Half Shell Heroes Mutagen Man

In most instances, I think the simplistic style of the modern TMNT characters translates itself better into the Half Shell Heroes line than it does the standard action figure line. Mutagen Man is a prime example. I was unimpressed by the standard action figure release, but this little guy is pretty cool!

The Half Shell Heroes line is basic in both design and execution. There isn't much by way of paint applications on this little guy, but it works with the chibi vibe he's giving off. I've not seen the modern cartoon that features this guy, so I don't know if his brain/organ parts inside are all yellow like his external mutagen appendages, but I do wish I could bust him open and paint those up to be more organ-like. He looks more like a walking spaghetti squash than a walking canister of innards!

Regardless, I love this little can of goo. He's too ridiculous not to love!

I got Mutagen Man from fellow toy nut Jboy. He was originally released with Kirby bat (Mutagen Man, not Jboy!)

Other Half Shell Heroes in my collection:
Slash
Baxter Stockman
Leatherhead
Casey Jones, Helmeted Raph and Stealth Cycle
Kraang

Half Shell Heroes Kraang

The more of these Half-Shell Heroes I get my hands on, the more I like them. Well, the villains, anyways. Ironically I don't have any of the Turtle brothers (besides a helmeted Raph but he doesn't count because he's not the 'standard' Raph). The Turtles themselves just come across as cheap and plain. But many of the villains are nice little designs with good sculpts, and this android Kraang is no exception. I like that he's holding a canister of mutagen (albeit he's PERMANENTLY holding it) and the limited paint apps actually work fine for this guy who's nothing more than a pink wad of bubblegum in a silver robot's belly.

I picked up Kraang from the flea market, but he was originally released in a two-pack with Leatherhead (who I have via a recent garage sale find.)

"Copycat"

Other Half Shell Heroes in my collection:
Slash
Baxter Stockman
Leatherhead
Casey Jones, Helmeted Raph and Stealth Cycle

Half-Shell Heroes Leatherhead G1 Mod

This past weekend I came across a Half-Shell Heroes Leatherhead at a garage sale and picked him up for a quarter. In fact, I spent a whopping fifty cents at that particular garage sale, (I bought a toy for my intern) after finding a dollar on the grass, and afterwards found sixty seven cents in the gutter. So basically I got his guy for free and walked away with a net profit of a dollar seventeen.

Anyways, Leatherhead is definitely a solid stand-out figure in the Half-Shell Heroes lineup, but still, I do prefer me some G1 Leatherhead over the modern iteration (which is much more in tune with the original Mirage comics version, but I digress.) So I cut out a vest for him from a piece of craft felt we had lying around the house, and gave him a Playmobil shotgun (sadly I don't have a double barreled shotgun in my Playmobil bits and bobs.)

The closest I could come to his hat is this Playmobil Aussie style hat. I suppose I could also fashion one out of felt or something until I find something more perfect, but even with just the vest and without a hat I think this Leatherhead is a vast improvement over the already pretty spiffy modern version.

Half Shell Heroes Casey Jones and Raphael

As much as I love TMNT and the 'pre-school' aesthetic of toylines like Imaginext et al, my Half Shell Heroes collection is pretty thin. In fact, until I found these two gentleman at the flea market it consisted of only Slash and Baxter Stockman. They are cute figures to be sure, but most come across in person as rather cheap, especially compared to what I've grown to expect from Imaginext.

But when these two guys popped up at the flea market for a quarter each, well, I couldn't resist.

My two favorite TMNT 'good guys' are of course Casey Jones and Raphael, and while I am not a big fan of the kabuki-Jones modern CGI Casey Jones, well, he's Casey Jones and he cost me a quarter. Not a fan of the maskless look. He needs a hockey mask dammit but whatyagonnado? And Raphael is always cool, but the Half Shell Heroes 'standard' 'Raphael comes with sai that have 'webbing' in between the tongs for, you know, safety or whatever, and it's annoying to me. I'd honestly prefer him without any weapons at all. Which this helmeted version offers up. I am ok with the helmet, as it reminds me of the CGI TMNT movie wherein Raphael went out at night as a masked vigilante. In fact, if this guy was completely painted black, like he was wearing a motorcycle suit, that'd be extra keen, Also, SAFETY!

Side note: My intern kept calling Casey Jones 'That golf guy' and I couldn't help but be offended for Casey's sake. It was a pretty amusing exchange as I tried to explain that it is a HOCKEY stick and golf is a dumb game for dummies and she wasn't buying any of it. My life, ladies and gentlemen. Envy me.

