Sunday, August 23, 2020

Action Figure Review: Casey Jones & Raphael (In Disguise) from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by NECA

    Every so often a company produces a "dream toy" that you've been waiting to add to your collection for years. Obviously there are hundreds (actually thousands) of action figures that have caught my attention over the years but when it comes to toys I honestly never thought I might own, the list is narrowed down quite a bit. Back in 2018 I reviewed NECA's quarter scale Raphael in Disguise which was a toy I had truly wanted for 28 years at that point. I don't collect much in that scale but Raphael in his trench coat and Bogie hat was a must have. I'm really glad that NECA has been able to produce their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the 1990 film for a wider audience now and I've been collecting the line as possible. They're still pretty tough to come by but I found two of the turtles at GameStop, all of this year's GameStop exclusive figures, and now all of the Walmart exclusive 2-packs. Today I'm checking out my most anticipated two-pack of the three which is Casey Jones and Raphael. The original 1990 film is still the best TMNT movie (2007's TMNT would probably be my second pick, though I have a soft spot for TMNT 2 and 3 as well) and I'm thrilled to be amassing a collecting of the characters from that film. I had almost given up hope of ever finding this set in Walmart but I finally stumbled upon it a few weeks ago. I was ecstatic! Let's check this one out after the break and get the Turtle Power going in here!



 The Facts: Casey Jones

Height: 7 1/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, swivel/hinge knees, thigh swivels, swivel/hinge hips, balljointed waist, balljointed mid-torso, swivel/hinge shoulders, double swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, and a double balljointed head.

Accessories: Gold bag, 2 hockey sticks, 2 baseball bats, cricket bat, gold club, and 8 interchangeable hands.




 The Facts: Raphael (In Disguise)

Height: 6 1/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge hips, balljointed mid-torso, swivel/hinge shoulders, double swivel/hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, and a balljointed head.

Accessories: Trench coat, fedora, 2 sai, pizza slice, 6 interchangeable hand, backpack, and 3 interchangeable bandannas.

Non-Scalper Price: $50 for the set.
 Comparison:

* On the left is this set's is the Raphael (In Disguise) while the Walmart 2-pack Raphael is on the right. These are the same figure except for the new accessories on Raphael in disguise like the coat and hat. If you have that Raph or the GameStop or SDCC Raph, you know what to expect with this figure. He's also very similar to the Quarter Scale Raphael in Disguise with only minor differences.
 The Positives:

* Casey Jones looks awesome here. Elias Koteas' portrayal of Casey Jones is absolutely near the top of Casey Jones' representations in any TMNT media (probably at the top) and NECA captures the grungy, thrown together vibe of this sports loving vigilante. Casey's outfit is pretty simple: Gray sweatpants, a grimy, white short with a few buttons, and a gray vest with the sleeves cut off. The sculpt is excellent as are the little paint details. Casey's shirt and vest are separate pieces. The shirt actually sits over the torso with the articulation hidden underneath. If someone didn't immediately recognize the character you could easily believe he would fit alongside your Friday the 13th shelf with NECA's other versions of Jason. He definitely looks appropriately unhinged and intimidating!
* Yes, it's true: Casey Jones' mask is not removable. Apparently NECA and Elias Koteas didn't have an agreement for likeness rights when this figure went into production, although that may be changing. This masked Casey Jones portrait is still epic, though, and really captures the intimidating shape of Casey's mask. I love it! The hair is perfect and you can actually see Casey's eyes and his mouth through the holes in the mask.






* Casey's vest is removable, allowing you to make a slightly more casual Casey Jones. I didn't bother taking it off all the way, but it's absolutely doable (though the hinges on his shoulders are flesh colored rather than white). I imagine when we get April O'Neil we will also get an unmasked Casey as part of the series or in a 2-pack. Who's left now from the first movie? Tatsu, that's who! Honestly, I'd buy anyone from the first movie. I also really want Sam Rockwell's "Head Thug" and the cigar smoking kid from the Foot hideout.










