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Write a Review link for that item. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca)No matter when you were born, chances are you've grown up with at least one incarnation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. For me, it was the 2012 series, the first one to use CGI, and the first with Nickelodeon's involvement. I saw a little bit of it when it was still running, but it wasn't until like two or three years ago that I completed a proper watch through of the series, and if you haven't seen it, you should. It's a love letter to the franchise as a whole, mixing action, humor, and surprisingly dark elements together well, and with a big-name cast to boot. When NECA, who's been doing figures from the first TMNT cartoon for years, announced they'd be tackling the 2012 series as well, I was hyped. The figures have been out for some time now, and my first of them is the leader himself: Leonardo. The packaging is adorned with a drawing by Ciro Nieli, one of the showrunners, and it's darn good. The left spine is part of a larger mural, like NECA's Last Ronin figures, and the right spine numbers the figure. Despite being the leader, Leo is #4. Aside from the artwork, the packaging feels very lacking. The back has generic text rather than a character-specific bio, and there are no photos of the figure at all, not even an accessory list. The graphics are good, I just felt they could've done more with the box. All four Turtles were sculpted by May Thamtarana, and given these designs were in 3D to begin with, it must've not been hard to convert them to figures, because these are very accurate to the show. Leonardo's default portrait is an intense, blank-eyed look, more than ready for combat. The colors are bold and the paint is clean, with some dark specks on the skin just like the models in-show, but he needed some lighter specks as well to really nail the look. His alternate head has a more peaceful look with closed eyes, as if he's in the middle of meditating. When he was first revealed at NYCC '24, he had a neutral expression as well, but it (alongside a few other accessories) got cut for budget reasons. As much as I like the meditating head, I would've preferred the neutral head be kept instead. Standing about 5 5/8" tall, Leo has thin, somewhat blocky limbs, though with a bit of muscle to the biceps, and the feet are larger and rounder than previous versions of the Turtles, a bit more like real-life turtles. Also unlike his past incarnations, he has forearm and calf wraps, and the figure gives them plenty of wash and some texture, and the rest of his gear has a somewhat rough texture as well. His shell, harness, and elbow/knee pads have some scuffs and nicks on them, no doubt results of Leo's various battles, and the carapace has a good texture alongside some painted shine. Some paint from the pads rubbed off onto the right knee and left elbow, but the paint is good otherwise. Until now, the Revoltechs were the most show-accurate figures, but NECA really put them to shame. Speaking of which, the Revoltechs were well-articulated, even having finger articulation. While NECA's Turtles don't have that, they still have plenty of joints, and ones that blend in better with the sculpts, too. Leo has a barbell head and chest, swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, and ankles, ball-jointed hips, double-hinged elbows and knees, and swivel biceps, thighs, and mask tassels. NECA made the jump to pinless elbows and knees prior to putting these out, and it makes a whole world of difference, giving these figures a more seamless, aesthetically pleasing look. The plastron is made out of a softer plastic so that it doesn't hinder the chest or hips much, and everything else works fine, but I would take some care with the thin arms. The heads and hands need some work to get on and off, but you shouldn't have too much issue swapping parts. Leo fares well when it comes to accessories, being a NECA figure and all. Aside from the extra head, he has four pairs of hands: gripping, relaxed, closed, and splayed. They work well in various poses, and getting accessories in the grips isn't too hard, but I would've loved vertically-hinged grips to work with the weapons. He has his katanas, obviously, with one longer than the other (the longer one fits in the right scabbard), but there's also the "Microfission Omni-Disintegrator" from their infiltration on TCRI in the Season One finale. Episode-specific extras are always fun to include with TV show figures (though I had to look it up to remember when it was used), but aside from that there are more turtle-oriented extras, with a slice of pizza, a smoke bomb (which resembles an egg), and a Turtlecom. Alongside the neutral head, other extras omitted pre-release included a bow, a dart arrow, and a grappling hook gun. It's a shame NECA cut those, but hopefully they're planning an accessory pack or something. It's been years since the 2012 series last got figures aimed towards the collector's market, and with said figures having since gotten rarer and more expensive, it's a good thing NECA stepped in to give us another option. Aside from the somewhat barebones packaging and lack of certain accessories, Leo is a great figure, and eventually I'll have to get the rest of the bros, most likely through Target's website. For now, though, I just want to focus on saving money… and writing up reviews for my other new NECA Turtles I've been putting off. - 1/24/26   by Toasted Brains |
| Mo-Larr vs Skeletor |  | Submission Order |  | Leo x Godzilla |
| Bodacious Beach Bros. | | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon Series | | Michelangelo |
| Mo-Larr vs Skeletor | | Written by Toasted Brains | | Leo x Godzilla |
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