UPDATE: I didn't have these guys a week and what do I find at the Goodwill Bargain Barn but the Stealth Cycle that goes with this helmeted Raphael...

I find myself liking this vehicle in spite of myself.

It's ridiculous. I mean, it doesn't even have a windshield! But when you push down on the front it extends, and you can lower the battering ram on the front wheel.

Or push it back in for a stumpy look.

It opens via the sides and top popping apart to reveal the cockpit. I guess Raph drives it via computer monitor since there's NO WINDSHIELD! It really should have a windshield, or even a decal of a windshield up front there.

Baxter Fly TMNT Half Shell Heroes

Baxter Stockman existed for quite some time in the modern Nickelodeon TMNT series as his regular human mad-scientist self. He even received action figure treatment in one of his robot suits, and also appeared as such in LEGO form I believe. But what he is best known for is being the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's answer to 'The Fly', and he's finally been mutated both on the show and on toy store shelves!

This is the Half Shell Heroes version of Baxter Fly that comes paired with yesterday's Slash. He is also currently available in fly form in the standard TMNT action figure line.

Dig that hipster 'stache!

This modern take on Baxter's fly mutation looks little like the original TMNT version, for one thing Baxter is back to his comic-book correct ethnicity, and while ethnicity is not really evident in either version because he's a mutant fly, the hair-color at least has gone from orange to black. This version is also a bit more loyal to the homaged 1958 movie 'The Fly', down to Baxter's single mutated hand.

In Half Shell Heroes form he's a fun small size, and reminds me of the end scene in the original The Fly. Probably around Halloween I will string him up in some fake spider-web and draw a word balloon for him that says 'Helllp meeee!'

Baxter Fly has the standard 'double leg' articulation at the hips and swivel shoulders, as well as a moveable head. He's a little top heavy and mine has loose hips (like Elvis) so he's prone to toppling over.

I only really picked Baxter up because I was jonesing for Slash, but he's a great figure in his own right. What's not to love about a human/fly mutant hybrid?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Half Shell Heroes Slash

Slash has long been a favorite TMNT character of mine. When I heard he would be appearing as part of the Half Shell Heroes line I knew I had to track him down!

This is of course the modern Nickelodeon cartoon version of Slash - he's quite a bit different from the original version, but still retains enough of the Bizarro Ninja Turtle vibe to be cool!

Slash comes in a two-figure set with Baxter Fly (more on him later this week). True to Half Shell Heroes form, any figure with a weapon has it permanently molded into the hand. I understand the safety regulations that probably make this a necessity, and not including weapons (at least for the 'big four') is out of the question as each Ninja Turtle is defined by his ninja weapon of choice, but it's a little disappointing in execution. In fact, I have avoided getting my favorite Ninja Turtle (Raphael) in Half Shell Hero form because his sai are molded with plastic between the barbs. Safety shmafety, just give him rounded sai and be done with it! Or make Raph without his sai. I'd rather have him sai-less than with weird webbed sai. Besides, kids have been playing with ninja turtles for years and I have not heard of a single instance of anyone poking their eye out on a plastic sai.

*climbs down from soapbox.

In Slash's instance, to hold the permanent mace his right arm has been sculpted at a weird angle. It limits posing to some extent, but then again he does look pretty brutal with that spiked mace!

Designed to compete with Fisher-Price's Imaginext and Playskool's Marvel Super Hero Adventures lines, Half Shell Heroes are Playmate's entry in the pre-school geared action figure game. Scale-wise he looks just right standing next to Batman and Spider-Man, although he may be a little shorter than he is in the current cartoon. Obviously these guys will all fit just fine into each others' playsets and vehicles, which is pretty awesome when you think about a kid having Batman, Spider-Man and the Ninja Turtles team up to battle Shredder, Joker and Green Goblin. It warms my heart!

The prototype pics showed a little more paint on this guy (par for the Playmates course) but he's painted well enough and basic enough in design to not feel too plain or drab. His shoulders swivel and his legs both rotate up and down together - just like Imaginext figures. I'm not sure if his head is supposed to turn or not but mine doesn't and I don't want to force it and break it.

One final observation - it's hilarious to me that this tiny guy's head is so much larger than the head of the standard pin-headed Nickelodeon Slash action figure. Someone needs to do a head-swap!