NECA TMNT Splinter & Baxter Stockman
A silica gel packet is included, I guess this is to keep the cloth parts on Splinter from getting molds? Interesting..
Splinter
The Turtles’ beloved sensei, Hamato Yoshi, was an exiled master ninja of the Foot Clan living in New York. Exposure to a strange mutagenic ooze transformed him into a human-sized rat.
Be sure to check the orientation of the joints before moving anything on the figure, the cloth softgoods obscure them from sight.
Splinter’s jaw opens and closes.
Splinter comes with a LOT of accessories!!
Renaissance art book
The art book features the namesakes of our favorite mutant turtles.
An old book?
Splinter’s walking stick
Splinter also comes with a Yin Yang medallion, I forgot when this was referenced on the show, but it is important to him.
Splinter comes with one of his rat friends.
The rat can actually hold the medallion. Interesting…
Splinter also comes with a scroll that has some… interesting texts on it…
Can you find the words that reference the Three Stooges? Look for “curlee, shemp, nyuc nyuc”. Credits to Pixel Dan for the finding those words.
Splinter comes with the “Sword of Yurikawa”, from the episode of the same name.
Just like in the episode, the sword can “flame on” when fighting.
Lastly, the wise sensei comes with a tatami mat for meditation.
Impressively, the mat is actually made of foam?? I was expecting it to be just printed paper! Wow!! Nice one, NECA!
The mat is printed only on one side.
In the finale episode of the series, Splinter is never changed back to his human form and stays a rat presumably for the rest of his life. But don’t feel too bad for him. In the episode “Splinter No More”, Donatello was able to find a temporary cure for Splinter, allowing him to change back to Hamato Yoshi for a day before becoming a rat again. By the end of the episode, Splinter resigns himself to his fate, as he sees that his absence in the life of the Turtles would result in Shredder winning, and that surface life with other humans is overrated anyway.
Baxter Stockman (fly)
Creator of the mechanical rat hunting machines, the Mousers, Baxter Stockman was previously a brilliant scientist that fell in with Shredder. After numerous failures, Shredder sent Baxter to Dimension X to serve Krang. Krang decided to get rid of the useless human by throwing him in a disintegrator machine, an ordinary housefly was also trapped inside the machine with Baxter, transforming him into a horrible monster.
I love the sculpt detail here, like the bug parts just popped out of his vest.
As Baxter the fly, Stockman originally retained some of his intelligence, but was more open to suggestion, often being easily manipulated by Shredder to attack the Turtles as the cause for his hideous transformation.
As the series went on, Baxter’s way of thinking become more and more like a fly, craving sugar and easily distracted, like a real fly. Sadly, this villain would eventually wind up getting stuck in limbo and be unable to fix his predicament for the rest of the series.
Baxter comes with some weapons, the Muta-Zoo Ray Gun, and the Retromutagen Ray Generator.
As seen in the 5th episode of season one of the 1987 series (“Shredder and Splintered”), the Retromutagen Ray Generator was originally created to turn the Turtles back into household pets by Shredder. Splinter destroyed the weapon before it could be used, sacrificing his chance to turn back into a human. Admittedly, this accessory should be intended for Shredder,
He also comes with the Muta-Zoo Ray Gun, from the episode “Bye Bye Fly”. In the episode, Baxter discovers an ancient trans-dimensional alien ship underneath New York, befriending, the ship’s Pandimensional Spacecraft computer, Z. It proceeds to give Baxter the Ray Gun as a token of their newfound friendship.
Various settings for the Muta-Zoo Ray Gun.
Baxter immediately tests out his new toy on the Turtles, changing Michaelangelo into “Gerbil Mikey”.
Baxter also then used the Muta-Zoo Ray Gun to transform Shredder into a fly as revenge as well.
From the same episode “Bye Bye Fly”, we also get the Pandimensional Spacecraft Computer, Z.
Thanks to the clever use of a lenticular sticker, Z can change his expression, depending on the angle that we look at. Neat!
Z would later return in another episode, “Son of Return of the Fly II”, where he gets a clear blue body made of energy, after connecting to a “Solid Energy Generator”.
Lastly, the set comes with a Doku Plant, from the episode “Enter: The Fly”, where Shredder sends April a poisonous plant. After inhaling the pollen from the plant, April is poisoned, it was up to the Turtles to scour the city to find the Gazai plant that had the antidote to save her.
Standing at only 4.5 and 5 inches in height, these two figures are the shortest ones released by NECA for this line thus far.
Overall, an amazing set!!! I love all the details and easter eggs NECA threw in and it was a difficult but fun trip to find what each piece represents (I really wish I could remember which episode the medallion came from). While a bit shorter than the average NECA figures, the accessories more than make up for it (that tatami mat!). A very solid release again from NECA toys, this company just never fails to surprise.
Gold
