Super 7 TMNT figures

I'm guessing this interview was recorded before the layoffs, but it just got posted 3 days ago:
 
The same channel did a second interview that was posted two days ago as well talking about the Playmates inspired line. It's the only time I've heard someone from Super7 (or in this case, no longer with Super7) confirm that those figures are "on pause" in favor of the 2003 stuff. Really frustrating to hear given the outstanding Heavy Metal Raph and Undercover Don. Kyle is careful not to criticize Playmates or Viacom as far as the licensing stuff goes, but in the first interview I posted he confirmed that it was Viacom that proposed the 2003 show to Super7 so maybe it's a little more complicated than just "2003 is selling really well so just roll with that." Even if that is the case, Super7 should be going to bat for the collectors of its line to get out at least one more wave with the figures their consumers are asking for.

 
Misfit said:
Even if that is the case, Super7 should be going to bat for the collectors of its line to get out at least one more wave with the figures their consumers are asking for.
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Yep. Pretty unforgivable that their own refusal to prioritize finishing sets and then apparent refusal to fight for their own customers, leaves us with this bullshit.
 
All the hubbub over S7 made me remember I have a couple Ultimates I bought during one the sales I never opened.

Just opened up Sewer Surfin Mikey. Years late to the party but I love this guy more than I thought I would. Granted, he was sub $20. So that definitely colors my vision.

I actually just bought him to use the heads on the normal Mikey. But this figure is stupid fun. And so weird. Mini dolphins coming out of his elbow band? Someone at Playmates was on acid for a little while.

Really fun to pose him around with a stand. Just ordered some ocean wave effects to pair with him. Was thinking of selling him as fodder originally but I think he'll make a nice summer totem to remind me of all the fun I'm missing while I'm working through the nice months. If I ever have a condo at a beach, which I never will, he'll live on the bathroom wall next to the giant sand dollar and that Jesus footprints in sand painting.

Got Ray Fillet on deck for tonight. He won't live at my fictional beach condo because I love the original Playmates figure so much. He was the first figure I ever really hunted for, I don't know if he was super scarce but he came and went from the shops near me super fast. I found him at a Toys R Us when a young lady from my dad's work was babysitting me for the weekend. Her name was Moira and not only did my maybe 6-year-old self think she was the most beautiful woman in the world, she took me to the toy store for fun and bought me the damn figure I had been yearning for for at LEAST an entire month. Thanks Moira, you were truly a real one.
 
I do remember that Ray figure being hard to find as well, but it also could be just my six-year-old brain at the time thinking looking for something on more than one trip to the toy store represents a long time. One of my friends at school got him and we were all jealous. I think I found one shortly thereafter. He always got everything first, it kind of took the fun out of finally getting something for myself. Then I was the first to find Tokka and Rahzar and I got to be the special kid. Ahh, the good old days when possession of an action figure was the determining factor in the social hierarchy.
 
Man, none of my grade school friends collected toys. They all played sports. And for some reason, those things were mutually exclusive.
 
All of my friends were nerds like me so we all collected toys and comic books. No sports for us. I didn't even get into watching sports until I was in my 20s and not even regularly until I was in my 40s.
 
I thought sports were existentially boring when I was a kid, lol. I enjoy them now, though. How can you have patience for watching a football game when there's movies about ninjas on TV??

I remember a kid in my class got Panda Khan and Fugitoid before I even knew those figures existed. I don't remember if they made commercials for that wave or not. There was a crowd around him, each person wanting their turn to hold the treasure.

Playing with Surfer Mike has made me want to get a variant of each of the boys to put on display together on their own shelf, maybe representing the kooky aspect of the TMNT. I just have them in their regular, naked form. Eyeing Slam Dunkin Don (he looks legit good), Space Cadet Raph, and likely Classic Rocker Leo. I like the thought of Samurai Leo, but he was a dud, right? I really want Rapper Mike, but I don't think I need two Mikey's in the display. Unless I mix them together and put Rapper Mike on the surf board with the boom box 🤔 Peak early 90's. Maybe if I catch him on sale.

His skin color doesn't match the the other versions of Mikey, right?
 
One of my favorite things about toy collecting and comic books is Awakening other peoples' inner child.

I love people who have been out of the game or never even in the game, but they see me hitting up a comic shop or the toy aisle while running errands, playing with a toy on a call, showing them what I was buying on my phone while they were talking because the drop was limited.

Converted many people into action figures or Lego or comics.

Even hobbies. People always ask me why I'm taking up boxing or taekwondo or getting back into skateboarding as an adult. Because they don't do those things. It's simply because I can afford it. I had to pick and choose my activities as a kid, and even then there was a budget.

It's funny that they just have this Epiphany like... Oh s***, I am an adult. I can spend my money on whatever I want or whatever I never had. Hell yeah you can, take care of yourself.
 
