birthday had a definite undercurrent of comic books. My mom had taken me to the local comic shop so we could dig through back issue bins and pick up three or four cheap comics for each of my guests as party favors. While the rest of my friends were busy reading “unrealistic” comics like the Chris Claremont run on X-Men, I was really into the “realism” of Marvel’s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. So the gifts that day included an awesome G.I. Joe poster based on the cover of Yearbook #2, a handful of Joe back issues that were missing from my collection, an action figure or two (I was, oddly enough, never into the toys), a pristine copy of #1 that my parents paid $35 for (and is now maybe worth $5), and…eight issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
If this was a trailer for a terrible movie, there would be a record scratch right here, strategically timed for the middle of the “Oooooh” part of Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger”. The soundtrack would go silent, and maybe a Great Dane lying on the floor would cover its head with its comedically massive paws.
As I read the title of the comic books in front of me – each bagged and boarded, of course – I laughed. So did the rest of the guys gathered around my dining room table. Even the guy who gave me the comics, Josh Banner, thought it was funny. He didn’t buy them for me as a joke, but there was no question that a concept as absurd as turtles that were ninjas was funny. He tried to convince us all that they were actually really cool, but none of us believed him. Until that night when I sat down and read the comics. And was instantly hooked.
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Yesterday I reviewed the TMNT Classic Collection Leonardo action figure, and in a way I reviewed the whole series. Rather than gush about this awesome homage to the 80s animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles four days in a row, I’m going to post photo galleries for each Turtle from now until Friday. That way I don’t ramble on and cover the same points four times.
Donatello looks great, just like his brothers in this series, but he suffers from a horrible case of lazy eye. Most people have reported their figures being the same way, and my Leonardo even seemed a little cross-eyed. But, that’s the only complaint I have on an otherwise perfect incarnation of Donatello. He’s huge, super detailed and articulated, and looks amazing.
He can even lift up two Foot Soldiers and stay balanced. That’s impressive.
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TMNT Week continues with a look at the Nickelodeon cartoon version of Donatello. I’ve always liked Donatello, but over the past few years he’s become one of my favorite Turtles, if not my number one favorite. The reason is pretty simple. He’s a geek.
In any team there’s always the brainy member, but Donatello always seemed a bit more than that. He was smart, sure, but he could still be funny and he could sure as hell kick your ass. I never understood the Bo Staff as a kid, but now I see it’s the perfect weapon for Donny. I never picked Donatello when I played TMNT video games, but now he’s always my first choice.
I’m excited to see the new version of Donatello, because he seems like the Turtle they’ve put the most effort into evolving. He has a crush on April (who’s the same age now), and he’s voiced by Rob Paulsen, who was Raphael in the Fred Wolf cartoon. I think Rob will give Donatello a great sense of humor but still be able to get the geeky side across.
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The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Classic Collection really surprised me when I first heard about it a few months ago. I wasn’t expecting Nickelodeon or Playmates to invest this much in the franchise so soon. An amazing new toy line to support their new cartoon would have been enough, but the companies decided to release another line of action figures, this one designed to look like the characters in the original Fred Wolf cartoon.
In my opinion, these are about as perfect as they possibly could have been.
Even though they were deeply connected, the original cartoon and the original Playmates toy line were always separate in my head. The characters never looked exactly like their animated counterparts with a few exceptions. They were still great toys, but I always wanted action figures that looked like they jumped right out of the cartoon. The TMNT Classic Collection is exactly that. This week I’ll be looking at all four Turtles, starting with Leonardo.
