TMNT Murakami Gennosuke aka 'Gen'

Stan Sakai's beloved Usagi Yojimbo has had a long relationship with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which included both an original Usagi Yojimbo action figure in the '89 series and an updated, more comic accurate version from the early 2000s toyline.

Although I picked up the 2000s Usagi off the shelves when new, I still only vaguely understood his universe and wasn't 'officially' collecting TMNT toys anyways. I later acquired the original Usagi action figure and even Space Usagi, and finally began reading the entire collected series in graphic novel form.

That's where I learned about the rhino samurai Murakami Gennosuke aka 'Gen', and later discovered he too had an action figure!

I remember seeing this guy on the shelves but not knowing anything about him I assumed he was a 'modern' take on Rocksteady or something. By the time I realized he was from Usagi Yojimbo's universe it was too late to add him to my collection via basic retail means. Thankfully the flea market came through for me and now I have him...as well as his lame action feature:

For some reason Playmates thought to themselves 'hey, action figures are fun, but floppy action figures are funner!' You push a button on his chest and then - you know those toy wooden animals which you push a button on the base and they flop down? - yeah, Gen does that.

As if kids hadn't just pretended to knock out their action figures for years, now they had the added bonus of playing like they were dragging a real limp body out to the dumpster.

To cinch him up again, you tighten this dial on his back. You know, once tightened, the figure actually stands and displays well. But I can imagine the strings holding him together breaking over time. I suppose if that ever happens I'll just glue his limbs back on.

My Gen didn't have the twin katana he was originally released with, but I can probably dig up at least one out my random accessories bag.

Flea Market Finds

I don't usually go to the flea market on Sundays. I prefer the smaller scale, less pressure Saturday trips. But I found myself completely on my own yesterday and decided 'what the heck.' It was crowded, and vendors tend to be less fond of making deals on Sundays, but it turned out to be totally worth it!

I'm apparently on a roll with the 2007 CGI TMNT animated movie action figures, having found Karai to add to the Casey, April and Foot Ninja from a couple weeks back. Still no sign of the Turtles themselves though! I also found 'Gen' who's action figure is from the 2004 TMNT cartoon, but the character is from the Usagi Yojimbo comics (which I absolutely love!) The figure has a terrible action feature (more on that later) but I have wanted this figure ever since I read Usagi Yojimbo and learned of this figures existence (long after he had been on the toy store shelves.)

I bought the Imaginext parrot and toucan because they were bagged with the Imaginext bat. My intern will have to absorb those into her Imaginext jungle collection (even though she already has them) and the bat will hang out (haha get it?) with the Batman themed Imaginext stuff we have all over the place. I also found one half of the Teen Titans team 'Mas and Menos.' I found Mas. Now I will forever be on the hunt for Menos, but had I passed on Mas I would probably find ten Menoses in the next three days. That's how things go.

Then there's this newer Imaginext Robin. I already have this sculpt which came with his Mech Suit, but their costumes are colored differently, so this one can be Jason Todd. I still hate the fact that he doesn't have a cape, but I do like this sculpt.

Finally, a toddler Donatello staff. I already have one of these (what I need are toddler Leo and toddler Raph's weapons) but you don't see this stuff often so I grabbed it. And then there's Cyborg's robot hand from Teen Titans. This must have been an accessory or perhaps part of a figurine set. Whichever the case, it's pretty awesome.