* Casey's a handy individual, so it only makes sense that he comes with a lot of hands! (Badoosh!) He comes with eight interchangeable hands: Two tight grips, two regular grips, two fists, a pointing right and, and a open handed left hand.









 * Casey includes a gold bag (or some sort of sports bag) that can sling over his shoulder to hold all of his gear. There's plenty of space in there to hold his punishing sports equipment and the bag itself has a slick paint job to make it look like real leather or something.


 * Casey Jones comes loaded with weapons, the first of which is his goalie stick. This is a pretty large accessory (6 inches long!) and the detail is awesome. The stick has a great paintjob to make it look like wood and it's wrapped in tape. There's something written on the stick but it's obscured by tape. Anyone know what it is supposed to say?


* Casey Jones also comes with a smaller hockey stick. This one's closer to 5 inches long and also features tape wrapped around the handle and blade. It says "Sarter" rather than "Starter" which, again, has got to be a licensing issue.

 * "Cricket? Nobody understands cricket! You gotta know what a crumpet is to understand cricket!" Though we may never understand cricket we still get a cricket bat with Casey. The sculpt and paint are again excellent (seriously, NECA usually does fantastic work on accessories) and this piece looks pretty accurate to me. Casey Jones is now the second figure I own to come with a cricket bat. The first? NECA's Shaun of the Dead figure.



* When Casey Jones needs to give out a good ol' American beat down, he turns to his two handy baseball bats. Presumably one of them is a Jose Canseco bat.










* Last, but not least, is a gold club. Is this a driver? I think so. I don't know gold clubs all that well. What I can tell you, however, is this is the club that Casey uses to finish of Tatsu when he battles him at the Foot headquarters. Seeing this makes me want a Tatsu figure even more!












* Let's move on to check out Raphael in Disguise! technically I've already reviewed this figure since this is really just a scaled down version of the Quarter Scale version, but I'm still going to give you the lowdown on him since he's one of my most anticipated figures ever. Raph is decked out in the trench coat he wore when going out on his own to brood. It's an oversized coat which means that it does a decent job of disguising Raphael's form. At night, in a crowded city, you can definitely believe that Raph could go out relatively anonymously in this disguise. I've always loved the use of the trench coat and hat disguise in TMNT. Don, the Undercover Turtle was always one of my favorite toys as a kid but this guy takes the cake for best disguised turtle figure ever.







* Raphael's coat is really nice. It's got actual buttons, a belt with a metal buckle, and functional pockets. Wow! This is one of the highest quality soft goods I've ever seen on a 1/12th scale toy and it looks just perfect.










* Underneath, Raphael in Disguise is the same as the Raphael from the Walmart exclusive 2-pack with Raphael and Michelangelo. If for some reason you didn't have a Raphael on his own, this set gives you that full figure too. NECA could have cheaped out and done something like not painted Raphael's body and shell, but they didn't. You get a full Raphael figure here, who looks amazing. Raphael has always been my favorite turtle and I can't even begin to tell you about the thrill I get seeing him rendered in action figure form! He's just perfect!











* His shell is amazing, too, and is covered with dents and dings that tell a story. Raphael doesn't take anything easy, I imagine.













 * The quarter scale figure still looks more life-like, but that's understandable as you can see the minute details on the skin, teeth, and eyes. This is still one of the best TMNT headsculpts ever, though. The turtle costumes from the first movie are without a doubt the best the turtles have ever looked in live action and NECA has captured them perfectly. This is amazing work! Raphael is one of the most realistic looking figures NECA has ever released in my book.
* While the quarter scale figure has fabric tails for his bandanna the 1/12th scale Raphael in disguise has the swappable bandannas like the rest of the NECA 1/12th scaled turtles. There are three different bandannas in different poses, allowing you to mix things up a bit. While I typically am only going to use the far left one (with the tails resting over Raph's shoulders) for this figure, it's nice to have the options if you need them.







