NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage Comics Jim Lawson 4-pack
Note the placement of the hands in this section. It can get a bit confusing when returning the parts to the tray.
Nice backdrop, I think it’s from the final panel of the original “Return to New York” saga where they finally (sorta) defeated Shredder? Too bad you can’t use it to display the Turtles with this, it won’t make sense.
For the unfamiliar, this four-pack is based on the TMNT artwork by Jim Lawson, who worked at Mirage Comics as the main artist and author for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles books nearly since the series’ inception after being handed the duties by Eastman and Laird as the duo worked on other things. Lawson would then work on the title close to 20 years. Originally, all four Turtles shared the same bandana color for years as the comic went on.
This would only be modified into each Turtle having a unique-colored bandanas when the series was adapted into a Saturday morning cartoon to help kids distinguish each Turtle better.
Personally, I’ve always loved the original concept of all four turtles wearing only red bandanas, with the only way to differentiate each character would be through their unique weaponry or their manner of speaking. The graphic novels were my first exposure to the turtles back before they had a cartoon series, so I’ve always had a soft spot for this take on the group.
While each figure uses the same body mold, there are some minor differences on the paint. Raph has the most “scratches” on his shell than the rest of the group.
Leo has some scratches too, but not as bad as Raph. Hehe, that guy just loves to brawl.
Heh.. the Turtles have tails, just like in the original Mirage Comics designs. I’d like to see Playmates try to execute this with their figures at some point.
To reduce the confusion of who’s who, NECA Toys sculpted in the first letters of each Turtle underneath each head (you’ll see the letter “D” for Donatello in the pic). Credits to Pixel Dan for discovering this. Pretty cool.
Leonardo
The most disciplined amongst the brothers, Leonardo dedicates his time to constantly train himself to be a better warrior and follow closely in the footsteps of Master Splinter, their father and teacher. Taking on the role of leadership, Leo goes to great lengths to guide his brothers through the toughest of battles.
Leo is the only figure that has some unique designs to his look, as he’s the only figure sporting shoulder straps for the scabbards his katanas.
Leonardo’s Katanas can be sheathed onto the scabbards on his back.
The set offers optional bandana tails for each figure, they can either be displayed draped on the turtles’ shoulders, or alternately, as if they’re flowing with the wind. A pretty cool, yet subtle visual effect gimmick. Nice!
Slice and dice!!
Donatello
The smartest turtle in the group, Don is always tinkering with gadgets and inventions to best help the team. Preferring to use brain over brawn, Donatello often chooses to work in his workshop instead of training non-stop like Leo or Raph.
In the original comic designs, Donatello didn’t have shoulder straps for his bo staff. This was only added for the Playmates toy line figure.
You can still stow his bo staff into loop on the back of his belt, though.
The set also offers several optional hands. But they are a bit limited to a single unique pair of hand styles per type. Meaning you can’t have all the turtles have closed fists at the same time. Too bad.
With the open palms equipped on the Turtles, a pair of them can give each other high fives.
NECA also included throwing discs (not shuriken?) for the turtles.
I’m not sure how accurate this is, but I think the bo staff should be longer? It seems too short.
Raphael
The hothead of the family, Raphael is short-fused and often charges in on reflex as opposed to thinking things through before he acts. Fortunately, he’s also the toughest of the crew and can pretty much fight his way out of anything he gets himself into. Highly aggressive and always preferring to attack head on, this often puts him at odds with Leonardo’s leadership style.
Raphael comes with his iconic sai daggers. These are highly effective for a brawler, who loves getting in up close and personal when fighting.
The set comes with hands that have a wider space in between the fingers, this is for Raphael to hold his sai daggers like so.
His sai daggers can be sheathed into the front of his belt.
For added variety, NECA included a hood for Raphael, along with a bandaged right arm. He wore this in the “Return to New York” from the original Mirage Comics run.
Bandaged right arm
For some reason, Raphael’s always getting a costume change in the comics, first in the old Mirage Comics run, then Archie Comics did it too, when they had him dressed in all black from head to toe.
Michaelangelo
The youngest member of the four, Mikey tends to be laid back and carefree with his training, much to the dismay of Master Splinter and Leonardo. While occasionally reckless, Michaelangelo is very resourceful and is actually the heart of the team, always being the hopeful one when things get grim.
Naturally, Mikey comes with his iconic nunchuks.
His ‘chuks can be stowed into his belt like Raphael’s sais.
I’m glad NECA gave each turtle a headsculpt unique to their personality, it’s subtle, but you can see the differences in demeanor between Raph and Mikey. NECA always never disappoints when it comes to fan service.
Cowabunga!!
Overall, I love this set! I know some folks prefer the color-coded look for the fab four, but this is the OG version of the team and I salute NECA for releasing this set (though it should be a no-brainer really). I may be biased here, but I really do love this set a lot. A lot of happy memories for me seeing the turtles in this form.
My only gripe would probably be the lack of additional alternate heads for facial expressions, but I guess that’s nitpicking.
A big, big thank you to our old family friend, Noel Chan, for lending his TMNT graphic novels to this awkward nerd back in the day and introducing me to a whole new, gritty comic book sub-genre outside of the usual superhero books.
Gold
