NECA Announces Stan Sakai Partnership For Usagi Yojimbo’s Miyamoto Usagi

https://news.toyark.com/2021/08/31/n...o-usagi-442044

Fantastic, the last cartoon figure I'll buy!

Well, technically - they can release this widespread, right? Since the rights for the character are held by Stan Sakai alone? It has obvious ties to TMNT but Nickelodeon can't enforce their rules here.

So no need for a two-pack, no retailer exclusivity, correct? I mean they lose the TMNT branding but that won’t matter much.

Do they have the whole Usagi licence as a whole or are they just doing one figure.

Pretty sure Super7 will also be remaking the Playmates version in their TMNT line... looking forward to that one!

I'm hoping Miyamoto Usagi will be released as a pre-order at the NECA store.
Hopefully Super7 is also able to get the rights to make the Playmates Toys versions.

I think the catch here is the "inclusion in their TMNT line". I suppose they could release him without TMNT packaging for a widespread release…but, will they? I doubt it. He'll either be a deluxe figure or in a 2 pack, Target exclusive style.

The wording is a bit weird, on Instagram they're calling it an "addition" to the line.

Personally I think it would be beyond stupid to limit themselves like that, the Usagi Yojimbo name on the box is all you need, but I guess it’s easier for them to just throw him into the TMNT-line no matter how much it pisses people off that can't find these. At best they're opening orders at their website.

I figure if they are basing the look on his cartoon appearance (like any specific accessories that NECA likes to add), then it'll definitely be TMNT licensed.

I'm all-in.

Edit: I thought this was a line announcement.

I thought NECA owned the entire TMNT license though?

Stan Sakai was friends with Eastman and Laird but he never signed away the rights to Miyamoto Usagi. My understanding is that means anytime a cartoon wanted to include him or Playmates wanted to make a figure, the rights had to be worked out with Sakai.

Is this the year of the Rabbit? Usagi Yojimbo gets a show on Netflix and we get a figure that fits in with the NECA cartoon line. I know it will never happen but it would be awesome if they made a "realistic" version to fit with the NECA movie line as well just because I want that to exist.

Does Fugitoid fall under the Eastman/Laird TMNT license or is that a separate character to be negotiated for as well? I remember him having his own separate comic back in the 80s during the early Mirage Comics TMNT era. I'm hoping Super 7 and NECA get around to making that character within the next year.

Looks like they have the whole Usagi lisence.

True. The face is throwing me off though - it doesn't look "cartoony" at all. I mean compared to the other toon Turtles figures NECA is doing. Dirtbag for example has no detailing on his face whatsoever except for the sculpted turfs of fur on his cheeks. Which is 100% accurate to the cartoon, but Usagi would look the same way, yet he doesn't. The likeness of the face is a little bit different too.

I think this is a good thing honestly, it looks way better like this, but it doesn’t fit with NECA's other cartoon sculpts in terms of style. Which makes me believe it’s not the same line.

Pretty sure Fugitoid is a TMNT original that had a spin off comic or two. Usagi on the other hand was a guest character that thanks to appearing in many iterations of TMNT has become synonymous in pop culture with the Turtles.

Fugitoid is TMNT.

This looks really good, and I loved the original Usagi independent comics. Well worth picking up.

Really hoping Neca shows the Mirage Comics reboot line soon. Very interested in what they plan to do, scuptwise, to differentiate from the originals. They won’t simply be “Ultimate” versions of the 2003 Mirage figures that everyone now has KOs of.

Fugitoid predates the TMNT comics. Should be a separate mirage license

Professor Honeycutt The fugitive android (Fugitoid) a Neutrino scientist!

Fugitoid was introduced in the Gobbledygook comic published by Mirage Studios, released in 1984. It was their very first comic. It predates the TMNT and features an ad for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (May, 1984)

Peter Laird commissioned a vac metal statue figurine of Fugitoid and had it manufactured by Playmates Toys in 2009. The figure was only sold on the Mirage Studios website store. On the flipside, there have been several Fugitoid figures released by Playmates over the years in TMNT toylines.
It's a good question if Fugitoid is considered part of TMNT now or still a seperate Mirage Studios creation.

YES!!!....
So, so Cool..

I hope NECA makes a...
Giant Size Usaqi Yojimbo...
I Really Really do...

Fingers Crossed ;^)

Probably taking the same approach they are with Gargoyles. Almost doing a MOTU Classics take. Clearly the character, but also going for some realism.

That's what we need a bit more of honestly. Cartoon accuracy is nice and all, but all those smooth surfaces look so boring. It’s not just the NECA TMNT, happens with other franchises too.

Granted, their goal was hyper cartoon accuracy from the very beginning, I'm just saying it was cool to see for a few figures but I got bored of it after a while.

I had hoped that SHF made Usagi when they made they released their TMNT turtles but it never did happen. I'm totally fine with the renders, gives a better detailed and if not a comic vibe version. I liked him when he appeared on the cartoon (better than Leo) but he only appeared in 1 maybe 2 episodes. Agree with most, much like with G1 Transformers, toon accurate figures isn't a good thing.