I don’t really have any new girl figures to review, so I guess I’ll have to break our little theme at three reviews. But that’s ok because I found the new Nick Turtles Casey Jones figure at Target the other. You guys would much rather check that out, right?
Casey Jones has always been one of my favorite characters in the TMNT mythos. In a world full of ninjas, mutants, and aliens, Casey is the true anomaly. A normal, if not slightly crazy, dude who becomes a vigilante, Casey’s basically a kid friendly version of Rorschach. No loads of money or cool gadgets, just the skills of a professional brawler and an extensive sporting goods collection.
I really like the updated character design. Gone are the flashy colors of the 80’s. Casey now wears black and dark grays. He’s also decked out in a hoodie and more padding and armor that are much more appropriate for a guy who stalks around alleys at night and beats up street thugs. He’s also a bit more dangerous with some added spikes, and even more utilitarian with a bandolier pouch and skates.
The sculptors at Playmates did an excellent job reproducing all this detail. It’s easy to spot all the big bits of armor and padding, but there are tons of smaller details that are easy to overlook. His hoodie and jeans both have appropriate wrinkling, but you can also see pockets and folded cuffs in the right places. There’s the nice touch of a ring of keys hanging off his right hip. They even gave him his skates and an extra piece of plastic for the bandanna he has shoved in his back pocket. Continue to page 2…
Great pics, excellent review, uninteresting figure.
Casey Jones was a non-event for me as a youth . . . right up until, in the live-action movie, the following exchange occurred:
Casey: [Pulls a cricket bat out of his arsenal]
Raph: Cricket?! Nobody understands cricket!
Casey: [Whacks Raph so hard he flies into a trash can]
Casey: That’s six runs.
Nobody else in the cinema in Canton, Ohio understood why there was one kid (me) laughing so hard at that gag.
“You’ve gotta know what a crumpet is to understand cricket.”
I don’t fully understand cricket, but that’s because, as with all sports, I just don’t give a flying crap. Especially when they inevitably over-run, and the program I wanted to watch afterwards is pre-empted, rescheduled, or outright cancelled.
I thought it was bad in the States, with their sports that consist of twenty seconds of action followed by fifteen minutes of standing around, spitting, and slapping each other on the arse. But that’s absolutely riveting compared to an entire day devoted to frigging snooker, and watching some prat in a hideous waistcoat still potting balls around a table for fifty minutes longer than he was supposed to.
Being Australian, I always love cricket references in American culture.
the face sold me on this guy.
I don’t buy too many TMNT but I saw some people showing him off on FB and that face won me over.
April just looks weird in her proportions, so shes a pass, and Baxter I might still grab. Mutagen Man and Squirrelanoid(?) also packed 1/case with this wave looked freaky, but I had to pass. and if you guys review Squirrel, there better be some Xenomorphs in there!!!
I think the last TMNT series that really hooked me was about 2005, where April and Casey could fit in with the X-Men:Evolution cast, and I had April sub in for X-Evo’s Kitty and Jean (and made my niece jealous I had her favorite: a “Kitty” figure! LOL) and I think I had Casey customed into Sam and Avalanche (Lance?).
yeah, sadly Casey Jones is only packed 1 per case, same for Mutagen Man, Squrrelanoid, and Kirby Bat. I was lucky the girl at the store brought out a fresh case for me!
One-per-case? Cripes, it’s Millennial MOTU all over again!
not much movement at that store, but I saw another set of those 1/per’s today, so I guess they got in another case?
or Casey. LOL
i would hope they would have different case ratios — especially to help push new figures!
Wow, the paint on that figure is horrible. The face, I don’t even know what’s going on there, but all of the white splotches just look terrible.
I believe thats how it is in the show, but just not as good. Casey should leave the makeup wearing to Marilyn Manson.
Now I’m going to have to watch the cartoon to find out why he has face paint on under the hockey mask.
i don’t see the appeal of this figure… but like beedo, i love the character, in part due to elias koteas’ performance as the man who had to teach those JV lowlifes a lesson.
What a coinkydink! I reviewed Casey today over at Doomkick! Totally not planned!
http://www.itsalltrue.net/?p=26867
The lack of paint really ruins this figure for me though. They could have knocked it out of the park with this one had they just paid a little more attention to detail.
Playmates lack of trying in the more recent waves of TMNT figures is disturbing.
I dunno, maybe it’s the nostalgic kid in me that recalls while the vintage TMNT had paints apps missing a lot as well, at least the figures still felt fun. The sculpts had so many little things all over them that you might not notice right away unless you really looked them over (ex: Muckman)
With the modern line, I understand people like show accurate stuff, but the first wave of the four turtles not being so was cool to me along with the nod back to the vintage line with the tons of additional weapons included on a plastic frame.
Sadly after the four turtles, everything has been lacking. Paint jobs, scaling of certain characters, weapons, articulation, still no sign of a Karai figure…
Here-here. Though I still think the 4 first-release Turtles were unbearably hideous from the ankles down, the rest of the line has been a real disappointment. Lack of articulation, paint, and scale is the culprit.
Absolutely, the figures are missing the fun.
I’ve heard that Casey’s pretty rare, but I’ve seen him several times. I don’t like the character in the show (loved him in past iterations, but the goofball idiot-child in the new version does nothing for me), and now seeing how half-assed the execution is on the figure, it’s an easy pass. which is too bad, since he’s one of the few figures besides the 4 Turtles to actually get articulation.
He’s packed 1 per case of 24!
It’s called “Kenner Batman Syndrome.” How the Hells are they supposed to make the moulds cost-effective with stupid decisions like that?
Excellent review. As much as I like TMNT I have really gone off the new figures. The scale issues and awful paint work have really hurt this line.
a Jose Canseco bat? Tell you didn’t pay money for this.
“Counting his mask, Casey comes with three accessories” so the mask comes off? can you add a photo of casey without the mask on?