NORM said:
Man, none of my grade school friends collected toys. They all played sports. And for some reason, those things were mutually exclusive.
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My friends were kind of both in the early going. Few kids weren't into TMNT from that 88-91 period, but in retrospect it was brief. Probably by the time I was in 4th grade I no longer had friends still into action figures. There was a kid in my neighborhood two years younger than me that still was and his mom watched my sister and I that summer so we played with figures together, but that was like the last hurrah. I was on my own after that.


AgentHemlock said:
I thought sports were existentially boring when I was a kid, lol. I enjoy them now, though. How can you have patience for watching a football game when there's movies about ninjas on TV??

I remember a kid in my class got Panda Khan and Fugitoid before I even knew those figures existed. I don't remember if they made commercials for that wave or not. There was a crowd around him, each person wanting their turn to hold the treasure.

Playing with Surfer Mike has made me want to get a variant of each of the boys to put on display together on their own shelf, maybe representing the kooky aspect of the TMNT. I just have them in their regular, naked form. Eyeing Slam Dunkin Don (he looks legit good), Space Cadet Raph, and likely Classic Rocker Leo. I like the thought of Samurai Leo, but he was a dud, right? I really want Rapper Mike, but I don't think I need two Mikey's in the display. Unless I mix them together and put Rapper Mike on the surf board with the boom box 🤔 Peak early 90's. Maybe if I catch him on sale.

His skin color doesn't match the the other versions of Mikey, right?
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Sewer Samurai Leo is one of the best looking figures Super7 has produced, but the quality control is trash. They switched up the fists and gripping hands so each set has the wrong hinge. Worse though, is the plastic tolerance is all over the place. Hands are soft and gummy, but the post going into the arms incredibly tight. You have to really heat the forearms, but the not the hands, to get them out. Many have ripped a hand right off the hinge. The heads are just as bad. The alt head even has a noticeably smaller opening and it's almost impossible to get on and off safely. And on top of that, the figure is a floppy mess. If you're a set it and forget it kind of collector you might be happy with it provided you can get those gripping hands in place. And doing a sword swap with the wave 2 Leonardo arguably works better for both.

By contrast, Classic Rock Leo is the best in the line. It's not the flashiest (though the guitar looks great), but the quality control is where it should be for every figure in the line. Rapper Mike is more typical of the line in that he has loose hips and a cheap feel. His flesh is like a blue-green though so it doesn't match-up with the previously released Mikeys which sucks because his alternate head is great and would have been perfect as an alternate for the standard Mikey.
 
I never swap parts on Samurai Leo because of all those issues. But the loose hips are something I can’t avoid. I love how the figure looks, but I don’t mess with it.

I’m glad I had the foresight to pick up Raph in disguise and an extra Donatello to swap parts for Undercover Don. Closest thing I’ll get, just need a mask. Pretty satisfying to have that first group of variant Turtles complete-ish.
 
I've never messed with my Samurai Leo either. I got those gripping hands in place and knew I'd never remove them. I did the head swap once, and I don't think I was able to get the alt head seated all the way. Took a couple pics then never touched it again. His hips can handle a wide stance so that's what he's been in and what he'll likely forever be in.
 
Misfit said:
Sewer Samurai Leo is one of the best looking figures Super7 has produced, but the quality control is trash. They switched up the fists and gripping hands so each set has the wrong hinge. Worse though, is the plastic tolerance is all over the place. Hands are soft and gummy, but the post going into the arms incredibly tight. You have to really heat the forearms, but the not the hands, to get them out. Many have ripped a hand right off the hinge. The heads are just as bad. The alt head even has a noticeably smaller opening and it's almost impossible to get on and off safely. And on top of that, the figure is a floppy mess. If you're a set it and forget it kind of collector you might be happy with it provided you can get those gripping hands in place. And doing a sword swap with the wave 2 Leonardo arguably works better for both.
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Without hyperbole - S7's Samurai Leo is possibly my greatest toy-related disappointment in my life. It's fucking tragic what they did to easily one of my favorite vintage toys of all time from any line/brand.

Wrong swords (a problem Super7 was compounding on from the first Leo because they are fucking assholes), some of the worst QC in the entirety of the Ultimates branding, flat gold instead of metallic gold, can barely pose because of the terrible hips/lower torso, can't swap parts reliably without breakage.... I've said many times that that figure in particular is a complete embarrassment and if Super7 had ever had any integrity at all it would have been fixed and re-issued at a lower price (at the very least).

I gave mine the sword from the first Leo (makes more sense thematically, since there are no options for being -accurate-), swapped his right hand to a gripping hand, and basically never touched him again except some minor re-posing. I've never swapped his left hand and probably never will, and I have no idea what his alt head looks like on the body in person because I refuse to even attempt it. What an absolute fuckshow of a figure that basically makes almost all of his accessories worthless.
 
Alright, definitely passing on Samurai Leo. I never had Rock Leo as a kid, but he'd fit in better with Space Raph, Sewer Mikey, and Basketball Don — all of which are on the absurd/funnier side of things. And I like the head wih the closed eyes. Gonna keep my eyes pealed for some sales.
 
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