NECA Archie Comics Line

Seems like if they just wanted to print some easy money, they'd take that April turtle they did and just repaint with some new headsculpts. Instant 4 pack and easy to do before the license ends. It wouldn't be fancy, but at least the regular Turtles would be represented.

So happy to see Leatherhead though! That's it for the Mutanimals, right?
 
The black costume Raph is basically an Archie blank turtle so it would not be hard at all for them to make turtles. It's just did they have the time and desire?

Leatherhead finishes off the core Mutanimals. Ninjara joined the squad later (like Slash) so some probably won't view the team as complete without her, but she has her own rights issues so who knows if she was even a possibility? Maybe NECA surprises with her at SDCC, but I'm assuming they view the Mutanimals as done with Leatherhead.
 
I'm glad I held onto my NECA Target gift card. I grabbed Leatherhead and puffy coat Mike.
 
So, I thought this was interesting but take it with a massive grain of salt anyway because I'm possibly nuts and it might not mean anything: the Archie comic has been getting new collections released now as compendium editions, the first two volumes have been released so far. The 3rd volume was solicited a couple months ago, but I just came across it. The volume is solicited to contain the issues that introduce Ninjara (and even the issues that portrayed Muhammad). With the rights over Ninjara being complicated, it's interesting that her introductory issues are being included:


Now, this probably doesn't mean anything for the NECA Archie line, but it's at least a small glimmer that didn't exist (for me) yesterday. I don't think it's been confirmed yet whether NECA is losing the license, but if they were able to push out a Ninjara before the exit because things had been worked out that would be cool.

It's also possible that I'm misunderstanding the entire thing and her inclusion in the book doesn't mean anything for toys, but it seemed like she had been featured in some racy stuff by her creator so I didn't think they'd re-publish things that featured her.
 
I'm pretty sure when it comes to reprinting comics that Paramount owns it all and can do as they please. It has been speculated they may choose to not include Ninjara because of the adult comics she was in, but that was so long ago I don't think it matters to them much. When it comes to introducing her to new series or for licensing, I think it always came down to the question of "Is it worth it to pay for this character?" and the powers that be decided, "Nah, just replace her with a different, but similar, character." NECA has a history of working with other licensors so if they decided that Ninjara was integral to what they're doing then I think the only thing that would stop them is Paramount if they just plain don't want a TMNT logo on her box. She has since been reintroduced to the IDW universe under her "real" name of Umeko so I don't know if there's truly anything preventing her from being included in this line at this point. Aside from the obvious which is NECA likely losing the license at year end.
 
Misfit said:
I'm pretty sure when it comes to reprinting comics that Paramount owns it all and can do as they please. It has been speculated they may choose to not include Ninjara because of the adult comics she was in, but that was so long ago I don't think it matters to them much. When it comes to introducing her to new series or for licensing, I think it always came down to the question of "Is it worth it to pay for this character?" and the powers that be decided, "Nah, just replace her with a different, but similar, character." NECA has a history of working with other licensors so if they decided that Ninjara was integral to what they're doing then I think the only thing that would stop them is Paramount if they just plain don't want a TMNT logo on her box. She has since been reintroduced to the IDW universe under her "real" name of Umeko so I don't know if there's truly anything preventing her from being included in this line at this point. Aside from the obvious which is NECA likely losing the license at year end.
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Ah, that makes sense. Hopefully we hear something at SDCC regarding the license. I'm hoping NECA's license would continue past this year, because I believe Mattel would have to allow them to continue going until that ran out, unless they're able to terminate it early. I don't know much about how IP licenses work, I'm more of a likeness rights guy.
 
TheRealSmallville said:
Ah, that makes sense. Hopefully we hear something at SDCC regarding the license. I'm hoping NECA's license would continue past this year, because I believe Mattel would have to allow them to continue going until that ran out, unless they're able to terminate it early. I don't know much about how IP licenses work, I'm more of a likeness rights guy.
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NECA hasn't confirmed when it runs out, but most sub-licenses like what NECA has are tied to the master license when it comes to end dates. We know the Playmates master license ends at the end of this year. Super7 is the only one I know of that has confirmed it's the same for them, though they have not said whether or not they will renew (only that they hope to). Therefore, it seems likely that NECA is in the same boat as they have the same general license as Super7 and it's up to them, Paramount, and Mattel to figure out if they have a role going forward. And from what I understand, they have until the end of the year to solicit product and then a sell-off period that's probably several months to unload product so some stuff is likely to still ship in 2027, but if the license is up you won't see NECA with TMNT product at Toy Fair over the winter. The major issue seems to be less Mattel and more that Paramount, following its acquisition by Skydance, has jacked up licensing fees to near Marvel/Star Wars levels. It sounds like JoyToy was the first to basically say, "Nah, we're good," and has moved on from TMNT.
 
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