Raphael (TMNT2: Out of the Shadows)
Even though the first figure I got from the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles :Out of the Shadows movie was not quite what I expected, I decided to give this line another chance and got me the movie version of Raphael.
Movie Raph features the gritty, urban look from the movie, which looks slightly less haphazardly put together than in the previous Michael Bay movie. Raphael’s skin has a nice amount of texture and there is a good amount of sculpted detail on the outfit, even though the simple paint job doesn’t quite highlight all of it.
In this universe, Raphael is portrayed as a massive brawler, and the sculpture manages to convey that, even if the action figure is not quite as bulky as one would expect because even though the Playmates turtles seem to exist in a 5-inch scale universe, that is not quite correct.
Truth is, most of these figures are designed to fill up to a certain volume within the general line packaging rather than to keep a consistent scale within the line so, while we can get shorter characters in the standard blister pack, larger characters like Raphael can only be as large as the selected packaging allows.
Looking at Raphael as a standalone action figure, he looks quite muscular and feels rather heavy, but unlike his appearance in the new movie, he is not much taller than his brother Donatello.
Articulation on Raphael follows the standard for the line, consisting of:
• Peg & hinge shoulders.
• Peg & hinge elbows.
• Swivel wrists.
• Peg & hinge hips.
• Peg & hinge knees.
Once again, the character design hinders somewhat the range of movement of this figure, but Raph is quite stable and still can achieve a number of cool poses.
Raphael has a couple of rubber c-clips sculpted on the back of his webgear and also an extra couple of c-clips inserted at the back of the thighs. These are used to carry the weaponry included.
Raphael comes armed with a pair of Sai, which fit on the leg clips, as well a couple of climbing picks meant to be carried on the c-clips at the back. While both Sai fit quite well on the leg pieces, the handle picks seem to be a bit too wide for the back clips to hold securely, making these weapons extremely loose.
Raphael’s paint job is not too bad for a mass-market product. While there are some wavy lines and blurry edges here and there, the overall appearance is reasonably good, although no fancy paint techniques were used on this figure.
I ended up liking this version of Raphael quite a bit more than I expected; the action figure feels fairly sturdy and despite the scale issue, Raph still looks like a tough-as-nails guy.
Errex Score: 78/100
Category: Featured, TMNT, Toy Reviews