Oooohhh...so that's where the Rat King came from.

I see what you did there. But I will admit the thought had crossed my mind as well.

Well, they do look a little like Tunnel Rat from G.I.Joe ARAH. Does that count?

I didn't really like all the goofy variants either. I was just explaining my lack of surprise at what the new toyline is doing.

Btw, I hope Mondo Gecko gets a Classic figure. Next to the 4 turtles, he's my favorite character.

EDIT: You guys keep mentioning the Rat King, but I can't seem to find a picture of him. Wait a minute. Wtf, he's that blindfolded undertaker? Oh well...

Yes, that's Rat King. In the character descriptions at some con or another, he was explained as having been designed as how a malnourished dude living underground would actually look.

Cell- a quasi independent group or division. Like a terrorist cell, or special/covert ops cell.
Word play from the popular game Splinter Cell, which everyone's been calling the "Special ops" dressed turtles. Not biological cell that contains DNA.

Wait... was this in reply to me? You do know that was a pun, right? A wordplay played upon your wordplay.

You basically explained my own joke to me.

wait... how did that end up on page two, when there was still only one when I replied?

Sorry, didn't realize you were joking. Didn't read like that, at least not to me.

To me it looks like the new Shredder has a second head and not a removable helmet; it looks like the eyes are sculpted onto the helmet. At least that is what I can tell from the kinda ca-ca pic. Also, it looks like he has more articulation, or at least the hip joints are different from the first release. I really hope they add more articulation to the Shredder, the lack of it on the first release held me back from buying the figure (as well as all the other non-Turtles).

Which makes a lot more sense than the bodybuilder mummy from the original cartoon. My problem with the new Rat King is I still can't shake the fact that he looks like Preacher from TMB.

I certainly agree it could have used more articulation (knees would have been nice. Maybe a thigh swivel too). But the first version is still good for static, ominous poses like having the Turtles look up at the top of a building where they see Shred-head glaring down at them, surrounded by Dogpound, Fishface and an army of Foot Soldiers....

These look amazing, and I must have all of them in multiple copies!

So I am excited about all the villains. TMNT is looking like it will be having a good year.

Hat and coat are the only things I see in common, as I don't recall Preacher being blind and corpse-y. If that's the case then I look like them too o.O

Here's a look at The King's design sheet. His episode airs tomorrow night

http://25.media.tumblr.com/71d91c744...vplo1_1280.jpg

No, TMB Preacher isn't blind and corpse-y. But he is old and withered, which resembles the toy more so than the design sketches. It could just be me, though.

I'd have to go back and check him out. It's been years since I've played that. I do remember the events of that games' endings pretty vividly though.

What's TMB?

Peaugh has a review of the Pizza Box Playset:

Nickelodeon TMNT 2012 Playset - ANCHOVY ALLEY - YouTube

Twisted Metal Black. And IMHO, the best iteration of the Twisted Metal video game series. They were basically doing Death Race long before Jason Statham got yet another action franchise.

I wouldn't say it's his franchise since he's not even in the second or third films. Plus it's a reboot/remake; the original came out in the 70's. But you're right, Black is the best one, and I really was hoping they'd take the same angle for the PS3 game; according to my brother (a bigger TM fan than myself), it was utterly disappointing.

Anyway, back to Turtles, I'm actually kind of disappointed that those baby Turtles are in 2-packs likely for regular figure price when the previous baby Turtles pack was all 4 for the price of one. Then again that was 10 years ago and it was only like $6 (sigh) Collecting is getting so bleeding expensive.

Yeah, sorry. I've seen the original Death Race 2000 (1975), I was just attempting to make a joke about how Statham is a modern day version of the 80's action hero (which would explain why he fits in perfectly with the rest of the Expendables cast). TBH, I haven't even seen the remake or any of its sequels.

And that's not to say I don't like his movies. Most of the ones I've seen with him in it have been quite entertaining.

Honestly, I'm surprised they're not sold individually in blind-packs for $2.99 each, given the current trend with minifigs. (Shhh! Don't tell Playmates!)

Some of these are out now. I just got back from my local Toys R' Us about an hour ago, and got the following;

Pop-Up Pizza Playset: Anchovy Alley
Leo and Donnie's Patrol Buggies
Raph and Mikey's Patrol Buggies
Sewer Cruiser
Drop Copter
Ooze Scoopin' Donnie
Ooze Chuckin' Mikey
Ooze Tossin' Raph
Ooze Launchin' Leo

I'll post photos of the opened toys a little later. Happy hunting everyone!

I have seriously considered buying Tech Deck skateboards for my turtles. They are the perfect scale, but the problem is that I know I will probably never display them with their boards, and I want to repaint the undersides with super 80s radical motifs, but I don't have the right kind of creativity to come up with believable 80s campiness.
What say ye? They're super inexpensive. I can get like 4 for $6.

Well... graphitti style was big in the eighties. Could always get an airbrush and write things like "Gnarley" "Radical" and "Chet" (That was a big call out to someone in the archie comics... "Chet" was always spraypainted on a wall in backgrounds)

I think an airbrush would be excessive on a little surface that is about 1 inch x 3 inches. But it's more than just a question of 80s words. I also have to come up with colors and styles, and maybe some wacky faces or something. A lot of appropriately 80s campiness.
Just look at all the 80s nuttiness here: http://www.skateboardingmagazine.com...s-skateboards/
I think that page is a fantastic reference. It will help a lot.

Just look for some 80's looking graffiti on Google, and then shrink it down to the size you need, cut it out with a razor blade or exacto knife, and use it as a stencile to spraypaint over. Simple, easy, no creativity needed.

Chet was just a big running gag in the franchise, altogether. For example, it's the name of the boy who bought the turtles as pets. Chet is also (a) name of an important character in the IDW comic, currently. The Mirage guys said at some point that they kept sticking the name randomly into the series because they just liked the name.

I did not know that tidbit! Thanks!