Playmates Toys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Monsters + Mutants Review

The new Playmates Toys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ‘Monsters + Mutants’ line offers six impressive figures to tie-in with the fifth season of the TMNT currently series airing on Nickelodeon.

Playmates Toys sent over the TMNT ‘Monsters + Mutants’ Figure Set for review. The opinions are my own.

The current ‘Monsters + Mutants’ relates to the set of similar figures Playmates Toys released way back in 1993 as a mashup between the turtles and Universal Monsters. It’s great to see the 2017 ‘Monsters + Mutants’ line taking that idea and improving the figures.

The six figures in this set are:

• Monster Hunter Leo figure comes with a pair of daggers and his signature katanas.
• The Monster Hunter Raph figure is fully disguised, with a detachable machine gun.
• Mutant Mummy Leo figure comes with a sword and a deadly golden cobra.
• Werewolf Mikey has a set of bone nunchucks and a slice of pizza!
• The Frankendon figure comes with a bo staff.
• The Vampire Raph figure is all fanged and cloaked, with a dagger, a sai, and a vampire bat buddy!

I really wanted an April O’Neil figure, too, which was part of the old line. But I guess with TMNT getting a new series, Playmates Toys might be working on new figures instead of continuing the ‘Monsters + Mutants’ line.

Let’s start with the Monster Hunter Leo figure. Leo has a very Van Helsing look to him, which fits with the theme. The huge coat on his body is made of plastic while the sleeves have been sculpted onto the arms. The hat is removable. On his utility belt, you’ll notice a few items. I’m not sure, but as far as I can tell he has a bottle of Holy water and a pair of binoculars. Monster Hunter Leo comes with his katanas and two daggers. All of the weapons, including the handles, have been painted silver.

He has a very serious look on his face. His head has articulation and so does his shoulders, elbows, wrists, legs, and knees. You can also place the katanas in his belt when they aren’t in use.

The second figure we’re going to talk about is Monster Hunter Raph. Like Monster Hunter Leo, he is wearing a coat. The articulation is the same as well. He’s carrying a little clove of garlic and has mini-wooden stakes attached around the leg. Monster Hunter Raph’s weapon is a crossbow.

The Vampire Raph figure is wearing a black jacket with a (painted) undershirt. There’s also a little red bow. While the collar of the cape is plastic, the rest is fabric, allowing it to move around with the figure as you pose Vampire Raph. The cape is already wrapped around the arms, so you can do the iconic Dracula pose. However, you can also take the cape off from the arms if you want.

Vampire Raph also has fangs in his head sculpt, and flatly combed hair. The red bandana and the use of red in the cape and knee pads make it easy to tell that it’s a Raphael figure. He also comes with a little attachable bat. The weird thing about the bat is that while it has wings, the head is that of a turtle. Vampire Raph’s weapons include a wooden sai and a stake, which is kind of ironic as those are the weapons you’d use to defeat a vampire.

Vampire Raph has articulation in his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, legs, and knees. However, moving his legs around is a big tough due to the huge jacket he’s wearing.

Coming to Mutant Mummy Leo, I really liked all the mummy bandages around the figure. They helped give Leo a lot of texture. You’ll notice that Leo’s bandana is still blue so he can be easily recognized. Being a well-detailed figure, the finger and toenails are grown, giving the appearance of claws. Mutant Mummy Leo comes with a golden cobra which you can slide off him if you want. The snake’s body is also textured. You’ll also get a golden sword that has a snake-headed handle.

Mutant Mummy Leo has articulation in the head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, legs, and knees. I liked the little joint in his foot which allows you to pose this figure to make it look more menacing. There’s also a little golden scarab on his leg.

Werewolf Mikey is another fun figure in this set. He also has hair and fangs. You’ll notice the little pointy ears. His jacket is orange with the words ‘Wolfpack’ written on the back. While Mikey is wearing jeans, it’s ripped at the knees with werewolf hair showing through. His claws are painted black. Werewolf Mikey’s accessories include bone nunchucks and a slice of pizza.

I don’t know if other Werewolf Mikey figures are like the one I received, but I do feel the paint job could’ve been better. The lower half of his shell, the back of his bandana, and the hair on his feet haven’t been painted properly. Having said that, it’s still a fun figure. Werewolf Mikey has articulation in his head, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. He also has a joint in his foot for fun poses.

The Frankendon figure is clearly my favorite from the TMNT ‘Monsters + Mutants’ set. I like the stitches all over the body. The head sculpt also has a lot of detail. Frankendon’s expression is awesome. There’s also a little bolt on the top of his head. The front of his shell is cracked. He also has little pieces (that look like metal) attached to his body. All of these things really make Frankendon look like a creature that was made in a lab.

The back of his shell has three electric bolts. This figure also has a black strap with a hole, allowing you to place the staff (made to look like some sort of electrical conducting device) that comes as an accessory. The articulation is the same as the other figures.

All in all, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ‘Monsters + Mutants’ line is worth the price tag. Playmates Toys has made very well-detailed figures considering they’re available for only $8.99 each. The entire set is able to withstand accidental falls (I dropped all of them on the ground) so I’m sure they can endure intense toy-figure battles during playtime.

I’ve also reviewed the TMNT Micro Mutants Sweeper Ops Vehicle Playset if you want to check it out.

Feel free to share your thoughts about the TMNT ‘Monsters + Mutants’ set with us.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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