* The range of motion on this guy is quite good and he is lots of fun to pose. NECA did an incredible job on the turtles, balancing good articulation with preserving the design of the bodies/ costumes from the film. The neck and torso articulation really allow for some very expressive poses while the other joints are plentiful, most of which are quite well hidden. Of course, with the coat on, most joints are just naturally hidden anyways.


 * Raphael comes with six interchangeable hands. You get two open palms for expressions or relaxed expressions, two standard grips (right and left) that allow the figure to hold his accessories, and two pointing fingers. Raph points and gestures quite often, so these are very welcome. 

* When Raphael goes out he wears this massive backpack help cover up his shell. It's solid plastic and doesn't function but the sculpted folds and creases are pretty nice.With a little work you can get the straps over his arms so he can wear the pack or take it off.









*  Here's Raph's fedora. Nice sculpt, nice paintwork, and a pretty good fit on the figure. There's a hole at the back which on the quarter scale figure allowed you to thread the tails of Raphael's bandanna through to help keep it on his head. That's not a function here, though, so consider it an artifact.







* It wouldn't be Raphael if he didn't come with his sai, would it? He comes with both of his signature weapons and they look amazing. Just like in the film, the yoku (the prongs on the sides) are covered with the same leather wrapped around the handles.









* I think every one of the turtles and Splinter have come with a slice of pizza, so now you have another slice. Two more and I'll gave a full pizza.









 The Negatives:


* Casey Jones' ankles, while swivel/hinge joints, feel very restricted. There's not a lot of lateral movement which makes wider legged stances fairly difficult to pull off.


 * Casey Jones' hands are quite tough to swap. You may need to use some heat to loose things up a bit before you first sap things. Be careful!


* For the amount of weight that Casey's bag carries this strap is a bit flimsy. It's OK so far but I do have worries about it's long term integrity.


* Speaking of flimsy, let's talk about this golf club. It looks amazing but, wow, does it seem like it is just itching to break. It is very thing and seems very, very brittle. Be careful with this one1


 * Raphael's hands are pretty tight, too. I actually had a peg break on one of his hands while swapping things out. I think I can mend it, but the interior peg in the hand is soft and ripped.

 * Raphael's hat looks great bit it doesn't fit on his head tightly like the hat on the quarter scale figure. The hole in the back of the fedora doesn't fit over the bandanna's knot like the quarter scale release, so there's really nothing keeping it on. You have to either really push it down over Raph's head or it'll just flop off if you're moving him.
   I did have some issues with this set but I can't say they really affected my enjoyment of the set overall. Yeah. they're minor annoyances or things to watch out for, but they're not detrimental. This is easily one of my favorite purchases of the year. Heck, these might be two of my favorite figures in my collection. I've always loved the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film and having these two guys on my shelf is a dream come true. This is a Great and a 1/2 set and I wish you all the best of luck in tracking it down! It has been a real pain but NECA seems to be trying to get these out there, so stay vigilant and keep searching!



Want more of Casey Jones? Then check out my review of the 2012 TMNT Casey Jones.

Raphael is my favorite turtle and I've reviewed quite a few other Raphael figures: Battle Shell Raphael, Ooze Tossin' Raph, the D&D inspired Raph the Barbarian, and Stealth Tech Raphael
from the 2012 series, Raph in Disguise from the 2014 film, Raphael from Playmates' the Secret of the Ooze classics line, and NECA's Raphael in Disguise (Quarter Scale).

For more figures from NECA's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line check out the following:
Foot Soldier (Bladed Weapons)
Raphael in Disguise (Quarter Scale)
Shredder
Splinter

4 comments:

  1. That is some seriously nice sculpting. I wish I could get into Turtles but it would be too much. Too much cool stuff.

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    1. Yeah, there is definitely a lot of good TMNT stuff coming out right now. Despite their long history with the line I haven't been terribly interested in anything TMNT Playmates has released for quite a few years now. It's nice to see NECA and Super7 putting out some amazing stuff.

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  2. Replies
    1. Indeed! Now with April coming (and probably an unmasked Casey Jones) we get Tatsu. Tatsu has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid!

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