Michelangelo
It may be hard to believe but only recently I have been acquainted with the early TMNT comics by Eastman & Laird. Those comics are much grittier and darker in tone than the version of the Turtles we got to experience in the 90’s, although even back then, Michelangelo already had a much more wacky, upbeat personality than his brothers.
The Michelangelo action figure by Playmates is yet another entirely unique mold, being the shortest of the Turtles, but he still displays all of the detailing found on his brothers, from the skin and shell textures to the wrinkles and nicks on his protective gear.
Instead of Leonardo’s half-grimace, or Donatello’s determined expression, Michelangelo has something of a smirk and slightly amused look. Considering how stylized these designs are, I find it rather interesting that the sculptors managed to actually convey this much expression.
Mikey is articulated in the same style as his brothers, with:
• Ball jointed neck.
• Pegged hinge shoulders.
• Pegged hinge elbows.
• Swivel wrists.
• Pegged hinge hips.
• Pegged hinge knees.
All of these joints work perfectly and Mikey feels like a very solid, durable action figure.
In addition to being the shortest Turtle, Michelangelo is also the more conspicuous. The plastic used for the figure is way brighter in hue than that on any of his brothers. The skin is a very bright yellow-green color and his shell is ochre at the front with a more subdued olive green at the back.
Although the appearance of Michelangelo is good, fact is that the coloring is so different from the other turtles that it almost feels as if this figure belonged in a different line. Luckily, the actual paint applications on Mikey are similar enough in color to link this figure to the others, except for the mask, of course.
The painted sections on Mike are limited to his orange mask, his brown knee and elbow pads and the wrappings at his wrist, ankles and knuckles. Overall, the paint is neatly applied and the muted colors in these areas look nice alongside the brightly colored plastics.
Michelangelo wears a simple rubber belt, glued in place and which has a couple of loops at the back to store his pair of nunchaku. The one problem I have always had with Michelangelo action figures is that to fit the weapons into the loops, it is necessary to bend the plastic chain in such a way that it often causes visible stress marks on the accessory, and the accessories included this time are no exception,
Granted, the plastic used to make the weapons doesn’t appear to be all that brittle, but cramming the weapons like that would also cause tension on the rubber loops and may eventually cause to them to snap.
Other than his trademark nunchaku, Michelangelo also comes with a plastic sprue with a few extra weapons: a sickle and chain (kusarigama), a couple of shaken and a couple of shuriken.
Even though the issue with the belt loops and nunchaku annoys me a little bit, Michelangelo is still a pretty good action figure, bright colors and all.
Errex Score: 90/100
Category: Featured, TMNT, Toy Reviews
About the Author (Author Profile)
I've been collecting action figures since the original Kenner Star Wars days. Nowadays, I still collect pretty much anything that catches my eye.Subscribe
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I was doing fine avoiding these until you started reviewing them. Now I started looking at them in stores. This could be dangerous.